# Playbook: Courses and coaching

Use this file with any skill, workflow or specialist from AI Blocks. It tells you how a course or coaching business works, so you can shape the task to fit it. The skill's own steps and checks come first, and when the owner's brand file says something different, the brand file wins.

## This business

This covers online courses, group programs and cohorts, one-to-one and group coaching, tutoring, workshops and paid communities. They sell what the owner knows. Money comes from course sales, coaching packages, monthly memberships, live workshops and the next offer a happy student buys. Many sell in launches with open and close dates, and some sell all year.

## Numbers that matter

Ask the owner for their own numbers. Do not guess them or fill gaps with typical figures.

- **Email list size:** how many people have joined the list and still get emails. Count active subscribers, not everyone who ever signed up.
- **Sales page conversion:** how many visitors to the sales page buy. Divide buyers by sales page visitors for the same period.
- **Call close rate:** how many sales calls end in a sale. Divide sales from calls by calls held.
- **Revenue per launch:** what one launch earned. Add up sales in the launch window, then take off refunds and payment fees.
- **Completion rate:** how many students finish. Divide students who finished by students who started.
- **Refund rate:** how many buyers ask for their money back. Divide refunds by sales in the same period.
- **Renewal or next-offer rate:** how many students or clients buy again. Divide repeat buyers by everyone who finished.
- **Effective hourly rate:** what the owner earns per hour of their time. Divide money earned by hours spent teaching, coaching and supporting.

## Stage by stage

### 1. Offer, audience and price

- Name who it is for, the result they want and what they get to reach it.
- Make the offer clear: format, length, live parts, support and access period.
- Price from the value to the buyer and the owner's time, using the owner's own numbers.
- Watch for: an offer that tries to help everyone and so speaks to no one.

### 2. Course and sales site

- Set up the course space, the sales page, checkout and the welcome emails.
- Keep the student's first login simple: where to start and what to do first.
- Test the full path from payment to first lesson before launch.
- Watch for: weeks spent on the platform before anyone has said they want the course.

### 3. Get found

- Use the words learners type into Google, YouTube and AI search when they have the problem.
- Free lessons, guides and videos that answer one real question help people find the owner.
- Watch for: content about the owner's method name instead of the problem people search for.

### 4. Content, email and launches

- Grow the list with a free lesson, guide or workshop tied to the paid offer.
- Plan a launch as a sequence: warm-up content, open cart, reminders and a clear close.
- Tell the list what is coming and when, so the launch is no surprise.
- Watch for: fake urgency, like a deadline that does not really close.

### 5. Sales pages and calls

- The sales page says who it is for, what they get, the price, the terms and what happens next.
- On sales calls, ask questions, listen and help the person decide if it fits.
- Say plainly who the offer is not for.
- Watch for: pressure on a call, or promising a result the owner cannot control.

### 6. Teach and coach

- Plan each lesson around one skill or step the student can use.
- Give feedback that is specific and says what to try next.
- Keep sessions on time and keep notes of what each client is working on.
- Watch for: too much content and not enough practice or support.

### 7. Results and renewals

- Check in when a student goes quiet or stops logging in.
- Ask for stories and feedback with permission, and use only what the person said.
- Offer the next step only when it fits what the student needs now.
- Watch for: asking for a testimonial before the student has had any result.

### 8. Money, legal and team

- Track revenue, refunds, platform fees and payment fees by offer.
- Write clear terms: refunds, access period, payment plans, cancellations and what coaching includes.
- Bring in help for support, editing or admin as the business grows.
- Watch for: refund and access terms that differ between the sales page and the checkout.

## Words this business uses

- **Cohort:** a group of students who start and move through a program together.
- **Evergreen:** a course sold all year, not only in launches.
- **Launch:** a set time when an offer opens for sale and then closes.
- **Lead magnet:** a free guide, lesson or tool given in return for an email address.
- **Open cart and close cart:** the days a launch starts and stops taking sales.
- **Discovery call:** a free call to see if coaching is a good fit.
- **Payment plan:** paying the price in parts over time.
- **Module:** a section of a course made of several lessons.
- **Upsell:** a further offer made to someone who has just bought.

## Ask the owner first

If the brand file does not already answer these, ask before you start:

1. Who is the offer for, and what result do they want?
2. What exactly does the buyer get, and at what price and payment options?
3. Is it sold in launches or all year, and what dates matter now?
4. What real results, stories or feedback can you use, with permission?
5. What are your refund and access terms?
6. What claims about results, health, money or careers must you avoid?

## Rules

- Never invent numbers, results, student stories, reviews, testimonials or quotes. Use only what the owner gives you, and mark any gap.
- Never promise results. Coaching and course outcomes depend on the student. Claims about income, health, weight, careers or legal matters need extra care, and the owner should check the rules where they sell.
- Platform rules change. This includes YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, course platforms and ad platforms. Tell the owner to check the current official help pages before acting. Do not state policy details you are not sure of.
- Sponsored content and affiliate links must be disclosed the way local law and the platform require. The owner should check what applies.
- Keep the owner's approval before anything is sent, published, bought or changed.