Three-minute read. Or less.
Welcome to week twenty-three of Three Wins, where I walk you through my process of launching an online course in 2024.
Even if you are not launching an online course, this will help you think about whatever you will launch.
Shall we?
1. Why did I write a book before I launched the online course?
To be honest, I asked myself this question a lot.
Mostly, around 6 a.m., as I get out of bed. But the reason is simple enough: to get clear.
If I have clarity, there is a better chance that I will help others attain clarity, too.
- Is it easy? No.
- What makes it easy for you doesn’t make it better for your audience.
- Will the course be more useful as a result? 100%.
The last chapter will be finished tomorrow morning.
Then it will go to the editor. The editor will be reading this, so I need to ask him first thing on Monday. (Hi Mike.)
Once I have made all the amends, it will get uploaded to Useful Books for the community to make their comments.
By the time it goes to print, I will have included the relevant comments from the Beta test workshops, the editor, and the Useful Books community.
- None of this process is easy.
- Everything in this process will make it clearer.
- So, what’s my point?
Before you launch anything, take time to improve it.
Set a crazy target for it, by all means.
But ask yourself how good do I have to be to achieve that goal.
That is the magic reframing question.
My aim is to make it so good that my customers want to text their best friends even late at night: You MUST do this.
A win.
2. Why is there a secret chapter that you can’t get in the book?
I learned this from James Clear when he launched Atomic Habits.
He got me to sign up for his email by offering a secret chapter.
Here’s the thing: when I sketched out the chapters for The Micro Blog System, Chat GPT had not launched GPTs.
Yet, only last week, we launched a course that allows you to customise your notes and brainstorm ideas for what to write.
In short, it is a way to make you MORE you.
To take all those notes you have been taking for years, and help you write a Micro-Blog each day.
THIS IS SUCH A BIG THING.
In most secret chapters by authors, it is because they can’t fit everything in.
For me, the thing I wanted to write about wasn’t even launched when I started.
And, yes, it is also an extra reason to sign up for the newsletter.
A win.
- Why am I only releasing 10 places each day?
As you know, my aim is to sell 3,000 Micro Blog Courses.
So, you may think, hang on a minute, how do these two intentions work together.
- If I reach that goal, it will be because the course was so good that they had to tell their friends.
- I need to make sure that everything works from start to finish.
I learned from the Do community, which got off to a bumpy start, that those things need to be fixed quickly.
With only 10 places being sold each day...
- We can monitor where they got stuck on the course.
- Which link stopped working.
- Which email sequence kept them on track.
Plus, after they complete the course, they are set the 30-day writing challenge.
If they complete it, they get an M.B.A. (Micro Blog Academy).
When there are only ten places sold each day, we can even make a personalised film to congratulate them.
In short, this soft launch gives us a chance to nail it.
Plus, if we sell ten places on the course each day for a year, we will have sold beyond our goal.
A win.
As always, I hope this was useful in some way.
Talk next weekend.
Have a good week.
David.
Next up on the farm. Makers and Mavericks. West Wales. May 4th. One day to rethink your business.
