Friday, April 4, 2025

Online Programs Rarely Drive Engagement: Here’s What’s Going Wrong – And How to Fix It | by Matt Giaro | The Startup | August 2024

Don’t make this mistake unless you’re prepared to risk finding yourself both financially drained and emotionally exhausted.

Picture by the creator

I’ve successfully developed and launched more than 80 software programs over the past decade, with an impressive track record of having all of them become bestsellers.

However that’s not the case. Unfortunately, most of these endeavors have fallen flat. Ouch.

Many online courses fail to market effectively because?

When faced with a choice, I may opt for sharing my decision in this article.

See…

With a decade-long track record of promoting programs, I was once consistently successful.

I’d launch a new course with high expectations that it will be among the best. Usually, I’d receive a substantial number of gross sales, but none that matched the potential for success I had envisioned.

As soon as I realized the content could genuinely make a difference for people, it became increasingly frustrating.

Despite my efforts to enhance the course’s substance, the results remained unaltered.

My programs consistently generate revenue that exceeds my wildest dreams.

If your aspiration is to turn a profit from sharing your expertise through online platforms, take heed of the following developments carefully. As a direct consequence, this innovation will spare you countless months – and potentially years – of anguish and disappointment.

Perhaps you’ve considered starting an online course of your own? As you ventured into the labyrinthine world of finding the perfect suite of tools, from learning management systems to autoresponders and landing page creators,

Perhaps you’ve invested your very essence in crafting an online course, imbuing it with your passion and expertise. You’ve devoted countless hours to refining the content, meticulously perfecting the lessons, and verifying every detail to guarantee perfection.

You exhaustively verify your email, meticulously review your LMS dashboard, and thoroughly scan your notifications – still, nothing reveals itself. The initial rush of excitement suddenly gives way to feelings of frustration and uncertainty.

What’s going on here?

Were the course’s educational offerings insufficient to meet students’ learning needs? Did you worth it mistaken? Perhaps it’s simply you, refusing to give up despite everything. The anguish of watching something dear to your heart collapse, a notion once held with such conviction that it promised to bring solace to others, now lies in tatters.

The crushing realization that countless minutes have slipped away without a lasting impression or tangible progress. Make every moment count, because time you can’t get back?

Do you have an insatiable urge to impart your story to the global community? You may well possess valuable insights that could genuinely benefit others. Without an audience to share it with, the effort feels like crying out into the emptiness.

As fears of failure start to insidiously seep into your psyche, you may find yourself torn between the desire to persist in pursuing your aspirations and the nagging impulse to abandon them altogether.

It’s likely that the problem stemmed from an ineffective advertising strategy.

You’ve likely invested time and money into advertising campaigns, attempting to place your online course in front of a larger audience, with the expectation that increased visibility would naturally lead to boosted sales. However operating advertisements is hard. While clicks may drive traffic to a website, they do not necessarily guarantee conversions. Suddenly, the cash seems to vanish into thin air?

Perhaps you believed the challenge lay in the technology you’ve been employing? You may have repeatedly transitioned from one funnel platform to another, each time convinced that this latest tool held the key to solving your marketing woes. However, as time passed, it became apparent that the problem wasn’t with the platform itself, but rather with the underlying dynamics at play – an insight that left me feeling increasingly frustrated and annoyed.

Rather than perpetuating the misconception that generating more content is a panacea, By doubling down, you expanded the program with additional courses, incorporating rewards to further enhance its comprehensiveness and value.

You’re working tirelessly to cultivate added value.

Although that didn’t actually move the needle at all. Leaving you drained, like a hamster on a wheel, with no tangible progress or reward, merely toiling away in exhaustion.

As doubts creep in, you start wondering if you’re just not cut out for this, if you’re not good enough to promote a course, or if your experience doesn’t hold the value you believed it did?

That’s understandable, but still not ideal.

It’s often assumed that by crafting an exceptional course, people will naturally flock to it? The perpetual narrative that will continue to resonate within the online entrepreneurial sphere is that of innovation and disruption? Many self-proclaimed experts have propagated a misleading narrative, portraying the concept as simple when in reality, it is fundamentally flawed.

It’s undoubtedly the complete narrative.

The reality is that even the most exceptional course won’t gain traction if there’s no audience eager to buy in.

If you’ve attempted to build an audience previously but abandoned the effort due to feeling overwhelmed by the perceived workload or lacking immediate results,

You may have initially considered developing the course without worrying about its reception by students. However, the challenge lies in marketing a product in a store where no one sets foot.

The course assumes a seamless purchase process, neglecting the potential obstacles faced by customers.

Without an audience, there’s no applause to validate our efforts.

  • nobody to promote to,
  • It seems nobody is paying attention to your message.
  • And yet, nobody seems to grasp the immense value you’re bringing to the table.

To build an audience that’s eager to hear your message, you need to create a group of people who are already passionate about what you have to say, trust you, and are willing to learn from you.

If you decide to launch your course, you’re not leaving it without an audience.

The real challenge isn’t crafting a course; it’s developing an audience for that content and everything else you intend to offer.

Without a target audience, trying to promote a course is akin to trying to ignite a fire without any fuel – it’s a futile endeavour. Without a spark or ignition source, all the necessary instruments won’t be enough to start the fire – the foundation is missing.

Is it the creative spark that drives innovation, which demands one groundbreaking concept to gain momentum? When you’ve already captured the attention of potential students, marketing your course becomes exponentially easier, as you’re not starting from a blank slate. Starting with an audience that shares your values, trusts your intentions, and is eager to hear from you.

Following the relaunch of my note-taking course in 2022, I refrained from rebuilding the entire program from scratch. Having initially written articles on Medium, I shared my expertise on effective note-taking strategies.

As I observed, certain aspects of the content struck a chord with audiences, fostering communal sharing and igniting meaningful discussions. With that foundation established, I created a comprehensive list of individuals who had expressed fervent interest in my message.

When I debuted my course, I wasn’t targeting a cold audience – instead, I focused on reaching passionate viewers who were already primed and interested in the topic.

The outcome? Achieve a staggering $500,000 in gross sales within just 90 days.

That’s the facility of .

I’d often thought I understood this concept thoroughly, but in truth, I had to learn it the hard way.

As a novice, I initially committed the same mistakes everyone else does.

However they didn’t.

I too had once believed within the lie that…

I used to be devastated. After all that effort, what’s there to show for it?

Despite initial frustration, I started observing the strategies that successful course creators had mastered. I’ve noticed an unexplored trend – every successful entrepreneur I’ve observed has built an audience before launching their first online course.

So, in order to achieve this, I took similar steps as well.

Initially, I distributed my expertise without charge, crafting blog posts and developing content designed to captivate the type of audience I aimed to reach.

As I proceeded with deliberate care, I meticulously compiled a list of individuals who were fervent in their appreciation for my message.

The solution to a persistent problem is now at hand. Without an audience, there’s no one to address that issue for.

Instead of getting bogged down in crafting the perfect course, focus on building an audience that’s eager to hear your message by contemplating ways to attract and engage them.

To start with ease, consider developing organic content.

Content can take many forms, such as blog posts, YouTube videos, social media updates, or other platforms where your target audience congregates.

The key takeaway is to focus on creating captivating content that resonates with your audience.

Identify key takeaways that strike a chord, scrutinize inquiry patterns, and pinpoint multimedia elements that foster enthusiastic participation.

Everyone involved with your products should build an email list from scratch because email is the primary means by which successful online businesses are launched and scaled. That’s a common notion among many people.

By offering something of inherent value in exchange, such as a complimentary resource, guide, or exclusive video, you can effectively construct your record by providing a tangible benefit that resonates with your target audience. By fostering a direct connection with your audience, you enable open dialogue and cultivate meaningful relationships that evolve naturally over time.

Can we consistently excite and retain our email subscribers by regularly sending engaging and relevant newsletters? I send day-by-day emails; you shouldn’t have to.

Despite this, I would recommend sending a weekly email reminder to ensure your presence is consistently remembered by others.

You’ll possess a list of enthusiastic customers who are ready to make a purchase having been effectively targeted and persuaded through your marketing efforts. Since you’ve invested time in building a connection with them, they’ll be more prone to trust your expertise and subsequently invest in your offerings.

When you’re doing things right, people will also respond to emails promptly. Merely begin noticing the patterns. What do they ask about?

When you’re able to create your own course, you won’t be starting from scratch.

Despite being the quicker fix everyone hopes for, it’s still the solution that actually delivers.

Viewers first, course second.

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