7 things you need before you create an online course

no. 1 : be knowledgeable about your niche and course topic

While you do have to be knowledgeable enough to help your audience solve the problems you say you can solve for them, you do not have to be a guru or know everything about your niche or course topic in order to launch a successful course.

Helping others is not about being an expert.

I don’t know all the answers, but I have managed to build a wildly successful online business selling digital products, online courses, coaching programs, and membership sites over the past 10 years.

During that time, I’ve learned a thing or two and I’ve been able to take my experiences and lessons learned, to help tens of thousands of other women.

For example, WomanpreneuHER University teaches women how to turn their passion into profitable passive income-generating online businesses with digital products, courses, and coaching programs.

7 things you need before you create an online course

I launched the first iteration back in 2019 and needless to say, the training hub has evolved significantly since then. Back in 2019, I didn’t know about creating short-form video content like Reels or Stories, leveraging deadline funnels, or the tech behind setting up automated webinars to drive sales but since then I have taken time to learn, test, experiment, and gain expertise in those areas to expand my knowledge and provide my students with what’s working now information.

The beautiful thing about helping others is that you don’t have to be an expert. You only have to be a little further along than the person you’re assisting.

If you think about what you wish you knew when you first got started, chances are your target audience is exactly where you were when you first got started. If your expertise can clearly solve a problem and help your audience achieve the transformation they desire, you have a viable and potentially profitable business.

helpful resources ::

The FREE WomanpreneuHER Resource Library

no. 2 : a demand for your online course topic

So you probably already have some idea of what your course topic will be or what interests you want to build your course around…

Maybe it’s helping women get fit
Maybe it’s travel
Maybe it’s helping women with fertility

But for those of you who don’t know what your course topic will be yet, let me let you in on a little secret because there is a cheat code for knowing if there’s a demand for your course topic before you begin creating your online course.

People need, want and are willing to pay for things that make them more money, improve their health, improve their relationships and improve their life experiences. Just ask all those people who dropped hundred of dollars on Beyoncé tickets or drop thousands to travel the world.

There are several ways in which you can validate your online course topic.

The best way to do this?

You want to make sure your target audience is spending money and willing to pay the solution to the problem they have. When doing research ask yourself the following:

Are there people already selling products similar to mine?
Are these products selling well?
Are there other products (books, ebooks, courses, tripwires) on the topic? (check sites like Etsy, Amazon, Creative Market)
Are there people creating podcasts, writing blog posts and shooting videos on my topic?
Are people leaving positive reviews and testimonials of products on the topic?
Are people getting results from the same or similar products to mine?

I discuss how you can choose a profitable course topic in greater detail in this blog post. So head on over and give it a read!

no. 3 : an online course outline

Once you have chosen your course topic, the next step it to outline your course curriculum. This is where you start organizing your thoughts, and mapping out the steps your students will need to take to get the transformation they desire.

You want to keeping in mind the fact that if you are teaching this to someone who knows nothing about your topic – how would you need to order this content so they understand it and take action on it.

You want to think about the information you add to your course as steps on a ladder. What has to come first before you’re able to move up the ladder?

Once you have your steps mapped out and organized get a mentor, accountability partner, beta tester, friend, mom, someone to go through it.

You want to makes sure that the person who wants to know more feels like they are getting all the information they need to fix their problem.

As a teacher you tend to think everyone is at your level and knows what you know. So getting feedback from others is a great way to make sure you are filling in all the gaps that may not be obvious to a beginner.

Doing so will also help you identify any supporting tools (worksheets, community support, recommended products, tech tutorials, etc.) you’d like to provide your students in addition to the lessons themselves.

no. 4 : a chosen online course type

If you want to get your course out into the world, the first step is to decide what method you will use to share your course content.

There are a few different ways to deliver your content:

Video – through on screen teaching or screen capture
Audio – video podcast or mp3
Written – email course, pdfs worksheets or blog
Or any combination of the three and most courses will have at least two

Which option should you use?

The truth of the matter is that your course students are going to have diverse learning styles. They each come into your course with different preferences, experiences, backgrounds, careers, and learning styles.

Some will prefer to listen to the course on the go. Some will prefer to read handouts and fill out worksheets. Some will prefer to watch a video with engaging visuals.

When it comes to creating your course, I recommend you start with a video course. Not only can you charge more, but you can take video and repurpose it into audio format by simply separating the audio from the video and saving it as an mp3 and you can turn video or audio into written content by getting it transcribed.

no. 5 : a way to deliver your online course

How are you going to sell your product? Do you need to setup a shopping cart, payment buttons or merchant account? Do you need landing pages, sales pages, a training hub to house your course curriculum?

For every online course you create you have to think about how you are going to deliver that content and get it into the hands or in front of your students.

Remember, one of the best things about online courses is that you don’t have to ship anything? but you still have to deliver your course to the customer, but thank goodness there is software that will do it for you.

In order to set this up you need software to organize your courses, allow purchases, process the credit card, and then deliver the login credentials or downloadable files to be accessed by the customer.

When it comes to picking the perfect tech and platform it comes down to two things: your personal preference and your audience’s learning style.

As with any business solution, the key is to define your requirements and then select the option that works best for you. As you investigate each course delivery tool, remind yourself that you know your fans best, and keep going back to what they need and how they would like to receive your valuable information.

no. 6 : an engaged audience

You don’t need a large audience but you do need an engaged one. There are influencers and course creators who have hundreds of thousands of followers but have a difficult time selling their courses because their audience is not engaged.

I also know course creators with less than a thousand followers who successfully and consistently sell out their online courses.

It is more important to work towards cultivating an engaged community. And in order to do this, you need to be very consistent with creating high-quality and valuable content such as blog posts, podcasts, social media content, and video, that inspires, captivates, engages and converts followers to customers.

This is a very important step that you don’t want to miss. Because what good is having a course, if you have no one to sell it to.

So, before you think about creating your online course, make sure that you’ve been consistently producing content that nurtures your audience and positions you as an expert.

P.S. Need help with nurturing and growing an engaged community with high-converting content? The Viral Content Monthly Membership and WomanpreneuHER University will teach you the most effective strategies to attract your ideal audience and them into hot leads. Best of all, the strategies I share will position you as an authority in your niche and prime your followers to buy from you.

no. 7 : a launch strategy

No matter how you slice it, the only way you will ever create a highly profitable online course is to be willing to MASTER sales and marketing. Now I’m not saying you have to be an authority on every launch strategy, but you will want to have a good grasp on 2-3 marketing strategies you can consistently use to promote your course.

Your launch strategy is the key to getting students to be aware of your course and getting them to enroll. This is why you want to carefully map out when, where, and how you want to promote and sell your online course.

It is important to understand that you are in the business of selling and no one makes a dime until your course is being sold. You sell and market your course because you want to monetize your business, because you want to make an impact in this world and the only way to make money – the only way to make an impact is when a transaction takes place (i.e., an exchange of goods or services for money).

The more transactions you make the more money you’ll make and the closer you’ll get to realizing your dreams and the closer your students will get to realizing their dreams.

But it starts with knowing how to launch what you got! In fact, you’ll want to have an idea of your launch strategy even before your course goes live. One of the biggest mistakes I see course creators make is that they only start talking about their online course once it’s completely done.

The key is to figure out what strategies you like, which ones you don’t, pick a couple of tactics and begin to formulate a launch and content plan that will allow you to begin creating buzz and excitement around your course well before it’s ready to launch so that your audience will be ready to buy when you open up enrollment.

next steps ::

Adding an online course to your product suite is one of the best ways to truly establish a passive stream of income. But I get it, creating and launching a course or the very first time can feel overwhelming.

But, here’s what I want you to know. If thousands of women before you have figured out how to successfully launch a course, you can do it do as long as you have these 7 things in place.

While there’s a lot more detail that goes into creating an online course, if you are able to grasp these 7 foundational steps, you’ll be on your way to launching your own course very soon.

Ready to create an online course that sells? Learn more at WomanpreneuHER University here.

DID YOU ENJOY THIS POST? WANT MORE ONLINE COACHING TIPS? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS + MAKE SURE TO PIN THIS POST

7 things you need before you create an online course

navigate to where you want to go: