Best of 2021 and 9 lessons learned

“What were my top lessons learned?”

This is one of my favorite questions in my annual review (I’m using this free template, btw.)

This year, I identified 9 things I kept coming back to about happiness, productivity, promises, and boundaries.

Read my 9 lessons learned here. 

For the last newsletter of 2021, I want to share my atomic essays and threads that have resonated the most this year.

Let’s dive in…


✍️ Copywriting & Marketing

My 6 favorite free copywriting resources 

Copywriting is arguably THE most profitable skill in business. The good news is: You can learn to write high-converting copy. Whether you want to start writing copy professionally or for your own business, check out these 6 resources.

5 common copywriting mistakes course creators make on their landing pages

Here’s what I learned from reviewing dozens of course landing pages this year. I also share how to avoid these mistakes and do better.

The simple funnel to launch your course 

Growing your course sustainably comes down to 2 things: knowing your funnel and optimizing every part of it. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s the simple funnel to start with.


🤓 Online Courses

Why you should give away your best ideas for free

Which information should I share for free, and which should I put behind the paywall? That’s a question probably every course creator asks themselves at some point. Here’s why you can and should give away your best ideas for free.

Doing breakout rooms right 

Breakout rooms are Zoom’s most powerful feature. And can make a Zoom session actually better than an in-person lecture. If they’re done right! Here’s a 4-step approach for effective breakout sessions that I’ve observed from expert facilitators and tried out myself.

How to start a cohort-based course without starting a cohort-based course

Starting a cohort-based course is tricky if you don’t have a big audience (yet). But there’s a workaround.


📈 Productivity

5 lessons learned from publishing 100 atomic essays

In June, I celebrated my 100th atomic essay as part of Ship 30 for 30. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way about writing and publishing consistently. The most important lesson I’m still internalizing: Focus on distribution.

🚢 Ship 30 for 30 had a huge impact on me this year. It laid the foundation for my launch of Course Creator Lab and helped me gain over 5k Twitter followers.

⚡️ There’s still time to join the upcoming January cohort. Click here to save $100 when enrolling.

9 things that make marketing yourself and your creations hard

I’ve struggled with all of these. Can you relate? Still, starting to create online is one of the best and most rewarding things I’ve done.

Building in public: Why it’s hard and worth doing anyway 

The fastest way to get free marketing for your business is to share your strategy and tell people what you’re working on” – David Perell

That’s it! We’ve made it through another year.

In Germany, we now wish people “Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!” which means something like “Slide well into the new year!

I hope you do slide well into the new year and get a great fresh start.

I’ll see you on the other side!

Julia

Your Copywriter & Online Course Specialist

PS: I’ll leave you with this last thought…

PPS: Missed the last newsletter? I shared some big news, why I’m giving up freelancing, and a crucial marketing principle to adopt. Read it here.

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Julia Saxena

I help course creators pack their cohorts with their ideal students and deliver a transformational learning experience. Follow me on Twitter for daily essays about all things copywriting, online courses, and productivity.

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