Online Course Launch Playbook

Who this is for

Educators and creators launching a paid online course or cohort programme.

Before you start

• The course outline: modules, lessons and what a student can do by the end.
• A sales or enrolment page.
• Sample lessons or material you are willing to publish for free.
• Answers to the questions prospective students already ask you.

Step 1

Plan the free layer

Decide what to teach for free and what the course adds.

1. 01List the questions people search for in your subject before they look for a course.
2. 02Choose topics for free guides that stand on their own.
3. 03Decide which sample lesson shows most clearly how you teach.
4. 04Plan a page that states exactly what the course covers and who it is for.

Step 2

Create guides and sample lessons

Teach well in public.

1. 01Write topic guides that fully answer their question rather than holding back the useful part.
2. 02Publish a sample lesson in the same format the course uses.
3. 03Write the “who this course is for” page, including who it is not for.
4. 04Link each guide to the course module that goes further.

Step 3

Publish before enrolment opens

Give prospective students time to read.

1. 01Publish guides and the sample lesson before enrolment opens.
2. 02Link the enrolment page from every guide without interrupting the lesson.
3. 03Collect questions during enrolment and answer them in new guides.
4. 04Keep guides live between cohorts.

Step 4

Measure enrolments

Find out which free content leads to students.

1. 01Track which pages students visited before enrolling.
2. 02Check which guides appear in search in your search console.
3. 03Ask students what made them decide.
4. 04Update guides when the course content changes.

Common pitfalls

• Free guides that only tease the course and teach nothing.
• Promising career or income outcomes from the course.
• A course page that does not say who the course is not for.

Where Opus Rank helps

Tutorials for the parts of this plan you can do in Opus Rank.

• Build a topical map

  Plan free guides around the course’s modules.

• Create a content brief

  Set the level and audience of each guide.

• Create and use brand voices

  Keep guides in the same voice as your lessons.

Related playbooks

• Newsletter Launch Playbook
• Podcast Launch Playbook
• Consultancy Launch Playbook