How This Entrepreneur Went From Zero Sales to $100,000s in Sales With the Exact Same Course

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by Lindsey Francy Feb 6, 2023 News
How This Entrepreneur Went From Zero Sales to $100,000s in Sales With the Exact Same Course
The image is taken from louisehenry.com

Louise Henry is the person I'm introducing you to.

Louise is a tech expert. She has 134K YouTube subscribers, 8.5 million video views, and just under 30K followers on the social media sites.

She went on to sell 100,000 copies of her online course after making zero sales on her first launch.

I stumbled on Louise's channel in March 2020 and have been hooked ever since. Her story is inspiring because it is a story of resilience.

She didn't make any sales on her debut.

“I was upset, and self-doubt really kicked in. I thought that I’d wasted all this time on this online course… It’s not going to work, and it’s never going to be successful.”

— Louise Henry

Louise has gone on to make $100,000s online and I want to learn how she did it.

Her story is the main focus of part I.

Her strategy is going into part two.

Louise worked from 5am to 7pm most days while living in her parent's basement.

She was able to develop her skills as a virtual tech assistant because of her first business.

She wanted to turn her services into a business. She was a virtual tech assistant because she didn't have the skills to make a course.

She helped other entrepreneurs with the back end of their business.

“Luckily, a lot of these clients needed help with Squarespace… So as I worked with each client, I became a Squarespace expert.”

Louise knew that it was easier to build a website with Squarespace than withWordPress.

She built her first course with her clients in mind.

“I’m glad I did it this way… It meant my income was sorted, and I didn’t put myself in a stressful situation.”

Louise was aware that it would be worthwhile in the end. She saw many people raking in money through online courses.

She had her first launch.

Louise was undeterred and looked into where she had messed up.

“A lot of the time, it’s not the course itself.

“It’s how you’re talking about it, your messaging, and the marketing…

“That first launch, I’m pretty sure I sent just two emails that weren’t compelling, so that’s why it didn’t work out.”

She spent almost $1,000 on an online course and began to work with mentors.

“$997 felt like so much money at the time! I cried in the living room in front of my family.”

Louise began to see results after a lot of trial and error.

She phased out her work as the results became more consistent.

She has lived in her dream home for seven years.

Louise has made a lot of money from her online courses.

Time for the strategy.

It's summed up by this screenshot.

Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video, My Biggest Lessons of 2022…

“CONTENT → EMAIL LIST GROWTH → LAUNCHES/PROMOS → SALES FUNNELS”

The pillars need to be there. The whole thing collapses if not.

There's more to it than this.

We need to dig deeper.

One of the biggest drivers of leads is the internet video sharing site, YouTube. She has been on the platform for a long time.

She shared her growth to 100K subscribers.

The breakdown was done by year.

Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video

In her first year on the internet, the numbers were relatively low.

“I didn’t take it seriously because I didn’t fully understand the potential of the platform.”

The same goes for each of the next two years.

Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video

“We’re all going at different paces and coming into it with different skills and experiences.

“Go at your own pace.”

Louise began posting more frequently and reaching more subscribers.

Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video

She made more money in 2019:

Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video

Things will get interesting in 2020.

She had over 3 million views on the video sharing site.

Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video

She reached 100K subscribers by the halfway point of the 21st century.

Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video

Louise posted a travel and tech post every Friday.

Louise has a video that has a theme.

They're always worth something.

Five other things are worth mentioning.

  • #1: Her thumbnails are eye-catching. They’re colourful and descriptive, and they nearly always include Louise’s face:
Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video
  • #2: Her video titles are SEO-optimised. She uses Tubebuddy to help choose which keywords to target.
  • #3: Her branding is consistent. She uses the same intro/outro music for all her videos and always wears brand colours.
  • #4: Most of her videos are evergreen. Louise’s most-watched videos are tech tutorials that are less than 15 minutes long (e.g. “How to Create an Animated YouTube Intro/Outro FAST”
  • #5: Her banner is clean and on brand. It also points to her website:
YouTube banner from Louise’s channel

Louise is able to speed up the process of creating YouTube content.

  • #1: She uses Keywords Everywhere to come up with content ideas. Install the Chrome extension, add credits, and it’ll help you find keywords to target when you search on YouTube:
Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video
  • #2: She uses Plann to find trending topics. Using this tool saves her hours and lets her piggyback off trends, particularly for YouTube Shorts:
Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video
  • #3: She uses Descript for editing videos. “It makes editing your videos as easy as editing a Google doc.” She also uses this tool for repurposing video content (e.g. taking clips from her YouTube videos and turning them into Instagram Reels).
  • #4: She batches tasks for particular days. For example, Louise has writing days, filming days, and editing days. She can shoot 4–6 videos on a good filming day:
Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video

Louise believes she has made a lot of mistakes.

“I’ve been too scared to share some things... I’ve posted too many straight tech tutorials when I should have let my personality shine. I’ve been torn over what style and kind of videos I want to make…”

Here is what she would do if she started now.

“I would spend time developing my own style, share my personality, and change my definition of value.

“Entertainment and inspiration are just as valuable as informative, step-by-step videos.

“Rather than reaching more people, I would focus on building a tight-knit community that comes back and watches every single one of my videos.

“I would also share the successes and failures and bring your audience along...”

Louise has one of the biggest social media channels.

She posts about running an online business behind the scenes.

Marketing events are promoted for her courses. These challenges can be used to create a buzz and drive sales.

Louise tried to make her course sales evergreen, but she realized that launches had a big impact on her business.

Her courses aren't open all the time. At certain times, they are only open. Her courses are more scarce and valuable because of this.

She rotates the launches between her courses to generate buzz.

Louise puts people on her email list if they don't show up at a promotional event. When that happens, they will be told about the next event.

In the week leading up to the challenge, she posts stories and reels on her social media accounts.

Louise says that people need to see something at least seven times before buying.

Screenshot from Louise’s Instagram

Louise isn't dependent solely on organic marketing.

She works with paid ad marketers who run her ads on social media.

“If your business is not bringing in the number of leads you want per month, maybe it’s time for you to invest in advertising...”

“I wouldn’t want just to be relying on my organic marketing efforts. I like having ads out there so that I know I’m guaranteed a certain amount of leads coming in…”

“If you have the right systems in place, you can expect a portion of those leads to turn into customers, and you can make that investment back.”

Louise does a lot of other things as well. Business friends are asked to promote her events to their audience. In return, she does the same thing.

She has an affiliate program for her courses.

Partnering up with business besties is one of the most effective marketing strategies.

“I tell the partner that we will share the revenue…

“I also handle all of the tech and make it as easy as possible for them to partner with me. So I will give them copies of all the emails, social media graphics — anything I can do to make this as simple as possible...”

“We then host the workshop, it goes well, and brings in tons of new leads and sales for my business.

“But that’s not where it ends.

“You then want to take this workshop recording and turn it into an automated sales funnel. This way, the partner has a reason to drive traffic back to your business for years to come…

“I’m all about working smarter, not harder…”

There is a key to all of this.

It's a numbers game, remember that.

“Of the people who sign up [to your marketing event], only 30% will show up...

“And then only 10% of these people will buy your product.”

Louise's website is beautifully designed and thought through.

Loom gif of Louise’s website

Louise recommends that you get clear on your brand and personality.

A brand board of visuals is what it's supposed to be. Louise uses the same icons and colors on her board.

She used the board for her previous brand.

Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video | It’s a little grainy, but you get the idea

The copy on your website needs to sound like you.

Louise shared some tips.

  • Grab your phone and go through your texts with your BFF. Look for words and emojis you use all the time. You can then store these in a “brand bank” doc (see above).
  • Imagine you are talking to your BFF when writing your copy.
  • Record yourself talking about the subject rather than writing it down.

There are more website-building tips for beginners shared by Louise.

Take some time to get to know them.

“Know why someone would hire you over everyone else doing the same thing and use your website to communicate that.

“Your website is not about you. It’s about your ideal client.

“Pretend you’re speaking to one person when writing your website copy.

“Paint a picture of where someone is and where you can take them.

“You want your personality to jump off the page.

“Sprinkle testimonials everywhere on your website.

“People want to see who is behind the website. So put a photo of you on your about page.

“Place as many trust builders on your website as you can: places you’ve been featured, testimonials, reviews, case studies, and any relevant certifications/education.

“Use consistent fonts and colours across your website, and don’t use more than 2–3 fonts.

“Don’t overload your website. Instead, ask yourself what your ideal client needs to know to book you and include that.

“Purchase a custom domain and email address to look more professional.

“Make sure your website passes the five-second test. A new visitor should know exactly what you do and who you do it for within the first five seconds of visiting your website.

“When people come to your website, you either want them to buy from you or join your email list.

“When someone lands on your website, keep them there as long as possible. Also, be careful linking out and displaying your social media too prominently.

“On each page, tell visitors what action you want them to take next.”

Louise is using a lot of different tools in her business.

  • AsanaFor organising her personal and professional lives
  • Squarespace For her website
  • KartraShe used to use a bunch of software (e.g. Leadpages, ConvertKit, Deadline Funnel, and Teachable). Now, she just uses Kartra. Having an all-in-one tool saves her time and money.
  • Canva Pro — For making all her graphics
  • Zapier — For connecting tools that don’t have APIs
  • Loom — For recording course videos
  • Quickbooks — For her accounting needs
  • Plann — For planning and scheduling her Instagram content
  • Acuity — For letting people book calls into her calendar (similar to Calendly)
  • Crowdcast — Louise uses this tool for hosting live webinars. It’s also the tool I used to host my very first webinar (which was a complete disaster — but not because of the tool.)
  • Slack — For messaging her team
  • iMovie — For editing YouTube videos
  • ProofFor adding sales proof to her website
  • Chatra — For responding to people’s questions that come from her website
  • Zoom — You know.
  • Add Event — “If I’m ever doing a live training and I want people to be able to add the event to their calendar so that they get reminders, I’ll use this tool.”
Add Event | Screenshot from Louise’s YouTube video

She wanted to build an online course business despite all the obstacles.

She had a goal seven years ago.

It is still not completely passive. Louise continues to work hard. She makes money in her sleep by using systems and automation tools.

Her determination is what makes her so inspiring.

She explains in one of her videos how she transitioned from one service to another.

These are great ways to learn.

  1. “It doesn’t need to be perfect. Your first version of your online course is just that — your first version. Just get started. It will improve over time.”
  2. Don’t give up if you don’t get any sales. It probably means something in your marketing or messaging is a little off, or you haven’t built the right audience yet, which takes time.”
  3. A lot of resistance will come up as you make this transition. You’re going to worry if you’re expert enough to create an online course and whether it’s already been done before, but there are like 5 billion people online… There’s always a unique way of doing things and an angle you can find.”