How would you like an elegant process for attracting new clients into your business without wasting time trying to sell via free “consultations” (that your prospects know are really just veiled sales calls)?
I’ve been doing something for almost two years that I like to call the “course-to-client” process and it’s been working like magic.
Personally, I find it much easier to sell online courses or information products than leading with higher priced coaching or mentoring. If I can get some folks to show up for a free content-rich webinar then I know some will want to take the content further by signing up for my course. And to make this work you don’t need to sell massive volumes of your courses.
The process is simple.
#1) Create your course. Create a course or information product that is laser focused on a single outcome that your market wants to achieve. This should NOT be some epic 30-hour course. Keep it simple and to the point, but be sure to create it around an urgent issue that your clients want resolved.
#2) Nurture your new students. A big mistake that many (if not most) course creators make is that after they make some sales they move on to the next promotion. They forget that it’s far easier to sell to people who have already bought from you than to sell to strangers. This is also why it’s great to lead with an online course or information product because they don’t have to invest thousands of dollars to experience your approach.
#3) Offer to hold their hand. This is where the magic happens. Even with the best intentions and the best designed courses, the reality is that most students/clients won’t go through and implement all of the material. Of course, you want to do your best to help your students implement the course, but there will be many who just want your guidance and support on a more personal level. So why not offer it?
I first tested this on a complete whim. I had just launched my Profitable Online Courses program and was hearing from quite a few students that they loved the content, but they weren’t moving as quickly as they would like. They also said that they would value my 1:1 input to help apply the concepts to their specific circumstances.
So I decided to send a single email out explaining that I had a mentoring program called the Done-with-You Profitable Online Course program. No, it wasn’t a sexy name, but that single email converted quite well.
In the email I included the following:
- A description of the mentoring program
- What they could expect by the end of working together
- Why I was offering this program to begin with
- A link to a short online assessment so that I could determine if we were a fit
- I even told them exactly how much the program would cost
I was completely transparent in this email.
Over 10% of the people who had signed up for my course filled out the assessment. All but ONE signed up for the mentoring.
And there was ZERO selling. They already knew why we were talking: to discuss if we both wanted to work together. And they already knew what it would cost to get started. I was even able to do some coaching on the calls which is taboo on a free “consultation.”
I absolutely LOVE this process and I expect this is something that you could test in your business as well.
One of the critical pieces is to have a course or information product to offer first.
If you don’t have a course and you’ve been wanting to create one then be sure to keep an eye out for a pre-launch of my Info Product Weekend. The IPW has helped people all over the world to FINALLY create their online course or information product. I’d love to support you to do the same.
I’ll be in touch next week with some new training and a big discount on the upcoming IPW events (which are all virtual…no travel required) just in case you’re interested.
Have a great weekend.
