If you are reading this, you are in the same boat as so many of us. We decide that we are going to create an online course but then we get stuck because we have too many ideas!
You might be wondering:
- Should I create a course that compliments my my writing workshop or an aspect of my current business or job?
- Should I make a course on something that has been done or hasn’t been done already?
- How do I narrow down the topic to something manageable that I can complete and launch in only a few months?
Step one: Write Down ALL Your Ideas.
Write down any topic that you could ever imagine creating a course on. Any fun hobbies, any topics that are popular that you are very knowledgeable about, any niche topics, or general overview of concepts you have learned over the years. Topics about mindset, business, entrepreneurship, marketing, technology, crafts or art, exercise, writing, creation, education, speaking, or teaching.
Get it all out of your brain into a list.
Step Two: Categorize Your Ideas.
- Make a list of the 5 easiest to write and teach.
- Next to each of the 5, write down all the positives and negatives about starting with this one first. Will you have to do additional work to prepare? Will you have to do a bunch of additional research? Will it be easy film? Will it be a topic that people are interested in? Is it a subject that has already been done often?
- Look at your long list again. Pick 5 topics that you think would be the most successful.
- Next to each of these 5, write down all the reasons that it would be successful and some of the challenges you might face with it being successful.
Step Three: Research
Good news!! If your topic has already been done before, then you know that it is a hot topic that people are interested in!!
If it has not been done, then you may have to work hard to pave your own path. If you are anything like me, then that is an adventure that you are ready to take head on!
Don’t be afraid of going above and beyond researching, taking classes, and listening to podcasts on the topic that you are most interested in. Don’t plagiarize but use and adapt. Your perspective will be different but don’t act like what you are doing has never been done before. Use other’s failures and successes to learn and adapt your own content.
Step Four: Just Choose One!!
Know this, creating and launching an online course can be a challenge BUT the more you do, the easier it gets to go through the process and the more chance you have at creating one that sticks.
So don’t feel like the very first course you create and launch has to be the MILLION dollar idea. It is all a process in hopes of that passive income. So just pick the easiest to get done and launch. It doesn’t have to be perfect! It doesn’t have to change lives and make people transform into unicorns at the end. Just get it out of your head and get it done! And as soon as you get it launched, start another one.
Keep moving forward and make sure you are having fun with it. The more fun you have, the better experience your audience will have!
Finally, if you want weekly content to help you move forward in your course creation, join my FB group: the Online Course Designers!