Call yourself what you will…
- Authority Expert
- Course Creator
- Educator
- Teacher
- Instructor
You are hard-wired to share your knowledge for the betterment of your students. But how do you fill your course marketing funnel consistently?
By following these 5 simple methods that all successful course creators commit to and act on without fail.
The Big Course Packing 5
1. Give away a valuable freebie that proves your worth.
The most important way you can get started nurturing is to connect with the people who are displaying some interest in your topic or niche.
You do that with a free lead magnet to entice them to subscribe to your email list. Contrary to what Facebook wants you to think, your social media accounts are NOT your top priority. Your #1 biggest priority is to get their email so you can continue to connect and share what you have to offer. This is classic potential client/customer nurturing. No one completes a sale of anything on the first visit. People want to take time, check out the service, run a few Google searches, and then go back (if they remember).
Your most important job at this point is to snag their email, earn them as a subscriber, and remind them with ever-increasing evidence just how much you have to offer to make their lives better, safer, more comfortable and so on.
Your lead magnet will start this process because you’re going to focus on a major pain point. What struggle, problem, or stress can you help them with and quickly?
2. Share something valuable, useful, helpful or, at the very least, entertaining at least once a week.
Each week, you’ll want to send out an email blast to your new subscribers and share something of value. It can be anything, but keep it related to your niche, try your best to target a common pain point, and include a link if necessary.
This content can look any number of ways and consist of almost anything. Use your imagination!
- A list of free resources to make their lives easier.
- A free printable they can download to help get organized in a specific way according to your niche.
- A recent podcast episode with helpful information.
- A special invite to your exclusive Facebook Group or Clubhouse room, where they may ask questions and get answers from you directly.
This is your weekly opportunity (or a few times a week) to stay connected, expand your relationship with your potential paying students, and keep yourself at the forefront of their mind.
3. Get personal when it's organic and makes sense. Don't force it.
When you have a reason to do so, send out a more personal email, direct message or even a personal video (upload to YouTube as a private video and share the link with your email list).
Your subscribers want to know you. This develops trust and that grows into sales. But people are savvy these days, so don’t push it.
These personal messages or experiences are more time-consuming and labor-intensive so use this tactic sparingly. If you try and make everything about yourself, you’ll lose subscribers fast. Remember, your subscribers joined your list for your expertise but most importantly, they joined to find out what you can do for them. Not vice versa.
Keep most of your emails focused on your subscribers – on what you can do to help them with their concerns, problems, stresses, etc. Only occasionally toss in something personal. Share a highly personal anecdote or a large, embarrassing mistake you once made and what you learned from it.
4. Develop a standardized customer journey to help you stay on track and meet your students where they are.
Consider the exact steps each of your students (on average) take or experience on their path (journey) toward signing up and working with you.
What does it look like for them?
What are the problems or obstacles that pop up for them along the way?
What questions are they asking?
Once you have a firm understanding of what their customer journey looks like, you can ensure there is help and targeted offers along the way.
Here’s an example for a course creator:
- The potential student has an idea for an Etsy product >> You offer a lead magnet called “Is My Etsy Idea Any Good?”
- They now want to know a bit more about doing business on Etsy >> You share a link to a quick 10-minute YouTube video you recorded called “Get Started With Etsy in 10 Minutes” where you offer a condensed overview of the platform, fees, etc.
- They need to create their actual Etsy product >> You have a program called 24 Hours To An Etsy Bestseller that you offer them a discount if they purchase it within 48 hours.
- They need to create their Etsy product sales page >> You recommend your other Etsy course titled, Etsy Product Descriptions Done Right.
- They need a plan for launching >> you offer a quick one-page enhanced lead magnet to walk them through, it’s a checklist.
- They want a comprehensive blueprint for skyrocketing Etsy sales >> You upsell your one-on-one coaching service.
See how there are solutions for each step (and most of the challenges) in the process? You’ll want to work on this too. You won’t have it all immediately when you start, but this is the long-term goal, so you can help at whatever stage.
5. Make special or exclusive offers only to those subscribers who open, act, or click a link.
For the people who are connecting and reading, give them a special offer. This will entice higher engagement while helping to prompt your subscribers to start taking a bit of action. They’ll feel good about themselves, and you’ll prove your value to them as an expert.
That’s a clear win-win strategy right there!
