What I've learned creating my own online courses is that you must put a system in place to attract and engage people.
This begins BEFORE you even create your online course.
Unfortunately, what we tend to do is create an online course and just expect people to buy it. Or we just post random things on our social media platforms, cross our fingers, and hope an online course buyer magically appears.
In the real world these methods don't work (I wish).
For your online course sales to increase and in order to gain students for your online course, you need a system in place that will attract people to you "like a month to a flame".
Remember that old Janet Jackson song “That’s the Way Love Goes”? She explains it, go listen, lol (I'm completely dating myself).
Attracting a future course buyer, however, is only the first piece. One of my biggest mistakes was that I would attract people but then ghost them. I never knew what to say or how to engage with them.
Engagement is so important because it’s the piece that transforms a subscriber into an actual buyer. It’s not enough to attract your audience. I mean really, I attracted my ex-husband and it didn’t last, lol (totally not my fault)!
The attraction and engagement strategy is a strategy that I teach my one-on-one clients. They use this strategy to attract potential course buyers, keep them engaged, and turn them into buyers. Want to chat with me about it? CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE A CALL.
Here is what an attraction and engagement strategy looks like:
1. Create a high converting freebie that speaks to a problem your audience is having.
Now what do I mean by high converting? High converting just means that the amount of people sign up versus those who don’t is at least 20% or more (you’ll need to pay close attention to your numbers to ensure your freebie is working).
Freebies that work great and are easy too create are PDFs, templates, and quizzes. Depending on your niche, eBooks and a 3 to 5-day training series could work as well. Test it out. Create two to three freebies and determine its success based on the numbers.
Check out my quiz freebie on how to determine the right launch for your online course.
2. Deepen the relationship with a trip wire.
Now you might be thinking, “what the heck is a tripwire?” I don’t know where that name came from, lol! But a trip wire is a “no-brainer” offer, between $7-$19 depending on the niche, that you offer immediately after your new subscriber signs up for your freebie.
This offer complements your freebie very well and inches them closer to their goals. Those goals could be to save time, make more money, or get healthier. Again, it’s not too big and there is no sweat off your back to create it.
The goals with the tripwire is not to make thousands and thousands of dollars, (although it’s possible) but more importantly it’s to get your subscriber engaged even more, and to continue to build on the know, like, and trust factor.
The psychology behind the tripwire (okay I’m not trying to get all scientific on you but there is science behind selling), is after they agree to a small request, they become more likely to agree to a similar but larger request. They start to feel safe with you and your products. They know what they can expect from you. Do you see, now? The tripwire a golden ticket to more and more sales! 😉
3. Create a welcome sequence.
A welcome sequence is a series of emails that you send to your subscriber after they subscribe to your freebie. Now that your subscribers are in your “funnel”, image your funnel as a little room where you share your best stories, jokes, and challenges, so they can really get to know you.
How many times have you borrowed sugar from a stranger? Never. How many times have you tried to hitchhike? Very unlikely. How many times have you left your child with a babysitter you didn’t know? Ain’t gonna happen. You get my drift? You can’t ask a stranger for money.
People need reassurance that 1) you are who you say you are, and 2) they can trust you.
Some entrepreneurs get really hung up on the part about creating a welcome email series because it involves a lot of writing. It doesn’t have to. Isn’t the best way to get to know someone is to talk? You can use speech to text software to help you craft these emails. Check out this amazing writing hack!
Your welcome series can consist of personal, informational, inspirational, and motivational content. It can be whatever you feel your audience will respond mostly to. Also, during this time, you can continue to offer other smaller digital products that inch them closer to their goals.
4. Invite your new subscribers to interact with you live.
I know going live can be a scary thing. As much as I like to chat and have a good time with people I don’t know (I’m an extrovert), going live is another whole ball game. But, it’s a great way to connect and build the “like” with your audience. Remember, it takes all three; know, like, and trust.
This is a screenshot from a Facebook Live I did about starting an online business. I did it in my backyard on a very sunny day. And in the video, you can hear my son ask me about going to his friend’s house, lol.
I even had about eight minutes of technical difficulties (which later I found out, the live was recording the whole time while I tried to troubleshoot issues with my husband). But it turned out fine. People enjoy seeing you in your element; being a mom, or just hanging out in your backyard. People enjoy you being a real person! When you are a real person, people can connect with you and engage with you. It’s a very simple strategy that is key when selling online courses.
A few tips when going live:
Always schedule the day/time in advance so that you can notify your followers and email your list.
Keep it short and to the point. I used to do long (an hour or more) lives but noticed that shorter ones kept my audience more engaged.
Don’t worry about distractions. If someone walks past the camera, or your phone rings, your audience won’t be too concerned. They are more concerned about your content.
Give your audience a call to action (CTA). If you have a new freebie, ask you audience to go sign up for it. If you wrote a new blog post, direct them to your website. If you have a new product or service talk about its benefits and direct your audience to sales page.
Do you want to learn more about how to implement these strategies into your business? DON’T FORGET TO SCHEDULE A CALL.