Your success formula
Spend 6+ weeks building awareness and driving enrollments.
Aim for 300 landing page views per week at a 1-2% conversion rate.
Share your unique insights via value-adding content.
You don’t need to be a salesperson to build a business on Maven. You do need to publicly share your unique, credible, and impactful points of view. Your content will act as a “lightning rod” and attract people naturally interested in taking a course with you.
Your 6-week marketing roadmap
As you bring your course to market and make it visible to potential students, use high-volume and high-touch marketing moments to increase visibility and conversions. To get sales, you need high-quality traffic.
Each week:
Implement 1-3 actions to drive 300 landing page visits.
Check your conversion rates and keep iterating until you see a 1-2% conversion rate.
| Goals | Actions |
Weeks 1-2 | Raise awareness + acquire leads | 1. Schedule your Lightning Lesson. 2. Post 3x a week to LinkedIn, driving to your Lightning Lesson. Tee up your network to comment and engage. 6. Edit and activate your cohort launch campaign in Maven. 7. Share your Lightning Lesson in communities where your target students spend time. |
Weeks 3-4 | Build trust + provide value | 1. Post 3x a week to LinkedIn, driving to your Lightning Lesson. Tee up your network to comment and engage. 2. Share your Lightning Lesson in communities where your target students spend time. 3. Ask your close network to share your Lightning Lesson with those who might be the right fit. 4. DM every person who engages with your content on LinkedIn. Offer 1:1 calls. 5. Host your Lightning Lesson. Follow up with a custom discount offer. |
Weeks 5-6 | Segment leads + convert students | 1. Post 3x a week to LinkedIn, driving to your course. Tee up your network to comment and engage. 2. Segment your Lightning Lesson to high-potential leads who are the right fit for your content. 3. Send personalized notes offering 1:1 calls to your waitlist, dropped-off students, and segmented Lightning Lesson leads. |
Conversion accelerators
1:1 outreach
1:1 outreach
Engaging your network
Writing good content and creating a great course is only half the battle. The next step is to get distribution. Especially in the early days of your course, this means getting your network to help you spread the word.
Make a contact list of 20 people likely to say “yes” to supporting you. Aim for people with high credibility whose endorsement is extremely valuable to you.
Write them a text message/email to ask for their support on your social posts. Your specific ask is for them to comment with an endorsement of your credibility.
Ask if they would share your content, Lightning Lesson, or course with people who would benefit from it.
✍️ TEMPLATE (text message)
Hey [name], it’s been a while - hope you’re well! Excited and nervous to share that I just launched a [Lightning Lesson or course] on [topic] for [student]. If you’re up for it, could you leave a comment on this LinkedIn post and share your experience working with me? Your support means so much.
[LINK TO YOUR LINKEDIN POST]
✍️ TEMPLATE (email)
Subject: Just launched something new…
Hi ____,
Hope you’re well! I’m reaching out because I recently launched a new course and wanted to see if you’d be up for sharing it with folks who would find it valuable. The course is called [course name and LINK] for [target student]. These are the frameworks I developed over more than a decade running teams at startups and that I wish I had access to earlier in my career.
If you’re up for it, could you leave a comment on this LinkedIn post [LINK] to share your experience working with me? Your support means so much to me.
And if you know folks who could benefit from this course, let me know. I’m offering 1:1 consultative calls for this first cohort. I’m happy to share more. Thank you for your help!
1:1 calls
As you're building your course business, the best sales tactic is getting a prospective student live on a call with you. You can use Calendly to do this efficiently.
In your 1:1, offer a meaningful beta cohort discount. Position this as a win-win: a way to get student feedback so you can deepen your understanding of the student challenge and refine your material, an exclusive deal for them.
✍️ TEMPLATE
Subject: Want to chat about [Course Name]?
Hey __, hope you’re doing well!
I wanted to let you know that enrollment for my course [Course Name] closes in 2 days. We have amazing, diverse students joining from [insert roles & companies]. It’s gonna be a blast!
I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have. Text me at [insert number] to ask me anything, or if it’s easier, you can schedule a quick 15 min chat [here].
Or include this at the end of an email:
✍️ TEMPLATE
P.S. If you’d like to chat 1:1 about the course, text me at {cell number} and we can find a time. If it’s easier for you, feel free to see if any of these dates work for you: {Calendly link}
Follow-up after the call (sending a text is more personal than email and gets better read rates):
✍️ TEMPLATE
Hey {first name}, I loved meeting you today. Let me know if my tips on {topic} were helpful. I mentioned briefly that I’m creating a cohort-based course on {topic} starting on {date}. You’d be an amazing addition to the cohort. I have a few people signed on who are dealing with the same issue. Here’s the link to sign up: {insert course pay link}. If you have any questions, just text me.
Authentic content
Authentic content
🎥 Video resource: LinkedIn Growth Playbook: Hooks & Profiles
Inspiration for good course launch posts
Inspiration for good Lightning Lesson posts:
LinkedIn is the most powerful top-of-funnel for most of our top-earning instructors. But don't use LinkedIn to sell your course in posts; instead, leverage it to create massive awareness for your unique ideas and exceptional content.
Social posts should consist of:
1. A catchy hook based on real insight (not click bait).
✍️ Hook templates
The most common mistake I see from [insert job domain] leaders is [x].
[Insert domain] strategies that worked in 2021 don't now. [List a few]…
Most [insert content] fail. But this one worked…
Our X strategy had a blind spot... This is what we missed…
[Skill/domain, etc.] isn't working like it used to. Here's what we realized about why…
[Skill, domain, etc.] isn't broken—your approach is. Here's the shift that unlocked [insert domain]...
The most valuable [insert domain] hire in 2025 won't be the person with... It'll be the one who…
Tech stacks keep evolving. Tools keep launching. But 2025's biggest breakout star won't be software…
To [insert outcome], [x] is what you really need.
While everyone chases shiny new [insert domain] tools, the companies scaling fastest are silently mastering [x]...
2. Who the content is for and the outcomes they will get.
I built a practical, hands-on course on [this topic] as part of @Maven's X category.
This course is for [Who is this for? Be specific]. [Why did you build this course for them? Speak to your target audience].
I've applied these exact frameworks at [Company X] to achieve [specific result], and now I'm excited to share them with you.
You'll learn:
[learning outcome #1] Make these very action-oriented and specific
[learning outcome #2]
[learning outcome #3]
[learning outcome #4]
[learning outcome #5]
The cohort includes live workshops and real-world projects you can implement immediately. By the end, you'll ship [Example Projects] and join a network of forward-thinking [insert domain] leaders.
3. Social proof and credibility.
✍️ Social proof templates
These strategies helped me scale [Product] from [X] to [Y] users in just [Z] months. Now you can apply them too.
We used this playbook to grow [Company] to [milestone], and I've refined it further through working with ## [insert domain] teams.
After implementing this system at [Company], we saw [specific metric] improve by [X]%. You'll learn the complete framework.
The same approach helped [Company A], [Company B], and [Company C] achieve [specific result]. Now I’ve packaged it into this course.
4. A CTA at the end.
✍️ CTA Templates
Next cohort starts [Date]. Join here: LINK
Secure your spot: [LINK]
Limited seats available. Register here: [LINK]
Referral engines
Referral engines
🎥 Video resource: Always on cohorts
Cohort availability
The most successful instructors always have a cohort opened for enrollment rather than limiting registration to brief windows. Students typically visit a course page ~5 times before enrolling, and many need extended time to secure L&D budget approval. By keeping your next cohort open for enrollment - even if it's months away - you create a frictionless pathway for interested students to signup. Plus, you'll capitalize on Maven's marketplace algorithms, which only surface courses with open cohorts.
This always-open approach also leverages two critical word-of-mouth opportunities.
Current students experiencing breakthroughs during a cohort naturally want to recommend your course to colleagues. Fuel your word-of-mouth engine by ensuring an immediate enrollment option for those referrals.
Immediately after your cohort is done, there's a moment of peak enthusiasm when alumni share their achievements and implement their new skills. These alumni create powerful organic marketing. You'll create a sustainable referral loop by opening your next cohort while your current one is in session.
Reviews and testimonials
Your goal in each cohort: deliver a big before/after transformation, and you’ll kickstart a powerful word-of-mouth engine to drive your business. Especially when you're just starting your course, this is crucial: 10 extremely satisfied students will deliver compounding results.
After your first cohort, you'll have reviews and testimonials, which will naturally offer important social proof that you can deliver on promised outcomes. Optimize for both response rate and quality by giving students ~10 minutes to complete the end-of-course survey in the final session of your course. Before you share the survey, ask students to reflect with an eyes-light-up or "aha" moment from the course; engage students in this public sharing activity via a "popcorn" exercise. This reflection will help students solidify their learning and encourage deeper feedback on the survey.
Cohort content
Both while you're building your first cohort and after you've run each cohort, you'll generate content that can be used to share authentically about your course. Consider the following moments as opportunities to build in public and raise awareness about the impact of your course:
Host a Lightning Lesson with demos from your course alumni (example from Aishwarya Naresh Reganti and Kiriti Badam)
Share student testimonials as LinkedIn posts and add to waitlist emails
Share and engage with all students who share your course certificates
When you secure guest speakers or add new content, share about it publicly and to your waitlist
After each cohort ends, write public recap posts sharing your and students' learnings from the cohort
Measure your marketing impact
When you first start building your course, you might not have strong social proof and a built-out syllabus. Until you have both, your conversion may be .5%. As you continue to refine your landing page with insights you gain through your marketing and 1:1 calls and collect testimonials, aim for your conversion to increase to 1-2%.
Here's a quick breakdown of how to continuously improve your conversion rates:
Offer 1:1 calls with all dropped-off and waitlist students. They won’t all take it, but those who do will be high-intent.
Frame the ask as customer research. Show them your landing page and ask them what jumps out at them.
Segment your leads list to your ICP. After you've done initial updates to your landing page and syllabus, use a tool like Clay to get LinkedIn and company info and filter your waitlist to your ICP (ideal customer profile).
Send personal emails sharing that you updated the syllabus. Tell them the course covers XYZ for [someone with their exact role]. They can reply directly to you with questions and you can offer a 1:1 call.
Use your insights from all 1:1 calls and feedback as you market to address student challenges and improve your landing page.
Repeat this process until your conversion rate improves to 1%+.
Maven's marketplace
Your marketing works in tandem with Maven's marketplace and discovery emails. Both fit together to get your course in front of the right students. Maven's main systems for course discovery are:
Homepage
Once your course is open for enrollment and meets these requirements, it's eligible to be listed on Maven.com, where it'll be discoverable to browsing students by category and keywords.
Emails
Once your course is listed, it's also eligible for inclusion in our emails to all students. Course email features are algorithmically generated, and the different sections take into account a few factors:
Time to cohort start (we promote courses closer to their start date).
Earnings momentum (courses that have greater traction over the last week are more highly promoted).
Relevance to the individual student (we create an interest profile for each student based on how they interact with Maven and recommend courses accordingly).
Emails differ from person to person, so you get a highly customized version based on your behavior. Even if you don't see your course in our emails, other students with different behaviors likely see it in their recommendations.
FAQs
What should my enrollment goal be for the first cohort?
What should my enrollment goal be for the first cohort?
For your first cohort, aim for 10 enrolled students. From there, there's compounding ROI. You'll invest a lot in syllabus design and customer discovery to build your “beta” cohort, but with the right marketing insights, your second cohort is an easier win. By your third cohort, you have created an asset that compounds in value over time.
When should I open my first cohort (or next cohort) for enrollment? Should I build a waitlist first?
When should I open my first cohort (or next cohort) for enrollment? Should I build a waitlist first?
You should open your cohort for enrollment as soon as you know the dates. Ideally, you should plan your teaching year and open those cohorts for enrollment, too. It never hurts to have multiple options to accommodate student schedules.
You should build a waitlist first through your course interest survey. But, you should not launch a course landing page that is closed for enrollment to collect waitlist leads. Your landing page is designed to sell, so share it when you're ready to accept enrollments.
To maximize Maven's marketing system via the marketplace and emails, you should always have a cohort opened for enrollment. We only surface courses open for enrollment in our emails and on our homepage.
What should I expect after I announce my course? What if I announce it and no one enrolls?
What should I expect after I announce my course? What if I announce it and no one enrolls?
Don't expect a massive onslaught of enrollments with your single announcement post or email. Students will visit your course page ~5 times before they decide to enroll - they require multiple touch points. This is why building many opportunities for awareness with authentic content and public idea-sharing is so crucial. And, keep going! Up to 50% of enrollments occur 1-2 weeks before your cohort start date.
Reminder: always iterate on your topic and positioning until you find something that's selling well. The most successful instructors have a pulse on the key challenges their students need to solve and ensure their courses deliver compelling results.