Let people use a discount code on a course
A course offer should be one sentence. Tell Bernard the code, what it’s worth, which courses it’s for and when it ends, and it works on those course pages.
The prompt
“Make a discount code [the code, e.g. LAUNCH] for [what it’s worth - a percentage or an amount off] on my course [course name], ending on [date].”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
How it works
- Say what the code does. “SUMMER50 takes £50 off Watercolour Basics until 31 December.” A percentage or a fixed amount off; one course, several, or everything you sell.
- Add limits if you want them. A total number of uses (“the first 20 people”), a single use per student, or first purchase only: for someone who has never bought from you, including on your old platform. Students you brought across, past members and earlier buyers don’t count as first-time; someone who only took a free course does.
- Share it. In an email, on social, or in a message to one student.
- Students type it on the course page. Under “Have a discount code?” on the course page. A code that has ended, been used up, or belongs to a different course is refused with a plain reason next to the box, so nobody reaches the card screen expecting a saving they won’t get.
Codes for named students
You can give one person their own code: “give a single-use code, STUDENT-ONE, worth the whole course, to anna@example.com”. Only that address can use it. Several personal codes can sit under one discount, so twenty students with their own codes is still one request.
A code that makes a course free for anyone who has it gets a warning first - Bernard asks whether you meant it for one person, or want a limit on its uses.
If the box isn’t on your course page
Course pages made before course codes arrived need refreshing once. Ask Bernard to refresh your course pages, then approve and publish them as usual; the box appears above the enrol button.
Seeing and ending codes
Ask “show me my discount codes” for every code, what it takes off, what it applies to and how many times it has been used. Ask who used a code and you get their email addresses too. To stop a code, ask for it to be ended; orders that already used it are untouched.
Moving from another course platform
Bring your still-usable codes with you: give Bernard each code, what it is worth, what it is for, its end date and how many uses it has left. Move my students from Podia, Teachable or Kajabi covers moving the students themselves, and Charge once, or sell a year of access covers the course prices the codes come off. For the course page itself, see Sell a course from my own website.
Questions people ask
- Where does a student type the code?
- On the course page, under ‘Have a discount code?’ just above the enrol button. The saving is applied before they reach the card screen, so the total they confirm is the total they pay.
- Do I need to approve a discount before it works?
- No - a discount doesn’t change your pages, so there’s nothing to preview and approve. It works the moment it’s made and stops the moment you end it. Page changes still go through your approval as usual.
- Can a code work for one person only?
- Yes. Give the code with the student’s email address and only that address can use it. When they type the code, the course page asks for their email first and checks it.
- Can I use more than one code on an order?
- No. One code per order - codes never add up. If a student has two, they use the better one.
- Does a code work when someone joins my membership?
- Not yet. Codes work on courses and in your shop today. Joining a membership doesn’t take a code yet.