Let’s dive right into why paid traffic alone will not save your online course. But, first, I want to address an important question…
1. Do I HAVE to use paid traffic to sell my evergreen course?
The short answer is NO. That might seem like a strange answer coming from someone who has spent over $1m in ads and continues to spend tens of thousands of dollars per month on paid advertising – but, it is certainly NOT required.
I didn’t need to spend any money on advertising to get to six figures and neither do you. In fact, I didn’t spend ANY money on advertising up until I was generating around $250k/year.
I have clients that make over $500,000/year with sales of their evergreen course and they don’t use ANY advertising. Just the strategies that we teach inside of Scale with Success®.
There is PLENTY of evidence to prove that paid traffic is NOT required to sell your evergreen course…but it is INCREDIBLY helpful.
Imagine being in a huge room filled with people. Everyone is talking loudly and it’s difficult to hear….kind of how it is on the internet.
Well, ads are like a megaphone.
They allow you to amplify your message to more people, without going around to each person individually, introducing yourself.
Now, if your message is off or your position is off – ads will amplify that. You’ll see it in your results. This might make you feel a little confused because when you speak in rooms where everyone already knows you, they can’t wait to buy.
But, now you’re reaching new areas of the internet where people DON’T know you. So, as you reach these new people, you’ll have to make sure your message is even more clear and more concise.
Just like being great at launching has nothing to do with evergreen success, being great at organic traffic has nothing to do with paid traffic success.
They are two different ball games and you’ll have to learn the rules of each. You’ll have to learn new strategies, develop new strengths, and be willing to risk making a mistake.
This is why we commit to working with our clients for a minimum of 12 months.
Like you, we’re in this for the long haul. We know you’re not just looking to have a great month, you’re looking to build something real – that is profitable and sustainable – which simply WON’T happen by signing up for yet another 8 week online course.
Paid traffic is a tool, just like anything else. You don’t HAVE to use it, but once you master it – you’ll never look back.
So, now you might be thinking ok, I get it, I don’t HAVE to use paid traffic, but if I want to – how do I know if I’m even READY to use it?
2. How do I know when I’m ready to start paid traffic?
Whether you hire an ads manager or attempt to run ads yourself – one thing’s for sure – you will need a CLEAR plan of action AND coaching along the way.
Your ads manager is NOT a business coach. I say this because I have seen one too many struggling course creators feel like they have to choose between hiring a coach and hiring an ads manager.
After joining our program, Scale with Success®, some of our clients have chosen to hire ads managers, some have chosen to use our strategies to do ads themselves, and some have chosen to forgo ads for now and focus on the organic strategies we teach for generating traffic.
Regardless of which choice they make – the REASON they are successful is because they made the smart decision to invest in a program that provides a plan (so you know what to do), coaching (to help you stay on target and navigate mistakes and NEW problems that arise), and a community (because let’s be honest – being an online course creator can feel pretty lonely at times and it’s REALLY helpful to be in a like-minded community of others who “get it”.)
YOU get to determine when you’re ready to start paid traffic. There are no rules about when you can or can’t start experimenting with ads.
I have a friend who always tells people that if he were to start a brand new business from scratch, the first thing he’d do is go to the bank and take out a loan for $50,000 and start running ads – from day one!
Not to make sales, but to collect data. Facebook ads are a tool that enable you to collect data faster.
I mean, imagine you were entering a BRAND NEW niche – where you’d NEVER sold an offer before. Not consulting, not coaching, not a course…nothing. AND you have zero audience. Nobody knows you in that space.
My friend argues that in this particular case you could wait MONTHS to have 1,000 people go through your evergreen webinar and collect data – or you could do it in a week…or a day!
Sure, you’d make tons of mistakes and probably no money – but with every mistake comes LEARNING and that LEARNING will help you collect the information you need to make improvements to your funnel FAST so you can FIX what’s not working and start making money faster.
Now, there is no place in my program where I advise people to take out a $50k loan and start tinkering with ads. Remember, plenty of our clients don’t spend any money on ads and they do just fine.
But, I share that perspective because it’s an interesting one to consider.
I have other friends that run million dollar businesses who don’t run ads at all. Now they are VERY busy creating organic content, speaking at events, online summits, etc etc – so they’re not generating traffic out of thin air. But, they like doing all that stuff and they’re happy to do it.
Do I think ads would help them 5x their revenue if they had the right plan and the right coaching along the way – YES! I do think that. But, that’s not my decision to make.
In any case, whether you have made no money or you’ve made millions, only YOU can determine whether you “feel ready” to start experimenting with paid traffic – and “feeling ready” is nothing more than deciding TO BE ready.
So, now that we’ve established that YOU get to determine when and if you want to run paid traffic to your evergreen webinar…you might be thinking to yourself…is it really that simple?
3. If I decide to hire an ads manager, will they really be responsible for increasing sales of my online course?
There is only one person in your company that is responsible for generating revenue and that is YOU, the CEO.
That’s a big responsibility to have and that’s what so many struggling course creators do not understand.
There are many struggling course creators who DO NOT WANT the responsibility of generating revenue in their business – so they are constantly looking for ways to pass that responsibility onto someone else – and an ads manager is often their first target!
“I’ll hire an ads manager and then they can worry about increasing revenue so I don’t have to.
If things work out, great.
If not, it’s their fault – not mine.”
It is not the responsibility of your ads manager to generate revenue, it’s their responsibility to generate traffic.
If your positioning and message is off – traffic won’t save you.
If your course doesn’t help people – traffic won’t save you.
If you are not being the leader you need to be in order to scale your business – traffic won’t save you.
Only YOU can save you.
An ads manager is not a miracle worker – whether you are paying them $1,500/month or $15,000/month they are NOT responsible for building your business.
They can hand you the megaphone so you can reach more people, but YOU are still responsible for investing in resources in getting the coaching, content, and community that YOU need to create an irresistible evergreen offer, to effectively communicate the value of that offer, to build an audience of raving fans who can’t wait to buy, and to serve your students to the best of your ability.
Scaling a business that generates $20k/mo, $40k/mo, $80k/mo IS A BIG DEAL. It is not easy and there is no contractor or agency in the world that can do it for you.
I know that you’re capable of becoming the million dollar course creator that you want to be and if you are SERIOUS about doing it in a way that will help you RETAIN as much of your profits as possible…book your call and let’s talk.
Thanks so much and make sure to tune in next week for another episode of The Caitlin Bacher Show.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Scale With Success® Accelerator — an online course designed to help you generate launch-sized revenue without lanching. If you want to learn MORE about our proven method for success, click here to watch my free masterclass. See you in there!