Have you ever wondered how an online course business can switch to evergreen and go from $30k to $650k in 8 months? Or what about from $70k to $500k in a year? Or $50k to $400k in a year?
Those are just a few real-life results some of our clients have experienced and while I could sit here and tell you how they did it – I won’t. My free masterclass does that already and you can sign up to watch it anytime you want.
Instead, I’d like to tell you what they DIDN’T do.
You see, there are so many myths out there floating around the internet about how to properly “evergreen” an online course business and while they may sound believable, they’re actually really dangerous for your business..
Today, I’m busting 4 popular “evergreen” myths that can actually prevent your business from growing and I’m telling you exactly what you need to do instead.
Let’s get started.
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 revealing 4 “evergreen” myths that can stunt your business growth and I’ll share exactly what I advise my clients to do instead.
These are the same clients that have gone from $30k to $650k in 8 months, $70k to $500k in less than a year, and $200k to $1m in a year. If you want to see more results just like these make sure to peek at my “results” highlights on my Instagram profile.
Myth #1. You need to start running ads right away.
When people try to “fast track” their success with ads right from the start – it’s usually a recipe for disaster especially for a new funnel.
The extra expense of running ads can put extra pressure on the course creator when the funnel is new and you haven’t yet worked out all the kinks.
Building out a profitable organic traffic system takes much less time than it’lll take you to create and manage your own ads – but, of course it does take some initial time to get things started. You should be able to generate $10k months WITHOUT ads if you have a strong organic foundation in place.
Ads are not the easy way out if you don’t have a proven funnel and they bring a host of new challenges to overcome – which is great when you’re ready for them, but if you haven’t put in the work and built the necessary routines to generate revenue organically they are a big risk.
I didn’t start running ads until I was already generating multiple six figures per year and now they’re an integral part of our business strategy – but, so is organic traffic.
You don’t need to post on social media 5x/day to generate organic traffic or send 40 cold DMs to people every single day, which is what most people think I mean when I talk about organic traffic. I mean, you can do that if you want to – but, it’s not something I’d recommend.
Myth #2. You need a super fancy funnel – the more complex the better.
The reason why our clients see such incredible results with us is because we are “obsessed” with simplicity. Many course creators think the more content they add to their funnel, the more profitable it will be – but the opposite is true.
Your funnel needs LESS content, better. If the quality of your content is good and connects you with your audience on a deep, identity level, they don’t NEED to consume 10 different lead magnets before they’re ready to buy. You can take someone from stranger to buyer in just a few days and the best part is – you don’t have to send a single DM to do it. You also don’t need to host sales calls, or use free facebook groups – or anything like that.
Those extra steps are actually SLOWING your growth.
That’s because the more complicated your funnel becomes, the more confused your audience will be and the less money you’ll make.
If you’re looking for the best way to create a high-converting funnel that sells your course on auto-pilot, then I highly recommend signing up for my free masterclass. No matter how many funnels you’ve built before, you’ve never seen anything like our Profitable Sales Engine™.
Inside my free class I’ll share the 5 key ingredients that make it work so well.
So, let’s move.
Myth #3. You need a big team.
I’ll never forget the look on my client’s face when I told her that her team was twice the size of mine, but my annual revenue was four times the size of hers. She couldn’t wrap her head around how I was able to run a business that (at that time) was generating $3m/year with a lean team that was half the size of hers.
When your business is growing, you can’t just keep hiring more people and build upon your existing team WITHOUT stopping to assess if those roles are actually even needed anymore. Figuring out what roles are needed to sustain continued growth requires strategic thinking and that can be difficult sometimes if you’ve built a team that feels like family (and sometimes it is family), but the needs of the company have outgrown their skills or capabilities.
Sometimes you may have 3 contractors or part-timers that can be replaced by one full time person who is highly qualified and they can get the same thing done in about half the time. So, hiring that full time person actually ends up not just saving you money – but, depending on the role, they could actually be generating money.
The goal is to have a lean, profitable team that is high-performing while making decisions that are aligned with your company’s core values.
Myth #4. You need everything to “feel easy”.
I’ll never forget the time a client told me that she was frustrated with herself because she knew things were “supposed to feel easy”, but things felt hard – and she couldn’t figure out why. I looked her right in the face and said, “who said this was supposed to feel easy?”
At first she couldn’t remember and then she said maybe she heard someone say that on a podcast or Instagram, but she couldn’t remember exactly who or exactly where.
Friends, scaling a business doesn’t always “feel easy”. Sure, there are moments where I feel in flow, but there are other moments where I feel very challenged as I find myself facing new problems that I’ve never experienced before…
…but, who says that a challenge can’t be fun? Who says doing something hard can’t be rewarding?
Scaling a business requires discomfort, not occasionally – frequently and if you want to be in this for the long haul, you need to start reframing your relationship with discomfort.
Discomfort doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong, it means you’re growing and the only way to avoid discomfort is to quite literally STAY in your comfort zone – and there’s nothing wrong with staying in your comfort zone, but doing so is not going to lead to doubling, tripling, or even 10xing your revenue.
Scaling is not a wild, mythical beast. It’s simply increasing revenue faster than your expenses, which is something every course creator can learn to do. Will the path be easy? No, but it will be meaningful, rewarding, and one of the biggest adventures you’ll ever embark upon.
To recap, here’s what you need to know if you’re interested in growing a successful course business.
1. You don’t need to spend loads of money on ads. Instead, create a strong foundation of organic traffic BEFORE you even think about running ads.
2. You don’t need a complex funnel. Instead, build a simple and effective funnel, like a Profitable Sales Engine™.
3. You don’t need a big team. Instead, aim for a lean, profitable team.
4. You don’t need things to “feel easy”. Instead, work towards reframing your relationship with discomfort and recognize it for what it is – growth.
Appreciate you being here today and make sure to tune in 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 auto-pilot?
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!
