#275: 10 Ways to Get Your Students to the Finish Line

Research shows that only 1 in 5 people who purchase online courses complete them.

As a course creator, that stat keeps me up at night and more importantly, compels me to take action.

Over the years, I’ve become obsessed with finding ways to beat those odds. And I’m sure if you’re reading this, you want every single person who buys your course to cross that finish line as well.

If you want amazing case studies and testimonials (the best marketing fuel there is), you’ve gotta do everything in your power to not just create the best course you can — but to ensure you’re helping your students get the results they signed up for. 

Now if you’re freaking out reading that, don’t panic. I’ve done a lot of the legwork for you and I’m sharing everything I’ve got today to help you get your students from point A to point B.

Haven’t created your course yet? Even better! Thinking about these strategies before you develop your course puts you ahead of the curve.

So grab your notebook and sharpen your pencil. Even if you implement just 2 or 3 of these ideas it will make such a difference for your students’ success.

• [10:30] Emails aren’t just for marketing… a solid onboarding email sequence sets the pace and gives clear steps about what to do next. Email weekly with each module and think about where they are in the process. These emails can meet your students right where they are and get them all the way through to that finish line.
• [16:28] Set clear expectations. Let people know how long it takes to actually implement the concepts. Ask what your students need to know.
• [20:58] Accountability. You can pair people in your group together to be accountability partners. 
• [23:49] Create a weekly challenge. Pick an existing area to highlight, don't add more content (aka work).
• [25:52] Gamification or give awards for completing the challenges. Encourage good behavior and let people know you recognize them. 
• [28:48] Allow and encourage your students to put their work in Facebook for feedback. Choose a day, once a week, so people can post and ask for feedback. 
• [31:40] Course structure. Structure your course in a way that isn't overwhelming. Use short videos and frameworks that illustrate what you're teaching. 
• [35:07] Real time check-ins. Jump on Facebook live or use other resources and give clarity about those places where people are getting stuck. 
• [37:46] Have weekly Q and A's. As a course creator, you get to decide the length and frequency of your Q and A's. 
• [39:46] Manage the mindset of your students. Great content isn't enough. Your student's mindset, roadblocks, fears, and negativity need to be addressed. 
• [43:29] Bonus Strategy - create a bonus that helps students recoup the cost of the course or gets them organized or helps them find the right mindset. 

Here are the basics of our accountability cheat sheet:

• Meet once a week, same time, same place, online using something like Zoom.
• Outline three action items you can commit to doing over the next week.
• Check in on whether or not you did what you said you would do the previous week. 
• If not, what were the challenges?
• What’s your game plan to overcome these challenges next week?
• What do you commit to accomplishing for the next week?

This episode is brought to you by Gravy. If you have a subscription-model business or offer payment plans, like I do for my online courses, Gravy can really cut down on frustration and lost income. After I started working with Gravy I stopped worrying about payment plans. They contact your customers within hours of their failed payments, and they capture updated billing information and save the customer.

Our failed-payment recovery rate increased from 33 percent, when we were trying to do it internally, to over 80 percent, collecting on failed payments. That's a whole lot of saved payments. So if your revenue is currently at $250,000 or more, and you know you're losing money due to failed payment plans each month, I want to encourage you to check out Gravy. The cool thing is Gravy is waiving the setup fee for all of my listeners. 

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• #182: How to Mega-Batch Your Content
• Stu McLaren
• Melinda Cohan
• Rachel Cruze
• Gravy
• Course Creation Starter Kit