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It’s the question on every course creator—or budding course creator’s—lips: How much money can a course selling business really make? The short answer: The sky’s the limit! It all depends on YOU and your goals. Six figures? Absolutely. Seven figures? Nicki did it and you can, too. Eight figures? Why the heck not?!
But the only way to get to where you want to go is to examine and optimize the variables that will impact your earning the most. Join Nicki and Kate to find out what these are, as well as the key factors for growth if you’re looking to scale your business to new heights.
Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!
A Sneak Peek at the Episode
[2:15] If you’re wondering whether you can really sell courses online successfully, the answer is yes—it *is* absolutely possible!
[4:29] It’s important to recognize when we’re limiting our own goals and setting the bar too low, so we can adjust it. If you want a different output, like more income or time freedom, you have to make a change to the input.
[10:22] It’s very easy to set a high goal, not hit it right away, and get discouraged. Choose your goals based on where you’re at in the process. For example, it will take a lot more sales to reach $100,000 with a $27 product than with a $5,000 product.
[13:00] Price is just one part of the equation. You also have to figure out who the audience is and understand their needs, wants, fears, and motivations. Audience research is key!
[17:27] The better you understand your specific niche, the easier it is to speak to them in words that they understand, and to come up with messaging that specifically attracts them.
[21:07] You really need to differentiate yourself from everyone else within your niche, whether it is by getting more specific on the audience that you’re selling to, or highlighting what makes your program different (or a mixture of both).
[22:36] If you’re going to sell something, it has to be something that people—and not just your friends—want to buy. It has to be something that makes your audience say, “I have to have that.”
[25:50] If you’re looking to scale your business and are offering one-to-one services, consider looking at how you can make it one-to-many. Your time is limited and your audience doesn’t need the full 100% expertise level that you have—you could train up coaches to provide the same level of support as you.
[30:39] A major factor in your growth is going to be your messaging. If you can’t figure out how to convey to your target audience exactly why they have to have something, they’re not going to figure it out for themselves.
[33:19] In order to grow, you have to be willing to invest in essential programs or invest in team members before you feel ready. That is what will help you reach the next level (rather than thinking you have to get there first before making those investments).
[34:47] How much time, effort, and money is it costing you to make a sale? It’s crucial to dig in and understand your metrics because you may discover that your course is priced too low.
[38:45] Affiliate programs could boost your revenue, as well as figuring out the average lifetime value of a customer and how to increase that (e.g. with upsells and downsells).
[41:26] Optimizing your course in these ways will not only benefit your bottom line, it will also benefit others by selling them programs that positively impact their lives.
Mentioned on this Episode
- Common Funnel Mistakes That Are Killing Your Conversions
- The Investment Philosophy that Will Save (Or Kill) Your Business
Related Links
- 10 Must-Use Marketing Messaging Strategies to Turn Leads to Customers
- A Dynamite Marketing Messaging Is the Key to Your Audience Taking Action
- 3 Must-Monitor Metrics to Increase Sales on Autopilot
Must-Hear Takeaways
As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But, here are a few of the highlights:
“If we can learn to recognize when we’re limiting ourselves and we’re kind of setting the bar even too low for ourselves, then we can adjust it. And I certainly see this among the CSS student group, but just entrepreneurs in general. We work really hard to get to a certain level and it’s that concept of ‘what got you here won’t get you there.’ You work really hard to get to a certain level. And then once you hit that level, you have trouble breaking through to the next level of income, of time freedom, of whatever it is, because you don’t have the knowledge to get you there because everything that you did got you to where you are. And that’s great. But everything that you did is just going to keep getting you to the same place.” – Kate
“Most of our CSS students come in, if not having a completed course to sell, then being almost there. I think that there is sometimes some resistance to dig into the audience research. But invariably they always discover something new about their audience that makes it easier to sell to that audience. Because until we’re actually reaching out and communicating directly with this audience, we don’t know them as well as we need to. We don’t understand their needs and their wants and their fears and their motivations nearly as well as when we’ve actually had the opportunity to talk to them and understand.” – Nicki
“A business can’t run without making any kind of profit. So you have to understand, you have to dig in and understand your metrics. Whether it is ads or whether it is, whether you’re focusing on organic, but how much time, effort, money, all this kind of stuff is it costing you to make a sale? You may discover that your course is priced too low.” – Nicki
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Plus, you’ll get your copy of the 6 to 7 Figures (and Beyond) Workbook for Ambitious Business Owners, and our team’s suggested reading list packed with ideas to help you move your business further, faster!
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About the Energize Your Online Business Podcast
Are you sick of the stress, chaos, and risk of trying to keep up with the next big thing in digital marketing? And what about the confusion of trying to scale, build a team, and still try to make sure your business is worth the effort it takes to run it? You are not alone.
Join Nicki Krawczyk, a 20-year marketing veteran and owner of a multi-seven-figure-per-year digital training company and her co-host Kate Sitarz as they bust through the online business industry echo chamber to talk about how to make consistent, predictable sales and how to scale your business with simple and stress-free systems.
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