9 Reasons to Launch Your Online Course with a Free Challenge
When launching an online course, what strategy are you considering?
A webinar, a Jeff Walker-style 3-part video series, or perhaps a complex email funnel?
Why not a challenge?
Challenges are a profitable strategy and one of the easiest to pull off, with minimal tech requirements and no need for a slide deck. They are not only effective for launching but also for list-building.
Before we get into the many benefits of challenges, let’s clarify what they are.
What is a Challenge?
A challenge is a structured, time-limited event designed to help participants achieve a specific goal.
In a challenge, you guide your students to perform a specific task each day over a set period (e.g., 3-day, 5-day challenges). You can deliver this through live videos, pre-recorded videos, a combination of both, or emails alone.
Challenges are great for accountability as they bring together like-minded people with similar goals, encouraging daily action and quick wins throughout the challenge.
Why Do People Sign Up for Free Challenges?
People sign up for a challenge because they have an issue or a pain point they are struggling with they want to solve, and the challenge promises to help them do that.
When they participate in challenges, do the daily work, and achieve those “wins” and “Aha” moments, they feel a sense of accomplishment and are motivated to do more.
This positive experience often leads them to consider working with you in a paid capacity after the free challenge is over.
It follows the "try before you buy" strategy, which works really well. Challenges give people a taste of what it’s like to work with you, helping them decide if you are the right fit for their needs.
Why Should You Choose Challenges as Your Launch Strategy
Challenges help you prove to your students that they can achieve results.
They are less hectic and help you build a growing email list—a clear win-win.
Benefits of Using Challenges as a Launch Strategy
Here are some major advantages of using challenges to launch your online course:
1. Build You and Your Brand’s Credibility
Challenges help you build credibility every single day.
There’s no intense performance pressure—if day one doesn’t go well, you have four more days to improve based on students’ feedback.
And by taking into consideration your participants’ feedback, you demonstrate a commitment to their success.
2. Allow You to Use Different Types of Media
One of the strengths of launching using a challenge is how versatile they are in content delivery.
Challenges allow you to combine various types of media, such as videos, emails, and PDFs catering to different learning styles.
This is a good way to make sure everyone understands and remembers what they’re learning.
3. Build Trust Quickly
The magic of challenges lies in their ability to build trust and authority as your participants see results and learn directly from you in just a few days.
The ‘Know, Like, and Trust’ factor is crucial in any business as earning trust quickly can impact your conversion rates and challenges can establish this in a matter of days.
4. Show Your Expertise
Challenges allow you to showcase your expertise by guiding participants through daily tasks.
This hands-on approach demonstrates how you can help them succeed, making it easier for potential clients to trust and choose to work with you.
5. Easy to Implement
I just find challenges to be very easy to implement! Unlike webinars that need lots of planning, challenges are simple to set up.
Each day, you provide a ‘nugget’ of information or tasks, keeping things relaxed and manageable.
This simplicity means you can focus more on helping participants.
6. Build a Community
Challenges often bring people together.
Participants will support each other and form connections, creating a community that’s engaged and enthusiastic about your launch.
7. Get to Know Your Audience Better
Although research is part of the initial tasks of any project, continuous feedback from challenges helps you learn what your audience likes and dislikes by getting their direct input.
This information lets you improve your product and adjust your marketing to better suit their needs.
8. Boost Your Sales Potential
Running a challenge can significantly increase your chances of making sales by actively engaging participants and building excitement around your offer.
As participants interact with your content, they become more invested in what you’re offering, which can lead to higher conversion rates.
9. Find Serious Leads
People who stick with the challenge and complete it are usually more interested in what you’re offering.
This means they’re more likely to become paying customers because they’ve already shown they care.
How Long Should Your Challenge Be?
Now that you know what challenges are and their many benefits when launching your online course, you may be wondering, ‘Sneha, how long should I run my challenge?’
Choosing the right duration for your challenge is crucial.
For me, a 5-day challenge is perfect. It’s short enough to keep people interested and excited, but long enough for them to make progress and connect with you.
While 3-day challenges can feel rushed and 7-day challenges may be too long to keep their interests, 5 days strikes the perfect balance.
Challenges are profitable and hassle-free, though they do require some time investment from you as the host.
A 5-day challenge isn't just a 5-day effort for the host, but the benefits are unmatched. If your challenge directly addresses a problem your audience has, it will work wonders.
I highly recommend giving it a try—it’s an opportunity to help your audience solve an issue for free.
Want to learn more about launching your course or digital products using a challenge?
Simplify your launch with The Challenge Launch Engine (Affiliate Link)—your all-in-one training and resources for creating a profitable 5-day challenge launch.
With proven strategies and expert guidance, you’ll attract more leads, boost engagement, and increase sales effortlessly.
Don’t miss out on transforming your launches—click here to learn more!
And if you are a Kajabi user, then be sure to check out our Kajabi Challenge Template to make running a challenge easier.
This pre-designed landing page template has all the structured pages you’ll need for your challenge: a Registration Page, a ‘Thank You’ page, and Hosting Pages for your videos. This template is fully customizable, making it easy to match it with your branding.
Click here to learn more about this Kajabi Template.
