This week, we're taking a break from talking about summits all day, every day, and starting a three-part series where I'm bringing in special guests who are experts on the course launch side of launching with a summit.
I'm really excited for you to hear from these experts about how to improve your course launches and evergreen course sales strategies because the better your launches go on their own, the more a summit is going to enhance those results and add fuel to the fire in a way we really want. When you have your course (or group program, membership, etc.) launch strategy down, combining it with a summit just creates magic.
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Episode at a glance:
[2:40] Many business coaches will focus on one strategy as THE best or only approach to creating and selling courses, but not Mariah! She's obsessed with all things webinars, evergreen funnels, courses, high-ticket programs, and digital products, and takes an integrated, hybrid, holistic approach that combines all of those things together.
It's not that one thing is better than the other, it’s that it actually all works together really well, especially when you're working with both the art and science of conversion to create a situation where the sum is more than it's parts. When you combine strategies to create an ecosystem that works together, that's where the magic happens.
[6:22] Before we dove into course sales strategies, Mariah shared the background of her business name, where it came from, and how rebranding her business has impacted the way she shows up as a CEO.
After years of building a business with a personal brand, I got to a point where I was stuck and scared. The more successful I got, the more I was afraid of doing the wrong thing. I needed an alter ego or something to help me show up in a different way, so one night, I laid in bed thinking of what it would look like to show up as a fearless CEO and started to journal it out. The phrase just really stuck with me and Fearless CEO was born. We started launching new programs, making changes, I started creating content differently, and it was more than just a cute name. It was something that I so desperately needed. I needed a new lens to help me assess whether I was showing up as a Fearless CEO or not.
[11:27] Next, I asked Mariah what she's seeing in the online course industry, and what's working in 2023. She shared some great tips around what's working for her and her clients right now both in terms of offer design and lead generation!
In the last 6 months we’ve noticed people aren’t as focused on where they’ll be in the next 12 months, but more where they plan to be in the next 12 weeks. So when it comes to high-ticket products, one of the things that we've been experimenting with that's been working well, is what I would call short-term high-ticket. It's basically thinking about a high-ticket offer or high-ticket container that is super-focused and can be accomplished in 6 or 8 weeks.
[16:46] One of the biggest mistakes Mariah sees in the way people approach their offers is to structure them based on what they think is working for other people. Instead, she recommends doing what works for you and what makes sense for what you teach. Your program container needs to be appropriate for the content that you teach.
[19:46] As far as leads and marketing go, Mariah is going back to the basics. After spending several years focusing on ads, she's gone back to focusing on collaborations and relationships to build her audience, which is working really well right now.
When it comes to lead generation, we find that people are much more likely to engage in a paid offer that they got for free, rather than a purely free lead magnet. A lot of times people will go in front of someone else's audience, and they'll give away a freebie, but what we've been doing is giving a coupon code for 100% off of one of our low-ticket offers when speaking at a summit or being a guest on a podcast. To me, that just feels so much more valuable. (Keep reading to the end to see this in action!)
[23:37] One of the things I love about Mariah's approach to structuring her offer suite is that she focuses on creating an ecosystem of offers, rather than an ascension model that assumes people will go through your funnel and purchase your offers in a certain order. She calls it an ecosystem instead because the path often isn't linear. Some people come in ready for the high-ticket program, some stay in the mid-tier and also buy a few smaller workshops that supplement it, but it really varies.
You need to have an evergreen ecosystem of offers. You need some low-ticket offers or workshops, then you need your mid-tier signature course or offer, and then you have your high-ticket program that wraps it all together. If they’re not ready for one part of the ecosystem, they get offered another part. You can’t put barriers to your ecosystem or try to force people to follow the path you want them to. Put it all out there and let people decide what they’re ready for.
[27:12] Mariah recommends using this system to sell your offers on Evergreen and incorporating a few live launches throughout the year. But knowing which of your offers to promote during your live launches isn't always straightforward. Mariah had some great advice for making the most of 2-3 big live launches per year, which is the max most businesses can realistically do. Beyond choosing the right offer, using a virtual summit to lead into your launch is a great way to maximize results!
It's important to consider the opportunity cost of what you decide to launch. A launch is an opportunity window, and if you're using up that window for one product, that removes an opportunity to launch another. I make my decisions on what offer to focus on in my live launches by looking at the numbers. It may take a few test launches to figure out which of your offers does the best in a live launch, but I think you’ll find that either your high-ticket offer or your signature course is a big hit and the one you’ll want to focus your launches on.
[30:42] Mariah's advice for building out your evergreen ecosystem and maximizing your results: You have to do what feels best for you. Everyone wants a blueprint or to have exactly what they're supposed to do laid out on a platter for them, but everyone's business is different, and you have to figure out what works for you. You have to make your own Fearless CEO decisions on how you design your business.
About Mariah
Mariah Coz is the founder of Fearless CEO, where she has spent the last 7 years working with entrepreneurs to build their online courses, group programs, webinars, evergreen funnels, and more. Over the years, she has worked with thousands of clients and has been lucky enough to mentor many of the “household names” you know today! As the seasons change, as the industry shifts, as algorithms go rogue, as circumstances continue to fluctuate day to day -- there are principles that remain timeless and evergreen. The heart of Mariah’s teachings comes down to her signature approach of creating “Empowering Enrollment Experiences” that both you and your customers will love!
Fearless CEO Website | Free Trainings | Map Your Model
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