5 things to do before launching your online course

“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

– Vidal Sassoon

In starting a business, there are many moving parts that go into a launch. Each of these parts plays a very specific and important role but having them in place, it will help you to launch your online course successfully.

Different launch approaches

There are many different ways to launch your course.

You could opt for:

1. Soft launch which is when you launch your online course without a formal announcement. You may do this if you decide to beta test your course before a formal launch
2. ‘LIVE’ launch (also known as Open Cart – Closed Cart’) – is when you go all out to make sure that everyone and anyone knows about your course. This is also known as a hard launch because you are building exciting around your product through running a strategic launch campaign
3. Evergreen (organic) is when you create it once and then sell on repeat
4. Evergreen (paid) – which of course requires a financial investment but you may find that it drives a lot more leads quickly to your digital course. There is additional technology involved such as a webinar platform, email platform and sales page.

5 key steps in creating a launch plan

Step 1 – Set your goals and intentions

The first thing that I would recommend you do before you create anything for your launch, is to set your goals and intentions.

Start by asking yourself these questions:

• How much money do you want to make?
• How many sales do you need to achieve your financial goal?

Getting clear on your financial goals will help you because it will contextualize what you are looking to achieve. In your favorite notebook or on a piece of paper, write down 3 financial goals you would like to achieve – these need to be a good goal, a great goal and an OMG this is unbelievable goal.

Step 2 – Create a strategic plan

There are many different ways to launch, but what is recommended is that you work from a plan as strategy is key.

A well-thought-out and strategic plan will outline all the key components before you get going. When we know where we are going, it’s far easier to get there when we have a plan in place. Creating a launch plan will give you confidence and support you in your efforts. You’ll be able to create all your promo content ahead of time. It will also help you to know when to bring people onboard as well so if you are using affiliates to promote your online course.

Step 3 – Build a launch calendar

What I would encourage you to do is to create a launch calendar in excel or google Sheets that outline your entire launch period. By outlining activity in a plan, you’ll be able to see when the deadline is so you can start adding in ‘to do’ dates before the deadline.

Step 4 – Plan your launch assets ahead of time

Creating a launch plan helps you to get really clear on all the design assets that you will also need to support your launch. These include images, countdown graphics, email graphics, Facebook/Instagram ad design (if you are running ads) and any landing or sales pages. This can all be repurposed and repeated next time you launch.

If you are hosting a webinar or conversion event then you will need a calendar to help you work out exactly what needs to be done. This will help you determine when you need to start promoting the webinar, if you are presenting with slides and all the promotional graphics that need to be created.

Step 5 – Show up and be consistent

Once you have created a launch plan – you need to consistently deliver it. If you are using social media through your launch then you also need to make sure that you are present so that you can engage with your community. Be authentic and launch from a place of wanting to serve and support others.

Summary

So, if you are currently planning to launch your online course, I encourage you to spend time figuring out your launch because the simple truth is that you’ll never regret creating a plan but you will regret not planning ahead of time especially if you don’t achieve your financial goals that you were hoping for. I truly believe that success comes from the planning stage – whether you are creating an online course or launching one.