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

A launch is a short, planned period when you open a course for sale, usually with a bonus or price that ends on a real deadline. It works because it gives your audience a reason to decide now instead of "someday".

This guide lays out a four-week plan: warm-up, open cart, close, and after. It assumes you have some audience, even a small email list; if you don't, start there.

The short answer

To launch an online course, spend one to two weeks warming up your audience with free teaching on the course's topic, then open enrollment for about a week with a clear reason to join now (a founding price or bonus that really ends), send daily reminders in the last two days, and close on time. Afterwards, survey non-buyers and onboard new students.

Key takeaways

• An email list is the most dependable launch channel because you own it.
• Warm up with genuinely useful free content that leads to the course.
• Give a real reason to act now, and keep the deadline you announce.
• Most launch sales tend to come at the start and in the last 48 hours, so plan emails for both.
• Commercial email must follow rules such as CAN-SPAM in the US: an unsubscribe link, your postal address, honest subject lines.

Disclosure: we make Klasira, an online course platform, and show where it fits. Everything here works on any platform. Figures from other organizations come from their public pages, checked in October 2026 and linked at the end.

What does a four-week course launch look like?

What emails should you send during a launch?

1. Doors open: what it is, who it's for, the deadline and the reason to join now.
2. The story: why you made it and the problem it solves.
3. Proof: student results, or what the pilot group did.
4. Objections: time, price, "is it for me?", answered honestly.
5. 48 hours left.
6. Last day (morning), and closing in a few hours (evening).

Let people opt out of launch emails without unsubscribing from your list entirely; it keeps goodwill.

What rules apply to launch emails?

In the US, the FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide requires commercial emails to have accurate header information and honest subject lines, identify the message as an ad where required, include your valid physical postal address, give a clear way to opt out, and honor opt-outs within 10 business days. Other countries have their own rules, and the EU and UK generally require consent before marketing email. Only email people who signed up.

How do you create urgency without being pushy?

• A founding price for the first group, which really ends.
• A bonus available only during launch: a live Q&A, a template pack, a review of their work.
• A cohort start date, so joining later means waiting for the next one.

Never fake a deadline or scarcity. If you reopen at the same price the next week, buyers learn to ignore your deadlines.

What should you do after the launch?

• Welcome buyers with a clear first step and an early win.
• Ask non-buyers one question: what stopped you? The answers shape the next launch.
• Mark up your course pages for search engines; Google supports Course list structured data for pages that list several courses.
• Decide whether the course stays open (evergreen) or opens again in a later launch.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a course launch be?

Enrollment is commonly open for about a week, after one to two weeks of warm-up content. Shorter windows feel rushed; longer ones lose urgency.

Can I launch a course without an email list?

You can, through social media, partners, affiliates or ads, but it's harder. Start building a list during the warm-up with a free resource.

How many emails should I send during a launch?

Typically one to open, two or three during the week with proof and answers, and more in the last 48 hours. Let people opt out of launch emails only.

Should I launch or sell my course evergreen?

Launches create urgency and peaks; evergreen sells every day with less intensity. Many creators launch first, then switch to evergreen with automated emails.

Where Klasira fits

In Klasira, every student and lead is a CRM contact, so your launch emails, automations and the course itself live in one place. Start your school or see pricing.

Related: writing a sales page, starting an affiliate program, all guides on pricing and selling.

Sources

Details about other companies in this post were checked against these public pages in October 2026. Products, prices and rules change, so confirm with each source before you decide.

• FTC, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business
• Google Search Central, Course list structured data