Imagine being able to scale you and your revenue without scaling the amount of work you do?
That’s the power of being able to launch your online course. You get to teach what you know and love, and make an impact in lots of peoples lives.
The great news, although it may seem like everyone and their dog is launching an online course right now, there’s no better time to be teaching these skills that people want to learn, through your own online course.
Why? According to research from Forbes the e-learning market is expected to reach a value of 325 billion by 2025.
That’s triple the growth from 2015. Triple!
Why is that? Well in order to succeed or just stay afloat in the future of work, the need to reskill, upskill and keep learning is critical.
That’s why I’ve been so intent on covering off on how to do this on my podcast and blog. Check out How to tap into the future of work and Why the future of work is learning.
What’s even more astounding is that online courses made $46 billion last year, according to Len Markidan from Podia, a creator’s dream platform for online courses, digital products and memberships.
The thing is, a lot of people get put off by not knowing where to start, or thinking they don’t have anything to teach or offer, or getting overwhelmed by the tech side…and the list goes on.
And I get it, because when I started out I was like how the heck do I do this?
How I launched my first profitable online course
Cast your mind back to 2010. I was in lovely Vancouver, Canada and was almost broke after 6 months focused on building up my blog and credibility but having nothing to offer to actually earn income.
I finally pulled together my first paid workshop called The Social Media Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs, held over two days with just ten people.
I ended up putting on three workshops due to demand and selling out since it was such a hot topic. By the end of the month I’d made $15K and couldn’t believe it.
The feedback had been amazing as I was teaching people how to use social media to build their business and it was super hands on and practical – just what startups need on a small budget and with little time on their hands.
Yet, I knew there were so many more people in my community (because they reached out and asked after seeing me post photos on social media), that I wasn’t able to reach by staying in one location and limiting the numbers in my workshop.
I thought to myself, there has to be a better way. Plus one that allows me to have flexibility and freedom on how and where I work.
So I took my powerpoint slides, researched which tool would allow me to record my screen and talk over the top of the slides and then spent over 40 long hours over the next three weeks recording the entire two day workshop and turning it into videos and transcripts.
I then decided to market it to my tribe with a free webinar. I had 100 people sign up, which blew me away, 30 people attend live and ONE person buy my course.
And I was THRILLED.
Sure I was hoping for more but someone had just validated that what I had to offer and teach was of value to them and they were willing to pay me US$297 for it!
Holy crap!! What if could get 10 people to take my course and learn from me? That would be close to US$3,000 which would pretty much pay me back for the time I spent creating the damn thing.
What if I could get 20? Wow $6,000 is like a dream come true and would allow me to go travelling while running my online course from anywhere, and before I knew it The Suitcase Entrepreneur was born.
Why am I telling you this?
Because I went on to make over $10K on that course, $100K on digital products and over $300K with one course through multiple launches.
And deep down, I know you are completely capable of replicating my results too – if you want it enough.
Want me to show you how?
Three key reasons to launch your online course in 2019
I truly believe that everyone has something to teach, and that online courses and experiences are one of the best ways to impart that knowledge.
Yet almost every person I speaks to initially is hesitant to admit they know anything that people might be willing to pay them for.
So in order to blast past any doubts or insecurities you may have, here are three facts that I know to be true about you, that you may not even know about yourself!
Reason #1. You have an unfair advantage
Oh yeah what’s that Natalie? Well my friend, it happens to be your life experiences, skills and knowledge that makes you uniquely YOU.
I have no idea why people don’t rate themselves more. The sum of what makes you who you are is truly enticing, even if you think you’re the most boring, non-standout person in the world with nothing to share.
Wait until you meet someone who thinks what you know and do is fascinating, or better yet don’t wait and instead start listening to friends, colleagues, peers and even strangers when they ask “How do you know how to do that? Can you teach me?”.
Those are usually some fairly clear signs that you’re so good at something, or so used to it coming naturally to you, that you really ought to share what you know.
Or you’ve simply worked hard at something, for some time and have built up quite a reservoir of knowledge that you simply didn’t realize other people really valued.
Either way, you need to leverage that sweetspot of yours – the intersection between what you’re good at, what you enjoy doing and what people will pay you for, and launch your damn course!
Reason #2. Resonance
How you think, who you are, how you make people feel and how you show up in this world is what is going to make you resonate with other people and stand out in a sea of sameness.
You already do this without knowing – it’s how you tell stories, your quirks and opinions, the values you uphold and your own unique point of view.
That’s the bit that people really want to see. Every time I share a screw up, or failure, an experience or adventure or some real moment in my life and business I get a massive increase in engagement.
That’s because the more YOU that you share, the more people can resonate with you, see a little bit of themselves in you and relate to you, which means you become more human and personal to your potential customers – and that’s gold.
That’s connection, which builds trust and we are far more likely to buy from people we know, like and trust.
So what happens is as you enthuse your content, videos, messages and work with what makes you uniquely you, you begin to stand out from the rest and become THE choice and person to turn to.
Reason #3 You’re a Leading Learner
Yes you really are. That means that you’re not an expert. You’re not a guru you’re just a couple of steps ahead of the person that you need to teach my friend.
As you learn, you lead those by sharing everything you know, real-time in a way they can relate to and resonate with, rather than from some ivory tower of ‘I’ve been doing this for 20 years and my it’s my way or the high way kiddo’.
No-one wants to learn from a know it all. They want to learn from somebody who’s living and breathing it right now, and getting results and is able to share what they know in a way that makes it easy for them to learn.
These are the people who are willing to pay you to learn what you already know and get up to speed in less time and for less money than you spent and invested, to get to where you are today…. no matter where that is.
Because the simple fact is you will always be further ahead than some people, and those are the people who’d will likely be the prime candidates to benefit from what you will teach in your online course.
Ready to launch your online course?
These three things alone are going to make you an outstanding online course creator, ready to share your knowledge and gifts with the very people who are prepared to pay you what you’re worth, and make an impact in their lives and on their journey.
Where I know you will get stuck, because everyone does, is on what your unique value offering is, who your target market is, how to validate people even want what you have to teach, and how to get in front of the right audience.
Then you’ll worry about the ‘how’ of launching – which platforms, video or audio or webinar or …..and what about landing pages, copywriting, marketing and advertising.
Yeah, it can all get very overwhelming when you over think it. So that’s where I’d like to come in, because my teaching superpower is the art of simplification and minimal viable product with maximum potential.
That’s why I’ve released a very special experience to help you design and presell your online course…