🧑‍🍳 How Gwyn Wansbrough made $5.7k with her first course

If you work remotely, you’ve probably heard of Gwyn Wansbrough more times than you can count.

Gwyn’s the kind of rare facilitator who makes virtual sessions feel like a party instead of a panic attack.

Today she's pulling back the curtain on launching an online course without the chaos. Gwyn’s here to share the behind-the-scenes systems that helped her build and launch Live Session Magic without a big team, hefty budget, or losing her mind.

But what if you embraced the chaos instead?

That’s exactly what Jennifer Chou, the chef visiting us next week, did.

While Gwyn’s strategy is all about reliable systems and clear structure, Jennifer ran headfirst into the mess — launching fast, figuring things out on the fly, and proving that sometimes, momentum matters more than meticulous planning.

Gwyn is a master of calm, structured execution. Jennifer thrives in creative, fast-paced chaos.

Two wildly different styles. I’m excited to see which one resonates with you.

If that happens to be Gwyn’s approach, vote for her when the poll opens later this month and you might score access to her online facilitation course.

Get ready to learn how to:

🥣 Clarify your course vision and purpose

🥣 Create course content in a simple and focused manner

🥣 Pick a lean tech stack that gets the job done efficiently

🥣 Launch strategically without overwhelm

Before we dig in, let's take a look at the results from last month’s friendly competition.

Adriana’s framework really struck a chord, claiming 75% of your votes.

Meanwhile Renee's recipe left an indelible mark, reminding us why real stories have the biggest impact.

And a special congrats to Stacy who will be leveling up her audience building game with Adriana's course!

Now let's fire up the stove and test Gwyn’s recipe 🔥

When it comes to launching an online course, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of marketing, fancy funnels, or sleek branding. 

But if you’re a solopreneur, it’s the behind-the-scenes operational work that really determines whether or not your course gets off the ground.

Here’s a look at the steps and systems I used to launch my new course, Live Session Magic, and how I kept the process manageable — without a big team or hefty budget.

Answer the “why?”

Before diving into content creation, I had to be crystal clear on why I was making this course. I asked myself:

Answering these questions helped me avoid the dreaded scope creep and kept me focused. I boiled it down into one sentence: 

Live Session Magic is for online trainers who want to streamline their session design using a proven process, so they can save time, and increase impact and revenue. 

This clarity served as my north star throughout the entire project.

Create the content

One operational hurdle I had to overcome was content overload. I started with a massive Miro board packed with ideas, which, frankly, was overwhelming. The key was trimming down to essentials: bite-sized, actionable videos that could be applied immediately.

Here’s the final result:

• 45 videos, 3-5 mins each of short actionable content

• 5 key takeaways per module with the “golden nuggets” 

• 15 simple exercises to put it into action straight away

• 45 downloadable resources in a Notion database

To make the production and learner experience smoother, I followed a consistent structure for each lesson:

Produce without the frills

I don’t have a production team so I kept things simple:

• I recorded all the videos using Loom. It was easy to use and allowed for quick edits.

• My gear? MacBook Pro, RODE mic, LogiPro webcam, and a couple of softbox lights. I also used an Elgato teleprompter which helped with on-camera delivery but isn’t a must-have.

Batch recording saved me time and mental energy. I wrote scripts for multiple modules and recorded several videos in one go once the setup was ready.

Set up the tech

Here’s where things can get tedious, especially when you’re doing it alone. Not to mention overwhelming because there are so many options. 

I opted for keeping the tech stack lean and easy:

• Circle for their intuitive course set up, customizable community spaces, and easy navigation. They also provide a lot of support to the community on the platform

• ThriveCart for ease of checkouts, coupons, and affiliate set up

• Notion for ease of workflows, course management, and to create searchable database for course resources

• ConvertKit as the email platform because it’s highly customizable and integrates well with Circle

• Loom for easy video recording, editing with screen sharing, and seamless integration with Circle

Design the launch strategy

I decided to split the launch into two phases to take the pressure off of doing one big launch. Though as a non-marketer the launch was the most challenging part of the whole process.

Phase 1: Pre-launch to Interest List
In July, I kicked off with a limited 3 day launch exclusively for my interest list of 300 people. This approach gave me a hard deadline to finalize the course without the high stakes of a big public launch. I kept it simple with just a few emails, a special launch price ($79 instead of $99), and exclusive bonuses and then closed the cart. The response was incredible — the first 30 spots sold out in just 2 days.

Phase 2: Newsletter Launch
In September, I “officially” launched the course to my full newsletter list of 1,600 people. I kept the launch window to 3 days, offered a slight discount on an increased price ($129), and included special bonuses. I sold another 20 courses which was under target.

Phase 3: Public Launch
Later I made the course available to everyone at $149.

The results from all 3 launches can be seen below:

Collect feedback

This was invaluable and helped me make improvements in real-time.

I used a pre-launch survey to understand my waitlist’s design challenges and success metrics. This helped shape the course content like adding use cases and sales copy. 

Midway, I ran a testimonial survey, where one student’s feedback led to plans for mobile-friendly improvements. 

I conducted two Zoom follow-up interviews with course completers that gave me insights into the user experience, where I needed to make application easier and provide use cases.

Finally, I conducted a survey of non-purchasers that helped me understand why people didn’t purchase the course with “lack of time” being the main reason.

Reflect

Now that the course is evergreen, I plan on organizing quarterly “launch” events to keep momentum going by promoting a lead magnet to grow my newsletter, live events and podcasts, and possibly paid ads.

Looking back, there are a few key things I’d tweak:

Expand Promotion Beyond My Newsletter
For the second launch, instead of focusing solely on my newsletter list, I’d have invested more time building visibility through promotional partners and social media. Reaching new audiences beyond those already familiar with the course would have helped drive more fresh interest.

Offer a Free Masterclass as a Preview 
Instead of a live Masterclass as a post-purchase bonus, I’d experiment with offering it upfront as part of the promotional strategy. This would give potential students a taste of the course before they commit, helping them see the value firsthand.

Launching a course as a solopreneur means leaning heavily on operational efficiency. By focusing on simple systems and keeping the tech manageable, I was able to launch without a big team or a big budget — getting help on key pieces and keeping it lean.

A week from now, Jennifer Chou will reveal her unconventional course design and launch strategy.

In the meantime, I’d love to know…

— Linda

P.S. Want to see the exact launch emails Gwyn used to sell 30+ spots in 2 days? Reply to this email with “LSM” to receive a copy.