There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there when it comes to selling your evergreen course.
One person says you have to launch first.
Another says you need a huge email list.
And then there’s the one who swears you need to spend thousands on ads just to make a single sale.
It’s no wonder course creators end up spinning their wheels wondering what’s actually true.
Today, I’m clearing the air once and for all and busting five of the biggest myths about evergreen funnels that are keeping you from making consistent, predictable sales.
Most of these myths don’t come from people intentionally giving you bad advice. They come from people who mean well… but are teaching strategies that only work in certain contexts – usually launches.
Evergreen is a completely different game with its own rules, timing, and rhythm. Once you understand those rules, selling your course becomes so much simpler – and a whole lot more profitable.
So, let’s get into it.
My name is Caitlin Bacher, CEO of Scale With Success®, and I’m on a mission to help course creators all over the world grow their business in a way that is profitable and scalable. I’m sharing revealing insights about what it really takes to scale an online course business to millions of dollars per year. Join me here to discover the tough decisions I’ve had to make, the biggest failures I’ve had to bounce back from, and the learnings that emerged every step of the way. I’m so grateful that I have the chance to tell you everything right here on Scale With Success®: The Podcast. Let’s get started.
Today I’m busting 5 popular myths about selling your course with an evergreen funnel that are costing you major profits and I want to get right to it, so here we go.
Myth #1: Your course has to be “ready” – aka perfect – before you start selling your course with an evergreen funnel.
“Ready” is a moving target and a waste of your time because your course will NEVER be “ready”. There will always be something to update, to change, or to make better – but that doesn’t mean you need to make all those updates and changes at once. Why? Because there will ALWAYS be more to make.
The first course I ever sold was a few videos that I recorded using the free version of screencast, so there was a giant “screencast” watermark on each of my videos. I didn’t have any workbooks – I just typed out what I needed people to know right underneath the video and you know what???
…People LOVED it. The content wasn’t fancy, but it was good and everything I taught worked.
Sure, NOW my courses have fancy videos, worksheets, and a hosting platform – but NONE of that was necessary to get started.
Myth #2: You need to have a big email list before you start selling your course with an evergreen funnel.
When I started selling my first course, do you know how many people I had on my list? Zero. The whole point of selling your evergreen course with an evergreen funnel is to build your email list AND sell your course all at the same time.
This means as soon as you turn your funnel on, you’ll be able to start collecting leads and a portion of those leads will turn into a customer.
Myth #3: You need to launch your course before you start selling it with an evergreen funnel.
When I first started selling my course, I didn’t know much about launching vs evergreen – because all I ever heard about was launching.
I was so overwhelmed by all my internet heroes yelling at me to start launching that I thought it was the ONLY way to grow…but, it didn’t take me long to realize that launching was the worst and I never wanted to do it again.
Now, not ALL evergreen funnels are created equally. Take my client Julie for example. When she came to us, she was selling her course with an evergreen funnel, but only selling 1 or 2 per month IF she was lucky. She felt like she was doing all the right things and worried that maybe she’d NEVER be able to make evergreen work for her.
So, what happened next? Well the very first WEEK she turned on her Profitable Sales Engine™ she sold 52 courses. Same person selling the same course at the same price – the only thing she changed was the WAY she was marketing and selling her program.
That’s the power of a Profitable Sales Engine™ and that’s why I get so fired up when people think an automated sales funnel won’t work for them.
Myth #4: You need to spend a ton of money on ads if you want to sell your course with an evergreen funnel.
You do NOT need to spend a dime on ads if you’re looking to create an evergreen sales funnel that makes six figures per year. Listen, I’ve even got clients who are making six figures per MONTH without spending any money on paid traffic.
While I didn’t spend any money on ads to reach my first six figure year, I did start using them to reach my first seven figure year.
But, this is where people go wrong. They get antsy and feel like ads are the easy way to scale, so they don’t bother with any organic strategies, they end up spending loads of money on ads, and all that money goes straight down the drain because they haven’t figured out how to create CONTENT that connects AND converts.
If you don’t know how to create organic content that builds demand for your program and sends traffic to your funnel – how in the world are you going to create content that does the same with paid traffic.
Ads are CONTENT, so they’re GREAT if you’ve nailed your content strategy, but if you haven’t then they will just amplify what isn’t working.
Again, you do NOT need ads at all to reach your first six figures in online course revenue. So, putting off your evergreen funnel because you think the only way to make it work is with ads – is just plain wrong.
Myth #5: You need to launch a bajillion times BEFORE you start selling your course with an evergreen funnel.
If that’s true then why are my DMs filled with course creators who have live launched for years, but are STILL stuck on the struggle bus when it comes to making their evergreen funnels profitable?
What worked well in a live launch will oftentimes NOT WORK in an evergreen funnel because they are completely different sales experiences for the prospect and the sales cycle for an evergreen funnel is MUCH shorter – and more profitable.
That’s why one of our clients was able to sell 300% more courses the first week she turned on her Profitable Sales Engine™ without ads than she made back when she was launching.
Her Profitable Sales Engine™ provided an intimate, focused sales experience that turns cold leads into paying customers in a matter of days – not months. It’s better for your prospect, because they get a ton of value out of the whole process (whether they buy or not) and it’s better for YOU because your Profitable Sales Engine™ is running day after day, doing all the heavy lifting of converting leads into customers for you.
You CAN start selling your course with an evergreen funnel…
…even if you course isn’t “ready”
…even if you have a tiny list (or no list at all!)
…even if you haven’t sold your course before
…even if you don’t want to spend money on ads
…even if you’ve never had a successful live launch
I appreciate you being here and join me next week for another episode of Scale With Success® The Podcast.
Are you sick and tired of launching and looking for a proven method to generate consistent revenue from your online course on autopilot?
Sign up for my free masterclass, “How To Generate Launch-Sized Revenue Without Launching” and I’ll show you how our clients are making MORE money in LESS time than they ever did while launching.
If making sales everyday in a way that is completely automated and doesn’t require paid advertising sounds good to you, then click the link around this episode and sign up for my free masterclass today.
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!
