Validate demand with a paid beta before you record a lesson
The classic course mistake is recording 40 videos nobody has paid for. Selling a finished course from a standing start is slow: Kajabi's co-CEO wrote in August 2026 that among Kajabi experts who made any sale, the median first sale came 67 days after signup.
Flip the order. Write a one-page outline: who it's for, the result by the end, 4 to 6 modules, and the format (for example, six weekly live sessions). Offer 10 to 20 beta seats at a founding price to your most engaged followers and subscribers, with a minimum and a deadline. If fewer than about 8 people pay, refund them. You lost two weeks, not three months.
Teaching the beta live does three jobs. You learn which lessons people need, you record every session as raw material for the finished course, and you finish with real results and testimonials. Ask each beta student for one sentence on what changed, with a number if they have one.
A faster, weaker test is a waitlist with one survey question at signup. A waitlist measures interest; only a payment measures demand. If you are still deciding whether a course is the right product at all, our guide on how to launch a digital product compares courses with templates, ebooks, apps and communities.
Cohort or self-paced: choose the course format and price
Format sets the price, the build time and how much of you the course needs after launch. Maven's pricing guidance gives useful anchors.
| Format | Typical price | What you build | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live cohort course | Typically $800 to $2,450 on Maven, scaled by live hours and projects | A schedule of live sessions, projects and a group space. Content can be finished week by week. | Your audience wants feedback and accountability, and you can teach on fixed dates |
| Paid workshop | Typically $200 to $1,000+ on Maven; sessions under 2 hours run about $200 to $300 | One live session with exercises | Testing a topic, or selling the first step of a bigger course |
| Self-paced course | Maven suggests 70% to 85% of the live price if it keeps projects, feedback or a community | Recorded modules, worksheets and an onboarding email sequence | The topic is stable and you want sales without teaching on a calendar |
| Hybrid | The self-paced price, plus a premium live tier | Recorded lessons plus monthly group calls | You want a cheaper tier and a higher one |
Ranges from Maven's guide to pricing your course, which sets a $200 minimum for paid offerings. Completion favors cohorts: in Harvard and MIT edX data, 52% of people who registered for a course never opened the courseware (Reich and Ruipérez-Valiente, Science, 2019). Those courses were free, but dates and live sessions keep people moving.
Online course launch timeline: 12 weeks out to cart close
Count back from cart-open day. This course launch timeline assumes a paid beta, a free live event and a 6-day open cart. If you already have a finished course and testimonials, start at week 6.
| When | What you do | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 12 to 11 | Outline the course, write the one-page beta offer and message your 30 to 50 most engaged followers and subscribers. | Beta seats sold and a start date set |
| Weeks 10 to 6 | Teach the beta live, once a week. Record every session. Note where students get stuck and which questions repeat. | Raw recordings, a revised outline and beta results |
| Weeks 6 to 4 | Edit recordings into modules. Collect testimonials. Publish a lead magnet built from module 1 and post short videos about the problem daily. | A growing waitlist and 3 to 5 testimonials |
| Weeks 3 to 2 | Pick the launch event and open registration. Build the sales page, checkout and payment plan. Write every launch email. | Registration page live, sales page in draft |
| Week 1 | Event reminders by email and in posts. Test checkout on a phone. Announce the cart dates and the bonus deadline. | A registration count and a tested checkout |
| Launch week | Run the event, open the cart at the end of it, then email daily until close. | A sales total and a cart that closed when you said it would |
| Weeks 1 to 4 after | Onboard buyers, survey them, and ask a sample of non-buyers what stopped them. | Fixes and proof for the next round |
Kajabi's co-CEO suggests about four hours of promotion per hour of creation. Building the course during the beta frees the last six weeks for the audience.
Build the email list and the content runway
The list is what you launch to. Followers see a post when the algorithm shows it; subscribers get every launch email. Start collecting emails six weeks before cart open, with a lead magnet that is a real slice of the course: the module 1 worksheet, a 20-minute lesson, a beta checklist. Someone who wants module 1 is a likely buyer for the rest. Our guide to building an email list as a creator covers opt-in pages and welcome emails.
The content runway is 4 to 6 weeks of daily short-form posts about the problem the course solves, each pointing to the lead magnet or the event. Build it from the beta: the questions students asked, the mistakes you corrected, the before and after. Kajabi reports that across 36.2 million customer relationships that started with something free, 4.0% later led to a purchase, about 1 in 25.
Starting with no audience stretches the timeline, because the beta and the list both need people first. That is the part we build through organic follower growth.
Pick the launch event: webinar, challenge or video series
The event turns subscribers into people who have watched you teach and are ready to decide. Choose one and do it well.
Live webinar or workshop
60 to 90 minutes. Teach one real win from the course, show beta results, then make the offer with a 48-hour bonus. Livestorm's 2026 benchmark of 33,786 sessions put average live show-up at 47.7%, with Tuesday highest at 51.7%, so send the replay to everyone.
5-day challenge
A short daily lesson and task, by email or in a free group, with a live call on day 5 where the cart opens. More of your time, but people who reach day 5 have already done part of the course. Strong for skills with quick wins: writing, fitness, design, outreach.
Free video series
Three or four free videos over a week, each teaching one piece of the method, the last one opening the cart. Easiest to run without a live audience and easy to reuse in an evergreen funnel. Weaker at higher prices, because nobody can ask you a question.
Open cart with no event
Fine for a lower-priced self-paced course or a relaunch to past buyers. For a $500+ course sold to a newer list, skipping the event usually means skipping the moment people decide.
The course launch sequence: from open cart to close
People buy when there is a reason to decide today: the cart opening, a bonus ending, the cart closing. Build the open-cart week around those three moments.
Event day: open the cart live
Make the offer at the end of the event and email the sales page within the hour: price, payment plan, cohort start date, and what buyers get in week one.
Days 1 and 2: the fast-action bonus
A bonus that ends 48 hours after open, such as a group Q&A or a template pack. It gives attendees a reason not to wait.
Day 3: proof
Email one beta student's story in full, then three short quotes, and post the same story as a video. This is where the paid beta pays off.
Day 4: objections
Answer the top three reasons for waiting, usually time, price and 'is this for my level?', in the exact words from event chat, replies and DMs.
Day 5: FAQ and payment plan
Spell out refunds, access length, what happens if they fall behind, and the payment plan. For a capped cohort, say how many seats are left.
Final day: close on time
Three emails: morning, afternoon and two hours before close. Then close the cart on time and say so. Next launch, they will believe your deadline.
Where to sell an online course: Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, Podia, Skool and Maven
Published plans and fees, checked November 2026. The last column is one launch month: 40 sales of a $497 course ($19,880), with US card processing at 2.9% + 30¢ (about $589) unless the platform's fee covers it.
| Platform | Entry plan | Fee on sales | Launch month cost (40 × $497) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teachable Builder | $89 a month, or $69 billed yearly. 10 products. | 0% with Teachable Payments, plus processing | About $678 |
| Podia Shaker | $99 a month, or $84 billed yearly | No transaction fee, plus processing | About $688 |
| Skool Pro | $99 a month. Unlimited courses. | 2.9% + 30¢ up to $899, 3.9% + 30¢ above | About $688 |
| Thinkific Start | $109 a month, or $82 billed yearly. No free plan, 30-day trial. | No Thinkific transaction fee on its own checkout, plus processing | About $698 |
| Kajabi Basic | $179 a month, or $143 billed yearly. 5 products, 2,500 contacts. | 0%. US cards 2.9% + 30¢ with Kajabi Payments. | About $768 |
| Podia Mover | $49 a month, or $42 billed yearly. 100 email subscribers. | 5%, plus processing | About $1,632 |
| Skool Hobby | $9 a month. Unlimited courses. | 10% + 30¢ | About $2,009 |
| Teachable Starter | $39 a month, or $29 billed yearly. 5 products. | 7.5%, plus processing | About $2,119 |
| Maven | No monthly fee. $200 minimum price. | 10% per paid enrollment, plus Stripe from 2.9% + 30¢ | About $2,577 |
Sources: Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific (updated October 2026), Podia, Skool pricing and payments FAQ, Maven. Cost column uses monthly prices. Kajabi includes email for 2,500 contacts; on cheaper plans, budget for an email tool if you need one. Maven's 10% pays off only if its marketplace brings students you would not reach yourself.
Course launch math: from email list to revenue
Most course creators plan on 1% to 2% of their list buying in a launch. Kajabi's co-CEO calls 2% a common planning assumption, and course creator Paige Brunton calls 1% to 2% a general industry standard with no guarantees. Use it to size your list, not to promise a result.
| Email list | Buyers at 1% | Buyers at 2% | Revenue at $497 | Revenue at $1,200 (cohort) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 10 | 20 | $4,970 to $9,940 | $12,000 to $24,000 |
| 2,500 | 25 | 50 | $12,425 to $24,850 | $30,000 to $60,000 |
| 5,000 | 50 | 100 | $24,850 to $49,700 | $60,000 to $120,000 |
| 10,000 | 100 | 200 | $49,700 to $99,400 | $120,000 to $240,000 |
Higher prices usually convert at a lower rate, so treat the cohort column as a ceiling. The formula: revenue goal ÷ price ÷ conversion rate = list size. A $30,000 goal at $497 and 1.5% needs about 4,000 subscribers. Run your own numbers in the creator income calculator.
Case study: a new product launch
We launched a new product. In 2 weeks, these are the results.
- 115kfollowers, starting from zero
- 7,000+emails collected
- 100+purchases across an app, a book and a paid community
No audience, no list and no sales on day one. Organic content earned the follow, a landing page captured the email, and three offers closed the sale. Read the case study.
After the launch: relaunch, go evergreen or add a community
Relaunch on a calendar. Open the cart two to four times a year with a fresh event. This suits cohort courses, and each relaunch costs less than the first because the sales page, emails and testimonials already exist.
Build an evergreen funnel. Turn your best event into an automated webinar, or the video series into an always-on sequence: lead magnet, 5 to 7 nurture emails, then an offer with a per-subscriber deadline. This suits self-paced courses. Our creator sales funnel guide lays out each piece.
Add a recurring layer. Offer graduates a paid community for ongoing support. See how to start a paid community for pricing, platforms and churn.
Most course founders are strong at teaching and short on time for the rest: the audience, the list, the funnel and launch week. We do that work as one team, from the content that grows the waitlist to the landing pages and funnels and launch emails. Our own launch, in our case study, sold an app, a book and a paid community, and the same audience, list and funnel work applies to a course. For founders and creators we believe in, we can work on a revenue share: a lower upfront fee plus a share of the sales we help create, tracked through your checkout.