

The Art of Selling Online Courses
John Ainsworth
The Art of Selling Online Courses is all about online courses. The goal of this podcast is to share winning strategies and secret hacks from top performers in the online course industry. We are interviewing successful business owners, asking them questions on how they got to the point where they are right now, and checking how their ideas can help you improve your online course!
Episodes
Mentioned books

10 snips
Jul 24, 2025 • 26min
12 Checkout Page Tricks To Get More Sales INSTANTLY
In this engaging discussion, Boris Mez, an account manager at Data Driven Marketing, reveals the secrets to transforming checkout pages into conversion powerhouses. He shares a case study where a client soared from a 10% to a jaw-dropping 48.5% conversion rate. Boris emphasizes how most course creators overlook this critical stage, leading to lost sales. He provides actionable tips like featuring testimonials, guarantees, and urgency techniques to instill trust and encourage purchases. Tune in for a deep dive into the art of boosting sales through effective checkout optimization!

Jul 17, 2025 • 41min
Meet the Man Teaching 500,000 People Chinese Online
Ken Dai, co-founder of Chinese Zero to Hero, shares his journey of creating a dynamic platform for Mandarin learners. In just a few years, they've grown to over 70,000 students by producing 1,000+ videos aligned with the HSK curriculum. Ken discusses the importance of social media in engaging serious learners and his unique approach to content creation that outperforms traditional marketing. He also emphasizes the need for regular promotions and effective email management to boost conversions, revealing insights that can transform online course strategies.

21 snips
Jul 10, 2025 • 47min
How I Sell Online Courses (With Literally No Audience)
In this engaging conversation, Dr. David Hall, an applied psychologist and founder of the million-dollar course business PsychMaven, shares his unconventional journey to success without a social media following. He dives into strategic partnerships and affiliate marketing, revealing how he gives away 50% of his revenue to the right affiliates. David’s insights on traditional marketing methods, direct mail strategies, and leveraging AI for course creation provide fresh perspectives for online course creators seeking alternatives to the typical audience-building approach.

9 snips
Jul 7, 2025 • 30min
This Simple Strategy Made $200k in 12 Months (COPY THIS)
Join Boris Mez, a funnel expert at Data Driven Marketing, who has scaled numerous seven and eight-figure course businesses. He reveals how a single funnel strategy generated $200,000 for a client within a year. Discover why many course creators struggle to scale and the critical difference between low and high converting upsells. Boris breaks down his four-step system for crafting the perfect upsell page and shares successful client case studies, emphasizing the importance of optimizing offers and understanding customer needs.

7 snips
Jun 27, 2025 • 21min
I Asked ChatGPT: Will AI DESTROY Online Courses?
In a fascinating conversation with ChatGPT, the advanced AI model that generates human-like text, listeners explore the transformative future of online courses. ChatGPT shares bold predictions for 2026 and highlights innovative AI tools for personalized learning. The discussion also reveals how generational differences impact educational needs, with younger and older learners seeking distinct experiences. Expect absurd yet entertaining ideas, including a $25,000 suggestion, while learning how AI can enhance content creation and marketing in the online education space.

Jun 19, 2025 • 41min
I Doubled My Revenue In Just 4 Months With This Funnel
Brendan Williams, owner of Brendan Williams Creative, shares his journey in transforming his photography education business. He discusses the four key changes he made to his sales funnel that doubled his revenue in just four months. Topics include the importance of effective email marketing strategies, optimizing sales pages, and creating compelling offers. Brendan also highlights how he turned a seven-day email course into a profitable sales strategy, showcasing the significance of understanding audience needs and smart promotional tactics for sustained growth.

Jun 12, 2025 • 19min
How I 2x Revenue In 90 Days With These Emails
Send us a textIn this episode, I sit down with Dominik to answer the most common email marketing questions from our Instant Course Sales clients. You'll learn the exact email calendar structure that helps our clients double their revenue in 90 days, why too many value emails create "passive subscribers not buyers," and the soft opt-out strategy that reduces unsubscribes during promotions.Dominik also shares how often you can promote the same course without burning out your audience, and why promoting one course at a time converts better than site-wide discounts.If you're earning at least $1,500 monthly from your course business with an email list of 1,000+ subscribers, book a strategy call at datadrivenmarketing.co/callWant to build an email list that actually converts? Download our free guide: https://datadrivenmarketing.co/double

Jun 5, 2025 • 30min
Why High Opt-In Rates are KILLING Your Sales
Send us a text🔗 Get the exact lead magnet formula we used to generate $12 million at https://datadrivenmarketing.co/doubleIn this episode of The Art of Selling Online Courses, I sat down with Boris Mez from Data Driven Marketing to uncover the real secrets behind high-converting lead magnets and opt-in pages.We dive deep into why high opt-in rates might actually be KILLING your sales, how to go from 15% to 70% opt-in rates (and why that's not always the goal), and the backwards engineering approach that ensures your lead magnets actually convert to sales. Boris reveals the exact architecture of winning opt-in pages, including the "above the fold" section that they spend half their optimization time perfecting.You'll discover the 5 magic words that boost conversions instantly, why quiz funnels are dominating the market, and how one simple YouTube strategy helped a client make an extra $5,000 in just one month. We also break down common lead magnet mistakes that attract junk leads instead of high-quality buyers, and how to align your entire funnel for maximum revenue.Whether you're struggling with low conversion rates, building your first lead magnet, or want to optimize your existing funnels, this episode is packed with actionable strategies you can implement immediately.

May 29, 2025 • 21min
$67,500 in 15 Days with This Boring Funnel
Send us a text📧 Want direct help implementing this strategy? Email me at john@datadrivenmarketing.coIn this episode of The Art Of Selling Online Courses, I sit down with my brilliant funnel strategist Josip Belina to break down how we made one of our clients $67,000 from just a 7,000-person email list using a paid webinar funnel. Here's the kicker - nobody bought anything during the actual webinar, but we still got incredible results.Josip walks you through our entire strategy for this client, including why we charged people to attend the webinar, how we messed up the Zoom setup (and why it didn't matter), and the email sequence that did all the heavy lifting after the webinar ended. You'll see how we sold a $3,000 product without any sales calls and why sometimes a soft pitch works better than going hard.This case study is perfect if you're in a niche market or have a premium product that needs more than just a sales page to convert. Josip also shares who shouldn't try this approach and what list size you need to make it worthwhile.If you want the complete funnel map we used with links to all our resources, just drop me an email at john@datadrivenmarketing.co or message Josip at josip@datadrivenmarketing.co. And if you want our help implementing this for your business, reach out about working with us directly.🔗 Check out datadrivenmarketing.co/blog for more webinar strategies we've shared over the years.

May 22, 2025 • 32min
Alex Hormozi’s $100M Framework Will Transform Your Course Business (MUST USE)
Send us a text💰 Download the $100 Million Offer Workbook Template and my completed version: https://datadrivenmarketing.co/millionIn this episode of The Art of Selling Online Courses, I explain why most people read Alex Hormozi's $100 Million Offer book but never actually implement it.The problem? People try to do it all in one go, but it's actually a series of exercises you need to work through step by step.That's why I created a workbook that breaks down the entire process. I use this exact workbook every time I build a new offer for my business, filling out every section with my team.The results? Clients who actually do this work generally double their revenue within 90 days.In this episode, I walk through exactly how I filled out the workbook when creating my Instant Course Sales Program. You'll see my real answers and thought process for each section.I cover why the market is more important than the offer, how to identify your clients' dream outcome, the activation points that make people succeed, how to turn problems into solutions, and creating bonuses and guarantees that work.If you've been struggling to create offers that convert, this episode shows you exactly how to implement Hormozi's system properly.