Transcript
[00:00] let’s talk about how to sell your online
[00:01] course in 2025 with zero audience so the
[00:05] best way to sell an online course when
[00:07] you have no audience in 2025 requires
[00:10] just a little bit of setup I’m always
[00:12] amazed at how this simple process really
[00:15] works you definitely need to make sure
[00:17] you have a few things in place I’m going
[00:18] to cover them briefly first but I’m
[00:20] going to also include links below to
[00:22] other helpful videos that do a little
[00:24] bit of a deeper dive and if you could go
[00:26] ahead and smash that subscribe button
[00:28] that’s a really simple way for you to
[00:30] support me so I can create more helpful
[00:32] videos for you and if we haven’t met
[00:34] before my name is Sarah Turner I’m an
[00:36] online course creator and expert
[00:38] marketer I have been in the industry for
[00:40] over 10 years and teaching for the last
[00:43] six my first program went on to be a
[00:45] multi-million dollar business generating
[00:46] over 25 million in sales in just 5 years
[00:50] and it was named number 24 on the Inc
[00:52] 5000 list in education for the impact
[00:54] that it has my online course has not
[00:56] only transformed my students lives it
[00:58] has also transformed my life which is
[01:00] why I’m so passionate about helping
[01:02] other course creators my online course
[01:04] helped me get recognized by the biggest
[01:05] name in my industry and it also allowed
[01:07] me to be published much faster than I
[01:09] ever could have imagined I really don’t
[01:11] say all this to brag I just want you to
[01:13] know just how powerful it is and so if
[01:15] you are thinking about creating an
[01:16] online course I want to help you get
[01:18] started so that you can also experience
[01:21] the power that comes from digital
[01:23] products so a really important thing to
[01:25] understand if you have zero audience is
[01:27] that is where most people start most
[01:29] people people do not start with an
[01:31] audience if you happen to have an
[01:32] audience that’s pretty amazing so one
[01:34] thing I am going to assume before we get
[01:36] going is that the very least you have a
[01:39] course idea that you have kind of
[01:41] figured out might be profitable if you
[01:43] have not already gone through the
[01:45] process of identifying your ICA or your
[01:47] ideal customer Avatar identifying a
[01:50] topic and a transformation I would love
[01:52] for you to check out some of the videos
[01:53] I’ve Linked In My description below
[01:55] because I’m going to assume that you
[01:56] have at the very least an idea your AA
[01:59] your ideal customer Avatar your
[02:01] transformation statement outlined and a
[02:04] general idea of your program now you
[02:07] actually don’t have to have your full
[02:08] program up and running to do what I’m
[02:11] about to share with you in fact I’d
[02:13] recommend that you have the structure of
[02:15] it or the basic idea and you use
[02:17] everything I’m about to outline in order
[02:19] to truly validate it now you should be
[02:22] doing some market research beforehand
[02:24] but you want to be able to validate it
[02:26] before you actually dump money into ads
[02:28] or go all in on a top a funnel strategy
[02:31] which would be the main way people find
[02:32] you I.E social media YouTube organic all
[02:36] different kinds of ways right to grow
[02:38] that audience eventually but right now
[02:40] we have no audience but I am assuming
[02:41] that you have some of the things I just
[02:43] outlined and again if you don’t that’s
[02:45] okay I’ve linked some videos below that
[02:47] will help you get up and running now
[02:49] with that assumption let’s talk about
[02:52] what you’re going to do if you have no
[02:53] audience and you are in the beginning
[02:55] stages of having a course what you’re
[02:56] essentially going to do is run what we
[02:58] call a beta test now now a beta test is
[03:01] not necessary or doesn’t really need to
[03:03] be a beta test if for example you are a
[03:05] service provider that provides one:1
[03:08] services like maybe for example you’re a
[03:10] therapist and you have already validated
[03:12] this idea if you’ve already validated
[03:14] this idea because you have onetoone
[03:16] clients and you’re just looking to bring
[03:18] on new people to a digital product like
[03:21] an online course then you probably don’t
[03:23] need to run this at as a beta test
[03:25] however you will still use this process
[03:27] very similarly now the difference
[03:29] between between a beta test is that
[03:30] you’re really validating the idea and
[03:32] refining it and the difference between
[03:34] not needing to do that and doing that is
[03:36] that you’ve already validated it through
[03:37] again those onetoone services so I hope
[03:39] we made that really clear but for the
[03:41] sake of this conversation I’m going to
[03:43] call this a beta test right because it’s
[03:44] how you’re going to bring in your first
[03:46] few clients when you have zero audience
[03:48] right to your digital product and I will
[03:50] say if you have validated your idea with
[03:52] onetoone services for example this is
[03:55] still a good idea to gain insight and
[03:58] refine your idea because there will be
[04:00] some subtle changes that you’ll make in
[04:02] a digital product so it really succeeds
[04:04] on its own without your onetoone input
[04:07] and support right so again for the sake
[04:10] of this conversation we’re just going to
[04:11] call it a beta test and the reason all
[04:13] of this is so important is because this
[04:15] is how you’re going to get your program
[04:18] into the hands of people and start
[04:19] creating that ripple effect where they
[04:21] start telling people about it they start
[04:23] getting those Transformations being
[04:25] excited you start growing your social
[04:27] proof which is going to strengthen
[04:29] everything that’s how you build momentum
[04:32] the key things here is that remembering
[04:34] you don’t need an audience to start you
[04:37] want to keep things simple and
[04:39] structured and clear you want to focus
[04:41] on the transformation and not the
[04:43] content of the program and you’re going
[04:45] to use the feedback that you gain to
[04:47] refine your offer and your marketing
[04:49] messaging now let’s talk about the
[04:51] benefits of doing this process because
[04:52] it is really powerful first like I
[04:55] mentioned you are going to attract those
[04:57] early adopters who are often going to be
[05:00] your biggest student successes and
[05:01] they’re going to be your cheerleaders
[05:02] which brings me to my next point which
[05:04] is this is going to help you build
[05:06] confidence and inspiration and
[05:09] motivation which is so so important in
[05:11] this process the other benefit is that
[05:13] you are going to start prioritizing
[05:15] quick action over Perfection you are
[05:18] going to be honest and telling people
[05:20] all along the way what you’re about what
[05:22] you’re going to help them achieve how
[05:24] you’ve done it in the past or how you’re
[05:26] attempting to do it now and that is
[05:28] going to mean that you are going to have
[05:29] to put push back against Perfection
[05:31] which is essential in this entire
[05:33] process of being a course creator you’re
[05:35] also going to embrace iterative learning
[05:37] which means you are realizing that there
[05:39] are going to be many different
[05:41] iterations of your program over time
[05:43] because you are going to be taking
[05:45] everything that you learn and constantly
[05:46] refining it okay so where are we going
[05:49] to start first first you want to set
[05:51] some goals for bringing on these people
[05:53] you want to test your content’s
[05:54] Effectiveness you want to understand
[05:56] your ideal customer Avatar better you
[05:59] want to identify ify any learning gaps
[06:01] in your current curriculum you want to
[06:03] build an efficient learning experience
[06:05] and you’re going to build initial demand
[06:07] and anticipation for when you launch
[06:10] again because we are going to set this
[06:11] up as a one-time launch that will help
[06:14] with scarcity and urgency it will also
[06:17] allow you to focus your time energy and
[06:19] attention on the people in the program I
[06:22] really love launches when people are
[06:23] first starting out because that gives
[06:25] you time where you’re focusing on
[06:26] marketing and time where you’re focusing
[06:28] on deliverability and execution the next
[06:31] thing you want to focus on is your
[06:32] offers transformation and I did touch on
[06:34] this before and I have a video that goes
[06:36] way deeper into it but before we dig in
[06:38] let’s just talk about what change will
[06:40] your students experience what will they
[06:42] be able to do after taking your program
[06:44] that they can’t do now or what problem
[06:46] does it solve go ahead and answer those
[06:48] questions quickly everything you’re
[06:50] going to put out about your program
[06:52] should be focused around this
[06:53] transformation I cannot emphasize this
[06:55] enough the other thing you want to make
[06:56] sure is that you have identified your
[06:58] ideal customer Avatar again I have a
[07:01] video that goes deeper but make sure you
[07:03] are being specific so you want to make
[07:05] sure that whoever you bring on is truly
[07:08] invested in actually achieving this
[07:10] transformation that means do not ask
[07:12] your sister do not ask your mom do not
[07:14] ask your cooworker what you want to do
[07:16] is make sure that you’re putting out
[07:18] information about the transformation
[07:20] that they will achieve and you are truly
[07:21] attracting people who are invested and
[07:24] actually making this happen for them and
[07:26] the reason for that is because you want
[07:28] honest feedback so that you can get
[07:30] better and stronger you want to make
[07:32] sure that this is actually a helpful
[07:35] process and you want to make sure that
[07:36] they actually show up and do the work
[07:38] because if you have people come into
[07:39] your program and they don’t do the work
[07:41] then you’re not learning they’re not
[07:42] winning and it’s just not a win-win for
[07:45] anybody the other thing I want you to do
[07:46] is you should set a limited time and
[07:48] access so specifically make it small and
[07:51] structured my favorite time period for a
[07:54] program is 90 days that’s because 90
[07:57] days is a period of time where people
[07:59] can actually achieve something really
[08:01] impactful but it’s not so long that they
[08:04] start to fizzle out on motivation and
[08:06] inspiration now if your transformation
[08:08] does not require 90 days that’s okay
[08:11] that’s even better shorter is better but
[08:13] I would strongly recommend to ask
[08:14] yourself what can you do to make the
[08:16] iteration of this particular program fit
[08:19] within 90 days because remember it can
[08:22] always get a little bit bigger and beier
[08:24] later on but also I’ve tested a lot with
[08:27] my own programs and with other students
[08:29] programs on the duration of a program
[08:32] and past the 90day mark people start to
[08:35] really fizzle out in motivation
[08:37] especially if they’re not already seeing
[08:38] some pretty significant wins you also
[08:40] want to do this to protect your time and
[08:43] ideally you’re having people come in as
[08:45] a paid participant because they will
[08:47] value their experience more they’ll show
[08:49] up more they’ll have skin in the game I
[08:52] promise you offering this to people free
[08:54] initially is not the best way to do it
[08:57] however if you have to do it it is okay
[08:59] but I would strongly encourage you to
[09:01] actually charge for your first programs
[09:05] I would also limit on the amount of
[09:06] people that you accept in this is going
[09:09] to help keep you focused make sure you
[09:11] have enough energy and time to devote to
[09:13] everyone but it’s also going to ensure
[09:16] that there’s a little bit of scarcity
[09:17] involved it’s going to make it feel more
[09:18] exclusive people are going to be more
[09:20] excited about jumping in on this
[09:22] opportunity the next thing we need to
[09:24] talk about briefly is the course content
[09:25] and delivery I recommend that you teach
[09:28] it live obviously have an outline and
[09:30] some structure to it but this will mean
[09:32] that you don’t have to do a ton of work
[09:33] on the front end this will allow you to
[09:35] teach live and also it’ll allow you to
[09:37] learn from the people who are actually
[09:39] taking it making that next iteration
[09:42] even better now some tips for this use a
[09:44] loose outline only focus on the
[09:46] essential stuff for this iteration and
[09:50] keep the tech simple you probably only
[09:52] need Google Docs Zoom to host meetings
[09:55] and record things and maybe a Facebook
[09:57] group to have an initial Community
[09:59] that’s totally free one of the things I
[10:01] also really love about Facebook groups
[10:02] for your first iteration of your course
[10:04] is that it also pulls people in when
[10:07] they see it when they’re pop it on
[10:08] Facebook to mindlessly scroll so that is
[10:11] a really great place to start another
[10:13] thing I want to make sure you don’t
[10:14] overlook is that whatever you do you
[10:16] want to make sure you set clear
[10:18] expectations try to anticipate the
[10:20] boundaries you need to set beforehand
[10:22] let these people know where you’re at in
[10:24] your course creation journey be honest
[10:26] be upfront say this is the first
[10:28] iteration you want to get in on it
[10:31] because this is the most affordable it’s
[10:32] ever going to be let them know that they
[10:34] will be informing the process let them
[10:36] know that there will be changes and
[10:38] adjustments along the way probably and
[10:41] definitely after and remind them that
[10:42] their feedback is essential to improving
[10:45] the experience people really love to get
[10:48] in as a founding member and to be a part
[10:50] of the creation process and a pro tip
[10:53] here is that you get to frame this as an
[10:55] exclusive opportunity again this is
[10:58] something that people Absol absolutely
[10:59] love to be a part of they love getting
[11:02] in at the beginning of something where
[11:03] they feel like they’re getting
[11:04] tremendous value for a fraction of the
[11:07] cost and they get to be an active
[11:10] participant also go ahead and decide on
[11:13] pricing again I really really recommend
[11:15] that you charge for your beta test
[11:17] people will value it so much more and
[11:19] they will have skin in the game they
[11:20] will show up and give it a lot more
[11:22] energy and effort than they would if you
[11:24] were to be giving it away for free now
[11:26] if you do do it for free I would strong
[11:29] encourage you to have an application
[11:31] process so that you make sure that you
[11:33] are bringing in people who genuinely
[11:36] want to achieve this transformation you
[11:38] can also offer it at a reduced rate from
[11:40] what you’re going to probably officially
[11:42] sell it at another option is to sell it
[11:44] at full price but with a lot of bonuses
[11:46] maybe exclusive access to you which will
[11:49] not be included later on and any other
[11:51] bonuses that really increase the value
[11:54] of the offer one thing I’ve got to be
[11:56] sure to mention is that you’ve really
[11:57] got to set some strong boundaries make
[12:00] sure you are setting boundaries onto how
[12:02] many calls you have what kind of access
[12:05] they have to you how they can access you
[12:07] because if you don’t this can really
[12:09] lead into scope creep which is okay it
[12:12] does happen and I love to call those
[12:14] policies in the making meaning when
[12:16] something like that happens there’s a
[12:17] little bit of scope creep most of the
[12:19] time people don’t mean any harm they’re
[12:21] not trying to be you know take advantage
[12:23] of you they just need to have some solid
[12:25] boundaries and when that happens it’s
[12:27] okay you can go ahead and set them or
[12:30] you can go ahead and set them in the
[12:32] next iteration Okay so we’ve talked
[12:34] about laying a really good foundation
[12:36] for bringing people in when you have no
[12:38] audience now how do you actually get in
[12:40] front of them there’s a few things you
[12:42] can do first things first I want you to
[12:44] leverage your current Network now I had
[12:47] zero followers besides friends when I
[12:49] first started my program and I was
[12:51] shocked at how many people I brought in
[12:54] the very first iteration of my course it
[12:56] was 13 people purchased my program at
[13:00] 110,000 but this is an
[14:49] opportunity to help me shape an
[14:50] impactful program so that you will not
[14:52] only gain access to it for free but
[14:54] you’ll be able to help shape this
[14:55] program so it meets your specific needs
[14:58] now remember that first part is pretty
[15:00] vague and includes some details that
[15:02] might not be true for you it’s just to
[15:04] get you thinking and to get the creative
[15:06] juices flowing go ahead and make it your
[15:08] own what’s in store for you one
[15:11] exclusive access get early access to my
[15:13] revolutionary program before it goes to
[15:15] the public two one-on-one guidance work
[15:17] with me directly leveraging my years of
[15:20] experience three skill enhancement
[15:22] elevate your skills and knowledge to new
[15:24] heights valuable resources access a
[15:27] treasure Trove of Ed educational
[15:29] materials and resources now again make
[15:32] sure that this is very specific to you
[15:35] this is just a place for you to focus on
[15:37] some of the things that they will get
[15:38] when they work with you and you want to
[15:40] make sure again that it’s really focused
[15:42] on the transformation you do not need to
[15:44] get into the nitty-gritty of your
[15:45] curriculum they just want to know if you
[15:46] can actually help them achieve that
[15:48] transformation let’s go back to this
[15:50] post why beta testers I’m looking for
[15:53] dedicated individuals who are committed
[15:54] to a personal and professional growth
[15:56] while this beta program is free or is
[15:59] $300 we want to make sure that it’s the
[16:01] right fit for you to maintain the
[16:04] program’s quality and Effectiveness
[16:05] we’re requesting all interested
[16:06] participants fill out a simple
[16:08] application again in this example I
[16:10] included an application because I was
[16:12] saying that it’s free you should really
[16:14] try to charge for your beta test though
[16:16] ready to take the next step if you’re an
[16:18] enthusiastic about transforming X Y and
[16:21] Z and achieving your goals don’t miss
[16:22] this chance click the link below to fill
[16:24] out your application and secure your
[16:26] spot as a beta tester it’s also helpful
[16:28] if you include that there are only X
[16:30] number of spots so insert what is
[16:33] actually accurate and specific to you
[16:35] then you can link to your application
[16:36] form and say something like hurry I’m
[16:38] only taking a few people together we’ll
[16:40] embark on a journey of growth and
[16:42] success join me in shaping the future of
[16:44] our field Let’s Make History together
[16:47] again the more specific you can get to
[16:49] your particular a the better this is
[16:52] intentionally vague cuz I’m trying to
[16:54] make sure it applies to a lot of
[16:55] different people now my next strategy is
[16:57] to Leverage appropriate Facebook groups
[17:01] so thinking about your transformation
[17:03] and your a I am willing to bet that
[17:06] there are Facebook groups that exist
[17:09] where they would maybe go to to get some
[17:11] help with their current problem you want
[17:14] to join those Facebook groups and you
[17:17] want to optimize your Facebook profile
[17:20] so it says something along the lines of
[17:22] I help people achieve insert
[17:24] transformation with a link to however
[17:26] they can join your program and then you
[17:29] want to jump in those groups and you
[17:30] just want to be super helpful do you
[17:32] know how easy it is to gain a reputation
[17:35] in a Facebook group or Community by just
[17:37] being helpful and what people will
[17:39] naturally do is they will see wow this
[17:42] person is so helpful and knowledgeable
[17:45] on this particular subject that they
[17:46] will jump over to your profile to see
[17:49] who you are and then lo and behold
[17:51] they’ll see that you have a solution for
[17:53] them this strategy also works well on
[17:55] LinkedIn and it’s a really great way to
[17:58] build build no trust and like Factor
[18:01] among people when you have absolutely no
[18:04] audience again I have helped so many
[18:07] people through this process and they are
[18:09] always surprised at how simple and
[18:12] impactful it really is so go ahead and
[18:15] get started and get those first
[18:16] cheerleaders into your program and you
[18:19] will slowly and surely begin to grow
[18:22] thanks so much for being here go ahead
[18:24] and hit that Thumbs Up Button if you
[18:25] like this please leave me questions in
[18:26] the comments I love to hear them it
[18:28] gives me IDE for new videos and of
[18:30] course don’t forget to subscribe
[18:34] [Music]