The Truth About Creating Your First Online Course
“Download this free PDF to discover how I made £100,000 with an online course and learn how you could do it too.”
It’s exactly this kind of rubbish that made me write this post because I am sick and tired of seeing people be misled and separated from their money and wasting their time over click bait and empty promises.
The truth is, six figure launches are achievable. But are they achievable when you’re starting from scratch, no, probably not (unless you land very very lucky). Let’s just say that your first course (or digital product) isn’t likely to fund your retirement!
The thing people aren’t telling you? It’s hard bloody work. But it is worth it.
Below are 4 myths about creating (and selling) an online course/digital product.
Myth #1 - It Has to be Perfect Before you Launch
If anything, striving for perfection will prevent you from ever launching. The longer you look at it, the more you’ll keep tweaking. I like the phrase ‘progress not perfection’ because it’s so true. Forward momentum is the goal here and it will probably suck a little but that’s ok!
That’s how you learn.
Myth #2 - You Should Include Everything You Know
If you include everything that you know, you run the risk of overwhelming your audience. Think about your dream client and consider what their pain points are and start there. Your course/product should solve that problem. It doesn’t need to be (nor should it be) the answer to all of their problems. For example, a beginner’s photography course doesn’t need a module on advanced editing techniques
Less is more. You want to give your audience just enough to get them results.
Myth #3 - You Need Fancy Tech and A Big Budget
Bullsh*t. You can start with simple tools you already have. Already using Google docs? Great, use those! Already using Microsoft Office? Fab, start there. You don’t need it to be all singing all dancing just to get started, you can invest in the extras later. The most important thing right now, at this stage, is getting it out there.
Myth #4 - It Will Create Passive Income
Passive income is for sure possible but it isn’t going to come from your first course. Remember what I said before? It’s going to be hard work. You’re going to be creating, marketing, supporting your clients, doing outreach, managing customer services and then some. Make no mistake, you will be busy and it will be hard but, the goal of reaching passive income is possible, in time.
The Bit Nobody is Telling You
Building the course is the easy bit. You already have all of the knowledge. Having an audience to sell it to on the other hand can be a challenge and often it isn’t something that is considered by either those wanting to create courses or those teaching you how to create courses.
Those people who are hitting six figure launches? It’s because they’ve got a super tuned in audience primed and ready to buy. That part can often take a long time and a lot of work from you.
If, after reading all of that, you’re still interested in taking what you know and turning it into an online course / digital product, good for you, this is an exciting time!
Start small, invite your audience to be your beta testers, this allows you to test your topic and format and gain valuable feedback to shape the next version.
To Recap:
Start now, start small and improve later. There is no better time to start and the only thing standing in your way, is you. It’s okay to suck in the beginning but if you just start, you can improve it later.
Focus on solving one problem your dream client has really well instead of trying to solve them all.
The best way to learn, is by doing. You can stay in planning mode forever but you aren’t learning or growing and you likely aren’t getting results. You need action to get reaction. That’s how you build something that lasts.