Klatch’s Guide To Testing Market Demand for Your Course Through Pre-Selling

Creating an online course that sells is important, but it’s also important to plan how you’re going to sell your course once it’s published. Not doing so can lead to a course that few people buy. 

Pre-selling your course is a great way to protect yourself from wasting time and resources creating a course with no market or demand.

It is crucial to prove a market for a product or service by selling it to others before investing time and resources to create it. This is a common practice across disciplines and industries and has been proven successful many times over. For example, if a startup does not meet its funding goals, it may choose to improve its idea, improve its marketing strategy, or give up on the project. Real customers are the most important form of market validation. If no one is willing to buy your course from you, then the demand for your course has not been validated.

Benefits of pre-selling your online workshop

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Save time and resources

Before you create and sell an online course, it’s important to consider how best to use your time and resources. By selling your course early on, you minimize the risk of spending time and money on a project that doesn’t pan out, which could lead to missed opportunities for growth in other areas of your business.

If you don’t pre-sell your course, then you may wind up having to spend time creating content for a course that no one may end up buying. On the other hand, pre-selling your program means that people have already committed money to purchase your product, so you can be sure you will be paid for your work while creating the course.

Validate your Idea

To be sure your product will sell, you must validate it first. This means having evidence that consumers desire your product. You can do this through market research, surveying your audience, or simply trying it out and seeing how people react. For example, if you sell course pre-orders before the launch date, it shows that your course is popular and people want it. This confirms that your market is interested in what you offer and is willing to spend money on it in advance.

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How to Pre-Sell

To create a course, you must first set a price and a specific sales goal. For example, if you plan to charge $500 for your course, it might make sense to put a purpose of acquiring ten customers ($5,000 in sales) before creating it. Then, if you do not reach ten customers, you could refund their purchase and explain to them that there wasn’t enough demand for your course.

Capture Your Product

1. Introduce your course and what you’ll cover

2. Define the problem that your course is designed to solve

3. Describe how the course will help customers meet their goals

Avoid writing a summary that is too broad. Instead, make sure your outline provides enough detail so that the reader knows what to expect from each stage of the research process. Including specific information will help you avoid any surprises during your thesis defense. Some things you should consider when creating your course are the mediums through which you will teach it, such as whether most of the content will be text-based or if there will be video, live webinars, or screencasts involved.

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Our online course provides the benefits of learning in a flexible, distraction-free environment. It’s ideal for busy professionals to learn skills quickly and efficiently.

Your course’s mission should be clear from the outset. You want to provide an overview of your business and what you offer, so potential customers can decide if it’s the right fit for them. Present yourself in a relatable way that makes visitors feel comfortable contacting or visiting you. Use your unique voice and tone to connect with visitors and make sure every word is engaging.

Have a Call to Action

Make your calls to action as urgent as possible to capitalize on both logic and emotion. It’s common knowledge that if customers feel they have a limited time to take advantage of an offer, they are more likely to convert:

• “If you are interested in pre-ordering our online cooking course, now is the time to act. The offer expires soon, so don’t miss out!”
• “If you’re interested in pre-ordering your copy of The Social Media Manager’s Handbook, please do so now. Your order will arrive before the book launch party on August 10th.
• Pre-order now to secure your copy of The Social Media Manager’s Handbook! Your order will arrive before the book launch party on August 10th.”

Pre-selling content means being open with your audience and letting them know that you are creating content that addresses their needs and wants. This allows you to adjust the program to ensure it covers what they have said is essential to them.

Launch your Course!

Pitching an idea before you create it can be risky. Still, it’s usually better to find out early on that your target audience isn’t interested in the picture than to spend time and money creating something that no learners are drawn to. For example, if you are presenting your course on cooking steaks to a group of vegetarians, it might be worthwhile to test the topic with another target audience.

Launching a pilot course can help get feedback and questions from students about your course before you launch it at a higher price.

Increased Motivation

The presales of your online course will help motivate you to deliver a high-quality product. Seeing the money rolling in will convince you that providing the best possible service for your customers is worth it.

Many entrepreneurs thrive under pressure because it can motivate them to work harder and achieve their goals. Deadlines can be more effective than any other incentive in inspiring professionals, as they have a clear plan to strive for. Pre-selling your online courses adds another layer of accountability, making you work harder to meet the deadline.

Planning an online course can take weeks, months, or even years. However, with a presale timeline in place, you’ll have guidance and motivation to help keep you on track without letting the project drag on for too long.

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