Want to Create a Kick-Ass Online Course?
What Makes an Online Course Successful?
April 27, 2022
Things no one tells you about online course creation. One exercise you can do now to get huge results!
Hello friends!
When you’re thinking about creating an online course there are many considerations and decisions to make. People talk about platforms to host courses, marketing strategies, sales funnels, and more. One of the things you should be spending time on is often overlooked. What journey are you going to take your students on? What is the intended destination?
This is not about how you are planning to deliver your course – instead this is about the transformation you expect your students to be able to make after taking your course. What changes should they be able to implement? What shift in thinking, feeling, skills, or techniques will they walk away with?
This leaves the questions of how to identify these opportunities and why it matters. Let's take a look at how you can get started with one simple exercise.
How to Identify Student Opportunities
There are a ton of ways you can go about this but a great exercise to identify this is through mind mapping. You can use an app for this or a piece of paper … you just need to find a way to capture the opportunities you’re providing your audience. The end goal is to create an outline of your course (but not just any old outline). Use this time to also document the things that make your course special ... in essence, you're creating your magnet to attract your ideal audience!
For each lesson, identify the different skills, techniques, templates, etc. you’re providing and how students will be able to utilize what they’ve learned. We’re not talking about guarantees … we’re simply identifying what you feel you’re providing that they’ll be able to apply down the road to make a transformation.
Think in terms of results. As you're describing different topics that will be included, don't shy away from identifying the results. Before people are likely to buy they need to have a clear understanding of what to expect. Let them know what makes you unique. Tell them what makes your course different than all the others they have to choose from. In other words, SHARE YOUR BRILLIANCE!! This is an important step in content creation and is your chance to reach in and grab your ideal people so they'll click the "Buy Now" button and join you on the journey!
Why the Journey Matters to Your Audience and to You ("The Results")
So, why is this important? Let’s break this down a bit:
- It allows you to gain clarity around what you’re providing your students to ensure it’s value-added. How do you decide if your content adds value? Need to know information adds value. Ensure you’re including all the steps and context they require to make it to the intended destination. Nice to know information is great too but don’t make that the focus.
- You can include the opportunities / shifts in your sales copy, posts, blogs, and your classroom materials. It’s a one and done way to generate a method to communicate why taking your course will be worth it. You’ll be able to clearly articulate the value they’ll receive for the investment they’re making.
- Talking about the journey, what they’re going to learn, and how they can apply it before they buy is a terrific way to build relationships with prospects. This is especially true if you’re just starting out and/or this is the first course you’ve created. It helps establish you as the expert. Better yet, it also establishes that you’ve carefully considered what your audience needs/wants to learn and developed a way to help them reach their destination!
See, it's not hard! It's one exercise you can go through that will reap multiple rewards:
you'll gain a clear picture of what you're offering
it'll help you with your marketing copy and content creation
your students will know what results they can expect
You'll be on your way to crafting a "transformation experience" for your audience!
