The Simple Video Script Template I Used To Sell 30,000 Courses

The first video I shot using the template I’m gonna show you sold 30,000 courses at $299.95.

Since then I’ve used it dozens of times in lots of different markets.

You can use it to sell fitness programs.

You can use it to sell business opportunities.

You can use it to sell language programs.

You can use it to sell marketing courses.

You can use it to sell ANY how-to course

The script is simple to write. I’ll walk you through it.

It’s cheap and easy to shoot. I’ll show you the first one I ever did.

And you don’t need anything fancy. You can shoot it on your phone and edit it using cheap editing software like iMovie.

But you do need one thing. And it’s an important thing.

You need people who have had success using the thing you sell.

In other words, testimonials. But not any ole testimonials. Believable testimonials.

Ok, the backstory on this script is a tale for another time.

I reckon you want to get right to the template.

The template consists of 3 parts:

The easiest way for me to walk you through this script is to show you one in video form.

Before you watch it… YES it is hype filled. It’s painful for me to watch because I wouldn’t use anywhere near that much hype today.

But don’t get hung up on the hype. It fit the market it was selling to. The format of the script is what I want you to focus on.

Watch for the 3 parts I talked about above

The Intro: Beginning to 1:09

The Stories: 1:10 to 5:20

The Offer & Close: 5:21 to 9:31

After you watch it, I’ll break it down piece by piece.

Yes, that video sold over 30,000 copies of that course in a little under a year.

Now before you say, “Yeah, but the offer is a free trial. That’s an easy sale.”

1. It’s not an easy sale in that market.
2. I didn’t show you the upsell video that comes after they fill out the order form. The upsell video got 26% of those people to pay $299.95 in full on the spot.
3. Every other time I’ve used this video template was for a hard sale. Although never for more than $495.

Ok. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s break down this video.

The Intro

There are a couple things we’re trying to do in this first minute.

We’re answering questions that are in the viewer’s head. Even if they’re not conscious of the questions.

Questions like…

Why should I watch this? This question is one of attention. At the time I shot this video it was still unusual to see someone driving and talking to a camera. I wouldn’t use this technique today. But you need an attention grabbing device.

Who is this guy? I start by giving my name and describing quickly what they’re gonna get from the video. If you don’t, the viewer will be asking, “Who is this guy and what is this about?”

What will I get/learn if I keep watching? I mention what’s in it for them if they keep watching.

The biggest thing I need to address after making the bold claim and promise is believability. People don’t believe people they don’t know and have never heard of. I address this with my transition.

You don’t have to believe me right now. Listen to what others are saying about me.

The Stories

This part is the second most important part of this video template.

These stories serve several important purposes.

1. They serve as testimonials that I’m not full of crap. In other words they make me more credible.
2. They show a diverse group of people getting results with what I’m about to offer.
3. They cover all the major objections the viewers have when watching.
4. They keep people watching the video to find out more.

Ok, let’s break each one of these points down a little further.

When others talk about you it’s a thousand times more believable than you talking about you.

When the people who are talking about you look and sound believable it takes it to the next level, right?

Imagine I had slick, perfect sounding people talking about me. That would be better than no one talking. But nowhere near as powerful as “real” people.

Next, there are young people. There are older people. There are men and women. The group is not super diverse but it does show that there isn’t a “typical” type of success story.

They cover the common objections people would have to this kind of course.

1. Is it possible?
2. Is it possible for me?
3. Can I do it while still working?
4. Is it difficult?
5. Can I start small?

And finally, these stories keep people watching the video.

They keep you watching because of the way we cut the video.

If we had put all the stories one after the other without cutting them up, we would bore the viewers to death.

We cut them and wove them together to keep the viewers engaged.

There’s A LOT more to say about testimonials but I’ll leave that for another article.

Let’s move on to the offer and close.

The Offer & Close

If you want to follow along with the actual close script, here it is.

So now they still may not know me. But if I did a good job with the stories then I’m more believable than when they first clicked.

The first couple lines of this close section are important.

“The people you just saw all have one thing in common. They all went through a course I put together that teaches my simple system. The course is called Postcard Profits…”

In the beginning I told viewers I could show them how to do what I had done. The stories prove I’ve shown others how to do what I had done. These first lines tell them how the people learned from me. With a course called Postcard Profits.

If I was selling a Spanish language course I’d use something like…

“The people you just saw speaking perfect Spanish all have one thing in common. They all went through a course I created that teaches people how to speak basic Spanish in 3 weeks. The course is called Quick Spanish for Gringos (or whatever).”

Next I present the first part of the offer…

“I want to give it to you to try for 30 days absolutely FREE.”

In the “make money” market at that time (ten years ago or so) offers structured like this were all over TV. I was borrowing credibility by making an offer that sounded familiar to my audience.

When I use this template to sell a hard offer (meaning pay for it now). I reframe it by alluding to the guarantee at this point.

So it would look something like…

“I want to give it to you to try for 30 days absolutely risk-free.”

This is simply telling them they have a 30 day money back guarantee. I will state the guarantee in detail later. I’m bringing it up now to plant in their mind the idea that they have nothing to lose.

Next I tell them broadly what their big outcome will be.

“You’re gonna learn step-by-step exactly how to set up your own money making postcard project. A project where you keep all the profits, not just a percentage.”

That last line above… “A project where you keep all the profits, not just a percentage” is a subtle jab at my competitors. A huge portion of my audience for this product were people who had tried MLM or at least been pitched it before. I wanted them to know this was NOT that. This was starting their own thing.

If I was pitching the Spanish course I might say something like…

“You’re gonna learn Spanish without sitting in front of your computer for hours on end.”

Or without whatever they don’t like about your competitors courses. Think of the main differentiator between you and your competitors.

The next two parts talk a little about what it is AND what it is NOT.

It is step-by-step. It is NOT vague theories.

Next I bring up the guarantee again. This time I state both parts of the guarantee. The first part is the money back or unconditional guarantee. The second part is an exciting conditional guarantee…

“Plus… I’m so confident in my formula that… if you follow the simple steps I outline in the Postcard Profits course and you don’t make a bare minimum of $10,000 dollars… I will FedEx you a check for $500 just for giving it an honest try. How’s that for putting my money where my mouth is?”

Side note: I sold 30,000 of these courses and not once did anyone ask for the $500. But I’d be willing to bet it did account for a lot of sales.

Next thing you need is 7-10 curiosity driven bullets. These are important. They should intrigue the viewer. They should leave an open loop in their mind. They should leave the person needing to know the answers.

Think…

The simple technique that [fill in the blank]…

How to [blank] without [blank]…

The one thing you need to know that [blank]…

You get the idea.

Next we add a bit of implied scarcity.

“Now… there’s just one catch… I’m not gonna be doing this 30 day FREE  trial thing forever. So… if you want to be one of the ones who gets to try “Postcard Profits” for FREE you need to order right now!”

To be honest, this scarcity line is kinda weak. But I wanted to be able to run the offer without a deadline so I didn’t make a hard cutoff date.

In the next couple of sections I do a disclaimer and a bit of a takeaway. I don’t use this technique every time I use this script. I used it here mostly because of the distrust of the “make money” market.

All that’s left is to tell them about the specifics of the offer. And restate the guarantee.

The last piece is the call to action.

“Ok… All you’ve gotta do is fill out this simple form and tell me where you want me to send your package.”

That’s all there is to it.

Let’s recap this 3 part script.

Part 1. The Intro: Introduce yourself. The big promise. The transition.

Part 2. The Stories: 5-7 great stories that address all the major objections folks are likely to have.

Part 3. The Offer & Close: What they will get (benefits). 8-10 tight bullets. Price, guarantee, and CTA.

This script formula has worked every time I’ve used it.

I’ve used it on my own projects and clients projects to sell all kinds of courses to cold and warm markets as long as they were under $500.

If you use it, I’d love to hear how it worked for you.

And if you want more juicy tips for selling courses make sure you subscribe to my Knowledge For Sale newsletter. There should be a form at the bottom of this page.