Do you ever feel like your evergreen course sales have hit a ceiling – or worse, started sliding backward – and you’re worried that sales will NEVER pick back up again?
It’s normal for sales to fluctuate slightly day to day.
But, if your monthly numbers are flat or trending downward, that’s your cue to take action because evergreen selling is meant to increase your revenue, not decrease it.
When most coaches or course creators experience a plateau, their first instinct is usually to get more traffic – and if your conversion rates are SOLID, that might be the case…BUT more often than not, the problem isn’t traffic at all.
Today, I’m sharing three problems (and fixes) that need to be immediately addressed if you want to unlock the full potential of your evergreen funnel – and none of them are related to traffic.
So, if you’re in the middle of a course selling slump – sit tight because this episode is exactly what you need.
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.
I know struggling through a sales slump can feel demoralizing – especially when it feels like all your “go to” strategies for getting more traffic aren’t helping.
You’ve tried posting a bunch more content on social media – no sales.
You tried increasing your ad spend – still no sales.
You tried lighting some sage and clearing out all the negative energy in your room – and the sales still aren’t happening.
Traffic is not the solution here and trying to increase it is a waste of time until you’ve fixed these three problems first.
1. Your marketing isn’t relevant.
A lot of course creators tell me their audience “only buys” during certain months.
They’ll say: “Caitlin, I’ve looked at my sales data. My audience just doesn’t buy during the holidays”
But, when I ask what they’re doing differently this holiday season to change that pattern, they look at me like I didn’t understand what they just said. They’re confusing past circumstances with future possibilities.
Just because your sales dipped last holiday season doesn’t mean this summer has to be the same.
If you believe your audience only buys at certain times of year, it’s time to flip that belief on its head. Instead of passively accepting the slow-sales pattern, create marketing campaigns that make your course feel relevant right now.
Here’s how to start:
- Make a list of five reasons why this month is the perfect time to enroll in your course.
- And no, I don’t mean “Because I’m offering a discount.” I mean real, strategic, benefits-driven reasons.
Let me give you an example.
Say you teach a course about improving your relationship with your teenager, and you typically see a sales slump in the holiday season. Your normal marketing might focus on school-year struggles – getting ready on time, homework battles, report cards. But during the holidays, those pain points don’t feel urgent.
So you have to dig deeper. What holiday-specific struggles are your audience facing?
Maybe:
- Endless hours of screen time
- Power struggles over curfews
- Less structure leading to more conflict
Suddenly, you’ve got relevant marketing angles that speak to what they’re experiencing right now. The result? People see your course as the exact solution they need today – not something to think about a few months down the line.
2. You’ve got weak follow-up.
I know it sometimes feels like you’re talking about your course constantly – but I promise you, there are people in your audience who don’t even realize they can buy it right now.
Here’s why: Maybe they joined your email list months ago, went through your funnel, and didn’t buy. It wasn’t the right time for them then. But now? Their problem has gotten worse. They’re ready.
The question is – do you have a system in place to catch them at that moment? Most course creators don’t.
They treat their sales funnel like a one-and-done event:
- Someone goes through the funnel.
- Doesn’t buy.
- End of story.
Meanwhile, all their energy goes into chasing new leads – while the people already on their list are completely ignored.
Here’s the mindset shift: The sales cycle is just that – a cycle.
If someone didn’t buy the first time, that doesn’t mean they never will. It just means they weren’t ready yet. Your follow-up needs to be an ongoing mix of nurturing content and direct offers. Educate them. Inspire them. Remind them of the problem you solve – and that you can help them solve it right now.
The beauty of evergreen is that you can automate this process. Create email sequences that keep cycling through different angles:
- Address a specific objection
- Share a case study or success story
- Offer a quick tip or resource that relates back to your course
And because it’s automated, you can track which messages get the most clicks and replies. Then, keep the winners and cut the rest. I’ve seen clients double – or even triple – their conversion rates just by refining their follow-up based on this data.
3. You’re ignoring the data – and emotions are taking over
This is where a lot of course creators get tripped up – not because analyzing data is complicated, but because they let their emotions cloud what the numbers are telling them.
Here’s what I mean…You look at your sales numbers. You’re not hitting your benchmark. And instantly, your brain goes to:
- “I’m failing.”
- “This will never work.”
- “Maybe I should create a new course.”
When that happens, you’re not looking at the numbers anymore – you’re looking at the story you’re telling yourself about the numbers. But, here’s the truth: failing to meet a benchmark doesn’t mean you are a failure. It just means something in your funnel needs attention.
When you take the emotion out of it and ask, “Okay, what is this number telling me?” – you start to see clear options for what to test or even tweak.
That’s the power of evergreen: you get data in real time, every day. You don’t have to wait six months for your next launch to see if a change worked. You can make a tweak today, see the impact this week, and keep building from there.
If you want to rapidly increase your evergreen course sales without increasing traffic or spending more on ads – focus on these three things:
1. Make Your Marketing Relevant – Speak to what your audience is experiencing right now.
2. Maximize Your Sales Follow-Up – Keep engaging past leads with a mix of nurturing and direct offers.
3. Prioritize Data Over Drama – Let your numbers guide your decisions, not your emotions.
Remember, evergreen revenue should be improving month after month. It’s a system that grows with you and your audience.
When you keep your marketing relevant, your follow-up strong, and your mindset focused on data instead of drama, you create a business that can generate consistent revenue all year round.
And that’s when the magic really happens. If you want to learn more about building an evergreen funnel that increases sales consistently month over month – then join me for my next free masterclass. The link is in the show notes.
I appreciate you being here and 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 autopilot?
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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!
