False Beliefs that Stop Course Creators from Earning $1 Million

Every day, we hear stories of course creators making thousands of dollars from their online courses, some have even made millions. If you’ve been struggling to generate sales for your course, it’s easy to be hard on yourself. So now might be a good time to find out if it’s your own thoughts and beliefs that are getting in the way of earning more from your course.

This article was inspired by our webinar The False Beliefs that Stop Course Creators from Getting to $1 Million in Sales. In it, Melissa Kwan, CEO and cofounder of eWebinar, asks Haley Burkhead to share her thoughts on how false beliefs course creators hold about themselves and their businesses can keep them from reaching their full potential, including in their sales. Founder of Recurring Profit, Haley specializes in teaching course creators how to automate the sales of their online courses or membership programs, so they can maximize profit and minimize unnecessary work. 

If you want the full story, register for the webinar: 

Otherwise, keep reading and we’ll touch on some of the main points Haley and Melissa cover in their conversation:

• 3 toxic beliefs keeping you from getting to $1M in course sales this year
• What you should be doing instead when selling courses
• How to get to $1 million in course sales

3 toxic beliefs keeping you from getting to $1M in course sales this year

A lot of times, it is our own beliefs and ways of thinking that stop us from reaching our goals. Here are a few false beliefs that could be keeping you from making your first $1 million.

1. Ads are the only way to generate leads

While many think digital advertising is the best way to find new students, this is simply not the case for most course creators. In fact, it’s an incredibly easy way to get yourself into a cash flow deficit if you’re not ready.

The biggest issue is that what you pay for ads compared to what you earn on a monthly basis for a brand new course can result in a low return on investment (ROI), especially if you offer a monthly payment plan for your course. Your ads might only convert a few people from the hundreds or thousands that see them, and if those customers all choose to purchase your monthly plan, your monthly advertising expenses will be greater than what you’re bringing in. For a full breakdown of this formula, check out how to sell your courses on Facebook without plunging yourself into debt.

Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on ads before you’ve made any profit, there are many options for cold, free leads you can explore. Relying on free leads before relying on ads provides two main benefits. 

First, you can use those leads to experiment with your marketing until you know it can reliably convert strangers into paying customers. Second, it will give you the revenue to pay for the ads themselves, so that you don’t go into debt and have built your business on a foundation that doesn’t need paid ads to survive.

For advice on how to generate organic leads, listen to Haley Burkhead’s podcast on why relying on Facebook ads for leads isn’t the best strategy.

2. More products = more money

We’re taught to believe that more is always more, and that having more products means more opportunities to make sales. Many course creators fall into the trap of creating multiple products to sell early on. 

The problem here is that your focus is placed on too many things at once, and you are unable to grow the products you already have. Instead of trying to release multiple courses or services, focus on growing and improving one course. Narrowing your focus to one course will also allow you to focus on targeting a niche audience, allowing you to create more effective marketing and build better B2C relationships. The happier students are with your course, the more marketable it will become.

3. Entrepreneurship is lonely

With the challenges of starting your own business, it can be easy to get into a crippling, negative mindset and start questioning your decisions. The idea that entrepreneurship is lonely is a lie. In fact, entrepreneurship is a great way to make new friends and become part of a community. 

There are many groups and communities online and off where you can meet others who are also building their businesses and offer each other support. Do a little research, explore your options, and never be afraid to ask other entrepreneurs for help.

What you should be doing instead when selling courses

Having false beliefs can lead you to spending time and energy on the wrong resources. Now that you know the truth about selling online courses, here's what you should be doing instead. 

• Start with cold, free leads - Take advantage of the ways you can attract your target market for free, such as online communities and your existing mailing lists.
• Focus on growing a single product - Focus on marketing and catering to a specific audience for one course to grow its quality and encourage word-of-mouth.
• Retrain your brain - Let go of limiting beliefs, and replace them with positive thoughts about your capabilities and opportunities as an entrepreneur.
• Connect with other entrepreneurs - Seek out entrepreneurial events and online groups to make connections and support each other.
• Get out of your inbox - Explore your options for customer support services and apps that will allow you to spend less time responding to emails.
• Focus on growing your business - For repetitive and menial tasks, look for ways to take them off your plate and (if/when you can) invest in another, service (for example expense software), or employee so you can focus the bulk of your time on revenue-earning tasks.

How to get to $1 million in course sales

If you’re ready to get to your first $1 million in course sales, one of the easiest ways you can work towards this is by creating an automated webinar that will help you promote your course to a larger audience while being able to dedicate your efforts to growing your business. This is how you can use an automated webinar presentation to generate more sales:

Build an automated sales machine

Creating a course sales presentation that runs on repeat is a great way to generate sales while scaling your business. Using an automated webinar platform like eWebinar will allow you to record your sales presentation, upload the video, and turn it into a fully interactive, customized webinar that runs on a recurring schedule and introduces more potential students to your course than before — all without you needing to be there to host it.

The data available to you also creates an opportunity to perfect your marketing and increase the conversion rate for your webinar. eWebinar’s features make it easy to tweak and update your presentation over time, such as editing the text on your registration page, adding different polls and questions for engagement, changing your call-to-action, and even rerecording and switching out the video of your presentation after you’ve seen what does and doesn’t work.

Make use of conversion sales psychology

When creating your presentation, ensure that the structure and content makes use of conversion sales psychology. If done correctly, you should be able to convert someone who has never met you within 24 hours. Using tactics that will convince your webinar attendees of the value of your course will help enroll more and more students into your course.

PRO TIP: Need some help creating your automated webinar? Check out these webinar engagement strategies.

Drive traffic consistently on repeat

Once you’ve perfected your automated sales presentation, you need to make sure the right people are finding it. Be sure to promote your automated webinar by making use of cold, free leads, your own website, and the resources you easily have available to you. Examples include sharing it in online groups and forums, scheduling posts for your social media accounts, promoting it in a newsletter to your mailing list, and writing blog posts mentioning it using SEO. Being able to bring in consistent viewers increases the likelihood of consistent sales.

When you’re ready to sell your course with an automated webinar, get started with the Profitable Webinar Template in eWebinar, which will help you make use of conversion sales psychology.

Want more help to drive growth? Apply for Recurring Profit, as this is what this program is designed to do. It helps get entrepreneurs to $1 million in sales by helping to automate their sales machine. 

If you have an idea for a course, the beta cash flow formula will help you get paid to bring your idea to life, then teach you how to incorporate sales psychology into your sales presentation. You’ll then learn how to create your own “easy yes” webinar, followed by a lazy live launch that can be scaled with traffic and cold free leads until you have the revenue and proven sales funnel to spend money on paid ads and build your business ever more.

Ready to automate your course sales today? Sign up to try eWebinar free today.