Dispelling the myths that are holding you back

“You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.”

– Oprah Winfrey

When it comes to creating an online course, it is very common to talk yourself out of getting started due to stories that you may be telling yourself. In this episode I am going to dispel these as they are, just that… stories.

You may be curious about creating a course for your business but perhaps feel doubtful that what you have to offer is not enough or  maybe you feel as though no one will buy your course. It’s perfectly normal to have these doubts especially if this is something you are doing for the first time. There’s nothing like running a business, to expose vulnerabilities especially if you ate creating products or services for the first time. The fear of rejection us real and it can be so crippling… that thought of ‘what if no one buys?’.

Imposture syndrome can take over and keep us playing small because of the stories that we can carry around with us.

This is something I know all too well especially in the early days of running my business. I know that I held myself back because I worried that I wasn’t good enough. I felt as though I was surrounded by really confident and self assured business owners who seem to have everything figured out and that certainly wasn’t me. I realise now it was because I was doing something new and completely alien to me and so of course I was going to feel like an imposture!

But here’s the thing… the more I showed up, the more I talked about what I did and the more I conversations I had with other entrepreneurs… the more I realised that this is just part and parcel of this crazy journey with are on. I’ve since come to realise that when you decide to create and run a business, what you are in fact doing is signing up for a one-way ticket to personal growth!

Behind every successful business there is a business owner that’s had to learn some tough and challenging lessons along the way. So if you are thinking about creating a digital offering to your business that will include online courses but the fear is getting in the way then my advice would be to step into that fear, don’t resist it… embrace it because it means that you are growing.

Fear is exists to keep us safe but in doing so, it can stop us from moving forward – if we let it.  So first recognise that you are feeling fearful and be ok with it because it’s normal.

Below are 3 common myths that you may be telling yourself that is topping you create your online course.

Belief #1 – So the first belief is that you are not expert enough.

So let me ask you, when are you expert enough? When do you qualify as being an ‘expert’?

The Oxford english dictionary says that the definition of being an ‘expert’ is ‘a person with a special knowledge, skill or training in something’.

What it doesn’t say is that you must have this for a particular length of time before you can call yourself an expert. The truth is that you are never going to know everything about your subject matter, you’ll only learn more as you keep growing. There is no real time period as long as you know enough to teach someone else how to achieve a specific result, I promise you that you are expert enough!

Belief #2 – The second belief is that you don’t have enough time to create an online course.

Here’s the thing; we all have the same amount of time in our day, week, month or year but how we choose to spend that time is down to the personal choices that we make.

Sometimes we just have to reprioritise what’s important to us. I think understanding why you are doing it and the difference it’s going to make in your life really helps to connect to the thing we are doing. If you are anything like me, you would have started your business because you are craving freedom of some kind; whether that’s time freedom, financial freedom or freedom to simply choose what you do in your day-to-day job.

I made the decision that I no longer wanted to be at the mercy of clients and so I created a schedule and stuck to it. Initially I carved out half a day on a Friday morning to work on my course then I increased it to the whole day ensuring that Friday’s were ‘business development’ days. What I was doing was working on the future and longevity of my business.

When you are only working in the moment, sure you are making money for not but when you start building offers and products, what you are actually doing is being strengthen into your business model which ensures it’s longevity. That’s the difference. Once I figured this out, I was away… these days Mondays and Fridays are known as ‘business development days’ where I focus on ‘on the business activities’ such as offer or product development, strategy, content strategy, social media, training etc – all the things that will ultimately move the needle in my business.

So what can you do to free up time in your business so you can create some dedicated time to focus on your online course? Can you move your client meetings to 2 specific days rather than having them spaced out over 5 days freeing up some time on a Monday or Friday?

Small consistent steps are far more effective than large periods of time on an ad hoc basis.

Belief #3 – Not having the skills and feeling fearful of tech

I cannot tell you how many conversations I have had with clients around their fear of tech! Trust me when I say, it’s a lot!

You have never done this before so of course there is going to be a fear of what’s involved! Also… tech can be scary especially if you are in a profession that doesn’t require you to use that much tech but let me start by reassuring you that this is perfectly normal and completely understandable. I love tech and even sometimes I get overwhelmed!

Yes, there is of course tech involved in creating an online course however, there’s not a lot of tech needed. Like anything, you can keep it and simple & streamlined so you are only using a few tools to support you.

An online course works similar to a website where you use a 3rd party platform (such as WordPress) to host your content. Like a website, the course sits on an external server that your host (course provider) looks after. The great thing about course platforms, is that depending on which provider you go with, they offer templates which makes creating your course so much easier.

Other course platform hosts include Thinkific, Podia, Teachable and Kartra to name a few. They all have difference price points and you are mostly likely, going to incur a monthly subscription fee unless you pay yearly.

I use a platform called Kajabi which is a course hosting platform I really enjoy using because it’s so easy to use. Kajabi has multiple different templates and features that help to enhance the students experience as they work through the course. I love this because I do feel that it is all about the experience and making your online course as simple and easy as possible for the students.

Other tech you may use to create your course is a cloud-based storage system like dropbox or GSuite to store files, a graphic software like Canva to create your resources, presentation slides and to style up your course platform. You may choose to use Zoom to record any videos you decide to create and then a tool like iMovie or Filmora to edit your videos. I also recommend using Trello to outline your course framework.

Please do not think you need a tons of tools to help you create your course, you really don’t and even the tools you do choose to use, can be simplified and used in the basic way. So if you feel like tech is your nemesis and that you don’t have the skills needed to create a course, think again because I promise that you do!!!!

Conclusion

These 3 myths may be holding you back from getting started with creating your online course but they din’t need to because do you know what? They are just myths and stories that you ate telling yourself that are just not true. Whether it’s that you don’t feel like an expert or you feel as though you have limited time and will struggle to create your course or perhaps you just feel as though you don’t possess the skills and tech know-how, please don’t let these beliefs how you back.

If you currently run a business or teach people to achieve a result, you are expert enough.

If you struggle with time and feel that you are constantly chasing your tail, consider hiring a Va to support you.

Or if you feel nervous about using tech then just start basic and go from there.

Pushing through these fears will not only help you to create your course, most importantly it will help you to grow and move you towards your goal of financial independence.

Want to listen to the podcast episode?

Click here to listen to the latest episode of the ‘Digitally She Does It’ podcast.