Lessons on online course creation: Why I created two online courses I didn’t want to create…
In this episode, I want to share with you some exciting news about something we have coming up in the new year. I have been working on this project, in collaboration with some good friends, over the last few months so it will be ready to launch in February when I come back from maternity leave. But today I am going to talk about the reason I actually didn’t want to do it in the first place!
In February I am launching an online course specifically for psychologists and therapists who want to create an online course - meta, I know. What really excites me about it is that I have designed it to sit at the heart of the DMTT membership. It will be included for all existing members and accessible to any passionate mental health professional for just £47 a month. This really excites me because I know how much I had to pay to learn to create successful online courses and while I don’t regret a penny of it, and I do NOT think that people like Amy Porterfield are overcharging, you get immense value from their programmes, I do think that sometimes that investment isn’t possible or right for every type of online course creator. In particular, if your dream is to create a low-cost option for people who can’t afford therapy, it is going to take you a LONG time to recoup an investment like that. So I wanted to create something that had EVERYTHING you needed to get an online course planned, created and in front of the right people without the terrifying price tag.
Sounds like a clear mission right? Surely I should be going after this idea all guns blazing as I clearly have passion and excitement for it?
Well no! I actually had the idea for this course two years ago. Right back at the start of the Do More Than Therapy membership. As you all know I advocate doing a lot of listening to your ideal clients, in fact, it is the most important part of the development of any product or service and also the key ingredient to good marketing.
People have been telling me from the very start that this is what they want. So many people have told me that they want to create an online course but don’t know where to start with it all and it is something that I have been doing for the past four years so I knew I had something I could say on the subject. But I just didn’t feel ready to do it. My imposter syndrome wouldn’t let me. I kept comparing myself to others (unfavourably of course) and convincing myself that what was already on the market was too good. So I held back.
But it niggled away at me. You see, almost everything that we have in the Do More Than Therapy membership library would help you to create and sell an online course. We have masterclasses on all aspects of marketing, social media, email marketing and press and PR. We have lessons on building authority by self publishing, public speaking, podcasting, youtubing, blogging. We even have lessons on how to develop an idea with your ideal client and how to plan and write engaging content. That is pretty much all the ingredients you really need to get an online course off the ground but I always stopped short of providing content on three topics:
- The tech
- The structure of the course (and whether you should do it live or pre-recorded)
- Pricing your course
And the reason for that was because I feel like a chancer on those topics! I learned to do the tech on the job and my tech is far from perfect.
I teach most of my courses live first because I like the feedback from my clients and I work better that way. That does not mean it is the best way for everyone.
And pricing… well I have also learned about this on the job and the very hard way so feel far from an expert.
So about six months ago now I started to really notice this conflict in my body. I was feeling uneasy when I was talking about the membership because deep down I knew I should be offering something within it that I wasn’t.
So I took my own advice and reached out rather than turning inwards. I started talking to my business friends and I also started offering more 1-2-1 coaching sessions on the topic of online courses.
Through doing the 1-2-1 work and helping people get results that way I became more confident in my ability to help people with online courses which gave me a bit of a boost (although the imp is still troubling me if I am honest).
Through talking to my business connections I managed to secure collaborations to cover the bits I don’t want to teach myself.
The result is… pretty epic.
I’m telling this story because it is a lesson I have learned twice now. Sometimes you need to listen to your ideal client and change your whole plan based on their feedback. That is where the best ideas come from.
Now I did promise in the title I would tell you about two courses I didn’t actually want to create… the other one was actually Psychology Business School. Which is my most successful, enjoyable and close to my heart online course. I just did not want to create a business course when I started the podcast two years ago. I remember saying to my mentor at the time “I want to bring OTHER peoples’ expertise to the community, they don’t want to hear it from me.” My imposter syndrome literally spoke directly to my mentor in those sessions, which must have been very frustrating for her.
But the thing is listening to the founding members of DMTT, the Facebook group and the lovely podcast listeners, I just could not ignore the fact that people were asking me to help them set up their businesses right. And again I stuck to my guns for about a year before I actually launched PBS because it was really painful to push past that imposter syndrome and put the community first but eventually I did and I am so glad.
So I guess this episode is really a quick reminder to always listen to your ideal clients and be prepared to change your plans based on what they are saying they need, even if their suggestions are less comfortable for you.
Thinking about creating an online course?
If you are thinking about launching an online course in 2022 then I have a free guide that will get you started on the most crucial first step, building an audience for your course. When you download it you will be added to the waiting list so I can let you know when the course launches in February. As I mentioned it is included in DMTT membership so all existing members will automatically get access with no extra charge. Grab your course quick start guide now from psychologybusinessschool.com the link is in the show notes:
https://psychologybusinessschool.com/creating-a-valuable-freebie-psychologist-course-creation
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Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the Business of Psychology podcast. If you share my passion for doing more than therapy, then make sure you come over and join my free Do More Than Therapy Facebook community, where you can work on getting your big ideas off the ground with like minded psychologists and therapists. I'd also love it if you could leave the show a five star review wherever you listen to your podcasts. It will help more of the people who need it to find it. See you next week for more tips and inspirational stories to help you do more than therapy.
