When I first launched The Focus Course last June, I did so with a 30-day Money Back Guarantee attached.

When my customers buy the course, it can be hard for them to know what they’re getting in to.

I’ve done my best to be as clear and up-front as possible. There are several testimonies from others who’ve been through the course already. And I’ve done my best to make sure the description text is as clear as possible about what all is in the course. I’ve even got a screencast walkthrough of the website.

As helpful as all of these things are, nothing beats actually seeing and experiencing the course first hand.

But as a customer, to sign up for the course takes a willingness for risk and a level of trust.

Anything I can do toward reducing the risk of my customers is a win. As is anything I can do to help establish trust.

Which is why I offer the refund policy. It takes all the risk off the buyer and puts it on me, the seller.

Which is why, as the seller, offering a guarantee is scary. Especially for a digital product.

A no-questions-asked money-back guarantee means people can effectively steal my product. They could sign up for the course, go through it, download the workbooks, and then ask for their money back.

To offer a money-back guarantee means I’m trusting my customers to do the right thing. I’m the one taking the risk on their behalf, assuming that the vast majority of my customers aren’t going to steal from me. And if I’m the one taking on the risk, then hopefully it means more people will feel safe to sign up for the course.

Now, assuming I was not willing to offer a money-back promise… in that scenario, it would mean I’m assuming the worst of my customers. To be unwilling to offer a money-back guarantee would mean I’m assuming most people will steal from me and that it’s not worth my risk.

Fortunately, that’s just not true.

After more than 6 months and over 900 sales of the Focus Course, less than 3% of people have asked for a refund. And most of them asked within the first 24 hours.

Which is why, for version 2 of the course (that comes out tomorrow morning), I decided to double the timeframe for the money-back guarantee.

Instead of 30 days, it’s now 60.

What I like about 60 days is that it’s enough time for someone to go through the entire course. That may sound crazy, but that’s just what I hope they will do.

I am far less worried about people stealing from me than I am worried that unsure course members will glance at the course contents and assume it’s not for them. Which is why I hope someone will go through the whole course before deciding to ask for a refund. Because if someone commits to doing it, I’m confident they’ll be happy.

Because the power of The Focus Course is not in the table of contents, but in the doing of the material.