4 Major Things the Experts Don't Tell You About Creating Your Course

One day it just hits you that, yeah, you could make that a course.

And you get a little kick in your step, don't you? For me, it's almost a giggle as the excitement builds up. You've got an idea for a great course. And that is flippin' awesome.

Not so long afterwards, reality creeps in. What are ALL of the pieces? Where do you need to begin? Google seems like it would be your friend here, but there's just too much information to wade through.

After going down a few rabbit holes, when you finally come up for air, hours and tutorials later, you realize that you don't know who to follow or where to start. This is what happened to me. Over and over again, with each new piece I researched. Lots of years and lots of dollars later... sigh.

I don't want you to land in the same rabbit holes I did. So in this post, I'm going to back up a bit and bring you back to the beginning.

The very beginning.

Let's discuss the things you should consider before you delve into creating your course.

Here's the great news: as a teacher, consultant, or coach, you have an immediate advantage when it comes to creating courses - you're already an expert & you know how to teach or mentor. Whew. It's a giant leg up. Really.

But what the course creation gurus don't tell you is that there are a few key things to keep in mind before taking the plunge. And rarely do they even mention them at all. But to be successful, I'm certain they've mastered ALL of these. 🪄

By understanding these four things, you'll be on your way to creating a successful and engaging course that you can grow like crazy.

Your course is much more than just content, it's also a business. Your course is your product, and the minute you start selling it, you have to think of it as your own business. [The government certainly does!] Your course creator business goes hand in hand with your actual course. And therefore, your strategy for success needs to be thought out from the beginning. You'll want to consider what makes your course unique (we call these your differentiators), as well as pricing strategies, how you plan to market and promote your course, and even how customer support will be handled.

These are overall functions to enable your course, but they're also some of the core functions of your business as a whole. In order to lay a proper foundation, some good strategy is what you should plan to do up-front. You'll want to know all of the pieces that make up your e-learning business ecosystem and create your own strategy for filling out the key areas in your course creator business. Thinking these things through - from the very beginning - can help ensure that as your course grows and succeeds, so too does your new business venture.

There are a lot of great e-learning course hosting platforms out there, but before you make your choice you should keep in mind that the integrations your platform provides as well as the number of independent, external systems you choose will change what you deliver and how quickly.

For example, if you choose an all-in-one platform that offers a content authoring tool and both a "tightly integrated" payment processor and customer relationship management system (CRM) it will save you time in the long run. And that's because you can automate the emails you send to your users when they purchase your product as well as when they either reach milestones or don't complete modules in your course. It also saves you the back and forth of going between tools and keeping them in synch. This saves you lots of time and ensures that your customers don't fall through the cracks.

But if you need more flexibility or have special requirements, like needing to grade students or offer certificates, then you may be better off selecting an e-learning platform that is focused more heavily on learning management (LMS) or is more open to integrations with external services.

In either case, you'll want to find the right balance between the control and power (and cost) of a custom solution and the simplicity and efficiency of an all-in-one platform.

Time and time again, we've seen even large companies - like our fortune 100 clients, who we consult for - skimp on technology, which can cause inefficiencies and manual overhead. And conversely, we've seen entrepreneurs pay for tools they don't use. The truth is that it's difficult to get it exactly right from the get-go, even for technical experts like us.

So don't think you have to master technology before you can begin your online course business. It's a learning process that you will nail over time [yeah, you will - just think about how well you know your favorite social media tools or any of the apps you use frequently on your smartphone] as you fall in love with certain technologies and shy away from others.

Our experience is that you really can't create your technology platform with free solutions [unless you're a developer, have a software architect, and have a ton of time] and that helpful technology that aids your business growth has real costs that you need to be ready for. Even if $20 here and there per month seems small, it can become an unexpectedly large cost on a yearly basis when you consider the number of tools you may have monthly subscriptions to. That's not to say that the efficiencies you gain aren't absolutely worth the investment. It's just that it's important to be aware of the cost of the technology & the integrations you choose and whether or not it will pay off in terms of time saved from manual labor.

An important word to the wise: You definitely don't want to be surprised by hidden costs that can come with your technology solutions, like expensive, custom integrations that tend to pop-up when you try to connect many external systems. An important note here is that while 3rd party integration tools like Zapier can do a great job of connecting applications, how they connect may not be how you expected or what you need. This means you may require custom integrations (aka "hire a developer") to attain your desired features and functions. And unfortunately, if you don't do the research up front, the costs can be surprising.

So our advice is to identify the use cases (or scenarios you're trying to solve for) and ask whether these can be handled by the solution you're looking to purchase. Or, if that seems like a lot, ask about integrations with the tools you already own and what specifically those integrations provide.

As any entrepreneur's journey starts, it's essential to understand from the beginning that what you focus on and how you operate your business will largely determine your success. Making conscious decisions about how to prioritize tasks, manage financials, lead team members (or even create plans for yourself if it's just you) and create customer delight are just a few of the areas critical for running a successful business.

When planning, it's important to systematically focus on each key area. I point this out because it's all too common to run from one area, focus your intention purely there while you neglect others, and then jump to the next when that one heats up. In this case, you're just running from fire to fire and being reactionary without being strategic. The more strategic and systematic you are about adding small, incremental improvements in each of your identified key business areas, the more that your efforts will pay off.

Although there are varying strategies across industries, setting up shop with clear objectives and utilizing best practices—like having a quarterly content plan in place and a process to measure outcomes—are key ingredients in every winning recipe. So don't skimp on laying strong operational foundations, which can be as simple as documenting your personal processes and then setting regular time slots to work on them - they'll enable you and your business to thrive over time.

Your e-learning course creator business is a unique venture that needs to be planned and operated efficiently, just like any other business. The good news is, you have complete control over how successful your operation will be. By considering your course & business hand-in-hand, understanding the capabilities of your e-learning platform, budgeting for technology so you're not surprised by the price tag, and making thoughtful decisions about the direction of your business from the outset, you can set yourself up for long-term success. Alternatively, neglecting to plan or failing to change with the times could leave you spinning in the wrong direction.

The experts who are making millions have figured out these four things along their journey to success. It's your turn to start with this knowledge from the beginning.

If you’re ready to get serious about building a thriving e-learning business, we’ve put together a free guide that covers everything you need to know about getting started with your course creator business. Just let us know where to send it to👇.