What you MUST do before creating your course

“The value of an idea lies in the ‘using’ of it.”

– Thomas Edison

When it comes to creating your online course,  the worst thing you could do is start to make assumptions about your audience before you really get to know them.

Understanding who your audience are, where they are in their journey, what their struggles are and what you can do to support them through your course is key to creating a product that delivers effective results.

If you make assumptions before carrying out the research, you may find that you miss what your audience may actually needs help with. You don’t want to end up spending a great deal of time and energy creating an online course that people are not prepared to pay for so ensure that the idea you have for your online course has merit and that there is a market demand for what you want to teach.

Now in order to validate your idea, you do of course need to have an idea of what your course topic is going to be. Once you have your course idea, you can then start validating that your idea has legs.

Don’t try to appeal to everyone because you won’t be able to help everyone and you’ll most likely be too vague. Decide on a specific audience that you know your course will help.

Validating your idea before you start creating your course will:

• Prove there is market demand for your digital course
• Help you can generate revenue form pre-sells
• Give you the opportunity to build your email list
• Provide you with the opportunity to talk about your course and build interest around it

How to validate your course idea

Before you can test that your idea has merit, you need to define your course proposition:

• Why would someone pay for this course?
• What challenge does the course solve?
• What transition does it facilitate?
• What are the expected learning outcomes?
• Why is your course different from competitors

By carrying out research, you will be able to get a clear picture as to whether or not there is a demand for your course.

Below are some ways in which to find out if you have a winning course topic:

• Review your existing data
• Analyse any metrics you may have relating to any existing content that you have created regarding the subject matter – what do those metrics tell you?
• Is your content being downloaded?
• If you have hosted any webinars, conferences or online masterclasses – have these been well attended?
• Have you sent any newsletters relating to your topic? If so, review their analytics
• Did you receive any specific feedback regarding the content?

You can also utilize Google search.

Also consider the following:

• Can you find similar courses?
• Are you finding content relating to your subject matter?
• What words or phrases are being used?

If you are finding that there are other courses similar to the course that you are intending to create then that’s good news because it means that there is market demand. Have a look at the content that is being offered and how the course is structured along with its price-point.

This is all worthwhile research and will give you an insight into what already exists for when you start thinking about the nitty gritty of your course.

You can also ask your target audience.

The more insight you gain, the better because it’s going to provide you with a window into your audience’s world.

Knowledge is powerful and you should be in a position that, if you are successful with validating your course idea by reaching out to the right people, you should have plenty of knowledge and content to more forward with.

So if you are feeling like what you have to offer is possibly not good enough or you don’t know if it’s needed, then I highly encourage you to spend some time to validate your idea. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask your audience.

 

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