I’m getting ready to get serious about my online business and launch a course for those that are serious about blogging and the opportunities out there to not only follow their passion but make some money on the side as well.

So, one of the initial strategies I wanted to employ was to engage with early adopters and those in my community that could help craft the course content and direction and who may likely end up as customers at a later date.

With that in mind, I wanted to create a community of folks who are serious about starting or growing their blog.

What this post is about

In this post, I’m going to tell you exactly how I set up my pre-launch landing page ecosystem so you’ll be better positioned to understand how to apply it to a course or product you might be thinking of.

Oh, and there’s a sweet bonus at the end of this article that will save you even more time! 

So, this post is intended to provide a behind the scenes look at how to set up all of the pieces to actually make it work. And,  have you positioned to understand it in the event something is not working.

A little about the course

I wanted to make a course for people to not only know how to blog, but also understand the big picture and have the requisite tips and tactics necessary to execute on their blog and online business.

Not just the generic how-tos, but also the mindset, strategy, and productivity hacks that can help you succeed with limited time.

After all, nobody has time these days.

Maybe that’s you too.

Perhaps you are just starting out and already feel overwhelmed.

Or maybe you’ve been hanging on by a thread and trying to grow your blog for a couple of years and need some organization layered into the chaos you are currently experiencing.

Well, the intent of my course is to layer that organization into your chaos. I know exactly what it’s like to build a blog as a busy parent with a full-time career.

But I’m not going to sell the value of the course to you here. That’s for my landing page!

What I want to cover here is how I’m building the environment to foster that community and how it all works together.

Why I want to document how my pre-launch landing page works

In my day job, I’m a Chief Technology Officer. I like to know how things really work under the covers and how various individual components can come together and form a system.

That’s exactly what I’ve set up to start building my pre-launch community – a system of various individual components all working in harmony to achieve the goal I’ve set out.

And, since I’m a good guy, I’m going to share with you exactly how I did it.

Too often you come across people saying they’ve done this or that, but you get lost in all of the blurry hints and never really understand what they did.

It’s especially frustrating trying to understand how all of the systems actually work together. What plugs into what? Which component do I need to use?

You end up dazed and confused.

So, here is what I did.

Create a website for the course

I went out and bought the domain to my course from my boys at Bluehost and quickly set up an empty shell of a website. I didn’t intend to build out the course or the website at this point because that is all still to be determined.

I just wanted to at least have the plumbing in place and the domain registered so I’d be all set to move forward when the time came.

You can watch my tutorial on how to register and set up your own website in the time it takes to make some mac & cheese HERE.

Set up a landing page

I use (and love) LeadPages.

Look, I like to code and tinker with stuff just as much as the next guy. But sometimes, it just makes sense to purchase a capability rather than trying to replicate it.

I use LeadPages for super simple, easy-to-use, beautiful, and fully integrated landing pages. I use it for my opt-ins, for thank you pages, for bonus material distribution, etc.

Since I have them as my main landing page provider, I set up a new landing page for my new course.

Create a custom email list within your email list provider

You will want to create a new list to keep track of all the awesome people who want to join your pre-launch mailing list. So, head over to your email list provider and create a new list. I use MailChimp for my email list and absolutely love it.

Creating a separate list, or a segment within an existing list will allow you to really understand who is serious about your course versus those that are just lurking and bouncing from your page.

Now, you may be saying, “You should have them pay up front and then you’ll really know who’s commited!” True. But I chose not to do a pre-pay option at this time. But that may change before the launch.

Those on my pre-launch list will, of course, get a discount. 😉

The cool thing about having a separate list (or a dedicated segment within your existing list) is you can immediately reach out to them for feedback on proposed modules, course ideas, etc. Use them as your best resource as you finalize your course offering.

Integrate the landing page with your email list provider

The sweet thing about LeadPages is it easily integrates with MailChimp. As I constructed my landing page, I simply chose the list I wanted to use and presto, it worked.

Even though I said “presto, it worked” there is one thing you want to do at this point. Test the shit out of it!

With any sort of integration like this, make sure you allocate a couple of hours to test it like crazy. You’ll want to make sure you test all of the emails that are sent, the links, the sequence….everything before you blast it to anyone you care about.

Testing it allows you to work out the bugs and set a stable platform for all of those folks you hope to collect with your landing page. It would suck if you built everything up but never tested it. Then all of the people landing on your page would simply be lost.

Your next steps

So, here’s your bonus.

As you can see in the image above, I actually have a diagram of the whole setup that you can use as a reference.

Even better news, if you want to get your own copy of the diagram, you also get full access to everything else in my library. This includes other diagrams that help explain other parts of landing page process. Oh, and you also get my Ultimate Blog Resource Guide with over 200 tools and resources you can use for your blog.

I know, I know…too much for your heart right?

If you want the single diagram that shows exactly how all of these systems work together to create an online course pre-launch landing page, simply access my FREE Resource Library by clicking on the image below.

If you have any questions about the diagram or need any clarity on what I did, simply contact me and I can help you out.

One more thing before you go…

Oh yeah. I would be a remiss dumbass if I didn’t mention where you can find the actual landing page.

If you head over to ReadyToBlog.com you’ll see the fruit of my labor.

If you are really awesome and want to get into this blogging adventure together, sign up! I’d love to have ya!