How to Launch an Online Course: 4-Week Launch Plan

A simple online course launch runs over about four weeks: build a waitlist and warm up your audience with useful content, open the cart with a clear offer and deadline, run a live event or workshop, send reminders and answer objections, close the cart on time, and review results. Launch first to people who already know you: email subscribers, followers and past clients.

The four-week plan

Week	Focus	Actions
1	Warm up	Share helpful content on the problem, open the waitlist
2	Build anticipation	Stories, student results, live workshop invitation
3	Open cart	Launch email, workshop, sales page live, daily emails
4	Close cart	Reminders, FAQs, final 24 hours, close on time

Week 1 and 2: warm up

Publish content that addresses the problem your course solves.
Invite people to a waitlist with an early-bird benefit.
Share your story and student or client results.
Announce a free live workshop.

Week 3: open the cart

Example email sequence

Day 1: Doors are open (the offer, who it is for, deadline).
Day 2: Workshop replay and key takeaways.
Day 3: A student story.
Day 4: Answers to the most common questions.
Day 5: What's inside each module.

Week 4: close the cart

48 hours left: bonuses ending, objections answered.
24 hours left: short, direct.
Final hours: last call.
Close on time, and tell people when the next opening will be.

Live workshop

Teach something genuinely useful for 30 to 45 minutes, show a quick result, then explain the course and offer. Send the replay to registrants.

After the launch

Welcome students with strong onboarding.
Survey people who did not buy and ask why.
Track conversion rates at each step: email to sales page, sales page to checkout.
Plan improvements and your next launch.

First launch tips

Start with a founding-student offer and a smaller group.
Personally message warm contacts who might benefit.
Keep the deadline real.

For finding first buyers, see how to get your first students, and for the whole process, how to create an online course.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a course launch last?

Many launches use one to two weeks of warm-up content followed by an open cart period of about a week, ending with a clear deadline.

Do I need a big audience to launch a course?

No. A small, engaged audience can produce a successful first launch, especially with a pilot or founding-student offer.

What should I do if a launch underperforms?

Review where people dropped off: email opens, sales page visits, checkout. Talk to people who did not buy, improve, and relaunch.

Should I use a free webinar in my launch?

A free workshop or webinar can work well, as it lets people experience your teaching before buying.

How to Launch an Online Course: A 4-Week Launch Plan