You’ve put together an amazing online course that your students are raving about. They’re getting phenomenal results, and you want to help more people get the same results, too. How do you build visibility to get more students? You write a book. Here, I’ll tell you how to grow your course with a book so you can help more people and change more lives.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Why you should write a book
- Why you should self-publish that book
- How to outline a book that drives students into your course
- How to write your course-building book
- How to market your book so you’ll get more students in your course
Why Should Course Creators Write a Book?
A book can help you reach a new audience of students who would be perfect for your course. Plus, it helps show them that YOU are an EXPERT, and you’re the perfect person to teach them how to solve their problems!
Books and courses really go hand in hand. Your book can easily be turned into a course, and likewise, you can easily turn a course into a book.
Why Course Creators Should Self-Publish Their Books
I truly believe that self-publishing is the right route for the vast majority of self-publishers. Self-publishing allows you to do a lot of things that traditional publishing may not, including:
- Retaining total creative control over your book and its messaging
- Publishing your book quickly on short timelines (traditional publishing takes 18-24 months on average)
- Keeping the full rights to your work
- Including anything you want in your book, including direct calls-to-action to sign up for your course
Self-publishing gives course creators the flexibility they need to write and create a book that maximizes the impact that book will have on their businesses.
What You Should Know Before You Write
Okay, so you’ve decided to grow your course with a book.
How the heck do you get started?
I strongly recommend that you begin by planning your book. That includes writing an outline, but there’s important work to do even before you start your outline. You need to understand:
- Who you’re writing your book for (your ideal reader avatar)
- How your book fits into your sales funnel
Your Ideal Reader Avatar
When you know who your ideal reader is, you write a better book. You can focus on that individual reader avatar to write a book that specifically addresses their needs and gets them ready to sign up for your course.
For course creators, an ideal reader will probably be someone who’s interested in your course topic, but they’re not ready to buy yet. Your book’s job is to teach them what they need to know and understand to be a perfect fit for your course.
Your Book & Your Course Sales Funnel
If you want to maximize your book’s impact on your course and your business, you need to carefully plan how your book will bring more students into your course. Ask yourself:
- How can my book prepare readers to say, “I need this course!”?
- What mindset shifts do potential students need to have to be ready to sign up for your course? What beliefs do they need to have? How can you help them make those mindset shifts with your book?
- What do your readers need to learn before they’re ready to take your course? Is there a knowledge gap that you can fill with your book?
Outline Your Course-Building Book
Your outline is the #1 thing that will help you grow your course with a book.
The best way to outline a nonfiction book, particularly a book you want to help grow your course, is to follow the Fast Author Framework.™ The Fast Author Framework helps you plan a transformational book that gets readers ready to sign up for your course.
To use the Fast Author Framework to write your outline, you need to know:
- The Starting Point: Where you’re reader’s at now, mentally, emotionally, and intellectually
- The Transformation: Where you want your reader to be when they’ve finished your book, i.e., ready to sign up for your course
- The Reader Path: How to lead your reader from The Starting Point to The Transformation, step by step. Think of it as a path of stepping stones from one point to the other, where each stone in the path is a chapter in your book.
Read more about creating your reader path here.
Write a Book that Builds Your Course
Once you have your outline in hand, you can start to write your book. Set aside time on a regular basis to write your book so you can keep making progress.
Unfortunately, it’s incredibly easy to forget about your book and just let it sit on your hard drive. But, if you’re writing as often as you can, even if it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes a day, you’re more likely to actually finish your book because you’re keeping it top of mind.
Make sure to keep your goal in mind as you write: you want to grow your course with your book. Everything that goes in your book should contribute to that goal. If you find yourself writing about topics that don’t get more students in your course, delete them, because they’re taking you away from your goal.
Book Marketing for Course Creators
Once you’ve written your book, it’s time to publish and launch. And, after you launch, you’ll need to keep marketing your book if you want it to continue to bring new students into your course. Here are a few marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your course with your book:
- Offer your book as a sign-up bonus: People love “free” stuff, and they really love getting free stuff in the mail. Send everyone who enrolls in your course a copy of your book, and advertise your book as a bonus.
- Feature your book on your website: Make sure your book is prominently displayed on your website and that you refer to it in your bio. Do everything you can do to build awareness about your book. Even if someone doesn’t buy your book, just knowing it exists gives you more authority.
- Downsell your book: If you have people in your audience who aren’t ready to invest in your course yet, sell them your book! The lower price point is easier for people to say yes to, and if you write a great book, readers will be ready to sign up for your course when they finish reading.