Creating a course is an awesome way to reach masses of people with your expertise. If your goal is to help others with things you’ve learned along the way, packaging your experience is a sure way to gain more authority in your field and grow your community.
The problem that most people face is that creating a course is time consuming. It doesn’t have to be time consuming because you already have the knowledge in your head. You just have to somehow put a faucet in your ear and drain it out…uh, yeah not sure why I used that analogy. But you get the picture. I think.
I’ve been creating courses for almost 10 years so let me show you how you can create an amazing course that doesn’t give you a headache and take up a lot of your time. Here are five tips and tricks you can use to start and/or finish your online course.
1. Tip - Don’t let technology get in your way
Believe it or not, most people looking to learn from someone else are more concerned with the content and not so much the package. In other words, don’t let the techie stuff get in your way to creating a course because your knowledge is what’s most important here. Think simple. You can create your course in a PowerPoint presentation. Most people are familiar with PowerPoint and have access to it so you don’t have to spend any money on a new product or waste a lot of time trying to learn something new.
2. Trick - Create an audio course
With an audio course you don’t have to worry about creating slides with images and text, you can just talk. Everybody can talk!
3. Tip - Don’t overdo it
You know a lot about your particular subject and that’s great. But you can’t put all of that information in a course. It can be too overwhelming for your potential student. Also creating a super large course is extremely time consuming. Remember you want to create a course quickly so that you can get it out there to help those that need and um...of course make money too.
4. Trick - Create a mini-course
Creating a mini course is a great way to get your knowledge out to your audience quickly without compromising the content. In a mini course the information is broken up into smaller chunks so that the student is able to digest it better, which is great for a busy adult who is already juggling work, family, and other things.
5. Tip - Plan your course creation approach
I see a lot of cute planners that really make me want to grab one up and most of the times I end up not using them. But if you want to create a course in 30 days you have to create some type of plan to make that happen. The best way to approach this is to tackle smaller tasks daily, so you don’t feel overwhelmed and your life isn’t consumed with creating a course.
6. Trick - Download my 30 Day Online Course Roadmap
Okay, this is where I step in to give you some help. I have online course planner that will help you clear so that you can plan out your first (or next) profitable online course.
7. Tip - Don’t spend a lot of money hosting your course
The worst thing you can do is spend a lot of money creating a course when you haven’t sold it yet. Trust me, I love the easiness of hosting platforms like Teachable and Thinkific but the overhead for me is expensive and I’m sure that’s true for a lot of others just starting out. If this doesn’t apply to you, stop reading now. But if you’d like to have a hosting platform that is relatively free, keep reading.
8. Trick - Find free course hosting platforms
There are a few really good hosting platforms that are free. Dropbox is a file sharing platform that creates links that you can send to anyone that you want to have access to your course. Once you upload your course files and your student pays for the course, you can send them an access link. Organize your course in folders so that it is easier to navigate the modules and lessons. Do your research here, there are plenty others. I personally host my courses on my Gumroad. It doesn’t cost much and it’s easy for students to access the course materials.
Creating a course in 30 days can be easy! It doesn’t have to been time consuming and when you put these tips and tricks into practice you will create the kind of course that people drool over. Need some more help? Download my free 30 Day Online Course Roadmap.