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Laura Briggs of laurateachesyou.com Talks About How She Started Her Freelance Courses
- Who: Laura Briggs
- Website: laurateachesyou.com
- Course Topic: Scaling Freelance Businesses
- Interesting Stats: 1,000’s of students
Who are you and what course have you created?
I’ve created multiple courses to help other people launch and scale their freelance businesses. As a result, my four core courses are Advanced SEO Writing for Freelancers, LinkedIn for Freelancers, The Guide to Killing It On Upwork, and Your Way to VA.
These courses can all be found at laurateachesyou.com.
I made these four courses because so many people kept asking me questions about how they could start their own freelance company and from people who wanted to know what pitfalls they should avoid when starting their own business.
What market does your online course serve?
There are more than 57 million freelancers in the United States and that number is expected to grow in the coming decades. This means that there are millions of people who need help getting their business off the ground and getting support when their company begins to grow.
Many of them are new to the idea of online marketing and aren’t sure how to divide up their time to be as successful as possible. My goal was to give them my favorite tips for working in a freelance business that doesn’t burn them out while still making sure all of the most important tasks, like marketing, client service, and administrative duties, didn’t get ignored or overlooked. A lot of my market are people who are looking for a side hustle or want to build their own career from home.
What’s the biggest benefit of taking your course?
My inside expertise about how to avoid some of the most common stumbling blocks when working for yourself. They also learn exactly how to spend their time and find clients who fit the freelancer’s ideal client avatar.
The goal with my courses is to cut down the pain and the time that a freelancer would otherwise have to invest to be successful. -Laura Briggs Click To TweetMaking the path to success that much easier means the freelancer can focus on other aspects of running their company successfully.
How did you get into the market?
So many people were asking me for my help and it had gotten too hard to help people one at a time. I realized there was a big demand to learn more about freelancing and saw that if I had the chance to put it into a course I could reach a lot more people and learn more about what my market really needed. I started with just two students who were in my personal network and were asking me questions about how to begin. From there, this has grown to thousands of students taking my courses.
Why did you decide to create an online course in the first place?
People were asking me for it!
Did you have any moments of doubt before you created it?
Yes, I had moments of doubt. I was afraid I was not qualified enough to make a course. I also worried that maybe my own freelance success was just a fluke.
However, I ran my first course as a test and incorporated all the feedback I got to make the course even better the next time around. -Laura Briggs Click To TweetWhat’s your online course like?
My courses are usually a mix of PowerPoint and voiceover with me talking and some with just me talking on the screen.
How long did it take you to create your course?
I outlined the course first and then began creating the slides before I recorded it. Instead of writing out all the text, I am going to say, I prefer to speak more organically at the moment. I also delivered my course one module at a time by telling students the modules would be unlocked on Fridays. It worked really well to help me launch the course in just a few weeks!
Tell us a little about the process of launching your course and getting your first sale(s).
I ran a webinar that only two people attended from my personal Facebook page. From there, those two people enrolled in the course. I was amazed that I was able to sell this course to anyone, but I was also really excited to see that my idea had been validated!
Do you have a lead magnet?
Yes. I use lead magnets in conjunction with automated email funnels. This has made it easier for people who have never heard of me before to sign up for one of my courses because they enjoy the value of the free course and emails.
What’s the traffic strategy that works best for you?
I run a podcast and I am also a guest on other people’s podcasts often, which makes it easy for me to generate traffic. I’m also a TEDx speaker and author and I get traffic from those channels, too.
What online course platform are you using?
I use Teachable and I love it! I think it’s very easy to use, professional for students, and it’s also very simple to set up an affiliate program!
Check Out Teachable
Teachable is one of the top online course platforms used by successful course creators interviewed on coursemethod.com. It is easy to set up and build your site pages, and the course area looks great.
- Price Range: $0 (+ transaction fees) to $299/month
- Most Popular Plan: Pro Plan at $119/month
- Annual Discount: Yes, take 17% off!
- Free Trial: Try out Teachable’s core features for free
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Are there any features you wish it had?
Sometimes it can be a little clunky to work with, so it could be a tad bit easier.
What made you decide to use your chosen platform over others?
I didn’t want to handle all the emails asking for password resets, etc. Or manage my affiliate program.
What other tools do you use to run your online course business?
PayPal and Stripe.
What books or training programs have you found useful on your journey to a successful business owner that others might find valuable too?
So many! I attend all of Teachable’s semi-annual summits to learn more and stay on-trend.
Do you have any big mistakes you’ve made along the way that you’d be willing to share?
Make sure your product matches the price sensitivity of your audience. I learned that a beginner audience rarely wants to or has $500 to spend on a course.
Please share some idea of revenue.
It depends on how much I am pushing the courses, but I would say $20-30k per year comes from courses.
Please tell us a little about what the money you’ve earned from your course has done for you.
My course income has enabled me to reinvest back into the business and add new products and try new things, like advertising. It’s also made it easier for me to take a vacation and actually earn money when I’m out of the office!
In addition to revenue are there any numbers you would like to share?
I sold 11 people my second course with an email list of only 100. At $100 each, that was an incredible feeling! I did that by using appearing on other people’s podcasts as a marketing tool. I was on one podcast that sent me that traffic.
What has creating your course done for you personally?
I love the feeling that I helped someone else with their business. It’s extremely rewarding to hear someone else’s level of success or the things they have overcome as a result of taking a course.
Do you have a story of a transformation from any of your clients?
One client told me that after taking my SEO course she pushed her per-page rate to $150 and got it from three clients. She had previously been charging $60 per blog post! She said that she felt like an expert now and was much more comfortable in that sense.
What advice do you have for people just starting out?
Learn, learn, learn, but take baby action steps along the way. Learn from different people and in different formats- books, courses, podcasts, one on one coaching. I do this every time I do something new.
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