How to Launch Your First Course in 7 Days

You’ve probably heard that to be a digital nomad and life a life traveling and exploring on your terms… that you need to make online courses. Well, it’s pretty legit. I say this from experience.

If you wanna build a dope-ass life that Californians would say is “gnarley,” then you better get started on that online course!

I can hear you now… “but wait… how do I do this, and what the f$&@ do I do!?”

Ah, yea that’s the tougher part of the entire game. You’re sold on the idea, and it sounds amazing.

What!? I can live out of an RV and travel around the country while running a business online!? Yes you can, and I know someone that does it! (getmeoutofheretravel).

I don’t travel out of an RV, but it’s the same premise.

I do what I want, yo!

Alas, allow me to give you the first steps to launching your course in 7 days…

How to Launch your first course in 7 days.

Day 1: Build a stock of course ideas.

Yep, it’s idea time.

Make a list of at least 4 ideas of which, you could create a course. Make sure they fall within your major strengths and skill sets so that you can execute quickly.

Then, come up with some sticky headlines. These are headlines that keep you intrigued and interested in the product. If you need some headline help, check out Coschedules’s Headline Analyzer. The analyzer is meant primarily for blog headlines, but I find it to be a helpful resource.

Day 2: Schedule Calls with People in Your Target Market

Now it’s research time. You definitely want to make sure that you’re building a course that people actually want. There’s no point in making an awesome course that no one wants. That’s a recipe for failure, and you’re gonna be on the successful side of things.

Here are some questions to start with:

If you could wave a magic wand and fix anything in your life/business (related to what I can offer) what would it be?
Why is this so important (answer to above)? What would this mean for you? If you didn’t have this, what would the consequences be?
What would make buying a course a “no brainer?” What would just put it over the edge, where you would absolutely have to have this no matter what!?

Record your interviews somewhere (Evernote or Google Docs are great). Reference your new research when you go to create your course and plan it out.

Day 3: Decide on a Course, and Outline it

Now that you have all the research that you need, decide on what course you’re going to create. This will be the most common answer from your audience, and the answers that had the most passion behind them. You’re going to create what your audience needs—because you took the time to listen to them!

Take a sheet of paper out. Write the name of your course at the top of the page. Then, create all the modules below it.

Write all the steps that it takes to teach the material that you’re proposing to teach.

Make the steps chronological, and outline your entire course. Remember to add the features and benefits that your audience said they had interest in.

Remember to add the very thing that would “put it over the edge” for value and make it a no brainer to buy.

Day 4: Develop a Pricing Strategy

You’re ready to pre-sell this epic course that’s floating around in your head. You know it’s gonna be awesome. Now it’s time t figure out how the h#$! to price it!

Pricing your course is more intuitive than anything else. Really think about what you think the course will be worth. Then think of how much “value” your bringing.

For instance, an ebook may be worth $20, but the information inside may bring $2,000 to a reader if they were to follow the advice.

When you go to sell your course, you’re going to need a number of things to create “urgency” to entice people to actually buy it. You could have the best product in the world, and people will love it, be interested and still put off buying it. This is where urgency comes in.

You can plan this into your pricing structure.

For instance, you could start your pre-sales off at $47 for a course, and in a week (or whatever timeline you’re working on) the price increases to $97. Then you actually increase the price. Then when the full blown epic course comes out on the market, raise it again to $149 or $197. This is just an example, but you should get the gist.

Day 5: Create a “Pre-Sell Page”

Now, it’s time to pre-sell your course. This will pay for your time upfront to dedicate the time to actually making the course.

All you’ll need to do is assemble a “landing page.” You can do this directly in the software or apps in which you’ll be delivering your course. Here are some platforms to build your courses on: Thinkific, Teachable, Gumroad, and Payhip. (P.S. if you click on some of those links, we get credit for sending you as an affiliate ;-))

Make compelling graphics for your new course. You can easily make a quick logo with Tailor Brands, Squarespace Logo, or Canva. In fact, you can make most of your graphics in Canva with their pre-made templates.

Write compelling copy that shows the unique value you’re delivering in your course.

Here are some things to think about:

Who is the course for?
Who is it not for? (the more you define your market, and exclude those not in it, the better)
What is the course?
What are the key benefits from gaining and having this knowledge?
What can your customer expect to learn or gain?
What’s in the course? (videos, workbooks, etc.)
What sort of guarantee do you have or can you create? (guarantees remove an obstacle around buying)
Frequently Asked Questions

Day 6: Plan your Launch Strategy, Webinars and all…

Your launch strategy is where you get to market the s*#$ out of your course. This means getting in front of as many qualified, targeted people as quickly as possible. And repeating over and over again (because repetition just plain helps).

Plan a “pre-launch” strategy a month ahead.

Show behind-the-scenes content for leading up to building this epic course you have in mind. Write blog articles surrounding the topic of your product. Write guest articles for other publications, and blogs etc. that have access to the audience you’re looking to attract.

Make a “free offer” and funnel people into your email list that are interested in your course. Make the offer relevant, and probably introductory to your course offering. This can even be something small that’s already in the course, or that you’ve already made. Just make sure it’s relevant to the product.

Get yourself on podcasts, blab-casts, and co-host webinars to get more exposure.

Additionally, write email marketing ready to go out to your list to advertise the webinar and all the epic value you’re about to dish out for free! Three to four emails is a good rule of thumb. Send one the week before, day before, day of, and 60 minutes before you begin.

Day 7: Plan Your Webinar Content

Pick your webinar platform and go for it! Of course, there is GotoWebinar, and Zoom (I love Zoom, personally).

Then there’s the social media—Blab. If you can draw an audience, go for the private software. Don’t think you can get 200 people in a room? Then shoot over to Blab. Natively, there are people in there all the time that will naturally jump into your webinar and you’ll gain exposure as a result.

Now, plan your webinar content. Plan to give away about 45 minutes of amazing, valuable content. Leave 15-20 minutes at the end of your webinar for your pitch. This is where you get to come from the heart and explain the value you bring with your course.

Describe the benefits, and the lifestyle that you’re selling in association with your course.

What does this new life look like!? The one where they have your course, implemented and are achieving the end result. Show them what it looks like.

Remember in your pitch to make the price of what you’re offering relatable. For example, if you’re offering a $47 course, tell your audience that they could have the course for less than a tank of gas, or less than a night out this weekend.

Additionally, think about what bonuses you can offer during the webinar. If you can manage making a few—you’ll want one bonus to offer during the webinar for anyone that signs up live. Then you’ll want to create another awesome bonus to offer for 48 hours or so for the people that sign up within that time frame. Sync your email marketing up with this offer too!

Well, that’s a wrap! Test, tweak and learn along the way. There are a ton of moving parts during a launch. Most of all, tell yourself you can handle it, take a deep breath and tackle it one day at a time. Oh, and if you want a run through of a product pre-launch checklist to keep you on track… you can download one free, here.