Where does your course fit in?

Most of the people I work with already have a business, and they want to add a course to the mix.

The thing is though, they don’t always have a clear idea of the role they want their course to play.

I look at it this way…

You wouldn’t hire a person to work in your business without knowing the role you expected them to play. Well, a course is no different.

One of the clarifying questions I like to ask is this:

Where will a course fit in relation to your business’s core service?

(And by core service I just mean the main thing you do to bring money into the business.)

So for example, if you’re a coach, your core service will probably be running paid coaching sessions for your clients. If you’re a freelance graphic designer it will be the design services you offer your clients. If you’re a personal trainer it’ll be running fitness sessions with groups and individuals.

Where your course fits in tells you the role it needs to play and the type of course you need to build.

For instance, if your course is something that happens before your core service, then its role is to warm people up. That typically means it will cost less than your core service (it might even be free) and cover less ground, but represents the perfect “on ramp” to your main offer.

If your course happens after your core service, then its role is to give you a “next step” to offer buyers when the initial engagement is over to keep the relationship going and increase your average customer value.

If your course happens during your core service, then its role is to support the delivery of that service. It does some of the more repetitive work you currently have to do yourself and frees you up to work with more clients (or enjoy non-work activities!)

If your course is something that happens instead of your core service, then its role is to serve people in your market who would have gone elsewhere. These are people who can’t afford your core service, or who can’t use it fully (e.g., because of their location) but would buy and use a course.

And if you’re course is outside of your core service, then its role is to help you reach a new (likely adjacent) market and broaden out your offer so your business is less dependent on a single market and service.

So, it’s time to ask yourself:

Will your course happen before, after, during, instead, or outside the main thing that you do?

The answer should really help you clarify the course that you need to build.

See you soon,

Glen.