7 Lessons From A $45,000+ Course Launch

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Last February, we launched our brand-new course, Substack System.

Despite having launched dozens of courses in the past, launching a new offer is always exciting. You never know exactly how people will react and how many sales you’ll end up making.

Fortunately, the launch of Substack System was a success, and we generated more than $45,000 in revenue.

In this article, I’ll share seven key lessons I learned from this launch, so you can replicate the same for your course launch.

(This screenshot shows $25,000 in earnings, but that’s because it doesn’t take into account the revenue from upsells and payment plans, which amounts to $45,000+)

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#1: Build A Course People Actually Want

A lot of creators (my past self included) fall into the trap of building a course because they’re excited about the topic. It’s something they’re passionate about. Something they think people should want.

But your excitement doesn’t automatically equal demand.

And there’s nothing worse than spending weeks—or months—pouring your time and energy into a course… only to hear crickets when you launch it.

So, if you take one thing away from this lesson, it’s this:

Don’t build a course based on what you think people want. Build a course based on what people are asking for.

I know this sounds obvious, but it’s the single biggest reason why most course launches flop.

Even with world-class marketing, it’s hard to sell something people don’t really want.

So, build a course that solves a painful, frustrating problem that your audience already knows they have.

If you’re unsure whether your audience is interested in your course topic, here are three different ways to validate demand:

Survey Your Audience

A simple email asking “What’s your #1 challenge with [topic]?” works wonders.

We asked our audience about their biggest struggles with Substack, and the answers poured in:

• “I’m not sure how to grow subscribers.”

• “How do I monetize my newsletter without being salesy?”

• “What content do I offer as part of my paid plan?”

• “What should I post on Notes to get more engagement?”

We didn’t have to guess what people needed help with. They told us directly what they were struggling with—and we designed Substack System around it.

Pay Attention To Your Most Popular Content

Look at your highest-performing posts, emails, or Notes. What topics do people most often engage with?

For us, every time we posted about our Substack growth strategies, our open rates, click rates, and replies went through the roof.

That’s a strong sign of demand.

Run A Pre-Order Launch

If you’re unsure whether people will pay for your course, put together a simple outline and offer it as a pre-sale.

If people buy it before it’s even released, you’ve got yourself the strongest proof of demand.

We didn’t pre-sell Substack System this time because we were confident in the demand—but I’ve done this plenty of times in the past to test an idea.

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#2: Focus On The Benefits (Not The Features)

If you want more people to buy your course, stop selling the features—and start selling the benefits.

Most people don’t care about how many videos your course has.

They’re not buying because of the number of modules, the length of each lesson, or the fact that they’ll get a workbook (even if it’s beautifully designed).

What they do care about is:

Is this course going to help me solve my problems and reach my desired outcomes?

People buy courses because they want a specific outcome, but they’re struggling with certain problems that keep them from achieving this outcome (and they don’t know how to solve it on their own).

That’s why, no matter what topic your course is about, these two things need to be crystal clear:

• What desired outcome(s) does your course help people achieve?

• What painful problem(s) does your course solve?

When we launched Substack System, we shared the benefits everywhere. On the sales page, in our launch emails, on our live streams, and in our Substack Notes.

Yes, we mentioned the features (the number of modules, the total hours of video lessons, etc.) here and there, but those details were secondary.

What really draws people in is the outcome this course helps them achieve, which is to build a thriving Substack publication, grow your online audience, and turn your newsletter into an income-generating asset.

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#3: Give People A Reason To Buy Now

Building something that people actually want and being clear on the benefits gets people interested in buying your course.

But most people still won’t buy unless you give them a compelling reason to buy now.

Why? Because humans love to procrastinate.

Even if someone wants your course, even if they know it could help them right now, most will still put off making a purchasing decision.

They say things like:

• “I’ll come back to this later.”

• “Next month will be better financially.”

• “I’m pretty busy right now, I’ll get it in a few weeks.”

And then they forget. Or they talk themselves out of it. Or they move on to something else. That’s just human nature.

That’s why a dedicated course launch works so well. It gives people a reason to act today—instead of someday.

A successful launch has two key elements:

• A clear deadline (after which enrollment closes or buying incentives go away)

• Clear buying incentives (offer a price discount or exclusive bonuses)

For Substack System, we had a 7-day launch window, and we offered the following buying incentives:

• Buy before the 7-day deadline to get this course at the introductory price of $399, as it goes up to $697 right after

• Buy directly on the live webinar to receive a 60-minute 1:1 coaching call (this was our ‘fast action’ bonus)

• Buy before day 4 of the launch to get a bonus guide with 30 Substack Notes Templates (this was our ‘mid-cart’ bonus)

These deadlines, combined with clear buying incentives, made people pay attention and encouraged them to make a purchasing decision.

Now, doing a course launch isn’t just for new courses. You can relaunch an existing course multiple times per year if you want.

Simply set a launch window, offer exclusive bonuses or special pricing during that period, and after the promo ends, increase the price or remove the bonuses.

This creates a natural cycle of urgency, which significantly boosts your course sales.

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#4: Don’t Be Afraid To Charge More

If your course delivers a valuable transformation, price it accordingly.

When we launched Substack System, we priced it at $399. At that price point, we sold 90+ spots during the launch—bringing in $35,000+ in revenue.

Since then, we’ve raised the price to $697, and it continues to sell at that price point.

Here’s why we priced it that way:

• We knew the value was there. This wasn’t a bunch of random tips. It was a step-by-step system that we personally used to grow our Substack to 7,500+ subscribers and 300+ paying members.

• We knew we were solving a painful problem—helping creators grow their audience and monetize on Substack.

• We knew serious people would pay to shortcut the process and get results faster.

I know many course creators have limiting beliefs around charging more, but there’s enormous leverage in raising your prices.

You’ll need fewer sales to hit your revenue goals, you’ll attract better customers (people who also buy your high-ticket offers), and it forces you to make a higher-quality product.

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#5: Offer Payment Plans

Payment plans make your course more accessible without discounting its value.

That’s why, during the launch of Substack System, we offered the following payment options:

• A $399 one-time payment

• 3 monthly payments of $150

About 30% of our buyers chose the payment plan option. That’s a huge chunk of sales we might have lost if we had only offered the full-pay option.

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#6: Offer Upsells

For this launch, we had three types of upsells, which generated well over $9,000 in revenue (aka, 20% of our total launch revenue):

• A webinar registration page upsell

• Order bumps (on the checkout page)

• A high-ticket upsell (after purchase)

The Webinar Registration Page Upsell

The kickstart to our course launch was a live webinar where we’d share three strategies to grow on Substack.

Everyone who signed up for this webinar was redirected to a thank you page, where they’d get an opportunity to join our paid Substack (the annual plan) at a 60% discount.

This offer performed better than expected, as it generated 100+ new paid subscribers ($3500 in revenue) for our Substack publication in just one week.

Order Bumps

On the checkout page of Substack System, we offered two order bumps:

• The Write • Build • Scale Database (at $47)

• The ‘Become a SuperWriter’ Workshop (at $27)

Order bumps work well when they are impulsive purchases, so it’s key to price them relatively cheap compared to the main offer.

In total, the order bumps generated $1,000+ in sales, which is a nice (and easy) boost in revenue.

The High-Ticket Upsell

After someone successfully enrolled in Substack System, we offered them to upgrade to our Substack System VIP program at $1,500.

This VIP program consists of eight private coaching sessions, private email/Whatsapp support, and 30 done-for-you Notes.

During the launch, three people upgraded to the VIP offer, which resulted in an extra $4,500 in sales.

This shows that you should always have something more expensive to offer, because it’s exactly what some people are looking for.

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#7: Create An Irresistible Offer Stack

With Substack System, we wanted to create an offer that was so valuable people would feel a bit stupid saying no.

When you create an irresistible offer, you don’t have to strong-arm people into a sale, they’ll naturally want to buy from you.

That’s why, on top of the video lessons, we also added:

• Three months of weekly group coaching calls (live support, real-time feedback, and Q&A with us)

• The Substack Operation System (a Notion database with 100+ templates, exercises, and resources to succeed on Substack)

• Our step-by-step Substack Bestseller case study (a behind-the-scenes breakdown of how we became a Substack Bestseller)

• 10+ interviews with top creators on Substack (insights and strategies from creators crushing it on the platform)

• Three months of access to a private community of like-minded Substack creators (a space to connect with other creators, get feedback, and stay motivated)

This made Substack System more than just another online course.

It became a roadmap to succeed on Substack, with hands-on support and a community of like-minded people to keep you going.

All in all, if you want people to buy your course—especially at a premium price—make sure the offer is so valuable that it’s almost uncomfortable to say no.

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