How to Successfully Start an Online Course or Membership Business
There’s a lot to learn when you’re just getting started in setting up your online course business.
From creating your website and lead magnet, starting your email list, setting up and posting on your social media accounts, to building your online course, it can be overwhelming and confusing.
You don’t know where to start or focus your efforts.
I’m going to walk you through the EXACT steps you should follow to launch your online course business to avoid a ton of mistakes along the way.
Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you sign up for one of the tools I talk about.
Start an Online Course or Membership Business
You may think that in order to start your online course or membership business you first need to create your program.
Wrong.
An online course or membership is a product. It’s what you sell. It’s NOT your online course business. In fact, an online course business is only 10% product creation and 90% marketing.
There much more you need to do before you start creating your first online course.
The first step is putting a stake in the ground and figuring out who you want to serve and how you can help them.
This is THE hardest thing for entrepreneurs to figure out when they’re just getting started. In fact, I’ve started working with clients who before working with me, spent years spinning their wheels and getting nowhere because they couldn’t figure this out.
If this is where you’ve been struggling, It’s completely normal.
Determine Who You Serve and How You Help Them
There is a simple exercise you can do to figure this out.
But I want you to remember this.
Even if you decide who you want to serve and how you will help them, it doesn’t mean that you can’t pivot at any point in the future.
In fact, I’m willing to bet you will pivot in your online course business several times over the next few years.
And I’m here to tell you that’s ok!
Now is the time to put a stake in the ground and determine who you will help and how you will help them.
Most online course creators have a burning desire to help others. They are teachers at heart.
They have a skill set that can help solve a real problem in the marketplace. Whether it is teaching others how to become a goat farmer or how-to code, you want to meet a need and help others at the same time.
Consider your motivation for starting your online course business. Many people have this misconception that an online course business is easy money. They’ve heard the term passive income thrown around.
An online course business is anything but easy money. Yes, you can make money on autopilot and while you’re on vacation, but you’ll have to invest blood, sweat and tears into your business.
An online course business is a marketing machine and it takes time to grow an online business just like it takes time to grow a brick and mortar business.
If your sole motivation for starting your online course business is easy money, STOP HERE.
Figuring out who you will help and how you will help them is an evolving process.
Even if you’re not 100% sure on what exactly you want to do, put a stake in the ground and move forward.
Clarity comes from action.
Once you build your audience and talk with your potential clients and customers, it’ll become clear on how you can help them.
“Choosing the wrong niche is better than choosing no niche at all.”
– James Wedmore
You may also be worried that what you teach is already being taught by other online course creators.
Then, I would say GOOD! Competition validates demand.
There are many different clothing brands in the market, tons of fast food restaurants, many different vendors of online course platforms and video conferencing apps.
You will bring your own personal touch to your business and course.
Let me walk you through this exercise.
Step 1: Uncover your business ideas (based on your passions, skills, and achievements)
Think about what aspects of your current work or personal life where you could help people.
Anything goes here! Grab a piece of paper and list any skill set or achievement that you’ve developed in school, work, or your personal life.
If you’re stuck, think about what have you accomplished in your life? What do you enjoy doing? What are you passionate about? What doesn’t feel like work? What do people ask you to help them with?
If you’re anything like me, this is probably a huge list. See my list below. As you can see, under achievements, I’ve listed things like my management experience, work experience and what I’ve accomplished in my personal life.
For my skills, I’ve listed things like my marketing and leadership skills, time and productivity management skills.
To come up with this list, I reviewed my resume and thought about the various work and volunteer positions I’ve had over the years. You can also think about your hobbies and where you spend the majority of your free time doing what you love.
Here’s the list that I came up with:
Next, I want you to categorize these into possible business ideas.
For instance, from my list, I came up with four possible business ideas based on my skills, achievements and what I love doing. I’ve highlighted the one which I’m most interested in pursuing.
And I’ll let you in on a little secret.
I’ve came close to starting all of these businesses and may explore some of them in the future!
But, at this point, I’ve decided to pick one and focus my efforts so I’m not spread too thin.
Next, we’ll get specific in narrowing down your niche.
Step 2: Identify your perfect customer
In the next step, we’ll identify your perfect customer so you can speak directly to them.
For your top business idea, what does your perfect customer look like?
You will get very specific and identify one ideal customer for your course. Big Hint: it’s not everyone and it’s not general. It’s not just a stay-at-home mom or an entrepreneur.
You may be wondering….why is this important? Or you may be concerned that if you get too specific, your niche will be too narrowed and you’ll lose out on business.
When you’re specific about who you want to help, then that allows you to speak directly to that person.
Have you ever read something and thought….wow that sounds exactly like me? It’s because they’re speaking directly to one customer and not trying to be all things to all people.
“When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.”
~Meredith Hill
Think about income, age, what web sites they visit, what are their pain points, fears, frustrations, dreams and desires.
Consider the following:
Age range
Gender
Where do they live?
Marital status
Education level
What do they do for work?
Where do they go for information?
What influencers do they follow?
What are their dreams and desires?
What are their pain points and frustrations?
What transformation do they want?
Would or can they pay money to fix their issue?
What keeps them up at night?
What is their role in the purchase decision?
What objections may have they?
Step 3: Conduct research TO UNDERSTAND your perfect customer
Now that you have some basic information about your perfect customer, it’s time to conduct some research.
If you can, interview individuals who are your perfect customer. This can be done via an online survey or a phone interview. Another option is to find an online community like a Facebook group where your ideal customer hangs out and ask for feedback in that forum.
You will want to tailor the questions for your ideal customer, but here are some to get your creative juices flowing:
What frustrates you about (insert the problem you are solving)?
Have you ever paid to solve this problem?
How much is it worth to you to get this problem resolved?
What do you think could be improved about x?
How would you feel if this was solved for you?
What type of pain does this cause you?
How much would you pay to solve this problem? (Hint: It’s important to confirm that your ideal customer will pay money for your online course).
The biggest ah-ha moment that you are trying to get out of this exercise is your ideal customer’s pain point. Their migraine. You want to know what her problems are so you can figure out how to solve them.
CRAFT YOUR UNIQUE SELLING POSITION
After you’ve determined who you want to help and how you will help them, the next step is crafting your unique selling position.
What do you offer that others in your field do not? This allows you to stand apart from the competition and focus on creating courses and offers that your perfect customer needs.
“Instead of working so hard to prove the skeptics wrong, it makes a lot more sense to delight the true believers. They deserve it, after all, and they’re the ones that are going to spread the word for you.”
~Seth Godin
It has been said if you cannot summarize what sets you apart in a few sentences, then you are not unique in your market.
I’ll give you a specific example from my business.
I have a Facebook and Instagram Ads course. Now, there are a lot of these courses in the market and many of them are fairly general.
However, my course is strictly focused on helping online course creators sell their online course. Not only that, my unique selling position is that I help them not only fill up their funnel (with leads), but I guide them through how to convert these leads to paying customers.
TIP: The more specific you are in your unique selling position, the more your course will appeal to your ideal customer.
You may be asking, how can I make my online course business unique in a crowded market. Consider these options:
Provide exceptional support (beyond just a private Facebook group).
Limit access to X number of people which promotes exclusivity.
Give VIP touch points such as bundled in 1:1 coaching.
Risk free guarantee with no “homework” required.
“You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be something to someone.”
~Andrew Davis
PICK THE PERFECT BUSINESS NAME
By now, you have the idea for your online course business, an outline of your ideal customer, and how you will differentiate yourself in the marketplace.
You may be asking yourself, should I name the business my own personal name or something else?
This is an important decision because it drives your social media account name, setting up your LLC or corporation, and buying a domain name for your website.
Here is some food for thought.
Many experts, including online course creators will name their business their own personal name and there are many advantages to this.
It allows you to pivot over the years. You can add services and products easily including coaching, additional courses, and speaking engagements.
Here’s a fun video that covers this topic in detail.
Now that you’ve defined your niche and who you’ll serve, crafted your unique selling position and named your online course business, let’s talk about the next step.
BUILDING YOUR AUDIENCE
You still aren’t ready to create your online course.
Why?
Because you don’t have anyone to sell to.
You need to build an audience and there are several ways to do this.
Start a Facebook group
Set up your social media accounts like your Facebook page and Instagram
Set up your website or a simple landing page
Start a podcast or blog
Set up your email marketing
Here’s a pop quiz for you. Out of all of the options above which is the most important? AKA where should you start?
Hint: It’s not starting a Facebook group or even setting up your social media accounts. I don’t even want you building an expensive website right now or starting a blog or podcast.
What important and the ONE thing you should focus on to build your audience?
Setting up a simple landing page where you can capture email addresses.
It’s that simple.
To do this, you need a lead magnet (your free gift), a landing page builder, and an email service provider.
Let’s start with creating your lead magnet.
EXAMPLES OF LEAD MAGNETS FOR YOUR ONLINE COURSE
Simply put, a lead magnet is a valuable piece of content that you give to your audience for free in exchange for their name and email address.
Your goal is to build your email list. At some point in the future, you may have more than one lead magnet (sometimes referred to as opt ins.) For example, when you go to someone’s blog post, they may have a special opt in for that blog post that is different from their main lead magnet on the front page of their website.
In exchange for your free gift, you’ll collect their email address.
Your call to action on your social media accounts will be to your landing page with your free gift.
If you post in a Facebook group on a promotional day, you’ll offer up your free gift. Eventually, you’ll run Facebook ads to get sign ups for your free gift.
The goal is for you to start building your email list so you can interact with your audience to understand how you can help them.
Your free gift should align with your future online course.
Keep in mind that you will most likely not hit the nail on the head in the beginning. You may test out several different lead magnets before you find one that is PERFECT for your audience and your online course.
And this is ok.
Now, let’s talk about what makes a good lead magnet for your online course.
First, you want your lead magnet to be specific and related to your future online course demonstrating your expertise. The lead magnet will begin to take your prospect on the buyer’s journey to show them that YOU can help them solve their problem.
Be sure that you’re delivering the free gift right away. This provides immediate gratification and when it’s not sent immediately people forget what they signed up for.
A Lead Magnet That’s Worthy of a Facebook Ad
But I don’t want you to create just any lead magnet. I want you to create a lead magnet that’s worthy of a Facebook ad.
There’s a difference between a low value lead magnet and one that delivers true value to the end user.
Consider this…how many lead magnets have you signed up for in the past and didn’t even download them?
I’m also a big fan of lead magnets that require the end user to invest their most valuable asset - their time.
When someone is willing to invest time that means that they are truly interested in what you have to offer and are willing to commit to solve their problem.
These are what I call future students. They are NOT freebie seekers. They are action takers.
Freebie seekers are people who are just looking for free stuff. They aren’t the ones who’ll buy your future course.
If you want to stay away from freebie seekers, consider a lead magnet that’s much more than a simple cheat sheet or checklist. Or you can include a video training to go along with your cheat sheet or checklist. Examples include:
Quiz
Ultimate guides with video
Email course with video or audio training
5-day email challenge or video series
Mini-workshop series
Mini-course
Spreadsheets/calculators with video training
Toolkits with training videos
Swipe Files with training videos
Templates with video training
Planners with video training
Audio Training
Here are a few examples of lead magnets that I have in my online course business:
Quiz example:
If you’re still stuck, go through these steps:
FIRST…research your industry/competitors. What are they using? (HINT: you aren’t going to copy but use this for inspiration and guidance).
Then, look at examples outside of your industry.
Pay attention to Facebook and Instagram ads. What are others using for lead magnets to grow their email list?
Sign up for email lists. What does their lead magnet look like?
Then ask yourself:
What are the top questions you’re asked by your ideal customer?
What are your ideal customer’s biggest pain points (their migraine)? What do they want to accomplish? How can you help them get there?
What content could you provide that would knock their socks off? (and they would say, I can’t believe this is FREE stuff!)
Just know that you’ll likely change lead magnets along the way the better you get to know your ideal customer and what they need help with.
Just get started because clarity comes with action.
Now that you have your lead magnet that’s worthy of a Facebook ad, let’s move onto creating your landing page.
THE LANDING PAGE FOR YOUR LEAD MAGNET
This is the website that your prospects will to go to sign up for your lead magnet.
I highly recommend that you use a landing page builder for your lead magnet. These pages have been proven to convert and the last thing you want to happen is to spend money and time driving traffic to your landing page and have people leave without signing up.
There are many different landing page builders in the market including Leadpages, Instapage, Unbounce, and Get Response. In addition, most email service providers like ConvertKit have built in landing pages that you can use.
Some online course platforms are all-in-one platforms like Kajabi. This means that you can host your online course and website on Kajabi. It also handles email, landing pages for your online course sales funnels, and payment for your online course.
In addition, you can have your community hosted in Kajabi rather than Facebook and they offer an app for your online course.
The downside of using Kajabi is that it’s a little pricey for someone who’s just starting out, but you can save money long term and won’t have the hassle of integrating various systems later down the road.
Kajabi offers top notch customer support so if you ever run into any issue or need assistance, they’re there for you. Click below for your free trial.
A few things to remember with your landing page.
Your call to action should be in first person. For example, sign me up, I want this, or send to me now!
Don’t forget to include a link (at the bottom) to your privacy policy on your landing page.
Only ask for information that you need like their email address and first name. You don’t need their last name, telephone number or anything else for your email list.
Here’s an example of a landing page that was created using the page builder in Kajabi for a 5-day challenge.
After someone registers for your lead magnet you will direct them to your thank you page. This is a simple page that says thank you for signing up and to go check their email for their free gift.
Later, you can transform this simple thank you page into a tripwire digital offer to turn your subscribers into instant customers.
SET UP YOUR EMAIL NURTURE SEQUENCE
Once your new subscriber is on your email list, the first email you send them will contain their free gift.
Then, you’ll begin your email nurture sequence. This is also known as a welcome sequence, but the goal is simple. You want to start building the know, like and trust factor with your new email subscriber.
It’s also the perfect opportunity for you to interact with your audience and ask them questions.
Your email welcome sequence can be one to two weeks in length. I generally recommend between 5 and 7 emails for your nurture sequence.
You will set this up in your email system so the emails are sent automatically allowing you to scale.
When you’re just starting out without an online course to sell (and you’re still trying to learn more about your audience) your email sequence will look like this:
Email Sequence for a New Online Business
Email #1
Introduction + Lead Magnet Delivery. Send out immediately. In this email, you will introduce yourself, celebrate them signing up and send their free gift so they can take immediate action. End the email by letting them know what to expect next.
Email #2
Provide value and another quick win. Send out on Day 2. In this email, provide additional value and give them another quick win. You can also refer back to your lead magnet to help encourage them to take action.
Email #3
Ask a question. Send out 2 days later. Ask them to respond back and answer a question. This is your opportunity to get to know your audience and what they may be struggling with.
Email #4
How would you feel if your life looked like [fill in the blank]? Send out 2 days later. In this email, you should talk about their future state (after their problem is solved). Describe how life would feel and look like if only their problem was solved.
Email #5
Encourage a call-to-action. Send out 2 days later. In this email, ask them to take action. This could be setting up a discovery call with you, booking a service or follow you on social media.
Once you create your online course, you will modify this email sequence to invite your prospect to a recorded training where you’ll promote your online course or send them directly to a sales page.
TEST YOUR SALES FUNNEL
Noticed I said sales funnel here? While you don’t have anything to sell (yet), congratulations, you’ve just set up a basic online course sales funnel!
I want you to test it before it goes live. Enroll just like your ideal customer would sign up for your lead magnet and make sure everything is working correctly and all of your emails are published and ready to go.
PROMOTE YOUR FREE GIFT
Now the fun begins! Start promoting your free gift everywhere.
Promote it on all of your social media accounts and in Facebook groups on promo days.
Your goal is to get sign ups to your email list.
Now, you’re all set with your landing page and a way to capture email addresses and interact with your audience.
Want to find out what’s next? Go to: Launch Your Online Course Business (in 30 days or less) part 2.
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