EXECUTION Music Software Video Course

[YouCanDoThis]

Hi all,

I'll use this thread to chronicle how the creation of my video course is going.
I previously shared my CENTS analysis in another thread.

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My first update is that I finished the outline yesterday.
Totals around 14 modules (they're not that big, might merge some depending on their running lengths).
Also answered some questions about the target audience, what I expect them to know and not know, etc.

Next step is to pick a lesson and write a script for it.

I'm still trying to figure out how I can soft-proof a video course.
Current idea is to create at least one or two videos and then somehow run a pre-sale somewhere listing the rest of the course?

 

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[George Appiah]

Congratulations on taking steps to launch your course!

I'm still trying to figure out how I can soft-proof a video course.
Current idea is to create at least one or two videos and then somehow run a pre-sale somewhere listing the rest of the course?

Do you have an existing list or audience of some sort?

If not, how do you intend selling the course? On your own website, or in a marketplace (like Udemy, Skillshare, etc).

If on your own website, what's going to be the primary way you're going to get eyeballs to see your offer?

Action is always better than inaction, and I'm not suggesting you get all your Ts crossed and Is dotted before you begin building your course. But I've seen so many people labour for months (sometimes years!) to write books and create courses... only to put it out there, and... crickets.

If you don't have an audience of any sort (or you're not going to launch into an existing marketplace), I'll highly recommend you make effort to build your audience simultaneously as you develop the course.

 

[YouCanDoThis]

Congratulations on taking steps to launch your course!



Do you have an existing list or audience of some sort?

If not, how do you intend selling the course? On your own website, or in a marketplace (like Udemy, Skillshare, etc).

If on your own website, what's going to be the primary way you're going to get eyeballs to see your offer?

Action is always better than inaction, and I'm not suggesting you get all your Ts crossed and Is dotted before you begin building your course. But I've seen so many people labour for months (sometimes years!) to write books and create courses... only to put it out there, and... crickets.

If you don't have an audience of any sort (or you're not going to launch into an existing marketplace), I'll highly recommend you make effort to build your audience simultaneously as you develop the course.

Hi George,

Thanks for your feedback! It's very much appreciated

To start with, I have released several albums using said software myself as an artist. While I wouldn't call myself top-of-the-game, people know my name and I have some reach. There's a couple of facebook, forums and Discord groups that I frequent. Most of the scene resides there, and I assume (dangerous word) people will pick it up when I share news there.

In either case (self-hosted or platform) that's where I'd start with marketing and audience building. As an artist I also have a bandcamp mailing list.

There's also some adjacent markets where I suspect people could reside with interest in this niche genre.

You raise a very valid point. This is why I'm bringing up soft-proofing this. I've owned a company in the past where we "just" made whatever we wanted, only to realize at a later stage that may not be what the market wants. We still ended up making money, but I really don't want to end up there again.

I saw that Teachable lets you pre-sell a course, so that might be a strategy to gauge market interest...

 

[YouCanDoThis]

Update: written the script for lesson 1. Performed it out aloud and it times at ~2:38, which seems like a nice bite-size chunk.

I'm gonna produce this first lesson to see what I run into with the process (gotta learn some After Effects basics). No matter how I'm going to soft-proof this, I think I need at least one video to show what I'm getting at. I view this as my minimum viable product.

After this I won't write/produce more scripts until I've gained some customer feedback.

 

[George Appiah]

No matter how I'm going to soft-proof this, I think I need at least one video to show what I'm getting at.

In addition to the sample course video, it'll also be a good idea of you could create a "sales" or promotional video -- a simple video which agitates the problem and "sells" your course as the ideal solution to the problem.
In fact, IF I can only do ONE, I'd rather do the sales video than the course unit video

Also, instead of trying to setup an actual course platform now, you could set up a simple landing page using something like ClickFunnels.com (14-day free-trial available) or GroveFunnels.com (there's a very generous free-forever plan).

There are lots of gurus with various product/course launch tactics out there, but since you don't have your OWN audience, and you don't intend driving paid traffic or doing any JVs yet, the approach below would be ideal to leverage other people's audience:

1. Post this one course unit for FREE directly in the various communities you said you could leverage, asking for help to refine the course. (Most group admins and members frown on salesy messages, that's why you want to post something that is a. truly valuable and free, and b. taps into people's inborn desire to help others, and c. people don't have to jump through hoops to get it.)
2. Set up a simple survey form for community members to give feedback about the video, but also ask questions on where they need help the most with this software. This part is sometimes difficult for coaches and subject-matter experts I've worked with to swallow, but you want to craft your course and even your final sales letter around what the majority of people are struggling with -- even if you consider them basic stuff -- and not necessarily the most advanced and fancy stuff that very few people ever use.
3. After the survey form is submitted, instead of the usual "Thank You" page, you'd re-direct to a sales page... and that's where you'd have your sales video and salesletter. On this page, you could simply let them signup to be notified when the course launches, or better yet, offer a great PRE-LAUNCH deal on the course (discount, extras bonus, etc)... and take pre-launch orders there and then.

Again, this is just one approach.

But this approach is well suited for situations where you don't have your own audience (and can't pay for traffic or do any joint ventures), but you're part of other people's communities that you could leverage. And you want to do so in a way non-salesy win-win-win way for all involved: community admin, community members and you!

[DISCLAIMER: I'm a technical person who has helped various coaches and domain experts launch courses and group coaching programs, and I often manage their course platforms for them post-launch. But I've never launched my own course before(yet), so please treat the above with all the disdain it deserves ]

 

[YouCanDoThis]

Once again, a heartfelt thanks for the time you're taking to reply and give feedback, @George Appiah.

I really like the idea of setting up a landing page to gather information and pre-sales. This is exactly the kind of questions I've been mulling over, but you manage to lay it out in a clear and succinct three-step plan. Also, the non-salesy angle works for me. I'm a part of this music community myself and I'm really in this to create something of value and get paid fairly in the process instead of squeezing them for money.

1. There's certainly places where I can post the course video for feedback and ask for help. This would both generate interest and make the final product better.
2. Love this. It's easy to set up a form or sorts and gather information.
3. I like the idea of pre-sales, though that requires some more work up-front (figuring out which platform to use to incur payments). I somehow want to verify if people want to pay actual money for a product like this (as we all know, there's a huge difference between showing interest and actually laying down cash) – so asking for pre-orders would be a good way to verify that. I struggled a bit with how to get there, but tying this to sharing the free course video is a neat idea.

What would the added value of something like click/groovefunnels be? I've never used services like these and honestly the websites themselves look pretty salesy (lots of big words, still no idea what they do). Are they just website generators (like Wix) with a focus on sales tunnels?

Thank you for sharing all this information.

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(As a sidenote, I watched two tutorial vids on video editing and motion graphics yesterday. I don't view this as action faking, as it's an important part of the finished product and I'm interested in doing it myself to build a new skill.)

 

[YouCanDoThis]

Update:

Been a busy week on the family front, haven't been able to find a block of time to record my first lesson yet.
I have ordered a hopefully decent lavelier mic to try out.
I also released some of my older music to fans to for free to share some value and keep contacts warm and build audience.

This week I really want to get the script recorded and edit it.
After that: planning of the sales video/page.

 

[YouCanDoThis]

Took a while before I found some time, but I finally managed to record the script. Got two young kids, and they deserve their share of my time as well.

In any case, I am not giving up on this. The mic I ordered sounds great. Off to do some editing now.