So you’re on your way and you’re creating a new learning offer. Now’s the perfect time to prepare for your course launch. Don’t wait until you’re ready to enroll people before planning your launch.

I’ve made this mistake, and I’ve regretted it. Your course launch is your runway. Devote enough time and effort to give yourself a strong launchpad.

For a successful course launch, you need a fairly significant time: anywhere from 60 days to 90 days. During this time, you need to nurture your audience, show up for them, find out what they want, and identify what they need.

Here’s the process I use to prepare for a course launch. This area isn’t my favorite and it's not my strongest area, but it's essential.

A quick note: this process is focused on course creators who are selling direct to consumers. The process for selling to companies or other businesses is a bit different. That launch process involves building relationships with corporate clients, sometimes even creating custom courses for them. That’s not the topic here.

Why should you pre-sell your course?

Part of your course launch strategy should be pre-selling your course. This helps validate that people want what you’re offering. You can get people on a waitlist by convincing them of the benefits that your course will provide.

Sometimes a small group of early pre-sold learners can become a pilot group. Instead of developing a final version of your course right away, you can pilot your course in a live version with a pilot cohort. This early launch can be more affordable for your learners and more affordable for you. It gives you a chance to test out your learning exercise and refine your course before you develop your final product.

How do you create a custom launch strategy?

A custom launch strategy has six key parts:

• Goals: What are your goals for the launch? What outcome would make this launch successful?
• Strategies: How are you going to launch? Will you do live streams? Will you have a giveaway? Will you do a combination of multiple strategies?
• Offer: What are you offering for your audience? The sales strategy and product creation process run parallel to each other. Develop your sales strategy as you develop your offer.
• Expenses: What will make your course launch profitable?
• Dates: When will you launch? Giving yourself a timeline can be intimidating, but it’s essential for keeping yourself accountable to follow through on your learning offer.
• Marketing: How will you market your learning product? What’s your marketing style? How can you market your work in a way that fits you?

As you lay out each of these key parts, evaluate where you are now and what you need to do to get to where you want to be.

After I have a launch plan, I move on to clarifying my learner from my buyer — the topic of the next blog post in our series on creating learning offers.

Watch the Linkedin live stream or catch the replay for a link to a downloadable worksheet with specific questions, structures, and prompts to help you create your learning offer.

Feeling a little uncertain?

I can help you create amazing learning experiences that get results. For more information, book a discovery call. I’ll help you break through your plateau and boost your learning experiences, coaching programs, and digital learning offers.

I’d love to hear from you, connect on LinkedIn, Instagram, or email [email protected]

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