Do you really need to create a course?

Quick story…

A few years ago I bought an Alexa - you know, the Amazon gadget.

I had no idea why I needed one. I just wanted one. (I like gadgets!)

When it arrived, I put it on my desk, plugged it in and set it up.

I asked it about the weather. I asked it to tell me a joke. I asked it to recommend some books.

And then, with the novelty waning, I got on with the rest of my day.

A year later I sold it on eBay, having barely used it.

(I guess it shouldn’t have come as a big surprise that something I couldn’t explain why I needed didn’t exactly turn out to be essential.)

However, it turns out I still have a device that listens to everything you say, chimes in if it thinks it’s being talked about, and tries to get you to buy stuff online - my five-year old son. 😄

As it happens, his birthday’s fast approaching and the gadget he wants is a Nintendo Switch.

Of course, he can give me 100 reasons why he needs one of those. (And to be fair, he’ll probably get 100 times more use from it than I did my Alexa.)

So let me ask you this…

Do you know why you need a course for your business?

Because there’s a lot of hype designed to make you want to create a course.  (And a lot of people offering to help you turn your “passion into profit”.)

But do you really need a course, or do you just want one?

And if you need one, why? What’s its role in your business?

Is it a lead generator - attracting new people into your world?

Is it a revenue maker - generating income on autopilot?

Is it a credibility builder - raising your profile and establishing you as an authority?

No doubt, you’d like all of the above, but one course can’t deliver them all.

In reality, the type of course you build is driven by your reason for building it.

So, if you’re not sure of your online course “why”, here are some pointers…

• If you work with people 1:1 and need more clients, create a small, low-cost course that delivers a quick win and warms people up for your services.
• If time is your bottleneck, create a mid-sized, paid course that solves a common problem for your audience and generates a new revenue stream.
• For raising your profile, create a premium course that packages up your signature method and includes time for you to lead students through the process.

The bottom line is that even before deciding what your course delivers for its students, you should decide what it delivers for you.

See you soon,

Glen