How to Create the Perfect Online Course for Your Audience
You have the ability to create the perfect online course for your audience.
The real question is, what makes the perfect course? How do you create a product that your readers would just die to have access to?
Obviously, it would have to have information that your readers want, not what you think they want. But how do you know exactly what that is?
It should also present the information in a way that is best suited for their taste. But again, how do you know?
If only your audience could tell you exactly what they wanted. It would be as if they created the product for you. How awesome would that be?
Well, that’s exactly what you should do.
Here’s What I Would Do
I typically don’t like to blog about online business and marketing techniques that I’ve never tried before (since I have yet to release any online courses of my own), however this particular “technique” has been proven by other internet marketers and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work. One day, when I do launch my own courses, I will most likely take a similar route.
The first step is to sell a coaching course to a limited number of people even before you have details about exactly what you’re going to teach. You work directly with your students to create course material as you go along that is perfectly tailored to the kinds of things they are looking for. At the end of it all, you’ll have the perfect product ready to launch.
Here’s why this model is so genius:
- You get paid upfront before you even create any material. You then have an incentive to really produce great work for your new students to make sure they get their money’s worth, and you may also want to use some of that money for equipment or software to help with your presentations and lessons.
- The curriculum is tailored to your students. You’ll know if you’re going too fast, too slow, or missing any key components, since your students will be there to tell you right away.
- After the “coaching program” is finished, you’ll have a number of recordings, lessons, worksheets, courses, etc. already completed that you can easily turn into it’s own online course or product.
- If your program was well received, you’ll have a number of people who would be happy to give you an awesome testimonial for your online course.
- Your students who have their own websites or email lists may end up becoming an affiliate for your product, helping to boost sales (and buzz) when you end up launching the product.
- If your program has helped your students, then there is no doubt that your online course will help the rest of your audience as well.
Yes, the coaching program will take a lot of your time. You’ll be writing lessons on the fly and possibly doing things like weekly webinars, videos, etc. Hopefully, the interaction you have with your students will inspire you to get things done and hopefully keep things fun for you.
But imagine what it would be like after that coaching program is over. You’ll have these wonderful, fine-tuned lessons that are just waiting to be sold online for whatever price you see fit. You’ve already put in the hard work, so now you can sell on auto pilot and add to your passive income portfolio.
So which would you rather do?
Spend a couple of months creating an online course by yourself which may or may not be what people are looking for?
Or…
Spend a couple of months creating an online course with your audience that you know will be information that they want, and get paid for it?
Hmm…seems like a no-brainer to me. What do you think?
A Limited Number of Students
As I mentioned earlier, the coaching part of the process should be limited to a small number of students. I would say no more than 10 to 12 people at most. Here’s why:
- Although feedback from your students is vital, you don’t want to get flooded with hundreds of different opinions about what you’ve done and what to do next. Yes – you want different views and opinions, but too many can stress you out and confuse you on what actions to take next.
- The smaller the number of students, the better chance there is of you developing a real relationship with them, which will in turn help with the quality of the end product.
- Limiting the number of students will create buzz for your future online course. Those who don’t get “accepted” into your coaching program will be anxious to purchase the online course that is created as a result.
I know it might seem like a mistake to limit the number of students because you’re also limiting the amount of money you make up front. However, at this point in the process, you should be worry more about the quality of your lessons. The real money will come later once you begin to sell your online course.
“Should I offer my coaching program for free?”
My answer is no.
Not because you won’t get paid, but because people who throw down money to learn from you will be more vested into your program and more likely to participate than someone who just joins for free.
A Good Idea, or Bad?
I have not yet put this to the test, but I may in the distant future. As I continue to research how other internet marketers have done something similar, I’m curious to know what you think about it?
Are there any flaws in this product creation model that should be brought to our attention?
I look forward to reading your responses. Have a wonderful week, and congrats to any New Orleans Saints fans out there. What a season!
Cheers!
Posted on : February 8th, 2010
Related posts:
- How to Create an Online Class On Your Blog – Part 1
- The Triple Threat of Informational Products You Can Easily Create
- Do You Pass the Test? An Online Entrepreneur Mindset Exercise
- The Simplest Way to Create Unique Content
- SPI 004 : 5 Powerful Ways to Create Profitable Passive Income Products
Digg it
Delicious it
Stumble it
Sphinn itEnter Your name and email to get Free Instant Access to my complete guide to Publishing, Marketing, and Automating a Killer eBook. You will also get my weekly newsletter with tips that you can't find here on the blog. Learn more...
No, I'm not a millionaire, but I am living off of passive income made online. I'm here to show 
Enter your name and email below to get Free Instant Access to the most comprehensive guide available on how to Publish, Market, and automate a killer eBook. 
Digg
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Twitter
YouTube
71 Comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below)
Hey Pat,
wow this is great info you share. If you ever go to any private coaching programs, the mentor will just tell you to find your niche or topics thru keywords research.
I also know that many coach created their programs from their readers questions. time and time some authority blogs will have readers asking them certain questions pertaining to their niche.
Thanks for the info Daniel! Have you taken any of these courses? Keyword research is a great way to find a niche, but I think there’s so much more to it than just keywords. There are things like passion, longevity, and competition that are all important factors too.
Hey Pat,
You’re not far off a pretty good model for success there. In late 2008 I started teaching Japanese in live video classes. I was getting paid and some of the classes were going out for free to build subscriber numbers. I focussed on building a quality product, two workbooks to go with the classes, and did so with the help of my students in class.
When the subscription model changed I had to relaunch the classes, but this time I did so with fresh content which now became the selling point. All the while I documented it on my blog. I credit the classes with developing a real rapport with my students, and that carried over well to my blog readers.
I do fewer group classes these days, and usually only to maintain a level of engagement with my readers. I still do private lessons though and want to continue building on this, although it’s far from passive income
Like with anything else if focus on just earning a buck, you’ll lose focus on what really matters. Establishing your authority, creating an audience, producing content, all of these things last a lot longer than the sound of coin in your pocket. Cheers! I hope your move is going well, wear a mask!
Good stuff Brett. I love the idea of teaching English overseas, because you’re getting paid to travel, basically, and you’re helping people along the way. I love it.
And yes, i totally agree with you, if you focus just on earning a buck, what really matters will become blurred. Move is going well, and no – I haven’t been wearing a mask. I’m not spraying though, hehe.
Pat,
Great suggestions there. I am thinking of creating my own product, but first I want to test demand for it. If I see there is decent demand for the product, I will create the product and later on expand by creating online courses.
We’ll see how it works out
Yep – its kind of like a more interactive way to test your product, and in a way, have the product created for you. Please keep me updated and let me know how it goes. Good luck!
Involving potential future customers in the entire process is absolutely ingenious, Pat. While you simultaneously generate a ‘buzz’ prior to product release, the best products are created in accordance with regularly occurring feedback–giving the marketer the time and knowledge to adjust/make changes that will best ultimately serve the end customer.
Your LEED exam Walk-through was perfect because you knew exactly what your customers wanted because, well, you WERE pretty much everything your customer was: someone who wanted to pass the exam and wanted the best resource to do that. Come up with a solution to a problem, and I’m confident everyone here can make some serious bank.
…P.s. Just converted all my 6 books to .PDF…..it’s off to the races pretty soon (fingers crossed)….lol
One thing is for sure….everything I did with my course was the direct result of observing forum interactions, talking to people, and REALLY listening. Each complementary product was the result of a broad concern or issue that people faced. Everything from overcoming writer’s block, to mastering SEO and LSI….and, even fixing problem articles…..
Could do well…or it could flop….either way, the journey has been awesome….thanks for all your help throughout the whole process, Pat! Hope moving is coming along nicely, as well….
Hey Howie – the move is going quite well. We’re ahead of schedule, and I should be entirely moved in by the end of the week and ready to pounce on really getting things done again.
I can’t wait to see what’s in store for you and your infobarrel product! I’m glad the journey has been great, but it seems like you’d laid down a great foundation for success. I wish you all the best Howie!
Gulp…someone over on Warrior forum just sent me a PM that said “You had better release it ASAP because people have been known to put together a WSO in less than a day….and someone WILL jump on it”…
Not sure if that was a threat…lol….but, it’s definitely got me on overdrive to finish the conversions and release it ASAP….
I may have to work out little bugs and minor grammar and spelling errors later….right now, our course is well over 350+ pages, single spaced/12 font….pretty excited….we shall see how it does
I don’t think there’s a perfect system for creating an online course. You have to roll with the punches and see what works and what doesn’t.
While I agree with creating content for your ‘students’ based on their specific needs, I also think there needs to be a strong set of course guidelines first. Once the session is complete, you can always go back and tweak what worked and what didn’t work.
I have a plan I’m currently working on for my own site, and it seems to be coming together nicely. I have the added benefit of having a spouse who is a teacher and deals with course curriculum and weekly lesson planning strategies on a daily basis. I’ve learned a lot from the way she organizes herself and how she adapts her courses each semester. I’m pretty confident in being able to do the same thing once I’ve hammered out all the physical work (ie content).
But – first things, first. I’ve got my list builder e-book to finish!
Drezz, well said my friend. I think you’re right, you should have some type of guideline to follow first. It’s like some of my most memorable professors in college – they used to use bullet points as a basis for their awesome lectures, which would be used as a guideline for their discussion. The teachers, however, who read everything word for word from a projector were far less impressive, interesting and informative.
Good luck with your new plan, and let me know if you need any help with that lead magnet eBook! Cheers!
May I submit an alternative viewpoint? I paid 195.00 for one of these “on the fly” courses. It was promoted by a well known marketer that I used to trust. The major problem with this concept is that the students are ripped off because the “teacher” may not know the best answers to the student’s questions. The whole course felt like I was listening to a person desperate to keep up and answer questions and supply effective material and solutions that he had experienced as being successful.
This model is a way to make money at the expense of the students. Bad idea unless you are so good that you can pull this off – this means you, the “teacher” need vast amount of experience and the ability to teach on the fly.
Hmm. I’m sorry to hear about that experience Tom. That scares me, because I definitely would want to have my students feel like they got what they paid for. I would only do it, however, if I knew everything there was to know and wouldn’t be needing to “catch up”, like you said.
I’m guessing the internet marketer you speak of probably had other things in mind besides helping out their students, i.e. making money. That should never be the primary purpose.
I have been considering starting an online class for some time now. It would be titled “Funding your College Education”
I am a full time college finance advisor and I help people with this very specific problem on a daily basis. I know that I would have a very large and eager audience and I know that I could justify the price of the course (even up to a few thousand dollars if I wanted) by the savings in their college education expenses. I have started a blog in the college finance sector and am rapidly working on building an online presence and audience.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
It sounds like you’re on the right track, DJ! Build that presence online, and you’ll have an audience that will be ready to learn from you. I wouldn’t worry about pricing or anything of that nature right now, just focus on getting attention, authority and you’ll be well on your way! Cheers, and best of luck to you!
Hey Pat,
I have been thinking A LOT about this. You discuss some great pointers to help lead me in the right direction. I hope you don’t mind me including this link, but it’s a great example of what you state above.
http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/case-studies-needed-for-empire-building-kit/
Chris uses this same philosophy with each product he launches and is a GREAT source of information.
Of course i don’t mind. i love useful links such as this. Very helpful – thanks Patrenia!
Great post and great advice. I never looked at creating an online course in this way. As you said, it’s genius. My initial reaction was indeed to offer such a coaching program for free, but you’re right no to do so. It makes quitting the program for the students less of an option. Smart thinking.
I’m also curious about your own plans. Can you tell anything about these plans at this point?
Right now, the only thing on the radar for this blog is the podcast, which should be up mid-yer once I’m all setup in my new place and have a few more recordings finished. I’m also looking into getting a new mic for that purpose as well.
I’m enjoying what I’m doing now, however, giving away free content to those who could use it for their own businesses or blogs
Makes me think about starting an online couching!
Awesome post, probably will use this as a guide in the future 
Cheers
I have not heard of creating a course in this way either, so this is really useful information. I’ve heard of asking questions through blog posts or polls on your site. I assume you must build up a large readership and be seen as an authority on the topic before trying this strategy. I also assume you would produce the content ahead of time and step through it with the students to see where things should be tweaked, changed or removed. Why would someone pay you for a course if they knew they were helping you create it?
“Why would someone pay you for a course if they knew they were helping you create it?”
Interesting sentence, Vance. (I know I’m not Pat…lol)…but, I had to read it a few times to totally digest and think about it…
I can see what you are saying, however, the beauty of marketing is….if you establishing relationships well, and maintain them, I think people will love the opportunity to contribute to the process (even if they don’t necessarily know it)….feedback from your very customers can go a very long way towards structuring a product that they fall in love with…because they helped make it….
…I believe it was the company “Threadless”…but, they allow members to create their own T-Shirts using their website functionality….people basically create what THEY want….but, Threadless provides the means to take their designs to a reality…….and, selling it back to them….
Cafepress does this….Zazzle does this….
It’s an ingenious idea. I think it shows the customer that their opinions and feedback and ideas are valued…..it’s really brilliant if you think about it….let the customer essentially drive the company (well…to a certain extent…. not really involved in executive decision making, but, you get the point)
Spot on Howie. My students really enjoyed the fact that I was listening to them and taking their needs in to consideration. They new that next time the lessons ran, they new they would be getting a better product, and better value for money.
When I finally launched the workbooks, I had a mini army of people ready to talk about how they were part of the course/content development and this really helped the word spread.
It’s not necessary to have a large number of students either, just dedicated students who come back time after time. In the eighteen months since I’ve taught about 300 people, and ran my 6 week courses several times. I’ve had a handful of students complete every course, and their feedback was the most valuable.
If I may add a very small plus…
Plus, as ground floor students we will have a sense of ownership, and when it comes time for affiliate marketing the product we will have a leg up, because will have first hand experience with the product.
(look at me already assuming my spot in class…yup teacher’s pet
)
Good question, Vance. As many of the other responders have mentioned , it’s all about the one on one interaction with the students. This is another reason why there shouldn’t be so many students, so your attention isn’t divided too thinly between them. The paid course that comes from the coaching program won’t have quite the amount of “time with you”, if that makes sense.
Thanks for responding to Vance everyone before me! I couldn’t of explained it better myself!
Thanks for the response everyone! Sounds like keeping the number of students small and allowing your most active students to help create the course is the way to go. I can see where you would have a “little army” out there ready to advertise your product as affiliates…it is quite ingenious!
Hi Pat,
Since this touches my field I had to respond. Another approach is to find out what your readers need to learn through surveys and conversations and then create a self-paced eLearning course that addresses their topics but is not a recording of a live event. This approach allows you to add interactivity, scenarios, problem-solving, games, exercises and quizzes. You can then adjust the content as you get feedback.
There are several rapid development tools, such as Articulate Presenter, that allow you to do this. This approach will take longer but is also more flexible. If readers are interested, I write about the design and development of online learning at The eLearning Coach: http://theelearningcoach.com. Good luck on your projects!
Hi Connie,
Thanks for the additional info! I think surveys and conversations could lead to a well thought out, appropriate course that people could go through.
Thanks for the link, I’ll definitely be checking that out. Cheers Connie!
Hi Pat,
I did this (set up an online coaching program) and while I did use part of the material to create my Guest Post Secrets product, I have to say that overall it was only a mild success.
I think I charged too little ($197/month). A lot of the people who signed up weren’t qualified and didn’t stick with the program. Were I to do this again (and I’ve thought about it), I’d probably pre-qualify all the entrants and charge more ($497/mo or even $997/mo.)
Also–your students are going to want a syllabus, or plan of action. Otherwise it feels disorganized. So you have to know what you’re going to teach them and when, and then deliver on that.
-Erica
Hi Erica, I agree – I think I would have charged a lot more. you’re way too generous
It would act as a good filter to find those who would really be committed to learning from you and helping to share that end product.
Thanks for the great advice! I wish you continued success on your latest projects!
All I know is I want in on this when take it into development.
This may or may not be a flaw, but you may want to address product development and material confidentiality agreements and terms of use with the start-up group. Don’t want some test driving your pre-product and selling it when they are done.
Good point Ms. Freeman, however in theory, you’ll be teaching to those who don’t quite have as much authority as you, or may not even be in the same niche. But yea, it may have to be addressed at the beginning of the program as to what will come about from it. Good call, thanks!
Have you been able to dive into the 4-Hour Workweek Yet
I have myself on a scheduled lunch still and I read it then. Taking it all in a little bit at a time. There is a lot of theory and I want to be able to put it into action though. Well, theory to me as I have never even imagined life without working on-site hands on. I am definitely one of those that need to learn to create it, trust the staff and then let it go.
I think it sounds like a great idea as long as you have more than enough experience and expertise in the subject you’re teaching, as well as resources you can turn to if you don’t have answers.
Thanks Maria – I totally agree with you. I don’t think anyone should try and push something out like this if they aren’t qualified to do so.
In an online coaching course, is there a “timeline”? In otherwords, what if some don’t keep up and how do you deal with it? Is it a learn and take action thing as you go along? I’ve never taken an online course before so I’m curious.
Hey Bobby – they all vary. Sometimes, they are done as a weekly webinar take action series. if you people fall behind, they can usually view a recording at a later date. There’s no rules on how to present material in a classroom like format though
Hey! Great post… crazy because i just let out a huge free content thing together on my blog, I literally released it right before I jumped to read your blog
Oh well.. this is awesome though, gave me great ideas at how to improve my content.
P.S. Have you heard much about ‘comment luv’ its like disqus but a lot of bloggers say its the best. THoughts?
The comment luv I remember is one that allows commenters to automatically submit their latest post from their blogs, if applicable along with the comment. I didn’t see it as something like disqus though, unless they changed how it works. I’ll have to check into that. Thanks Maren!
Great post!
I’m still a long way from developing any online courses, though I would love to eventually. This sounds like a great way to develop some good content. I was actually thinking about this topic the other day, when I was thinking of the future of my blog. I was wondering how people develop some of the material they offer.
Hey Randy – this isn’t how all of them do it, but it’s what I noticed a few people doing, and it seems to be a great strategy, although some other commenters have pointed out a few potential flaws. As long as you know your stuff and have some type of core material ready, you should be ok! Keep at it!
Pat,
I would want there to be some “core” content there developed by the expert first. I would be disappointed to enroll in an online program and find out that it’s just a glorified forum. It would speak “cheap” to me if there wasn’t solid, exclusive content available.
Yeah, that’s a great point. I think the students would want to know what they’re getting into as well. Thanks for the much needed suggestion, Steven!
Hey Pat,
Got your email to readers asking what we’d like to see you cover on the blog….
Here’s one idea….
1) Cover some aspect(s) of developing effective sales copy….(this can actually get pretty cool….I read a whole book about sales copy a few weeks ago, and that book had a chapter pretty long just about the effectiveness of different things people can do with numbers….like how some higher restaurants completely leave off the dollar sign..etc….)
(I’ll post again if I think of any more)
Thanks for the suggestion, Howie. The problem with that is that I’m not a copywriter. I mean, I know some of the basics, as I outlined in my eBook, but it is a science, and there are people like Brian Clark who were born to copywrite. What’s the name of that book? It sounds pretty cool!
Shameless plug… but I explored it a little bit here:
Teach Yourself Copywriting: http://bit.ly/cpkUgL
Of, course, I punt at the end to the real experts because it’s such an important skill.
Fantastic read Pat, thanks for sharing. Another thing to consider prepping for 2010
Thanks for the commend Adam! We still have a lot of 2010 left to get some awesome things done! Let’s do it!
Hey Pat,
For some reason my Gravatar will not display in any of my posts on your blog? Any idea what I may be doing wrong??
DJ Wetzel, I see the gravatar, unless you were hoping for a different picture. What do you see?
“You get paid upfront before you even create any material.”
First things first, why am I paying for something I, or you for that matter, know very little about up front?
Hey Dennis, you ask a very valid question. I apologize for not being entirely clear in the post, but you would know a little about what the program was for. For example, if I were to come out with a coaching program that taught people how to, from the ground up, create a passive income business, then you’d have an idea of what the program was for, but you wouldn’t know exactly what was entailed, or the details of the lessons or how things might happen.
That being said, for some people that have enough authority, even knowing what the program is about isn’t necessary. For example, if Seth Godin offered 10 spots for a coaching course he would run, I wouldn’t even ask about what it was, I’d just try and be a part of it because he’s a marketing genius and I know whatever he taught would be incredible.
Great post Pat.Thanks for sharing.I’ve been thinking about giving a course and it’ll help me a lot.I’ll tell you when I have it prepared to show it to you
Great Patricia! I’m looking forward to it. Please let me know when you do have it prepared. Cheers!
Pat, great quick on the go eye opening post. I know I’ll approach doing this sooner or later and this tactic is the perfect way to ease into it, and provide all the content you need to polish and put up. Solid.
Anytime Robert! Indeed, it’s a great way to “ease” your way into the perfect content, as you mentioned. All the best to you Robert. Cheers!
Hi Pat:
I like your perspective on course development- 1. develop a course around what your clients want in “real time” , and 2. just jump in an do it!
Certainly as you’ve suggested, you need to really know your subject matter if you take this approach. What I’m also getting from your post is that you do need to do some prep work in advance. I don’t think that you are advocating walking into this blindfolded, but that one should have a strong sense of the topics to be covered and then tailor the course based on feedback obtained from the particpants before rolling out the first module, and based on feedback obtained during the process.
The thought of taking a risk like this is very scary, but very exciting. I’ll let you know if I take the leap!
Its a good idea to do the latter, and interact with your audience, for all the reason you stated, but also b/c it would proboboly be a lot more fun to intereact with people.
How I would do it is release a weekly course. Creating each course one week in advanced, getting feedback and making changes. At the end of it all you have a full fledged product that you could either sell up front for a discounted price, or as installments. Just market the installments as “subscription”.
great post. I know someone that is trying to do this at the moment and will definitely pass this on. thanks!
Dr Myles Munroe one of the greatest men of our era came to Nigeria and advised my Pastor to stop organizing seminars for free. Why? Because responsible entrepreneurs pay to learn what they need to make the quantum leap. So, please pat do not even consider doing it free otherwise, it will be “trampled on”.
I hope to get to the level of developing a fuel online course soonest but for now, i am on the selling-e-books-to-the-Local-Nigerian-Audience-Level
Hi Pat,
This was a seriously good article. I’ve been following your monthly income reports for some time and love the openness that you demonstrate. I think that’s key to this article’s topic as well.
I have a mentor that I’m working with who does almost exactly what you’re describing in your article. She creates a special group that wants to learn a specific topic. She’s very up front with them that the training, Q&As and tools will be released later as a product at a much higher price then they will be expected to pay. The very cool thing about this is that this woman knows her stuff inside out. She’s got years of experience and data to back up what she’s teaching. So she’s not “making it up as she goes along”. People who follow her, scramble to be included in these “prelaunch” classes.
What I love the most is that this is a totally new business model custom made to fit the times that we live in. I run a group for self-employed professionals and helping them understand that old-style overhead-laden business models are a thing of the past is sometimes a challenge because they’re so ingrained. I just love learning from innovators like you and others in this tread because it opens up so many awesome possibilities – and are great examples.
Thanks for putting it out there. BTW: Love the pics of you and the baby. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Pat!
Another great post and the one that I’m gonna use for my project. I’ve been wanting to create an Online Dog Training Course, but still not sure of how to do it. I already have my course outline as I’m a dog trainer : ) It’s just a matter of making a video out of it. I decided to launch my course soon. But I guess like your said in your other post we need to create a buzz about it right? : )
Thanks Pat.
Best Regards,
Chetz Yusof
Yep! You’re on the right track it seems, Chetz! Enjoy making those videos, have fun with it and so will your audience. Good luck with everything!
I can tell you this is an excellent way to do it. My buddy David Risley just did this with his blogging course for 6 months last year. He got paid to create the content and got great feedback from a bunch of his customers on the fly. He just did a launch of the product and I can tell you he did extremely well for a weeks worth of work in launching it. (Not to mention the 6 months he put into creating it.
He made a believer out of me with the exact system you just described. I’ll be doing the same.
Oh and I just became familiar with you and your blog from Darren’s interview with you. Great stuff!
Thanks Pat for an awesome article. This one seemed to land on my laptop at just the right time. I’m currently putting together my online course and was struggling about the delivery method… You (and the commenters) have given me lots to think about! I plan to launch it in April – will let you know how it goes!
hey pat,
great article. i followed pretty much this exact formula when i did a course on finding your life purpose (http://blog.reemer.com/post/187767736/).
the only difference was that i didn’t charge. this was a mistake, for two reasons:
1- the incentive to create content was lower than if i had charged. i took my deadlines super seriously. at the same, i was doing this for feedback alone. making some $ would have made it tolerable when students didn’t provide timely feedback (see next reason)
2- the people who took the course would assign more value to it and thus take it more seriously. they would also be true customers, not just friends or people interested in seeing what i was up to.
but, we’re just wrapping it up now and i’ve got great feedback and a good start on the material, along with some good testimonials.
cheers,
kareem
I do contract training for HP. Basically I teach IT professionals how to make better software and how to use some really cool tools. Of course HP has a standard course, already laid out and everything, but the students are constantly asking, to tweak or modify the course, they want it personalized.
Unfortunately for the most part HP completely ignores the students on this. However as I’m delivering the courses, and I’m an expert in the material, I often times just throw out the slides and wing it. You know give the students exactly what they want by customizing the course on the fly. And since I get rated by the students after each course, I can tell you with-out a doubt that when I wing it and change up the course on the fly to give the students exactly what they are asking for; that’s when I get my best reviews.
So to be honest I don’t think you should let your students help create the course the first time, you should let them help create the course every-time. From my experience that is how you deliver maximum value when you are teaching / training / delivering courses.
Thinking about it, if I were to try to create an online course I would probably approach it like this:
1. Start with a strong outline of what is going to be covered for the whole course and in each lesson.
2. Flesh out the outline with some talking points, some good stories to tell examples to give, I’m not saying that you create the course, but you gotta have a good idea of what you plan on covering and enough details so you don’t pull the: “ummm. Ummm. And next were going to cover… ummm. Welll… let me see” routine. Obviously the more well versed you are in the material the less effort this step will take.
3. Deliver the first course just exactly like you explained in your blog post, with the assistance of what you created in step 1 and 2.
4. Use the feedback to build the course framework. I would probably try to build the course in a bunch of super small modules that can each stand independently on their own.
5. Provide a mechanism for students to pick, which modules they want to go through, and in which order they want to go through them when they take the course.
6. Ideally, if you want to make it a super unbelievable course, you gotta get some face time with the students so you can address their specific questions and issues. The student needs to get their questions answered and feel like the course delivers the content in exactly they way they want to see / hear / smell /input it.
7. Constantly work on improving and updating the course.
Well that’s what I would do to make the perfect course, at least based upon what I see from the IT Professionals that I teach and what they usually ask for. I don’t know that it would fit so nicely into the “passive income” model though. So I guess the work to be done then is to test how to make it less repetitive work / more passive while still allowing individual students to get a tailor fit “customized” feel from course. I really think that is what differentiates a amazing course from well just a course.
Anyways this was going to just be a two-line response… so I think I’ve said enough for now. ? Hope it is at least thought provoking.
Hey Pat,
Thank you so much for the great idea! We’ve implemented this into our website flipping coaching program and it is going great!
Thank you so much!
Ian
Not sure if this has been mentioned already but doing a course wouldn’t be good for everyone. If you’ve the dedication and time to keep up working like this it’s a good idea. But too many people many not be able to supply what the customer wants when they ask, whether it’s because they can’t keep up with the demands or because they haven’t got the knowledge to answer the questions being asked. This will only benefit everyone when the person providing the course is a serious person with true experience within their choosen field, but it isn’t always clear who’s genuine online…
“This will only benefit everyone when the person providing the course is a serious person with true experience within their choosen field, but it isn’t always clear who’s genuine online…”
Music Business Help,
This is EXACTLY why, as I found out with my 6-Book Course, that it’s pretty much imperative that you give away a decent amount of free “review” copies….to trustworthy, established and semi-established, people/blogger who can essentially speak for your name and for your product…..
Depending on the product, I look at a product as having a bit of a “life”….when it starts out young, no matter how good the product, ESPECIALLY if the person isn’t established, it does take a bit of time to get the product “traction”….
Like Seth Godin said though, if you create something truly “remarkable”, people will begin to flock to it, and they WILL tell their friends….before you know it, you’ll have a bit of a “tribe”….
“But too many people many not be able to supply what the customer wants when they ask, whether it’s because they can’t keep up with the demands or because they haven’t got the knowledge to answer the questions being asked.”
It takes time, but the easiest solution to NOT having knowledge, IMHO, is to go out and get the knowledge. Before I began writing my course, I knew little about SEO and Social Media, but, I went to Barnes and Nobles….bought hundreds in books….read each one…and really taught myself. I admit, it takes time…but, if people want it bad enough, you can effectively guage the needs of your chosen audience AND do the research needed to provide them with a superior product.
One thing I had learned from a book I had read was that there is GREAT value in simply aggregating things and concepts, into a form that is valuable for readers. People will pay a premium for a product if it saves them having to look in a 100 different locations for the information. Remember the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” hit sensation books?….Anyway could have found such inspirational stories if they just went outside their house and began speaking to people, however, people liked the idea of having those inspirational stories aggregated, and within reach. It was ingenious…and, that franchise made millions.
I agree you could easily look up any questions your customers ask you if you’re not sure of an answer, but the problem comes when people that aren’t successful in what they’re teaching fully use the internet to recycle information to their paying customers. If you’re reading something but haven’t lived it yourself you can’t confidently varify the method works. And that’s not fair on your customers (Fair enough if it’s the odd bit you don’t know and gain the information from a relyable source though).
My main point though was not everyone will be able to keep up with the work load though, some people just haven’t got the mentality. They may start out and complete the first week, but after that not put as much work in or just stop all together. It’s just human nature (Not for everyone of course).
I do think this is a good way of doing things (Can save time and money as well as get your product more tailored to your customers need) but it’s not for everyone.