Hi everyone! So I wanted to talk about something important today: online course bonus ideas that well help your online course convert.
I’ve been selling online courses for about two years now and one strategy that ALWAYS converts at a high rate is offering “bonuses”
That’s why I always offer free bonuses in my online courses (especially when they launch).
So…what are bonuses? Well, bonuses are something “free” or “extra” that you provide students if they sign up for your course.
Think of it as extra incentive for them to sign up today.
What’s The Deal With Bonuses?
I remember when I was a kid, local banks would give anyone a toaster if they opened up a new checkings and savings account.
I know…it’s a crazy marketing gimmick, but it really did work. In fact, my mom opened up an account for me so we could get a free toaster!
The reason why bonuses are powerful is because people like to feel like they got a good deal in a transaction. They want to feel like they “got their money’s worth.”
This past summer, I went to Paris for my birthday.
I’ve heard great things about the food scene there so I explored some of the city’s best restaurants. Overall, the food scene in Paris is absolutely amazing! I must have gained 10 pounds on my trip!
But not everything was a pleasant experience. At one particular fancy restaurant I went to I just felt underwhelmed. The food was priced at a premium and it just didn’t deliver.
The food wasn’t McDonald’s bad, but it wasn’t high end French cuisine good. That disappointment is something you never want your customer to feel…that feeling like they got “ripped off.”
I have no problems paying for high quality food…if the food/dining experience is worth it. And customers feel the exact way when they buy a premium product like an online course.
Many people will fork over $200, $300, or even $1,000 for an online course. BUT they damn sure want to get their money’s worth.
Bonuses allow you to go the extra mile and DELIVER that value that all customers want.
So to help you out, I want to share 6 high quality online course bonus ideas that you can create for your course. Here are 6 types of free bonuses you can offer:
1. Consulting
Consulting is a great type of bonus offer for customers. This is because customers like the fact that they can come to you for help at any time.
Consulting can take the form of phone calls, email support, or even skype sessions.
Not everyone will take advantage of this opportunity, but they just like the option and the fact that it’s there. For most of my courses, I offer consulting and coaching sessions for a limited time (typically for the first month of launch).
When the course starts taking off (and I’m unable to keep up with the demand), I typically stop offering this bonus.
2. Cheat Sheets
Everyone loves cheat sheets. I remember when some professors in college would let us have them for tests in college. I would pretty much cram as much information onto them as possible!
In fact…you pretty much needed a microscope to read that small text haha!
Now, the cheat sheets that I’m talking about are a little different. Basically, you are just taking a bunch of complex information and condensing it into a few pages of content.
For example, if you’re teaching a yoga class, the cheat sheet could just be illustrations of the most common and fundamental yoga poses.
It doesn’t have to be anything too complex.
Cheat sheets are always a great eye catching sales tactic.
3. Bonus Videos/Tutorials
For some of my courses, I like to do “bonus lectures” or “tutorial videos.”
For example, if I recommend a software in the course like say Photoshop, I’ll include a basic photoshop tutorial in the bonus section.
Tutorials are amazing bonuses because students typically like to get all of their information from one place.
Just make sure that the bonus videos and tutorials are related to the topic of the course otherwise students will feel like they got ripped off.
4. eBooks
An eBook is a great bonus to give out. If you have a lot of content in your blog, you can package that into a short eBook and give it as a bonus.
The eBook doesn’t have to be a 200 page monster. It can be 20 – 30 pages and still be effective. Just make sure that the eBook is related to the content in the course.
Also, if you have the time, you can transcribe your entire course and give it out for free as a bonus. I know some people have hired people to do this, but that’s a little bit more expensive.
Having both the audio/video and text transcript for a course is a great thing to offer to students.
5. Discounts Other Products
If you have other courses and products, you can give the bonus in the form of a discount.
The name of the game is to cross-sell your products!
For example, every student enrolled in the course gets 50% off another course that you own. This is a really effective way to cross sell your other products.
6. Access To A Community
If you have a big Facebook following, consider building a community around that.
Offering free access to a closed Facebook group is an amazing way to leverage your followers. There, other students can help each other, ask questions, and get help from you!
I also know of some people who have built online forums (yes, I know it’s kind of old school – but it is effective!)
If you have a big forum, you can also sell access to that community kind of like a Facebook group.
Things To Keep In Mind With Your Online Course Bonuses
As you can see, creating online course bonuses is a great way to increase your conversion rates.
However, there are also a few things to keep in mind when creating these bonuses:
Emphasize Their Value!
Offering free bonuses is an amazing way to get people to sign up for your courses. But you have to emphasize what a great deal they are.
One good way to use effective copy in your course sales page is to estimate the value of all of your bonus offerings.
Now, don’t go overboard and say some 2 page cheat sheet is worth $5,000 (because it’s not even if it was made out of solid gold).
People will see through that right away. But give an honest assessment of what those bonuses are worth.
The general rule I use is “how much could I sell this bonus for by itself.”
And then compare the bonuses to the value of the course:
“All of these bonuses are worth more than $500+, which is double what this course costs!”
Never underestimate the power of good copywriting when it comes to bonus content. I’ve sold many courses with a variation of that sales line above! 🙂
Don’t go overboard with bonuses
As I mentioned before, bonuses are a great way to get people interested in your course. However, don’t go overboard and offer 30 different types of bonuses.
That will scare people off quick. Don’t make your course longer just for the sake of promoting bonus content.
People will begin to question the quality of the course.
If you can explain a topic in 10 minutes, don’t stretch it out to 20 minutes. People value their time and they want to learn the information as fast as possible!
In fact, when I’m looking to buy online courses myself, I typically gravitate towards shorter! Time is money! I don’t want to listen to someone drone on about a topic for 8 hours…and neither do your customers!
Create Urgency
One of the things I learned from selling online courses is urgency is a VERY powerful sales tool.
And bonuses can be used to create a sense of urgency for customers to smash that buy button. For example, say you’re launching a new course.
You can offer to give a free bonus eBook or 1 hour of coaching to every student for the next week. After that, the offer expires FOREVER!
This creates a sense of urgency for potential customers to buy NOW because this offer may never be back in the future. It’s gone forever!
Bonuses can also be offered when you give sales discounts on your course. I typically offer 10% – 15% discounts on my courses for big U.S. holidays like July 4th, Christmas, President’s Day and so on.
To sweeten the pot, I might offer a limited time bonus (like say an eBook). This is another great sales tool in your shed.
Finally, making your bonuses exclusive is also a good sales tactic. By “exclusive”, I mean they can’t get it anywhere else. They can only get these bonuses from you and no one else.
Online Course Bonus Ideas: Final Thoughts
When it comes to pricing online courses, I always try to create premium products. And to help with that I offer a few high quality free bonus offerings.
Free bonuses are great to help potential customers see the value of your course (i.e. they’re getting $500 worth of stuff for free when the course costs $300).
Online course bonuses help make people feel like they got a great deal for their money and it’s a very powerful sales strategy. Use it wisely and you’ll be rewarded!
P.S. If you’re looking for a great platform to sell your online course, check out Teachable.
They are a great one-stop shop to create your online course. The site is easy to use and you can have your course up and running (with credit card processing) in a matter of hours ready to take in sales orders!
Check out my Teachable review here