Should I launch an Online Course
If you are in the online space and are a service provider you have probably come into contact with one of the biggest dilemmas service based businesses have, time! How do you scale a business when you literally have no more time?
This is something I run into pretty often as an Online Business Manager and the most recent solution is creating an online course. However, in an ever growing space, online courses need to be done correctly and marketed effectively in order to be worth the time and money investment. You also can’t come to the table with a “build it and they will come” attitude, it just doesn’t work that way. So I am going to provide you with some tips to help you determine if creating an online course is the right move for you and your business!
First things first, come up with 3 topics you could create a course around. For example, if you are a business coach, you might have a course on social media strategy or how to gain more leads. Choose topics that are brought up often in your business because this means there is a demand for that type of information.
Once you have these topics written down, think about how far you could expand on them. If you can’t create 4-6 weeks worth of content on a subject then it’s best you find a different subject for your list. You also need to make sure that if you choose a specific topic that you can provide enough value for the price. What I mean by that is, you can’t just half-ass 4-6 weeks worth of information, it needs to be high quality content. So if you realise that you can’t put that amount of quality content together around a subject, you can’t use that subject.
One you have your 3 options it’s time to do market research. This is an important step and CANNOT BE SKIPPED! If you skip this step, I promise you will lose money because of it. We live in a world where you have focus groups at your finger-tips. Use Facebook groups or your own audience on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to find out which of the 3 subjects is most appealing to your ideal client. I recommend you do market research anytime you launch a new product or course, it will save you a lot of time and money.
Once you have determined that the market wants what you are offering and have decided on a subject it’s time to talk money. Launching a course typically takes 60-90 days to do correctly. This time frame includes; list building, list nurturing, social media nurturing, creating the course, choosing a platform, creating the course in the platform, putting email campaigns and marketing plans together, etc.
Now you can do all these things yourself, but it will take much longer and you might not launch it correctly, meaning you will lose money. This is why it’s important to have a Certified Online Business Manager like myself onboard as well as supporting team members to execute. So if you are not in a place where you can afford to have a team help you launch your course, you may want to give yourself 6 months to really build up other aspects of your business.
I am a huge proponent of having an online course because the world we live in right now almost demands it. We are in a world where information is readily available and people want it NOW! If you go through these steps and decide you are ready to get started but need some help or guidance, schedule a call with me by clicking HERE.
