🧑‍🍳 Jennifer Chou's $20.6k accidental course launch

While most people struggle to launch a side project, the chef visiting us today casually vlogged her entire course creation process, dropped social media content daily, and sold her course before she even finished filming all the content. Oh and she did all that while traveling.

Her course launch strategy is a masterclass in taking action before you're ready — selling to her newsletter audience, conducting user research on the fly, and drip-feeding course content as she went along.

All that resulted in a $20,600+ course launch that broke pretty much every traditional course creation rule.

Get ready to read a strategy that's part strategic genius, part controlled chaos. This is how Jennifer Chou turned an idea into a full-fledged course in just a few weeks with no fancy website or complex tools, just pure creative conviction.

🎁 I’m giving away Jennifer’s Premium Membership to 4 of you if you read this recipe she crafted for us and vote for her at the bottom of this email.

It all started with a pattern I couldn't ignore. People kept asking me the same questions. Questions that deserved more than a quick email or conversation. They were signals of a deeper need for structured guidance.

I had been in EdTech for over 5 years and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that without a clear path, most people will never achieve the results they're looking for.

So I decided to do something about it. I built a course that generated $20.6k+ revenue during the launch period. Here’s the exact process I followed:

Validate before you build

The idea for my course emerged organically from countless conversations. My first step wasn't creating elaborate marketing materials or building a complex website. It was a simple two-step process:

🍇 I sent a few emails to my beehiiv newsletter readers to test the waters through polls

🍇 I set up a basic waitlist on my website, creating a low-friction way for potential students to raise their hand

The response was encouraging though I wish I'd set up a pre sales process for further validation.

Design modules based on community insights

In the second week, I began my deep-dive research phase.

I didn't want to rely on assumptions, so I reached out to beehiiv subscribers who had responded to the poll and asked them to hop on research calls.

They helped me figure out why this course should exist:

Before writing a single line of course content, I studied their comments and our conversation notes to outline modules based on real problems:

For each lesson/video, I followed this structure:

Build progressively and launch before you’re ready

To maintain accountability and build anticipation, I vlogged the creation process daily on social media.

I launched the course before filming all content, drip-feeding it weekly while incorporating real-time feedback.

As students progressed through earlier weeks, I used the feedback they shared in the community to improve upcoming content.

This approach allowed me to create a more responsive and tailored learning experience while maintaining momentum.

The tech setup was minimal — a Notion landing page which was perfect since the course was about Notion, some social media posts scheduled via Metricool, and my course platform Xperiencify.

From July to August, the course generated over $20,600 in sales with a major spike during the launch deadline.

My biggest takeaway? You don't need a fancy website or complex tools to create value. Here’s what you need to do:

🥬 Leverage your existing audience like your mailing list and social media to validate and co-design

🥬 Opt for a flexible structure that can evolve

🥬 Take action even if you're not fully ready (you know you'll never be)

This framework isn't just applicable to building a course — it works for any living, breathing learning experience that could get better with every person who experiences it.

This month, I’m opening the voting window a bit early.

If you’re new here, familiarize yourself with the format first.

Then read Gwyn Wansbrough’s course launch strategy from last week.

— Linda

P.S. Jennifer created a Notion template which includes everything she used to launch her course, including all marketing emails and course planning. Want to see it? Reply to this email with “chaotic creator” and I’ll send it your way!

She wanted me to tell you that it isn’t available anywhere else.