Why Your Online Course Isn't Selling (And the 5-Step Validation Fix)

As a marketing expert who lives and breathes online courses, I see a frustrating pattern. Talented creators pour months of their life and thousands of dollars into building a beautiful, comprehensive online course. They polish every video. They design stunning workbooks.

Then, they launch.

And... crickets.

The problem? They skipped the single most important step in business: validation. They built a product without confirming anyone would actually pay for it.

It's like mass-producing a new soda flavor without ever asking a single person to taste it. We get caught up in the "passive income" dream or the "I'm an expert" status, and we build a full-blown course on pure excitement.

Today, I'm showing you how to stop. If you are planning to build a course, this will save you time, energy, and money. If you've already built a course that isn't selling, this will explain why.

Let's dive into the accurate sequence for creating a course that actually sells.

Stop Building. It's Time to Validate.

In my work, I've identified different phases of the course creation journey. The "Ember" is the idea phase. The "Rainmaker" is the scaling phase. But the one everyone skips is the "Igniter" phase.

The Igniter is the validator.

This phase isn't about guessing what might work. It's about testing your idea in real time. It’s about turning your concept into something real, gathering feedback, and shaping your program around proven demand.

This is how you build momentum. This is how you gain the unshakeable confidence that your course is ready to scale.

The 3 Simple Goals of an "Igniter"

When you are in the validation phase, you have only three goals. Notice that "film 80 videos" is not one of them.

1. Write Your Full Curriculum: Not the course, just the curriculum. What is the transformation? What are the modules and lessons? Get it all down in a Google Doc.
2. Sell Your Course (Before You Make It): Yes, you read that right. We'll cover how to do this ethically in a moment.
3. Host Your First Live Class: This is your beta test. This is where you gather real feedback from real, paying students.

4 Common Mistakes That Will Kill Your Course Launch

I see these problems every single day. These are the validation-killers.

1. Building Before Validating

This is the big one. We get so excited and confident that our idea is "the one" that we ignore the data. This is often driven by external pressure ("I hired an ad agency, it needs to be ready now!") or limiting beliefs ("My people aren't on Facebook," even though you've never run an ad). Confidence is great, but data is better.

2. Trying to Reach Everyone

Your message is too broad. You're trying to create a course for "everyone interested in wellness" or "all new managers." When you try to talk to everyone, you connect with no one. An Igniter focuses on one clear audience and tests the idea with them first.

3. Avoiding the "Sales Shock"

Many creators are terrified of sounding "salesy." So, they hide. They hint at their offer instead of confidently stating what it is and who it's for. You cannot validate a secret. You must get out there, talk to people, and understand their problems so you can confidently offer a solution.

4. Mistaking Interest for Demand

This is the most subtle and dangerous mistake. A student of mine once worked with a client, a popular surfer. Her surfing videos on Instagram got massive engagement—likes, comments, "You're amazing!"

So, they built a surfing course. It flopped.

Why? Compliments don't equal conversions. People loved watching her surf (it's visual and exciting), but that didn't mean they wanted to buy a course on surfing from her. They never validated the demand for the product. They only saw the interest in the content.

The 5-Step Blueprint to Validate Your Course (The Right Way)

Ready to do this ethically and effectively? Here is the exact plan.

1. Write Your Curriculum (On a Google Doc)

Forget fancy software. Open a simple Google Doc and map out the entire A-to-Z transformation. What is the problem? What is the promised outcome? What are the exact modules and lessons you will teach to get them there? This is your "promise."

2. Create a "Minimum Viable" Sales Page

You don't need a $2,000 funnel. Create a simple website on Canva. Use a Google Doc. Use any tool to create a single page that includes:

• The title of your course.
• The problem it solves.
• The full curriculum you just wrote.
• The price.
• A "Buy Now" button.

3. Launch Your Beta Pre-Sale

This is it. You are now going to sell this course before it exists. You will sell it as a "Beta Program" or "Founding Member" offer.

This is not a scam. It's a pre-sale for a live experience.

4. Be Radically Transparent (This is the Ethical Key)

The only way this becomes unethical is if you lie. So, you tell the truth. Your sales page and marketing should say:

"I am launching the first-ever beta program for [Course Name]! This will be a live, 5-week class where you'll learn [the outcome] directly from me. Because you'll be my founding class, you get the lowest price it will ever be offered. In exchange, I'll be asking for your direct feedback to make this the best program possible."

See? You're not selling a pre-recorded course. You're selling a ticket. You're selling a seat in a live class that you will deliver. They get high-touch access, you get feedback, and most importantly, you get validation.

5. Analyze the Results (Data, Not Drama)

Now you have your answer.

• Scenario A: People Buy! Congratulations! You have a validated offer. You now have paying students and a hard deadline. Your job is to create the lesson materials for week 1 and deliver an amazing live class.
• Scenario B: No One Buys. Congratulations! You just saved yourself six months of wasted effort. This is not a failure; this is data. Your idea, in its current form, did not resonate. No one will know you "failed" because you never built it. You can now tweak the offer, change the audience, or move on to the next idea in your head.
  
  

From "Igniter" to "Rainmaker"

Only after you have successfully run this live beta class, gathered feedback, and confirmed people love the transformation do you move to the next phase.

Now you can take those live recordings, edit them, and build out your "full-blown" evergreen course. You can now start the "Rainmaker" phase of scaling and running ads, all with the unshakeable confidence that you have a product people actually want and will pay for.

Stop building in the dark. Go out and get the data.