Will They Really Pay for That? How to Know if You Should Launch a Digital Course

Back in the day, we were not, as you say, “flush with cash.”

I was trying to grow my public relations firm with no funding. And what I had been doing wasn’t working.

I knew I needed to find a way to fund my marketing and operations that would be consistent. Even better yet, one that wouldn’t require me to work around the clock.

I was dreaming of the proverbial “make money while you sleep” concept. And one that could maybe even help attract better paying clients on the back end.

I had been investing in online courses for some time. These programs had helped me improve my operations, increase lead flow and make my website more effective. I had also bought programs that helped me in other aspects of my life such as fitness, being a mom, and decorating our home.

I knew how much these systems had helped me and I wanted to be able to help others in the same way.

But would people really pay for something I knew?

I got to brainstorming using these questions, the same ones I take our students through to this day…

• What topics am I asked for advice on?
• When someone asks to “pick my brain,” what subject is the meeting about?
• What industry are the people in who are asking?
• Does this industry have the funds to afford a digital course?
• Can I promote to this industry?
• Do I understand this industry?
• Can my topic help them save time and/or money?

Going through this list, I realized that I had been answering questions and giving advice on how to generate leads on social media over and over again. I had in fact been giving this advice out for free… could I really start charging for it?

I remembered something my early mentor Dan Kennedy said…

“When people pay, they pay attention.”

I knew that to be true.

If I get a free pass to the gym, I am unlikely to go. But if I pay for a class, I am certainly showing up. Same for a free training I watch online versus a course I purchase… what I invest in, I take much more seriously and utilize.

So I started simple, just teaching others how to generate leads using Facebook in a free webinar, and then I offered them a course to learn more.

I emailed my tiny list and prayed.

97 people in total registered, 32 showed up for the webcast and 7 bought. That meant, I made $7,000 in sales!

What?!

At that time, making $7,000 would have required me to provide PR Services for 7 different accounts and hours of work.

And that was just the beginning. I kept selling that same course—FB Profit Power—on auto-pilot for years while I ran my agency. And quickly it not only paid for all of our marketing, it started producing an extra $5,000 a month in sales. Enough for us to cover all of our operating expenses for my part-time assistant and our office rent.

Through that initial course I discovered the different topics my audience wanted to cover and was able to create new courses quickly now that I had the formula down. Eventually, my courses ended up bringing in more income than the consulting services.

And I discovered I loved coaching more than anything I had ever done before.

This eventually led to me selling my agency and having the privilege of growing Powerful Professionals Business Coaching into what it is today.

It Isn’t Just Me

Thankfully, my story isn’t unique. Here are stories from a few of our students:

Russell Strickland went through the process of getting his own Doctoral Degree and through that process figured out a quicker way to get it done. He developed a one-on-one coaching program for other Doctoral Students and has grown that business over some time. But this required his time to make money. Now he’s launched a digital course to sell the process and his first time out, he sold 3 courses, then 5, then 7… and generated over 5 figures in revenue in the first 90 days. As a bonus, his course has brought him even more one-on-one clients, increasing his company’s revenue in that way as well.

 

Mike Ski was a Private Investigator working for someone else, until he got the gift many of us entrepreneurs get… he got fired. He started his own firm working with the brands he loves and developed a way to get to work with virtually any company he wants. Time and time again, other PIs were asking him how he grew his business. In order to help more of them at a time, he decided to launch a digital course. Not only has he sold multiple courses (one time he only had 4 people on the webinar, and sold 2 of them… this guy can close!) but he just launched his first in-person live event for PIs and sold tickets simply by doing a free Facebook Live!

Magda Casteñeda was a nurse who was tired of seeing patients come in for Kidney Dialysis treatment, a symptom of Type Two Diabetes that had gone untreated. She wanted to get in front of the problem and help Latina women escape their dependence on sugar. Magda set off on her own health journey, losing 34 pounds and documenting her success. She then invited friends and family to take a free challenge to get off sugar, then invited those in the challenge to join her membership. Right away, she got 9 women into a coaching group, without spending any money on advertising. And that’s just the beginning! Since then, she’s grown her private Facebook Group by hundreds each week and it just keeps growing and growing. She’s changed her life and gets to see her students’ lives changing every day.

Donna Crenshaw started off helping her daughter Melissa get sponsors for a conference. Melissa teaches bloggers how to monetize their sites. Donna was so successful getting Melissa sponsored by big brands for the event that others started asking her if she would do it for them. Her book of business quickly grew to more than what one person could managed so she figured she could either say “no” to increased business or teach others how they could get paid to garner brand sponsorship for others. She launched a course and sold it right away without having to spend a penny on ads. She now has help for her private clients and is making passive income!

Sometimes from our mess, we get our message.

After spending years teaching martial arts and self-defense classes, Tristan Truscott’s back could take no more. For close to 5 years he was barely able to walk and even after trying many alternative therapies and a $90K surgery, his back didn’t improve.

While they had met earlier and become friends, Sabrina and Tristan become closer during this time, as partners in business, life and love.

They sought out other ways to bring Tristan healing, and discovered mind-body-energy work Tristan could do, that would not only bring pain relief but improvement. Tristan calls it his Mind-Body-Magic process. He was able to recover fully and be back to where he was decades ago.

Wanting to help others the way he was helped, Tristan and Sabrina began developing healing programs to teach others to heal from chronic pain. They started with Qigong courses, joint mobility, and meditations for overall wellness but recently created a program specifically for Back Pain!

With a heart to serve as many as possible, they launched their new course, Your Happy Healthy Back,for only $97 (Early-bird pre-sell price).

They sold the program before it was filmed—since people knew the results they got from other programs and were anxious for more.

They increased the price over time to $127 and then to $297.

203 people enrolled right away.

Not only are Sabrina and Tristan saving lives but they have generated $22,381 in revenue.

And they haven’t even really launched it yet!

Scott Whitaker was in charge of growing the membership of one of the largest membership organizations in the world. He helped lead the organization to go from 72 members to over 3,127.

He kept track of the questions he was often asked about member growth and retention and created a course to help other membership organizations multiply. Since launching, he has served 4,312 people and generated $501,617. A highlight for him was taking his wife and two daughters on a first-class trip to NYC to celebrate hitting his sales goals.

Not only is he helping membership groups grow, he is getting to enjoy the success of his new venture with his family because he finally has the time to do it.

Want to know if you should launch your own digital course? Take the Six-Figure Course Quiz at http://sixfigurecoursequiz.com