What are the Top 3 Online Course Launch Strategies in 2025? Sell online courses from your own website!
Who needs an Online Course Launch Strategy, right? Well, as a course creator for over 10 years who’s had both epic wins and epic failures, I’ve learned a thing or two about what makes for a successful online course launch. I’m here to share my experience about what makes for not only a successful course launch but also how to launch an online course that continues to grow in sales for years to come with a solid Online Course Launch Strategy. Plus, you can sell online courses from your own website, giving you full control over your business and audience!
But let’s start by examining what most course creators’ Online Course Launch Strategy consists of
Typical Online Course Launch Strategy
- Step 1. Start creating videos and content for your online course (Yay! 😄)
- Step 2. Worry about boring, pesky launch details later
- (boring, pesky details include:
- whether anyone wants/needs the course content you’re currently producing
- whether the course content you’re producing meets the expectations of potential learners
- whether you have an audience you can actually launch your course to
- whether the said audience will actually click “Purchase” on your online course sales page)
- whether anyone wants/needs the course content you’re currently producing
- (boring, pesky details include:
👎 Boo. Unfortunately, this is not a very good plan.
Listen, I know that for some, planning something like a launch is the cat’s meow, while for many others of us, it feels like an annoying step that’s only going to delay what you really want to do: get started making your course already!
That said, as someone who has experienced the pain of launching a brand new online course to crickets, take my word for it: the few hours of planning you do to strategize your online course launch is well worth your effort.
Who needs an Online Course Launch Strategy, right? As a course creator for over 10 years with both wins and failures, I’ve learned what makes a successful online course launch. I’m here to share how to launch an online course that grows in sales for years with a solid strategy. Plus, you can sell online courses from your own website, giving you control over your business and audience! Your launch strategy begins long before marketing—it starts by thinking about your audience before recording a single video!
So, let’s get into it!
Researching Target Audience
Before we hit that record button and start filming ourselves giving incredible expertise to our future learners, let’s first double-check that we actually understand what our potential learners are willing to actually pay for. Remember, there’s plenty of free content out there in the world, and it’s only getting more bountiful day by day. Most people can find what they’re looking for for free on Youtube. (Heck, you can literally learn advanced dental surgical techniques on Youtube now without paying a cent, if you really wanted to.)
Who needs an Online Course Launch Strategy, right? As a course creator for over 10 years, I’ve learned what makes a successful course launch. I’m here to share how to launch an online course that grows in sales with a solid strategy. Plus, you can sell online courses from your own website, giving you full control! Your launch strategy starts by understanding your audience before recording a single video.
Be thoughtful and intentional—understand not just what your audience finds helpful, but what will make them click the “Buy Now” button. As mentioned, just because someone’s on YouTube doesn’t mean they’re an expert. Wouldn’t you prefer to learn from someone with real experience?
Spend time where your audience spends time
When you hear the term “research your audience,” perhaps what comes to mind is spending countless hours doing Google searches and looking up stats and demographics about your audience. The whole, “Needlepoint is a 50 million dollars per year industry, if we can just catch 1% of that, we’ll be rich!” – while tempting, is not what we’re going for here. While some of that data might be helpful, it shouldn’t be what you use to make your decision on whether to make an online course or what you use to generate course content. In fact, too much of such online research could be a way to hide from being bold and talking to your audience directly.
Who needs an Online Course Launch Strategy? As a course creator for over 10 years, I’ve learned what makes a successful launch. I’m here to share how to create a course that grows in sales with a solid strategy. Plus, you can sell online courses from your own website, giving you full control! Your strategy starts with understanding your audience—know what they’ll find helpful and what will make them click “Buy Now.” Instead of relying on endless research, engage directly with your audience. Spend time with them, whether it’s in a Reddit group or at weekly meetups, to learn what content they need and are willing to pay for.
Engaging directly with your audience is key. If they spend time in a Reddit group or meet up weekly, join them. This helps you understand what content they need and can’t find for free online. Create content they’re willing to pay for, not what they already know. Plus, you can sell online courses from your own website, giving you full control.
Your audience will often ask the same questions, and those should be the topics you address in your course. Whether before or during the course, your content needs to answer them directly. Focus on what your audience needs, not just what interests you. By listening closely, you’ll uncover key areas where they need guidance, and those are the subjects to focus on. Plus, you can sell online courses from your own website, giving you full control over the content you create and how you connect with your audience.
Lastly, be mindful of the common questions your audience asks. If you’re a YouTube creator or engage in online forums, jot down every question from your audience. Look for patterns, as frequently asked questions often reveal areas your audience values most. These insights can help you create focused and profitable niche courses that meet their specific needs, ensuring long-term success and growth in your course sales. Plus, you can sell online courses from your own website, giving you complete control over your content and sales strategy.
Creating Content
Answer the Public
Who needs an Online Course Launch Strategy? As a course creator for over 10 years, I’ve learned what makes a successful launch. I’m here to share how to create a course that grows in sales with a solid strategy. Plus, you can sell online courses from your own website, giving you full control! Your strategy starts with understanding your audience—know what they’ll find helpful and what will make them click “Buy Now.” Engage directly with your audience to learn what they need and are willing to pay for.
Pay attention to common questions—these can reveal valuable topics for your course. Creating course content is about answering those questions, not just sharing what you find interesting. Focus on addressing your audience’s needs to ensure your content is valuable and that it resonates with them, ultimately making it easier for them to click “Buy Now.
It sounds obvious, but the reality is that a lot of content creators out there simply don’t bother understanding the audience well enough to know what their audience really wants to learn and just make videos or lessons about things that happen to inspire them the day they press record.
If you DO succeed to answer the questions through your course that your potential learners want to know, it will benefit you in two ways:
- It will be 10X easier to sell your course! If your online course sales page consistently mentions these frequently asked questions and promises to answer them in the course, readers will think you’re reading their minds! Why wouldn’t they click “Purchase”?
- Getting reviews from current learners will be much easier if they feel that they are getting content that’s aligned with what they really care about.
