182: Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: Crafting Your Perfect Online Course

Foreign welcome to the Creators MBA Podcast, your go to resource for mastering the art and science of digital product entrepreneurship. My name is Dr. Destiny Kopp and I help business owners generate consistent revenue from their digital product business without the need to be glued to their desks, constantly live launching or worrying about the social media algorithms. I hope you enjoy our episode today. Hi there Destiny here and today we're talking about one of my most favorite topics and that is digital courses. And I want you to imagine waking up to find that while you slept, dozens of people from across the globe invested in your expertise. They are learning, growing and achieving their goals all through a course that you created once but can sell infinitely now. This isn't just a pipe dream, it's the reality for thousands of students who I have helped to harness the power of digital course courses. So think about what if you could share your expertise with the world, help others achieve their goals and generate income all at the same time. Well, welcome to my world of digital courses. Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or you're just starting out in your online business journey, creating and selling digital courses can open up exciting new avenues for growth and and income. Now what I want to mention is first that the global elearning market is experiencing growth with projections suggesting it will reach 325 billion by the year 2025. Now that is just around the corner. And I think all of this expansion is driven by several different factors. One is increasing Internet accessibility and there's definite, definitely a growing demand for flexible skill based learning where people can learn at their own pace, anywhere that they want to. So for all of us who are interested in creating digital courses, this does represent a golden opportunity to share expertise, scale our impact and create additional revenue stream streams. Now before I get into the types of courses that you can create, I want to just mention that creating digital courses really does offer a multitude of benefits that go really beyond just generating revenue and income. Now one of the things that I love about online courses is that it gives you the opportunity to establish your authority. So with a digital course, you can position yourself as a thought leader in your field, which opens up doors to speaking engagements, collaborations and also media opportunities. If you go to my website, you can go to destinycop.com media and we'll put that link in the show notes. You can see about all the speaking engagements I've had over the years, the collaboration opportunities and all the media opportunities that I have done. And I really do think that a lot of that has to do with what I have done. With the digital courses. The other thing that a digital course allows you to do is have a global reach so you can break geographical barriers and you can reach students worldwide 24 by 7. So your expertise is no longer limited by time zones or travel constraints. The other thing that digital courses give you is a scalable business model. So unlike one on one services, digital courses allow you to serve thousands of students all at the same time without increasing your workload. The other thing that digital courses give you is that time freedom, which is one of my core values, quite frankly. So once you create, your course can continue to generate revenue, do with minimal ongoing effort, which really does free up your time to focus on any high level business strategies or just, you know, pursue what you whatever you want to pursue personally, maybe a hobby or something like that. The other thing that digital courses allow you to do is to diversify your income. So when you add a new revenue channel to your existing business or, or you can even build out an entire empire around online education. So there you go, those are the benefits or the extra benefits, I should say, for creating an online course. So what I want to dive in now are the different types of digital courses that you can create and also where I would suggest that you start. And the first is creating what I call is a mini course. Now a mini course are really short, focused programs that address a specific problem or teach a particular skill. And they are many, right? So the duration of them are going to be short. Typically a student is going to be able to get through a mini course within like one to three hours. And these are best for when you want to introduce new customers to your brand or if you want to give them a quick win. So for instance, when you're selling a mini course, generally you're going to use this as in what we call like a tripwire. So when somebody signs up for your free lead magnet on the next page, you're going to have this special limited time offer. It's going to be a low cost offer. Many courses are generally priced between like 27 and $97. So a really low cost offer that gives them a quick win. And you're going to have this special offer saying wait before you go, I have this special offer that I think you'll be interested in. So it's a low barrier to entry for students and it's great for lead generation. So people sign up for your lead magnet and then on the next page you can, you know, offer your mini course. And I would say a con to this, is that a low Price point means that you're going to need higher volume for significant revenue. So that's, you know, one of the things that you'll have to think about. But I generally recommend that every online entrepreneur has in their back pocket a mini course and has it tied in to their lead magnet along with a, you know, a funnel that goes along with that. But somebody signs up for your lead magnet, your free lead magnet, and then on the next page you have this tripwire offer, which is your mini course. So that's a really, really good place to start. The other benefit for a mini course is that they're generally easy to develop. Right. It's a short course, so you're only going to have a few lessons in it and maybe some supplemental material. So it's something that you, as the entrepreneur can create very quickly, unlike some of the other offers that I'm going to be talking about next. Okay, so the next type of digital course that you can create is what we call a subject matter course. Now these courses are going to dive just a little bit more deeper into a particular topic, so it's going to give them more comprehensive coverage for those who are wanting to develop their skills a little further. So generally the duration of a mini course, a student's going to be able to complete it maybe let's say between like four and 10 hours, and the price range is going to be a little bit higher. So generally you're going to see these ranging anywhere from like $97 to $497. And these courses, these subject matter courses are best when you want to dig a little bit more into that particular topic, providing a little bit more in depth knowledge. And they are priced at a higher point than the mini cool courses and they do position you as an expert in that field. Now, I would say from a con perspective, they're going to require you to take a little bit more time and resources to create, but it's not overwhelming there and you may need to have, you know, keep them updated regularly just to stay current, depending on, you know, how quickly the information in your field changes. Now, the next type of course that you can create is your flagship signature course. And this really represents the pinnacle of your expertise and it may even include personalized support. Now, the duration of these for a lot of people are going to be like eight to 16 weeks, maybe even more than that, depending on the price point and how much support you are giving your students. And from a price range perspective, you're going to see these signature type courses ranging anywhere from like 997 to 2000 or 25. I've even seen them go up to like $5,000 or more depending on how much support you have in there. And these courses are best for when you want to provide transformative results and really showcase your unique methodology. Okay. And these are going to give you the highest revenue potential per student and gives you the opportunity to provide significant value and transformation for your student and absolutely establishes you as the top expert in your field. Now from a con perspective, they're going to require more time to develop, to create, deliver and to market. And they're also going to require more hands on support for your students and personalization. So that just keep that in mind. Now the next type of course that this is another one that I absolutely love. And these are what I call quick win type courses or workshops. So this might be a 30 minute workshop or 60 minute workshop. And these courses focus on providing and delivering immediate actionable results for participants in a short amount of time frame. Now a lot of times these are done live and then you can record them and sell them later. You can sell the recording later. Like it may be in a funnel or as a tripwire. And this is another reason why I like these and like what I said, a lot of these are going to be anywhere from like 30 to 60 or 90 minutes. They're going to be done live and initially first and then you can resell them. And these are best used for when you want to build trust with your new audience and really create momentum. So if you're like destiny, I just really want to dip my toes into creating courses. Creating a quick win course or workshop is one of the best ways to do that. And they're fast to create, they're easy to sell, they provide immediate value to your students and like I said, they can be used later as a low cost offer in your business. The next type of course I want to talk about is a membership based course. Now if you want a specific example of this, you can go to my newsletter, Profit Club. So a membership course offers ongoing access to a library of content, often with regular updates or additions. So every single month we're giving our members new content here. We also have a library of content in the newsletter Profit Club. So again, the duration of this is ongoing. So your students are paying a price point every single month. Generally it's a low cost price point. It can range anywhere from like $19 a month or $9 a month to $99 a month. What I love about these membership based courses is they give you that predictable recurring revenue and you can also build a community with it. So that is some of the pros related to it. I would say A con is it requires consistent content creation. But depending on your market, your audience, this may work very well for what you are delivering. Another con is you may have some higher churn rate than one time purchases. So people are going to come in the membership and then you know at some point they're going to leave. So you really, really got to manage that churn rate. The next type of course that you can create is what we call a cohort based course. And these courses will bring together a group of students who progress through the materials together, which does foster that peer to peer learning and networking. And again these are generally a duration. So you're going to see them running anywhere from like six to 12 weeks. And the price range can run anywhere from like 497 to around $3,000. So example of this would be my digital product growth lab. So we're bringing together a group of students, they can, you know, go through the materials together, but in that particular case they're going to pick and choose what's best for their own particular journey. But you know, they get a lot of hands on support there. It does have that peer to peer learning in there and that networking. So something like this is best for delivering high touch transformative experience. So in some of the pros to this, you have that community, you have that accountability, you can combine command, I should say higher prices due to the interactive nature of this cohort experience. And a lot of things, a lot of times this does lead to higher completion rates and satisfaction rates because your students are getting that hands on type help, if you would. It does have limited scalability due to the high touch nature and it will require more active involvement from you as the teacher and as the expert. I get very hands on in these type of experiences with my students. There another thing that you can create and a lot of this will depend upon the industry, your expertise and what you're bringing to the to the table. But that is a certification course and I love certification course courses for the right niche. And with a certification course you are offering a recognized credential upon completion which does add a ton of extra value for your students. And again these are normally kind of cohort or they're going through it, you know, during a specific time. Normally it's going to be like 4 to 12 weeks. The price range can be anywhere from like 997 to 5 grand. So you are Definitely position yourself as an industry leader and you are creating a network of certified practitioners. So this is a high perceived value due to the certification. Definitely positions you as a standard setter in your industry. I would say a con for this may be that it requires a more rigorous content development and testing and you may need, you may need to meet some industry recognition or accreditation for maximum impact. So there you go. Those are the kind of courses that you can create. And I'm positive that every single person listening to this can, you know, point to at least one of these and say, you know what? That's for me, that is perfect for me. Whether it's the mini course, whether it's the signature course, whether it's just starting with that workshop that we talked about. Okay, so next I want to talk about some common hurdles or things that you might be like thinking about, or fears you might be thinking about or objections. And let's just address these head on. So a lot of times people come to me and they're like, destiny, I don't feel like I'm expert enough. And I just want you to remember that you don't need to know everything. Your unique experiences and perspective are valuable. I want you to start with what you know and then grow from there. I can tell you I actually had somebody ask me and I've been teaching online for, oh gosh, upwards of 25 years. And I had somebody ask me this summer. They're like, destiny, has, has anybody ever asked you a question in one of your classes that you didn't know the answer to? And I had to think about that for a second. I was like, you know what, I don't think that's ever happened. Not even once that that has happened from a student I was working with in one of my courses, through my personal brand or at the university level. And I've taught hundreds of hundreds of classes there and thousands of students there too. Or even in my one on one coaching, I've never had that happen. I've had people ask me specific questions about their niche. And you know, I don't know all the ins and outs of people's niches. Right. I'd have to go research that to figure that out. So what I'll just say in that case is I don't know the answer to that for that specific niche, but here's where I would go to research that. But so I can tell you that you are expert enough. And people out there and your students who are learning from you, they're certainly not the expert that you are. So they want you. Your knowledge. Something else that you might be thinking about or concerned with is that the market is saturated. And while there may be other courses in your niche, there's always room for quality content and fresh perspectives. I will say that your authentic voice and your unique approach to solving that for your students, to solving the pain point for your students is going to resonate with them. The other thing you might be worried about, you might be thinking, I don't have the tech skills that are needed to do this and I don't want you to let technology intimidate you because all of these modern course platforms that we have out there have made it easier than ever to create and host professional looking courses. And I would say that your students aren't looking for a Hollywood, Hollywood based experience, they're just looking for your expertise. Okay? The other thing that you might be saying is, Destiny, I don't have the time to do this. And creating a course does require an initial time investment. I would gather and suggest that it probably doesn't take as long as you think it does. And then, and that's the case, if that's what you're worried about, I would start with that mini course or that workshop that we talked about today, just to test the waters. Okay, so your next step and your action item is I want you to unlock your course idea and I'm going to help you do this with AI because I have put together a very, very short workshop. And if you are wondering what course should I create, this is where this idea generator workshop will help you. So in this very short workshop that I created, and it's free and you can sign up for it below and I'll put the link for it below, you will be able to generate profitable course ideas using AI. You'll be able to figure out how to transform your expertise into revenue and I will also walk you through how to streamline the course creation workshop. Okay, so definitely sign up for that. I'm going to put the link in the show notes if you have any questions whatsoever about Destiny. I'm interested in this, but I don't know what kind of course to create or do you have any suggestions for me on where I should start? Respond back to any of the emails I have sent to you. You can also send questions in through your podcast app. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. Have a great rest of your day and bye for now. Thanks for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed this episode today. If you love the show. I'd appreciate a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform. Have a great rest of your day and bye for now.