As a creator, you are aware that in the digital age, online courses, e-books, coaching programs, and training have become one of the most popular ways to share knowledge and build a business online. You need to go a step further to stand out from the competition. The rapid growth of e-learning is excellent news (as you can read in our recently published report), but it may soon turn out that the competition is catching up with you, and you need to change your strategy. Simply creating a good product has long ceased to be enough. The key role is played by how it’s promoted and sold. We’re about to tell you what Online Course Live Launch is and how it can help you increase sales of your course on launch day. But first…
Why are online courses still so popular?
Once created, a course can be sold multiple times, generating passive income. Moreover, you can reach customers all over the world, and e-learning platforms enable access to your knowledge anywhere and anytime. We’ve already written a bit about online courses on our blog, but we promise to return to the topic again.
Importantly, online courses remain constantly popular because they meet the needs of modern audiences in a flexible, accessible, and convenient way. The dynamic development of technology and the growing access to the internet make gaining knowledge easier than ever before. Users can learn anywhere, anytime, which is a huge advantage given today’s often hectic lifestyle.
Another advantage of online courses is the wide range of topics available, catering to people with various interests, from programming and personal development to art and culture. You also can’t forget the ability to learn at an individual pace. Online courses allow users to adjust the pace of learning to their own needs, which is particularly important for those balancing learning with a professional career or other responsibilities.
All these advantages can be used to sell your online courses, and it’s worth doing so. However, remember that this alone is not enough.
Rising competition – why standard methods are no longer sufficient
As you can see, online courses have many advantages, and paradoxically, this comes with one major downside — the growing competition in the e-learning industry, which presents new challenges for creators. As we mentioned, simply launching a course, setting up a landing page, and hoping it will sell itself is a very bad strategy. Today’s customers are more demanding, and more informed, and also have many similar offers to choose from.
When entering the market with a new course, you need to stand out from hundreds, if not thousands, of other offers. Standard methods, such as launching social media ad campaigns or email marketing, often aren’t enough to break through the barriers and reach the right audience.
This is where the live launch comes into play, combining the excitement of a live event with real-time sales.
What is an Online Course Live Launch?
An Online Course Live Launch, often conducted through a webinar, is a sales strategy in which the sale of the course begins during a live-streamed event. During the webinar, the course creator first conducts a training session related to the topic of the course but doesn’t yet reveal any details about the new product. Then, at the end of the event, they present the course, slowly unveiling its content, outlining the benefits of participation, answering viewer questions, and — most importantly — starting the sales process right at the end of the event.
This sales method allows leveraging the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) effect and building engagement and trust through direct interaction with the audience. For example, Jeff Walker, the author of the “Product Launch Formula” coaching program, has proven for years that live launches can significantly boost sales results.
What are the key benefits of Online Course Live Launch?
Building relationships and trust
Live webinars offer course creators a unique opportunity for direct interaction with potential customers. Participants can ask questions in real time, and you have the chance to clear up any doubts. This works to build trust, which is essential for someone considering a purchase to make a final decision. It’s also a great opportunity to gather initial feedback on your activity. No one will be as honest as live webinar participants, I guarantee. Sometimes, it turns out to be quite brutal, so prepare yourself for the fact that not everyone will be satisfied with what you’re showing. Treat all feedback as valuable guidance and incorporate it into preparations for future events. Learn from your mistakes and don’t repeat them, but also build your offer based on customer needs.
Showcasing your skills
As a creator and trainer, you can — and should — use the webinar to showcase your teaching skills. Treat this webinar as an opportunity to make a good impression on your potential customer. You only have one chance to do it right in front of this particular audience. So, always treat each broadcast as a major event — even if the number of participants is small. The important thing is that these same people could be your customers soon.
Creating a sense of urgency
During a live webinar, you can introduce a limited-time special offer, available only to event participants. For example, you can offer additional bonuses, discounts, or other perks that are only accessible for a certain period after the broadcast. This is an effective way to create a sense of urgency and motivate quick purchasing decisions. You can use available tools like Apresly to help you, which allow you to create personalized and synchronized countdown timers for the end of the offer.
Better product presentation
During a live launch, you have full control over how you present your course. You can clearly explain what’s included in the program, and what the benefits are, and answer any questions that potential participants may have. This form of presentation is far more engaging than static sales pages.
How to organize an effective sales webinar?
OK, now that you understand why presenting an online course live and starting sales during the webinar is an effective strategy, let’s focus on how to do it.
Prepare a strategy and warm up your audience
Before we get to the webinar itself, we need to carefully prepare our strategy and warm up the audience. What does this mean? Don’t forget that to get the right number of webinar participants, you need a good plan. Focus on how to acquire leads, i.e., people who sign up and are interested in your live event. You already know you should create a landing page for webinar signups. Keep it as simple as possible but specific. Highlight only what’s essential so that the person visiting the page can quickly glance at the text and immediately want to sign up.
You can use the FOMO effect and test the formula, “signups are currently closed, but we’ll reopen soon. Sign up to make sure you don’t miss out,” and include information about a special gift for those who decide to sign up. Take a look at the communication Jeff Walker uses. While signups for his paid coaching program are closed, you can still sign up to stay updated and receive interesting materials. Plus, you have a chance to get his popular free Launch Masterclass. Sounds good, right?
Check more here.
Don’t forget to launch paid social media campaigns and post on your profiles to boost traffic and user activity. Create appropriate email sequences for people who have signed up. Warm them up before the webinar, and give them a taste of the knowledge they could receive if they attended the webinar. Don’t mention the course launch—let it be your ace in the hole, don’t play it too early.
Focus on value
Now you can dedicate yourself to preparing the webinar. Develop your script and stick to it. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is organizing a webinar that’s merely a long sales presentation. To convince participants to buy, you first need to provide real value. Before you even get to discussing the course itself, give people a taste of what they can get after purchasing. Approach this as if you’re selling the new course on the side—don’t focus on the product, deliver real value. Is your course about teaching a dog basic commands? Host a webinar on how to teach a dog to walk on a loose leash. Did you record a course on how to effectively learn a new language in a month? Let your webinar be about how to learn basic communication in a new language before going on vacation.
Introduce a few key concepts that will be expanded upon in the course, and provide valuable tips that the viewers can implement immediately. The more value you deliver in the webinar, the more likely the participants are to make a purchase.
For example, Jeff Walker always emphasizes the importance of “providing value upfront” in his webinars. Instead of pushing for a sale right away, he first gives participants the feeling that they’ve already gained something just by attending the free event. He also stresses this approach in his coaching program. One of his students teaches surface pattern design. She delivers her pre-launch content (PLC) in the form of a series of live streams on Facebook, where she teaches her future potential students the basics of surface pattern design. She teaches them enough that they can get started and create their first designs. Later, she presents her full 8-week course to the attendees, who are already hooked and can’t wait to sign up and start.
Prepare an irresistible offer
In addition to providing value, your offer must be irresistible. Create a special package for webinar participants that stands out from other courses available on the market. This could include a set of additional materials, an individual consultation, a discount, or access to an exclusive support group. Remember to leverage the aforementioned FOMO effect. For example, you can lower the price for those who buy during the webinar and offer a unique promotion with a limited time frame, accompanied by a countdown clock. As you already know, Apresly can help you with this by creating a synchronized timer for your emails and sales page to further emphasize the urgency of the purchase.
Emotions and storytelling
Selling a course live isn’t just about presenting dry facts. To truly engage your audience, you need to be able to tell stories. Show how your knowledge has helped others, and how your course has changed the lives of previous participants. Storytelling helps build an emotional connection with your audience, which is crucial in sales. Here, too, Apresly shines, as it can help you personalize your sales messages, evoking even stronger emotions and leading to higher conversions. You can use these messages on your landing pages, in email campaigns, or as pop-ups.
A success story – Jeff Walker and his “Product Launch Formula”
Jeff Walker, whom we’ve mentioned before, is one of the most well-known creators of online courses and coaching programs. He’s a perfect example of how to successfully use live launches to sell digital products. His “Product Launch Formula” is a coaching program in which Jeff teaches how to successfully bring a product to market. The program covers strategies such as building engagement before the launch, hosting live events, and creating a strong sales offer. Walker proves that the key to success is delivering value even in the pre-launch phase and building excitement around the upcoming offer. This approach is what makes his sales campaigns generate millions in revenue. Ironically, Jeff teaches how to launch a product successfully, and he does it perfectly himself.
Summary
Selling online courses in today’s fast-paced world requires not only a quality product but also a creative approach to promotion and sales. The competition in the e-learning market is immense, and standard promotional methods may no longer be enough to capture the attention of potential customers. That’s why organizing live presentations of online courses, which combine substantive value with real-time sales, is becoming an extremely effective strategy.
An Online Course Live Launch allows for direct interaction with participants, building relationships and trust, which significantly increases conversion rates. Viewers not only get a taste of the creator’s skills and the course’s content, but they also have the opportunity to ask questions, clarify doubts, and take advantage of unique offers available only during the event. This creates a sense of urgency and triggers the FOMO effect—the fear of missing out on a special opportunity.
The success story of Jeff Walker and his “Product Launch Formula” shows that providing value even before the sales process begins and preparing an offer that’s hard to resist are key elements of a successful campaign. His experiences demonstrate that courses promoted in this way can generate huge profits, as evidenced by the success of his students, which he often highlights in his email campaigns.
Implementing this strategy for selling online courses also requires the right tools to automate the process and help manage the campaign effectively. This is where Apresly comes in—a tool that enables you to create personalized one-time offers, manage sales funnels, and synchronize countdown timers between sales pages and emails.
Thanks to Remember—to succeed in selling online courses, it’s not enough to just create a great product—you also need to know how to present it, evoke emotions, and build strong relationships with your audience. An Online Course Live Launch, supported by the right tools like Apresly, is a strategy that can elevate your campaigns to the next level, allowing you to reach a broader audience and build a loyal community around your brand. This approach not only increases sales but also fosters long-term relationships with customers, which in the long run can lead to even greater success.
