FCB #021: Transform OS: 1 Course or 4?

Introduction

In his newsletter today, Justin Welsh shared 5 lessons he learned from his $3,394,480 in digital course sales so far. His 5 best pieces of advice for selling your digital courses online:

1. Build in public to generate attention
2. Price accessibly to breed word-of-mouth
3. Use testimonials to drive sales
4. Keep it 80% give, 20% ask
5. Brevity is your friend

So, this post by arguably one of the most successful content creators and influencers on LinkedIn today got me thinking about my own first online course that I've been working on -- Transform OS.

And I thought I would use his 5 points for the start of a discussion of it here online with you, my LinkedIn audience; specifically his Lessons 1, 2, and 5.

Lesson 1: Build In Public To Generate Attention

I figure, if this worked so well for Justin, maybe it will work for me also. So, over the next few weeks, instead of working on my first course quietly at home, I plan on building the course completely in public through my posts and newsletters on LinkedIn.

Do you think this is a good idea?

Lesson 2: Accessibility Breeds Word-of-Mouth

Justin makes the case for pricing online digital products at affordable rates, and making them as valuable as possible, simply asking people to tell their friends if they enjoyed them.

He contrasts a high-ticket "masterclass" for $1,499 that a lot of people with significantly smaller audiences try to sell, versus his products, priced at $149, which are much easier for people to recommend to their friends.

Makes sense to me!

What do you think?

Up to this point, I was thinking that my upcoming "Transform OS" course would be fairly robust, with four in-depth modules totaling about 4 hours of video, and that since it will be my first online course, I wanted to price it under $500, say $497.

Now, I'm thinking it might be better to break it into four shorter (1-hour each), less expensive (say, $149 each) courses, and let the end user decide which course or courses make the most sense for them to start with.

Do you agree?

Transform OS: The Only Program You Need to Completely Systemize and Automate Your Business, Reclaim Your Life, and Scale from 6 or 7 to 8-Figures and Beyond

That's my current "course promise" on my website's course page (https://www.calvincummings.com/transform-os).

Down towards the bottom of the page I share a high-level view of the course's four modules, as follows:

Transform OS Course: The Founder Operating System (4 Hours, $497)

Module 1: Your Base (1 Hour)

• Vision
• Mindset

Module 2: Your Plan (1 Hour)

• Strategy
• Action Plan

Module 3: Your System (1 Hour)

• Systemize
• Automate

Module 4: Your Team (1 Hour)

• Easy Delegation
• Turnkey Business

Four Courses Instead Of One?

I'm now having second thoughts about whether I should create this "all-encompassing" business transformation course or, instead, whether I should break it up into four, shorter courses with deliverables as follows:

Course 1: Vision & Mindset OS (1 Hour, $149)

• Time Tracking System
• Delegation System
• Vivid Vision Document

Course 2: Strategy & Accountability OS (1 Hour, $149)

• Core Values Document
• Strategic Planning System
• Accountability System

Course 3: Systems & Automation OS (1 Hour, $149)

• Master Systems List
• Systems Templates
• Automation System

Course 4: Hiring & Delegating OS (1 Hour, $149)

• Hiring System
• Delegation System
• Turnkey Business System

Lesson 5: Brevity Is Your Friend

To the last point -- brevity -- Justin shared that his first course, The LinkedIn Playbook, had a 45% completion rate (the average for course creators is 13.8%) because it's short -- only about 75 minutes.

Another course that he never promoted much (Idea.Audience.Proof.Product) had a closer to 25% completion rate, because it was much more robust -- clocking in at 3.5 hours.

So, I figure if I keep my initial courses shorter -- somewhere around an hour each -- maybe I can achieve a higher completion rate (and hence more success) for my students, than if I were to do one huge "masterclass" course that takes hours and hours to complete.

What do you think?

What Are Your Thoughts?

1. Should I do one long masterclass course like "Transform OS", or should I break it into four shorter, more easily digestible courses?
2. Do you think I will be more successful selling a longer course like Transform OS for $497, or four shorter courses for $149 each?
3. What do you think of the deliverables for the four shorter courses I am thinking of building? What would you add? What would you like to see as deliverables?

Well, that's it for today! Please share your thoughts and suggestions with me in the comments below. They are invaluable to me at this stage of my new online business. Thanks!

Whenever you’re ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:

1. Founder Coffee Break Newsletter - Every Saturday morning, I share practical guidance to help you strategize, systemize, improve, and grow your business for free. Join 560+ subscribers here => https://lnkd.in/eBqvHDtY.

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