The SAB 5 Method: Launch Your Online Course Without Losing Your Mind
The SAB 5 Method: Launch Your Online Course Without Losing Your Mind
Have you ever felt that tug to create an online course that harnesses your artistic talent and lets you share it with the world, only to be stopped in your tracks by the sheer chaos of, well, everything else?
Hot Takes:
The SAB 5 method
Why this approach works
One year to freedom
Have you ever felt that tug to create an online course that harnesses your artistic talent and lets you share it with the world, only to be stopped in your tracks by the sheer chaos of, well, everything else? Maybe you’re juggling kids, pets, clients, and a half finished commission wondering how on earth you’ll also build, market, and sell a course.
And if you’re sitting there nodding along then I promise you, you’re not alone.
I used to be right there, overwhelmed by the idea of filming modules, managing email lists, and getting enough eyes on my business to actually sell a course to. But when I finally got started I stumbled through a few launches, took careful notes about what worked (and what really, really didn’t), and discovered a roadmap that actually made sense in a busy artist’s life.
That roadmap became the SAB 5 Method, a year long pathway with 5 different “levels” that got me from zero students to over 6,500, and from zero dollars to $120,000 in course enrollments in the first year—plus an extra $30,000 in affiliate earnings.
This approach didn’t require a ton of cash or an army of personal assistants (though, hey, if you can swing a babysitter, do it!). Instead, it leaned heavily on testing, listening to student feedback, and making each launch better than the last.
What the SAB 5 Method Actually Looks Like
The First Term can kinddaaaaa feel like jumping off a cliff and hoping you remembered your parachute, but despite what you may think you don’t actually need a big budget or even a fully finished course.
In fact, the magic of that first term - what I like to call the stage of the “Founding Member” - is that you sell the course before you’ve created all the content.
Sounds wild, right? But it works because you’re able to funnel your time into marketing, building your sales page, and engaging people who are curious about your teaching. You create the lessons week by week (or every other week), so you’re not stuck in a back room filming a ten hour masterclass that might never see the light of day. Meanwhile, your first students get to watch your course material come to life in real time.
By The Second Term, you’ve got the fundamentals in place and can refine everything - your live Q&A sessions, your emails, your social media presence - based on the feedback from the founding members. Think of it as a “control” round that helps you figure out what’s actually working, whether your price point makes sense, and how to talk about your course so people get excited to enroll. You might also invest a bit of your initial earnings in a good copywriter or an editor if words aren’t your strong suit. Believe me, clear, compelling copy can make a massive difference - especially if you’re not ready to dive into paid ads yet.
That’s because paid ads don’t come into the picture until The Third Term, which is a huge relief if you’ve been worrying about complicated Facebook Pixel setups or funnel tech. The third term is your glimpse into scaling. You start small, maybe just a few dollars a day, to test which audiences or creatives resonate best. This is where your course can finally start attracting people outside your immediate following - people who’ve never heard of you but are stoked to find someone teaching exactly what they need. The best part is that you’re still running live Q&As, so you remain in close contact with your students and can keep refining your course based on their current struggles.
The Fourth Term is all about seeing if you can scale further. Maybe you double your ad budget or test new messaging angles, all while still hosting those live sessions. Sometimes it works like crazy and sometimes you’ll hit a ceiling. When it happened to me, I remember feeling deflated for about a day until I realised I’d just learned an enormous amount about who exactly is drawn to my course and what it takes to get them to enroll. Every term, even the ones that feel disappointing, teaches you something crucial. It’s never wasted effort.
By the time you reach The Fifth Term, you have enough experience and data to shift into evergreen mode. Evergreen is basically the dream scenario - your course is available around the clock, people can jump in anytime, and your sales run largely on autopilot. You might replace those live masterclasses with a really engaging on demand webinar, and suddenly you’re free to focus on the creative work you love orrrrr to simply enjoy a bit more breathing room in your schedule. Of course, “evergreen” doesn’t mean you vanish altogether. You’ll still need to keep an eye on your ads, refresh your content and chat with new students. But it’s a game changer if you’re craving more flexibility and less stress.
Why This Approach Works for Busy Creatives
As artists, we often thrive when there’s some flexibility built into the plan. The SAB 5 Method doesn’t trap you in an endless loop of perfectionism. Instead, it gently pushes you to test, gather feedback, and mix it up as you go. You’re never left wondering if anyone will buy your course, because you’re finding that out right from the start, with minimal risk from you
One Year to Freedom
What’s so special about taking a full year for this process? Well, trying to jump from “I have a random idea!” to “evergreen million dollar funnel!” in three months is a recipe for burnout. In my experience, the four live terms not only help you refine the course, they help you refine yourself. You learn how to handle the emotional highs and lows of launching. You figure out which marketing methods feel authentic, where you need support, and how to juggle it all without losing your mind.
So, by the time you arrive at your evergreen model, you’ve tested your pricing, you’ve tested your marketing, and you’ve tested your own energy capacity. All the puzzle pieces finally come together, letting you sell your course pretty much any time, any day, to anyone around the world while you get back to making art or being with the kids or doing whatever it is that you now have so much more time for.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yes, I want this kind of steady, reliable, possibly life altering course business,” then it might be time to dig deeper into the SAB 5 Method. At Secret Artist’s Business, we’re all about arming creative souls with practical tools and a supportive community so that you can scale your creative business without feeling like you need 26 hours in a day.
Welcome aboard - and here’s to a year of launching with less stress, more joy, and a healthy sprinkling of that sweet, sweet passive income.
