The 3 foundations of a successful online course

Today’s episode of the podcast is all about the basics you need to know to create a successful online course. I’d love to know what you think, and whether an online course is on your goals for this year - please feel free to connect with me on my social media and let me know!   KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST 3 considerations to think about if you are going to create an online course The value of you having a live element to your online course Realistic expectations of success when selling an online course   THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE There’s no such thing as a passive income, but you can create a recurring income, if you do it properly.   LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE Build My List Online Course Sky Rocket Your Email List Growth Online Masterclass The ‘Billy Basic Ads Course’ - Meta™ Edition Online Course   Transcript Hello and a really warm welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. As always, I am your host, Teresa Heath- Wearing. I am very grateful to have you here listening with me today. So what are we gonna talk about today? If you are new to my world, the podcast now predominantly talks about marketing, strategy, tips, tools, but also with a whole host of mindset stuff. And I've done quite a few mindsety type episodes recently. So I thought it was about time I did some practical stuff again. And one of the things that constantly comes up in my world, and this is probably because I'm an online business, is the fact of having a, now, I'm not gonna use the word passive income cuz fyi, there is no such thing as passive. But having a recurring income or an income that is from something that is created that can be sold over and over. Now I'm not gonna make out like this is, you know, the easy dream and you can come rich it quick overnight, cuz that really isn't the case. However, there is definitely some real benefits to it. And one of the things that I'm talking about in terms of creating that kind of reoccurring income is an online course. Now, often when I work with people on a coaching capacity, we are focusing on their main business, but always in the background and always as a thought is, how can I create something that brings me in some regular income? And often this comes down to a course. When we're talking about, like I said, I, I don't agree with the word passive because it's really not passive, but when we're talking about things like memberships, you have gotta show up. I am in my membership all the time and I have to show up every week and every day and do the things cause it's my membership. That's what people expect when they join. I know that doesn't happen in lots of memberships, but it certainly does in mine. and that's what they're paying the good money for. They're paying for me to come in and help them and support them. So that's not normally what my clients, my coaching students want. They want a course. So I thought it'd be really good to talk to you today about what are the things that you should be thinking about if you are thinking about having an online course or if you are at that stage in your business where you are like, do you know what, I'm killing it from a one-to-one point of view, or from a one to group point of view. And I'm really loving what I do, but I really want to find another way I can bring in another element to my business. And normally this is the case. It's not normally the case with most people I work with that go, I wanna shut down my one-to-one or in-person side, and I only want the online and, and the course side. They normally want it as an add-on, which is a great thing to do because the fact of if you've got, you've, you know, and not, if you have got so much knowledge and so much content that you produce. Like I know for instance, when I, when I first started coaching, I would suggest something or I would talk about a process and then think I could probably just come up with like a, a form or a worksheet or something for you to use, and actually that'll make it so much easier. So then I would create it. So then when I spoke to the next person I was coaching and say, actually, you know, this could be good for you as well, I would then have the worksheet. So by the time I've done this so long and worked with so many businesses, I have created a lot of content, which you could turn into a course. So this is where most people get come from. So there are really, for me, three main considerations that you need to think about if you are going to create an online course. If you are sat there thinking, I love my business, I'm very good at it, and now I want to find a way that I can bring in some additional income. So the first thing is that you should be creating content about the thing that you do, which if you are like the people that I coach, then you are already doing this. I had an example once of, I was part of another group coaching program and I am a bit of a nightmare. I can't help myself. Like, because I have all these ideas and, and you know, I like to think I'm really good at what I do and I get good results. So when I'm sat in a group situation and someone else is giving me advice, I literally have to sit on my hands and like hold my tongue. I just wanna give advice and I wanna give support, and I want to encourage, and I want to do all this amazing stuff, which I can't, cause it's not my, my space to do it in. However, I was in a space once and this woman came to me afterwards and said, is there any chance you and I could have a, a call and, and inquired about being coached with me. This was quite a while back now. And I said, yeah, that's cool. So we get on a call and she said that the, the main coach, whose group we were in had said to her, "I need you to launch your whatever it is." and this coach was really kind of focused on people don't notch cuz they're scared. And they were so focused on that, that they basically blinded themselves to everything else. So she had started a brand, brand new business. She had done something previously. She'd already had a business, but she had done something. She'd completely coveted, completely changed, and decided I'm gonna focus on this one thing now. However, she was not known for that one thing. She had no content, she had no following. She had no presence at all in that space. So basically it's like me walking into, I don't know designing handbags tomorrow and go, I'm gonna do a course on it. Now I might know about it. I don't, FYI, literally just picked something up my head, but like, you might know about it, but no one knows, you know about it. So she came to me and we had a conversation and I said to her, in an ideal world, I would have you create content about this for some time, like three, six months. Like that would be amazing to, to basically be sharing the world this is who I am. This is what I do. And, and proving that you are good at what you do. Anyway, the coach was very adamant that she had to launch and within a month and a half, I think it was, cause it had to be by the end of the quarter, she launched and sold it to three people, uh, which is amazing. Well done. But two of those people were on the coaching program we were on, and one was a friend. And then she didn't launch it again and she pivoted again. And it's like, do you know what? If you just waited a bit of time and created some content, and I know that content creation can feel really, really long and boring and arduous, but honestly, like the first thing someone's going to do is they're going to want to see that you know what you're talking about. And if there's absolutely no evidence of that anywhere. Then you are not going to give people confidence that you can teach them and help them. And also, one of the things I teach, and one of the things I work with, with not only the membership but also the people I coach, is we look at how you take people from that content through the customer journey to be a customer. So again, the content isn't just there as a backup for when people find you. The content is designed to drive people through to your world. I have had people listen to the podcast for years and never buy anything from me to only suddenly appear like I didn't know they existed. And then they suddenly appear and go, I'd like to join your membership and I've listened to your podcast for years, and I had no idea. So as much as sometimes and fairly I've had this conversation with Becci,, who does the show notes and does and does social with me. She's like, you know....