Creating an online course or program? △ 5 questions to consider
Let's talk about online courses and programs.
I've been immersed in this realm for the last six years, supporting creatives, coaches, and spiritual guides with strategy and development of online courses for thousands of students around the world.
I've seen the full spectrum of fancy, custom coded courses to super simple, basic ones. I don't believe there's one way to create them AND I don't believe that they're the magical ticket to passive income. They take a lot of work on the front end to create and market — ask anyone who's built and launched a course — but once they're out there, it is an amazing way to create income with little effort.
To clarify, when I say online courses this could mean an in-depth, online program that continues for many months; or multi-week group programs; or self-study courses; or a class series; or a monthly membership.
If you’re ready to dive in and start creating an online course or program, I invite you to explore the following questions…
1. What's your creative vision?
To deepen your initial exploration, use the following prompts...
Why are you called to create an online offer?
How do you envision it will support your own desires? Your livelihood?
How will it serve your community?
On that note, who is your community? Who will you share this course with?
2. Which model are you called to?
There are a couple of different main models. There's evergreen or self-study, which means you create it, launch once, and then allow for ongoing enrollment. For this route, I definitely recommend setting up a way to invite folks in passively, i.e. a breadcrumb “funnel” of love. Or there are live courses, which means you create it with the intention of having live components and then have official launch dates throughout the year. The live components could look like teaching, group discussions, Q&A, guest teachers, etc. Personally, I'm a fan of this route because it keeps folks engaged, you're able to receive feedback throughout the process, and honestly, it's just more fun! You can also combine these two styles — meaning you start with a series of live launches and then eventually move into an evergreen model.
3. How do you want to deliver the course? Which platforms will you use?
There are so many pathways you can take to create your course from super simple, like a combination of newsletters and Zoom workshops — to designing and hosting it on your Squarespace website — using an online learning platform like Kajabi — or creating a membership site. Each has it's pros and cons. Here's a list of platform resources for you!
4. What's your timeline for creation, design, and launch?
The key is to balance spaciousness for creative flow, while not getting stuck in the mud of continual tweaking, polishing, and perfecting.
5. How do you want to market or sell the course?
Though this question is listed last, it really should be considered at the beginning. It's important to have a clear, intentional marketing plan and the space needed to get your offer out into the world. I've seen so many spend all their effort on creating the course and then there's no energetic capacity left to share it. Or folks to join it!
(If you’re ready to begin growing your community and exploring an authentic marketing strategy, check out this post.)
Obviously, these are some big, expansive questions to sit with as you begin bringing your idea into form. I hope you were able to take something away from this post. Whether it's the spark of ignition you needed or it gave you a process to play with.