Health Coach Amanda Pickering launched her first online weight loss program, called Triple 5 – with over 70 paying participants! Here she shares how she created her first online program from scratch, overcame her fears, and launched it out into the world! Here’s her story, in her own words…
It Started by Sharing my Own Health Journey
Before my 20th birthday, I suffered from more health issues than most people have in a lifetime! I had glandular fever, an ovarian cyst the size of a grapefruit, anxiety disorder, an overactive thyroid and chronic fatigue. On top of that, I was 25 pounds overweight and miserable!
Something had to change. So I made it my life’s mission to heal myself naturally from all these illnesses, and learned everything I could about disease, nutrition, and how to use food as medicine. Three years ago I was finally able to say I was 100% healthy – and 25 pounds lighter! I was in the best shape of my life, and started sharing my story on social media. At the same time, I started training to become a health coach with The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and studying naturopathy on the side.
The more I shared about my journey and what I was learning online, the more questions I got. The number one question I got was “How do I lose weight?” “What do I need to do to get your results?” What I found was that even though I could share helpful information online, it wasn’t enough for people to see real results and make lasting change – they needed to know the exact steps. I realized that people would probably pay to get that solution without all the stress and trial-and-error that I went through so I decided to create a program that could teach them just that.
First Steps to Create my New Group Health Coaching Program
To create my weight loss program, I had to think back in time to what I struggled with in the beginning, and all of the steps I took to lose weight successfully. I started with a brain dump of everything I remembered and I discovered 3 fundamentals that I knew would create real, lasting change. They were:
- A system that works
- Accountability
- Support from somebody who has been there
Once I identified those fundamentals, everything flowed from there.
The name “Triple 5 – 5 steps to lose up to 5 pounds in 5 days” came to me really quickly. I loved it immediately because anyone reading the title would know exactly what they were getting in the program!
I decided to write a digital download which would form the core of the program. I planned out what the 5 steps would be and then I started writing the content. I wrote the whole digital download in one weekend! I found it super easy because all of the content was already inside of me, I just needed to get it onto the screen and present it in a simple way that even beginners could follow.
I also wanted to add bonus videos to the program to enhance the experience and ensure that participants felt supported. I shared more of my personal story in the videos which I thought would help people to connect with me further. Lastly, I wanted to create a Facebook Group so people could share their journey and provide support and encouragement to each other. It also allowed me a further opportunity to connect with people and understand their journey. Those 3 pieces, when they came together felt like a super robust product that covered so many bases and I felt ready to offer it to the world.
Launch Your Coaching Program with a Test Group
I was adamant from the beginning that I wasn’t going to release this program until it had gone through product testing. I couldn’t slap a claim on it promising people they would lose weight when I had really only tested it on myself, friends and family.
So I sent an e-mail to my very small e-mail list in November 2015, and posted on social media that I was looking for participants in a test group of my new weight loss program. Fifteen people applied for the test group, and everyone had to complete a questionnaire covering a few basic questions about what their prior experience of losing weight had been and whether they would be willing to provide a testimonial if Triple 5 worked for them. Ten people responded to the questionnaire, and they became the official test group.
Then I just decided on a date to start, took the plunge, sent them the e-book, added them to the Facebook group and sent them links to the videos.
I was absolutely terrified. What if it didn’t work? What if they hated it? What if no-one got any results?
I think those are very normal fears that all new wellpreneurs have when launching a product. But I decided to “feel the fear and do it anyway.” I knew it would not be perfect, but I would never know if it worked if I never did anything with it!
I really wanted my test group to help shape this program and give feedback to make changes before I launched it. I was SO happy when the results started coming in.
In my first test group, the average weight loss was 6.6 pounds in 5 days!
Even I was shocked at those results. But in addition to weight loss, their energy levels went through the roof and they felt like they had a system to help them long term, not just for 5 days.
I then decided that I would like to offer Triple 5 to my email subscribers for 25% off the standard price of £39.99 (approximately $52 USD). It took a while to decide on a price but I wanted Triple 5 to be my ‘baby’ offer and be affordable and accessible to everyone that wanted to try it. What I’ve realized is that if you can promise people a tangible outcome they are happy to pay whatever you price it at!
Collaborate with Other Health Coaches to Grow Faster
Now it was time to offer Triple 5 to my email subscribers.
I posted on social media that if people were interested in Triple 5 that they should sign up to my e-mail list as I would only be offering it there. That created interest and I had lots of sign-ups as a result and also grew my list at the same time!
Because of the success of the test group, I also attracted the attention of another Health Coach who specialized in supporting women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and whose clients were constantly asking her how to lose weight. We decided to set up a test group for her people to see if Triple 5 would work for women with PCOS as well. We had 15 women in the test group and again, the results blew us away. In just 5 days, the average weight loss was 5 pounds, energy levels had doubled and 2 women even started their period after 2 years of no menstruation! That reduced me to tears. I knew that the components of Triple 5 meant that women would be healing their body whilst losing weight but I was shocked that these kind of results could be seen so quickly!
Launching my First Group Weight Loss Program
After the success with the test groups, I decided to launch Triple-5 to my email list. But before that I had to figure out all the technology…how I would receive payments, how to deliver the program, a sales page and how to automate all of it. It took some time and the help of Wellpreneur Marketing Bootcamp and A LOT of YouTube videos but I got there in the end, and 4 months after my initial test group, I was ready to offer it to my list.
Again I was TERRIFIED!!! Offering the program for sale felt like a whole new ball game. People were actually going to give me money for it! The day of the launch I was SO SCARED that no one would buy it.
I don’t think I will ever forget that feeling when that first sale came in in the early hours of the morning. I cried…It sounds silly but I don’t think I will ever forget the name of my first customer of Triple 5.
My goal when I offered Triple 5 to my list was to sell 10 copies. That’s it – that to me at the time felt HUGE and I sold 11!
Since then over 70 women have gone through Triple 5 and almost daily people are purchasing it. I continue to hear the most AMAZING stories coming from women who have tried to lose weight for up to 20 years and are FINALLY seeing change.
(Note: If you want to learn more about launching a group health coaching program, we did an entire podcast episode on it here.)
The Secret to Success with an Online Health Coaching Program
There are a few reasons I think Triple 5 was such a success right from the beginning.
First, I put my own stamp on the program. I didn’t want to follow everything else that was out there. I wanted to challenge the accepted ideas about weight loss and be real about my personal experience losing 25 pounds. I wanted to hold true to my values of no calorie counting, starvation or deprivation. It turned out that there were lots of people who resonated with my approach and were just waiting for a different approach to appear!
My fears around whether people would judge me because it was so different were the exact reasons people purchased from me!
Second, starting with a test group let me get started quickly and improve the program over time. Since releasing Triple 5 in March 2016, I have made some changes to the program, because I’ve been able to see where my teaching wasn’t totally clear and more explanation was needed.
Also, I have re-recorded all my videos as I could finally afford to invest in better equipment. But I didn’t allow that to stop me on the outset; I just wanted to get going and do the best with what I had. In the beginning, I sent people a Dropbox link to the PDF download, and then sent them links to my videos on YouTube. But since then, I’ve upgraded to hosting the entire program on a system called Kajabi which has been a game changer for me as it streamlines everything and means that the entire program (apart from the Facebook group) is now hosted there.
And finally, I was really open about what I was creating and got help and support when I needed it. During the creation and launch of Triple 5, I joined the Wellprenuer Marketing Bootcamp program. It was perfect timing as Amanda’s expertise helped so much with getting the confidence (and tech skills) I needed to put it out there. It was so uplifting to have a small group of likeminded wellpreneurs to turn to whenever I needed feedback, support or encouragement. It was also invaluable having Amanda (and the rest of the group!) review my sales page to really tailor my message for my ideal audience. Don’t assume you have to do everything on your own!
Promoting Your Group Health Coaching Program
I really had to think outside the box when it came to getting the word out about Triple 5 as Facebook have very strict rules around weight loss ads so that wasn’t an avenue I could use.
The promotion that worked for me was:
- Offering it to my list
- Word of mouth – referrals from people that had seen great results from Triple 5 and telling their friends
- Partnering with a health coach who specialized in PCOS and offering it to her substantial list.
Most recently I was invited onto a natural health podcast to talk about Triple 5 – it was an incredible experience. The podcast has on average 5000 listeners a week so it was an amazing opportunity.
I have definitely found that partnering with other people and being exposed to their audience and reach is an incredible way to build your list and get in front of new potential customers who you would have never had the opportunity to on your own. Also just having Triple 5 on my website which was recently launched has brought in sales when people are just browsing the site.
Listen to Your Clients … and Just Launch Your New Program!
Releasing Triple 5 has completely changed my business model as it has shown me the power of passive income and how scalable a program like this is. I make money while I sleep and that is a beautiful thing!
What was difficult for me was the inevitable negative comments or presumptions about the program. I had people calling it a quick fix or another diet program and I knew it was so much more than that.
Thankfully my testimonials and reactions more than made up for it by people that actually tried it out! I realized though that I don’t want to convince anyone that my way of losing weight is right for them. My ideal customer is attracted to me because of how I do things, my take on it and that is just fine with me.
I would say to anybody that has an idea for a program, you don’t have to be THE expert in it, you just have to be an expert in the way you teach it.
Listen to what your people are saying. Do your market research. Don’t just create something you THINK they want. Listen to what they are saying and the language they are using. And let them inform what you create next. They have the answers. Just put it out there and see what happens. If you wait for it to be perfect, it will NEVER happen. You can’t improve on something if it doesn’t exist yet. And whatever you do, make sure you test it. Apart from the practical things of ironing out any typos and implementing any changes you need to make, it gives you SO much confidence when you launch it. Also, testimonials are absolutely priceless. I think they are one of the most important things you can showcase when selling any program or service so it’s worth taking the time to get these right.
Creating, testing and releasing Triple 5 was a whirlwind but well worth the effort. Unlike traditional coaching, you put in an incredible amount of effort in once, and then you maintain and improve things as you go along. I think it’s a very freeing model and one that I would like to continue implementing as my business continues to grow.
This article is a guest post by Amanda Pickering
Amanda Pickering is a certified nutrition and wellbeing coach who is passionate about helping women rediscover the fight within them. She does this by helping women change what they think and what they eat, which allows them to redesign their entire life and create the life of their dreams. Amanda holds a bachelors in Psychology and is currently studying a diploma in Naturopathy. She runs her own coaching practice from her home in London, helping people all around the world in reaching their health and lifestyle goals. She is also the creator of Triple 5 – a groundbreaking weight loss program helping people lose up to 5 pounds in 5 days and keep it off!
