Have you been thinking about creating an online course to help you grow your one on one business?
I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time but deep in my heart, it never really felt like this would work for me as the creator or for my target audience who are women who are already struggling with time management so they don’t have time to sit down and complete an online course. So today I’m going to bust three myths about creating an online course and talk about why I’ve decided I will not be creating one.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard someone say create an online course to increase your income, transform more lives and give you more freedom, I would have a pretty good looking bank account.
After all, you and I started our business to make an impact and to make money right?!
Well, guess what? That so-called solution does not work for everyone so don’t believe the hype! I know several women who have invested blood, sweat and tears into online courses and had less than three people enroll. Why? Well it wasn’t because they didn’t offer value because these women are killing it online and are the go to experts on a number of topics in my community.
So what was the problem? Simply put, their solution was not packaged in a way that their target audience could benefit and get the solution to their problem. Think about it, how many courses have you personally enrolled in and actually completed 100%? I can’t name any!
So I decided it was time for me to dispel the # biggest myths you may or may not believe about creating an online course. Hopefully this will help you honestly evaluate if this is something your business needs or something you need to pass on.
Myth #1 – An online course is another great way people can work with you
I know you can only take on so many clients if you work 1:1 with clients like I do. But you need to ask yourself if an online course will really give more people the opportunity to work with you. While the modules in the course are an extension of how you work with your clients, it will never be the same as working with you.
To me it’s similar to having a podcast. I can share my expertise in the episodes and I can tell you step by step how to create systems and use tools to run your business, but the impact will never be the same if you never work directly with me. And guess what? I love working 1:1 with my clients so I don’t plan to eliminate that service from my offerings. I pride myself in knowing that the way I work with clients shortens the learning curve so they are confident to run their business without me, but I’m always the SOS button they can press when they need it.
Myth #2 – An online course is the best way to free up time and make money
Now I know it is important to create passive income streams and I know for sure that you want to be able to use your time the way that you want. But remember it is going to take a lot of time for you to outline a course, create valuable content for a course and then market that course so that you can actually make money off of it.
That usually means re-launching when you open the doors back up, running FB ads that may or may not convert because it’s not your area of expertise, offering a number of webinars or online challenges to hopefully get a few people to sign up at the end. Do you really want to have to do that? I know I don’t; which is another reason I’m not creating an online course.
Instead, I have gathered information about Carla, my ideal client avatar, through market research to determine what her pain point is and how she likes to consume the information to get that problem in her business resolved. That being said, an online course will not help her because she doesn’t have the time to sit down and complete the course. Not to mention, like Carla – I don’t have the time or bandwidth required to create the course.
So based on the data I have received and after evaluating what I can invest in and produce at a level of quality I will be satisfied with, I am leaning more towards a membership with how to videos that serve as a resource bank for the busy woman who wants to learn how to integrate tools into her processes to automate tasks to free up her time. But there will also be a call component that will give the members live access to me and other experts as well which will also shorten the learning curve for them. I’m still working through the details but I already have some amazing resources that will be included especially for anyone who has a podcast or is thinking about launching a podcast. So stay tuned for that!
Myth #3 – An online course is the best way to identify the right client for you
Now this one irritates me every time I hear it because it is just pure nonsense. You really have no control over who decides to purchase an online course. The absolute wrong client can purchase your course and benefit from the information you provide but that does not necessarily mean they are the right type of business or even the right personality to work directly with you without stressing you out.
To identify the right client for you, you need to have a good screening process in place. And by the way, this can be automated. Not only does my messaging identify who I work with and how I can help, but the intake form that has to be completed to schedule a 15 minute chat with me gives me the insight I need BEFORE the call takes place. I can tell by the responses if someone is the right type of business to work with me and if their business is even ready for my services. Then as I get answers to the questions I ask on the call, I can tell even more, especially whether or not our personalities will be a good fit. And I need that to be the case because I work with my clients for a minimum of 6 months to a 1 year.
All of this is part of my customer care process which also helps me with tracking leads. Check out this blog post because I share the three key pieces this systems needs so that you can make a good impression by following up with qualified leads because the fortune is in the follow-up.
And as for other ways you can identify the right client for you, nurture that relationship and grow your business. You probably need to consider your lead generation methods. Personally I am going to be creating an online quiz because it will give me more insight into the women in my community, it will segment my email list and I can follow-up with them automatically based on their personality.
If you would like to learn more about using an online quiz in your business, be sure to check out this blog post. My guest expert was Linda Sidu who is the quiz queen! She shared some common mistakes you want to avoid if you want to start using a quiz lead magnet, tips to help you get better results even if you’re not a sales expert and she shares some of the benefits you can experience with email marketing by using quizzes.
Now these are just three of many myths that exist when it comes to online courses. In the end, you need to decide what works based on your lifestyle and your target audience because after all it’s all about helping them.
My podcast is the number one platform that I use to empower you to take control of your time and your business so you can inspire, inform and educate others with your voice whether it’s online through social media, email marketing, a podcast or even through public speaking. So if you enjoyed listening to this episode, please let me know! Send me a DM on Instagram @the_shannonbaker. I would love to chat with you and hear your thoughts on online courses, if you have one or if you plan to create one!
If you would like to hear the audio version of this post, feel free to listen to episode 84 on your favorite platform below.
