🎓 Module 08: Lessons
8.1: What’s a Beta and Why Run One?
Here’s what you learned:
- A beta launch tests an early version of your course with a small group of students using a prototype that’s “good enough” to gather feedback.
- Running a beta helps you identify improvements, get testimonials for future marketing, and start raising general awareness of the course.
- Compared to a full course, beta courses have more basic content, rely on word-of-mouth for enrolment, and may need more hands-on support.
- There are four phases: Interest (building an interest list), Enrollment (signing up beta testers), Delivery (running the course and gathering feedback), and Wrap-up (collecting final feedback and testimonials).
8.2: How to Drum Up Enough Interest
Here’s what you learned:
- You can generate interest either one-to-one (reaching out to individual contacts) or one-to-many (social media, email list, and online communities).
- One-to-one: identify potential leads from your existing network, start conversations about the beta, and add interested people to a list.
- One-to-many: choose your target platforms (e.g., social), develop simple content strategies, and create a “self-service” interest list.
8.3: Firming Up Your Beta Offer
Here’s what you learned:
- A clear beta offer is crucial for enrollment, detailing the course’s duration, cost, and expected outcomes to build trust and reduce uncertainty.
- You must provide answers to five key questions about your beta course: who it’s for, what it does, how it works, what it costs, and why they should trust it.
- Create a “key facts” document to clearly explain the promise, programme details, pricing, proof, and any necessary terms and conditions.
8.4: Getting from Interested to Enrolled
Here’s what you learned:
- The enrolment process has four stages: Confirmation, Qualification, Invitation, and Decision.
- Each stage builds trust and commitment, starting with confirming interest, qualifying prospects through deeper interactions, extending an official invitation, and facilitating their final decision.
- Secure your most enthusiastic supporters first to create momentum and urgency, and make payment as easy and painless as possible.
8.5: Setting Up Your Beta Platform
Here’s what you learned:
- Your beta “platform” can be an established course platform like Teachable, Thinkific, or Podia, or a DIY solution using tools you’re already familiar with.
- Your platform must handle five key jobs: hosting content, supporting coaching, facilitating community, sending updates, and gathering feedback.
- A simple DIY setup might use Google Drive for content, Zoom and Slack for coaching and community, email for updates, and Google Forms for feedback.
8.6: Meet Your Onboarding Toolkit
Here’s what you learned:
- Onboarding ensures students are set up on your course platform, understand how everything works, and are ready to make the most of your course.
- Having an orientation week immediately before the course starts creates a consistent onboarding experience for everyone.
- Your onboarding “toolkit” has three tools: a welcome email for communicating essential information, programme instructions for more detailed guidance, and an orientation meetup to set the scene and address any questions.
8.7: Running Your Beta Like a Boss (Pt1)
Here’s what you learned:
- Delivering beta content to a weekly schedule helps to keep students focused but not overwhelmed, and removes the temptation to skip ahead.
- Coaching can include answering questions about course content, giving feedback on homework, and offering encouragement and accountability.
- Providing an online community is one way to deliver coaching and support, and also let students comment on each other’s work and progress.
- Weekly meetups (e.g., on Zoom) help to create a “heartbeat” for your beta course and are great for keeping your students motivated and engaged.
8.8: Running Your Beta Like a Boss (Pt 2)
Here’s what you learned:
- Tracking student progress via milestones ensures you can identify and support students who may be falling behind.
- Keeping students accountable helps maintain momentum. Use clear progress expectations and weekly reminders but avoid being too heavy-handed.
- Getting feedback is crucial for improving your course and requires prompting students for feedback and being attentive to where they struggle.
- If students lag behind, adding a “catch-up” week is better than slowing down the entire programme, which can be discouraging to those still on track.
8.9: Ending Your Beta with a Bang
Here’s what you learned:
- Actively managing the end of your beta launch prevents it from dragging on indefinitely, which risks delaying the launch of your full course.
- Adding a wrap-up week helps wind down support, gather feedback, and collect testimonials, while also celebrating students’ achievements.
- Gather testimonials by harvesting spontaneous positive comments (with permission) and asking for a final round of post-beta feedback.
đź’Ş Module 08: Assignments
[A01] Start building awareness
Follow the steps from the preceding lessons to start building awareness for your beta course launch and begin collecting names of potential students.
[A02] Enrol your beta students
Make key decisions about how your beta course will run and then move prospects along your mini-pipeline from “interested” to “enrolled”.
[A03] Get everything ready to launch
Decide the practical details of your beta platform, get everything set up in preparation for launch, and create the materials for your onboarding toolkit.
[A04] Launch and run your beta!
Onboard your beta students, run your course from beginning to end, and then wrap everything up smoothly and professionally.
🛠️ Module 08: Resources
Here are the resources from the module, organised by phase.