I headed for the airport gate and my heart sank when I saw the line of people in front of the “flight canceled” sign. I was finishing a long journey that began with my youngest child clinging to me like Velcro, begging me not to go back. When it was finally my turn to talk to the agent, she informed me that it would be two or three days before they could get me out of Minnesota because of the snow storm.
I felt the full breakdown coming before I started to cry. My daughter had school play the next day and the thought of missing her broke my soul.
I literally begged. I offered to drive to another airport by the blizzard. I was willing to pay for another flight on another airline. I would do anything.
Maybe that frazzled agent took pity on me because she once broke down at an airport or maybe she thought she would never get rid of me. Either way, she did some kind of miracle and got me on another flight. As I sat in the school gymnasium watching my daughter dance on stage dressed as a Dalmatian, I swore, I don't do that anymore.
Like most entrepreneurs, I started my consulting business because I wanted freedom and impact. Flying around big brands to help them design training programs for thousands of their employees has had an impact. The problem is that as my business grew, I had less and less freedom.
I was living in “duty” mode because I was the only product I had to sell. That's where it hit me. I would create an online course to replace my work as a consultant.
Over the next few weeks, I embarked on creating my course. I announced the opening on social networks with a registration deadline. The night before the registration deadline, I fell asleep feeling pretty good. I had enrolled a small group of students with whom I was delighted to work. I felt optimistic that I could increase my enrollments over time and eventually replace the travel income.
The next morning, I sat in my favorite chair with my cup of coffee and opened my phone to see if any additional email notifications about listing sales had arrived overnight. I scrolled through my inbox and there they were. Signup after signup, filling my inbox.
I couldn't believe it. I started counting and realized that I had just generated almost six figures of income in 16 days.
I cried again, this time realizing that everything had changed for me and my family.
In the first year, I went from having a simple idea to generating over six figures a month in revenue with this online course. And since that first launch, I've taught thousands of people how to create their own courses by sharing their knowledge on all kinds of topics.
I've seen people like you generate millions in income and change their lives from an online course while helping thousands of people.
Why is creating an online course a good idea?
Maybe you've thought about creating an online course to grow your business, or wondered if this might be the perfect way to build your side hustle. The beauty of an online course is that it lets you share what you know, help others get results, and create a predictable stream of income.
There's never been a better time to teach what you know. Sales of online courses are booming. The online course industry is expected to reach $325 billion per year over the next five years. Companies now offer more training to their employees through online courses than live workshops.
Everyone learns through online courses. Individuals, solopreneurs, schools, small businesses, large corporations, nonprofits, and associations are all investing in learning through online courses. The opportunity is enormous.
What Types of Online Course Topics Are Selling?
It's easy to think that courses on starting a business or making money are the only things to pass. Not true. Successful online courses are created on all kinds of topics.
Here are some examples of successful online course topics:
You can start by thinking of something you already understand. Rebecca Branstetter is a school psychologist who spent nights and weekends working to keep up with report writing. When we first started working together, she desperately wanted to free up time for her family to be with her two daughters. Rebecca found a new system to reduce her report writing time. She created her highly successful online course, The Thriving School Psychologist, teaching other school psychologists how to reclaim their weekends.
Everyone has the potential to create a course. Everyone knows how to do something someone else wants to know. You don't have to be a successful author or teacher to create a successful course. I have seen hairdressers, artists, gardeners, parents and beekeepers convert their knowledge into online courses.
How to Create Your Successful Online Course
Let's walk through the steps to create your first online course.
Step 1:Identify your sweet spot
As Liam Neeson says in my favorite line from Taken, “…what I have is a very particular set of skills, skills that I have learned over a very long career.” The best way to come up with your lesson idea is to think about what you know. You can carve out a "premium niche" for yourself in the marketplace which is an overlap between what you know and the outcomes your prospective students want.
Christine Carr is a business coach and a client of mine who started a very successful business acceleration program. At first, Christine thought her skills were so similar to those of other consultants that she was sure there was no way for her to stand out. When we looked at all of her talents, passions, and experiences, she quickly saw her point of difference. As Christine said, "You may think your knowledge is similar...but what's unique is how you approach what you do."
Reflect on your talents, passions, and past experiences. How can what you know help someone else solve a problem?
Step 2:Be specific about your audience
Being clear about who you want to help in your course can help you narrow down your course topic. Take out a sheet of paper and think of the different people you could help with what you know. It can be as simple as thinking about the requests for help you receive from clients, friends, family, or even other parents at your child's school.
The specificity of your audience can help you create a better online course and find your collaborators online. You can think of two questions to help you target the right audience:
First, who wants to achieve a result that you can help achieve? And second, will this audience invest the time and money to achieve this result?
Here are some examples of successful online course audiences:
Solopreneurs who want to do business on LinkedIn
Job seekers who want to land a job without it taking months of searching online
Horse owners who want to emotionally connect with their horses
School psychologists who want to stop writing reports
Interior designers who want to know how to combine colors
Real estate agents who want to use social media to get more clients
Artists who want to create their deepest, most authentic artwork
Knits who are ready to create beautiful pieces for friends and family
Parents who want to make easy meals for their children
The couples who want to reinvent their relationship
Fiction writers who want to finish their book
Start brainstorming your audience by brainstorming who wants to learn what you can do so they can achieve a similar outcome.
Step 3:define your method
Your students will be attracted to your course because they are having some sort of problem that is causing them pain points. They want to move from that pain to a new possibility – the desired outcome of your course.
The easiest way to think about it is to imagine that your customers are “here” and they want to “get there”. In your online course, you simply share a step-by-step method to get from where they are now to where they want to be.
The problem is that most course creators focus on what they know rather than how they can help achieve a result. Successful lessons start with working backwards from what you will help your student to do.
Let's say you're passionate about health and want to create an online nutrition course as the first step to starting your business. The mistake most people make is creating a course that looks like “Everything You Need To Know About Healthy Eating”. It will take forever for you to create and be overwhelming for your students.
Instead, think about how you can narrow down your course to focus on a specific outcome for a specific audience. Your price goal might look like “The 30 Day Stomach Pain Reset”.
When you get more details about the outcome you are helping your students achieve (stomach pain relief), you can easily decide on the steps to take to guide your students towards that outcome.
To describe your steps, imagine a friend calling you and saying, “Hey, can I pick your brain? How do you do (fill in the blank)? » What would you say to your friend?
Step 4:create your content
Whether your goal is to create a side effect or create your first passive income product in your business, let's keep it simple.
You can teach your students online via a live webinar or conference call to get started with minimal technical setup. There are simple tools you can use to do this, including free options.
Your long-term goal is likely to be to automate this so you can teach your content once and then make a recording available to many students over time. You can simplify this by recording yourself explaining how you do what you do with your smartphone.
It is more important to focus on orienting your students towards results than worrying about smooth production.
Now get started!
Creating your online course is a powerful way to share what you know, make a difference by helping others, and live the life you imagine.
It's easy to think that it takes years of business experience or lots of resources to build a successful online education business. Trading experience and resources can help, right? But I'm here to tell you that most people who create successful online courses have none.
Believing that you can help others will help you to take action. Waiting for proof that people will love your idea before bringing it to life is like waiting for your Oscar nomination before you start filming your movie. That's not how it works.
You need to put this idea into practice and share it with others. Even a very small first group of friends or colleagues will let you know how you can improve your idea. Your first students will help you turn your idea into a blockbuster. Then the Academy calls and you can run to text your stylist, “Red carpet outfit options are needed. Stat. »
To create a successful course, you must believe that you can add value to your students.
As George Michael says, “You must have faith. »
