Using Launch Dates to Presell Courses and Products with Optional Expiring Access

Jump to different sections in this article:

1. Set Up Open (Evergreen) Enrollment
2. Set a Single Launch Date
3. Schedule Multiple Launches
4. Limit Access Time to Expire Access for Your Course/Product
5. Presell Your Course
6. How the Launch Date Setting Affects Content in Bundles

If you wish to presell your course before you complete all of your lesson content, or have a set release date that all purchasers get initial access to your course on, then you can set the launch date to any day in the future, and customers will be able to purchase the course, but its lessons will not be available until the launch date (even though they have purchased the course). 

The launch date feature can be used to create the following enrollment options within your Heights account:

1. Open (Evergreen) Enrollment: leave access open to your online course so students can purchase it at any time and immediately get access to your content. 

   When creating a new course or editing an existing one (Select the course, click on "Edit", on the bottom-right side of the page you will see "Course Settings" as shown in the picture below) simply leave the "Launch Date" input as it is or to any day in the past.

2. Single Set Launch Date: Select a date in the future for launching your online course. Students will be able to purchase your program once it is published, but will not gain access to the lessons of the course before this date.

   Select the course, click on "Edit", on the bottom-right side of the page you will see "Course Settings" as shown in the picture below. Select the launch date you wish to release your online course on, under the "Launch Date" input.

3. Schedule Multiple Launch Periods (or cohort-based launches): Select multiple dates during the year to launch your online course. This is useful for creators who wish to have batches of students go through their program at the same time. For example, holding a Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter course launch. Students will be able to purchase your course at any time, but will only be granted access on/after the selected launch dates. If you already have students enrolled in your program from a past launch, they will not lose access when you set a launch date on the course that is a new date in the future.

   Select the course, click on "Edit", on the bottom-right side of the page you will see "Course Settings" as shown in the picture below. Select the first launch date you wish to release your online course on, under the "Launch Date" input. Once that date has passed, simply do the same thing again for another launch date in the future.

   This means that as a creator you have the benefit of having a group of learners join your program at the same specified time, while also allowing you to hold a presale for your future enrollment dates, leaving your course's next launch date always available for purchase by new potential learners!

Limit Access Time to Expire Access for Your Course/Product

You can also limit the timeframe in which a student has access to your online course (i.e. access for one year). This is calculated in combination with the launch date to set an  expiration date for that specific student. 

For example, if your launch date is January 1st, 2022 and you set student access to expire after 1 year, students will lose access on January 1st, 2023, even if they pre-purchased the course before the launch on November 2021.

To configure how many days of access your learners will have, select the course, click on "Edit", on the bottom-right side of the page you will see "Course Settings" as shown in the picture below. Under "Expire Access After" select the number of days you wish to allow access for (ie: 365 if you want your students to have access for one year after the launch date or date of purchase [whichever is later]).

If you do this, you can see how much access time each student has left for your online course under the Content Access tab when editing student details.

To access the Content Access tab, go to your student list or a student's profile, select the student you wish and then click "Edit". Next click on "Content Access" on the horizontal tab menu. Here you will see which courses, digital products, and bundles the student has access to, their progress and how many days of access they have left. 

If a student's access to a product expires, they will be able to repurchase it to gain access again. 

Presell Your Course

Why selling before your finish your course or program can be a great option:

1. It helps you validate your course idea.
2. It helps you validate your marketing
3. You can better understand the questions and problems that your potential students may have.

This allows you to spend your time on the right actions, the right content, and double down on the right marketing strategies. Not only is this better for you, it is better for your students as well because they end up with a program that fully answers all of their questions.

How the Launch Date Setting Affects Content in Bundles

If you have a situation where your student already owns a course or product outside of a bundle, and then later decides to purchase a bundle that includes this content, the student's access period may change to that of the bundle. A student's access to a course or product is determined by their most recent purchase of that course or product. 

Course and Digital Product pages can be viewed when they are part of a purchased bundle that has a launch date in the future. The lessons in the course and the download/purchase content of the Digital Product will not become available until the launch date arrives. 

Projects and message boards that are part of a purchased bundle with a launch date in the future will remain completely hidden until the launch date. They will also become completely hidden again if a student's access to them expires.