Let's talk about the exciting world of creating online courses or group programs quickly. If you're on the verge of launching your own program or course, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical steps to take your idea from conception to launch in no time.

Introduction [00:00:00]

Jo discusses the perfect timing for the topic, aligning with the start of her five-day challenge aimed at helping listeners create their online programs quickly.

Phase 1: Idea Creation [00:01:00]

• Identifying Your Unique Offering: Understand what you want to create, focusing on your skills, know-how, and the problems you aim to solve.
• Creating Your Signature Framework: Jo emphasizes the importance of developing a unique model, drawing from her own "Lott Last Minute Launch Formula" as an example.

Phase 2: Validating Your Offer [00:06:00]

• The Importance of Validation: Before diving into creation, ensure your program meets an actual need. Jo shares her past experiences of creating programs that lacked market demand, highlighting the significance of this often-overlooked step.

Phase 3: Creation [00:07:00]

• Crafting Engaging Content: Tips on creating a compelling welcome video and ensuring your content drives action and results.
• Deciding on Content Delivery: Jo discusses the benefits of drip-feeding content versus creating it all at once, sharing her strategy to maximize productivity during a planned retreat.

Phase 4: Launch [00:10:00]

• Ramping Up Visibility: Jo shares her current phase with the program "Elevate," detailing the exhaustive efforts in increasing visibility and preparing for a successful launch.
• Understanding Conversion Rates: With practical examples from her challenge, Jo outlines the importance of knowing your numbers and setting realistic expectations for your launch success.

Conclusion [00:15:00]

Jo wraps up by summarising the four phases covered in the episode: idea creation, offer validation, program creation, and launch. She extends an invitation to join her program "Elevate," which closes on March 8th, emphasising that it's not an evergreen offering.

Here's the link with all the details Elevate - online course and group mastery (joannalottcoaching.com)

Key Takeaway: Creating an online course or group program doesn't have to be a daunting task. With clear steps, dedication, and a bit of creativity, you can quickly launch a program that not only reflects your unique expertise but also meets the needs of your target audience.

Join Elevate: Don’t miss out on the chance to join "Elevate." This comprehensive program is designed to guide you through every step of creating and launching your online course or group program. Sign up before it closes on March 8th! Elevate - online course and group mastery (joannalottcoaching.com)

Useful Links

Join Elevate before 8 March for £300 off the retail price.

How to secure more coaching clients' free training

Download the 12 ways to get clients now

Learn about The Business of Coaching programme

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn

Rate and Review the Podcast

If you found this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: joanna@joannalottcoaching.com

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Mentioned in this episode:

Dare Greatly in person event - 8 November

Join me at this Autumn special of Dare Greatly. Here's the link to book to join me on 8 November - I can't wait to see you then. https://go.joannalottcoaching.com/daregreatlynovreservespace

Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Hello, welcome to the 51st episode

women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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Today, I'm excited to share about creating

an online course or group program quickly.

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Because I am on the Sunday where my

five day challenge begins, where I

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will be helping people with this.

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So it was the perfect topic for today.

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So I'm going to break this

episode up into four phases.

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So firstly idea creation.

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So, what do you want to

create a course or program on?

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Really think about your

skills, your know how.

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Also what problem you

want to solve because.

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We don't want to create

a nice to have program.

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We need to create a must have

program that people are eager to buy.

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You'd really want to think about

that ideal client and build

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something perfectly for them.

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If it's not too strange, literally print

out a photo of someone who has this

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problem, who is your ideal client and in

everything you do, just create for them.

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Next up in this idea creation mode,

I would create your own model.

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So think about.

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What are the core fundamental

things that you want to teach?

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And how can you break that down in a

way that is your signature framework?

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You want to make it unique, make

it yours, bring in intellectual

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property where you can.

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So if you think about rice Krispies,

they became famous because they

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coined the term snap, crackle and pop.

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So they made a generic idea of a rice pop.

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Into an exciting concept.

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So you would want to think

about ways of doing that in your

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program so it's truly unique.

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So in mine, for example, I have the

Lott Last Minute launch formula which

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is kind of how I get things done

because I could easily say to myself,

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I'm not ready for this challenge.

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I need to put it off another few months

and many times have I wanted to do that?

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But I won't do that because I know that

sometimes you need some sort of pressure

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to actually make the thing happen.

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And I see in people I've had discovery

calls within the past, how long

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they allow themselves to go round

in circles on something that could

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just be a split-second decision.

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So really be brave and bring in your

unique strengths into your program.

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You also want to think about

your transformation statement.

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So a really clear statement that helps

people understand why they are buying

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your course, where they are going from

and where they are wanting to go to.

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Next up, you will want to think

of an amazing course name.

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This is something I find super tricky,

but it makes a big difference because it

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helps people to feel something and to buy

something we want to evoke those emotions.

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So people feel clear about what they're

buying or want to be involved in some way.

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Then comes the question of price.

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How much are you on Singh

to charge for your program?

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That was obviously depend on whether

there is any support or whether it

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is a pure online program without

support, which are usually less cost.

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And you also want to

test it with the market.

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I'm helping a pricing coach at the

moment, create his online course.

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And the other day I was saying to him

that he could charge for his first round.

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And he said to me that he doesn't

want to charge because he wants to

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be able to do a pricing analogy.

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So you ask people at the beginning.

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What are they wanting to pay and

you'd ask them at the end, what

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would they pay for that program?

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And he has a specific way of doing

it to really gauge an idea about

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what he should price that program at.

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So that was a super interesting

concept for me to learn about.

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You'd want to think about

your course creation strategy.

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So are you going to sell it

first and then create it?

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Are you going to deliver live

each week, or are you going to

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record your content straight up?

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There's no right answer.

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And there are several different

ways of doing it and the right way

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you will be the right way for you.

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Now for the most powerful moves that you

will ever make, which is choosing your

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launch date and scheduling backwards.

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So this is day one of my five

day challenge that I'm starting

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tomorrow is choosing those

dates and setting your goal.

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If you don't choose a date, I can

almost guarantee you that in a year's

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time we will meet and your course will

still not be out there in the world.

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So I just love this one and I cannot

wait to see the results for the

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people who have joined the challenge.

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Finishing up this phase, one idea

creation, you'll want to draw

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up a document with the details

and logistics of your program.

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That may be literally a word document,

or you may want to create a sales page,

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which usually takes longer and sales

pages is an entire training in itself.

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So it's not something I'm going to

go into today but a lot of sales

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psychology will go into this document

to really help people to see that

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this is the right next move for them.

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Okay.

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Now you've got an idea.

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You've got a document, you've

got a price, you've got a name.

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You've chosen your days.

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Next up, you need to validate that

this is something that people want.

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And this is a step that people often miss

because they are excited about creating

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and they don't want to get into speaking

to people and slowing down their progress.

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But the problem is you may then

spend a lot of time creating

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something that no one ever wants and

we'll never see the light of day.

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I spent a long time creating a lot of

programs when I first started my business.

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On general stuff like confidence

and sadly, no, one's really

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interested in general confidence.

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They are interested in a real

specific confidence for speaking up

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in meetings, confidence for asserting

themselves with their partner.

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We need to really think about that

end goal and if I had of known what

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I know now, I would have validated

my idea and then I may have learnt

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what people are willing to pay for.

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So moving onto phase three now

is the exciting creation phase.

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You will want to create an exciting,

welcome video that makes people step into

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what they're about to join, to help them

get excited to actually take those steps.

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When you are creating your content,

you'll need to make sure it's really

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short and formatted in a specific way.

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So people take action and get results

because there is nothing more depressing

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than a program where you can see that

no, one's actually logging in and

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no one's contacting you, if you have

support in your program with the outcome

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of that task, asking for feedback.

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That's something I do in my program.

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So people worked with the modules in

their own time, and then they send me

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their niche statement or whatever it

may be, and we chat it back and forth.

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So at each stage they make progress.

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They can tick that off their list.

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And then they're excited to move to module

two because it builds on module one.

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At this creation phase, you may be

deciding whether you are going to create

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it all in one hit or whether you are going

to drip out the content week on week.

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And that will enable you to create

each week that first time, because

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it is going to take a really

long time to create this content.

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So, if you don't drip feed it, you

could be there six months in still not

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selling the program because you won't

have that strong deadline of people

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waiting for that thing to be released.

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So I find the week on week drip feeding

helps me to create the content cause

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then I know people are waiting for

it, so I need to get on and create it.

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Yes, I would absolutely love to

do it all in one go, but usually

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it doesn't quite work out.

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Although I am very excited that I

have booked a four night break away by

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myself in Brighton the week after my

challenge, where I am going to put my

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head down and create as much as I can.

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So even though the program will release

week on week because I've done research

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and that's what people actually

want so they don't feel overwhelmed.

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And so they feel like they

are up to date with that task.

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Okay.

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We are in phase four.

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So this is the phase I am in with my

program Elevate at the moment, which

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is going to help people to master

online courses and group programs.

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There is so much involved

in this launch phase.

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I have been working super hard for

weeks on my launch for this program.

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You will really want to

ramp up your visibility.

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You'll want to know your numbers.

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It's really good to know that online

course creation and group creation is

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not usually something for beginners

because you need a audience to

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sell to several people at once.

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A 5% conversion rate is the average.

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Say, for example, in my challenge,

I have 200 people currently

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as part of my Facebook group.

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And that may mean that 10 people buy

my upsell at the end of the week,

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which is the step-by-step guide

to every single aspect that they

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will need to grow their program.

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So you will want to know this

when you are launching to.

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And therefore, if you can't get 50 to a

hundred people on a webinar for example,

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it might be hard to fill that program.

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But I do teach easy starter methods as

well, because often you wouldn't want

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to go to the first big launch if you

haven't got that type of audience yet.

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So there are other ways that you can

start getting that first program out

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there and over the line before you

start building up to bigger launches.

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I'm doing a five day challenge for this

particular launch, but usually I run a one

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hour workshop and it really helps people

to take that step towards you, learn

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from you, gain an insight and then decide

if they want to work with you further.

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Filling a workshop also

takes time and a lot of work.

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So you will want to promote

it for two weeks, ideally.

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Daily, maybe even several times a day.

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For example, when I was promoting

my challenge my mentor said that I

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needed to promote it six times a day.

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I must admit I did not promote it

six times a day, but I did go all in.

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I promoted it every single day,

including weekends and often twice a day.

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I also did some guest expert spots

where I spoke in groups that have

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my ideal clients so those people

might want to attend my challenge.

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So there's quite a bit involved

in filling your workshop, which at

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the end of the workshop is when you

actually sell and launch your program.

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If you're wondering whether

you definitely need to launch.

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You don't always, depending on,

if you have a few warm people

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in your audience already.

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You may also want to sell to

organizations which wouldn't

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need this launch phase at all.

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You would be more so directly

contacting organizations rather than

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doing a workshop or webinar online.

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There is a lot of admin

involved in this launch phase.

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So you would want to

set up a sign up page.

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Thank you page.

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You'd want to have lots of emails

scheduled to help people to gain

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the details of the workshop and then

follow up afterwards to see if they are

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interested in working with you further.

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I feel very excited that I have all

of these emails scheduled for change.

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Normally I am creating after the

workshop, but this is a huge launch

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with me going live seven days

a week, starting from tonight.

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So I really do need to have those things

scheduled or it just wouldn't be possible.

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The benefit of doing a five day challenge

is that people get to know like, and

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trust you even more than a workshop.

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But this is not for the faint hearted.

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This has taken a huge process.

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A lot of step-by-step instructions,

a system I'm following.

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So much tech that it's

actually mind blowing.

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And I'm very proud that I have

somehow managed to get all

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this tech flying out there.

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But this is definitely a more advanced

strategy and not something I would be

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recommending if you are just starting out.

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So huge.

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Congratulations.

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If you are at this stage, you

may have launched your program.

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And congratulate yourself now because

you are starting your program.

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So now you can create an amazing

onboarding experience for your

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clients depending on how you decided

to create your content you may

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still be creating week on week.

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If you are drip feeding your content.

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But just know that say at the end of

that 12 weeks, you will have created

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an asset in your business, which will

work hard for you time and time again.

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That makes me realize I

haven't talked much about the

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tech of hosting your course.

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It doesn't need to be as

complicated as everybody thinks.

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Yes, you might want a portal but there

are also other ways and I'm going to be

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covering those in the challenge this week.

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And they're suitable

for one-on-one as well.

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So I love some simple systems

that I use to collaborate with

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clients and move them through an.

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A to B transformation

really, really easily.

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So, as long as you set your date,

creating an online course or

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group, doesn't ,have to take years.

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Understand your audience outline

that program, set your day, create

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engaging content, leverage your

existing resources and network

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and launched that course quickly.

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Your goal is to share your

knowledge more widely in less time.

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So it is so worth your time.

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As long as you have your

priority set and your business.

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And if you are starting out, for example,

this would not be your first step usually.

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I would be focusing on one-to-one

clients, which is higher ticket usually

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than a group or a course and therefore

you will be able to bring in the income

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that you need when you're starting.

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So it all depends on you and

your goals as to whether this

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is the right next step for you.

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So, let me summarize today's episode.

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We covered four phases.

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So phase one was idea creation,

phase two, was validating your offer.

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Phase three was creation of your

program and phase four was launch.

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And then we congratulated you

for starting your program.

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So I hope it was helpful to get a quick

overview of the phases involved in

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creating your course or online program.

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If you want to join Elevate, where I

take you by the hand and share all of

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the resources, and all of the, know how

the canvas templates, the tech stuff,

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all of the things that you will need

to think about then do join elevate.

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It closes on Friday.

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the 8th of March.

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This isn't an evergreen program.

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So this isn't running all the time.

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So join now as it won't be running again

until at least the end of this year.

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So, like I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seed.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.