What I *Wish* I Would Have Known Before Creating My First Online Course

As you may know if you follow along with my daily Instagram stories, i've been hard at work here in Bali creating my *newest* online course, that teaches my exact step by step process for creating your OWN profitable online course. 

An online course about online courses. Basically course-ception. 

Which has got me thinking about all of the things I *WISH* I would have known before creating my first online course, and so today I thought i'd share them with you. 

1. Hard work + HUGE payoffs

Online courses can take A LOT of time and effort to create. There is the actual course creation itself (the outline, slides, videos, audio, private community, worksheets, organization, etc.) but also, things like continuing to grow your audience and email list WHILE you create your course, staying active on social media, learning how to market and position your course, and prepping for the LAUNCH (<<< arguably the most important part). 

All of this can sound exhausting and daunting, I know. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel: I wish I would have known that 2-3 months of course work would have YEARS of payoff in the future. For example, it's been over 9 months (!!!) since I created a new course, but those 2-3 months of work on the front end now continue to bring in money for me, WHILE I TRAVEL, every single day, without me actively doing anything (besides adding updates- thanks a lot Instagram 🤣). For this reason, online courses are THE BEST business model in my opinion, so if you can stay motivated for a just few months while you create it - you can continue to reap it's benefits for years to come. 

2. Know who your students are

I'll save you the "niche down" lecture because I know that you guys already know that 😉. The even *more* important thing you need to know before creating + launching your own online course is: WHO is your ideal student? And for this, i'm not talking about pulling some imaginary person out of thin air who you want to manifest (although i'm allll about manifesting...) a more effective way to do this is to either:

     a. Think about the parallels between past clients. What did they ALL struggle with? Did you feel like a broken record, saying that same things, over and over again? What were they? What kept them up at night? What was causing them pain? What solution did you provide to them?

     b. No 1:1 client experience? That's ok, too! In this case, think about who YOU were, before you became the expert you are today. What things caused you pain/suffering? What did you waste a lot of time/energy/money/sleep over? What kind of resource could you create for your old self, to make life a little bit easier? Get back into your own mindset - a few years ago - and connect with your old self. What were YOU going through? Guaranteed if you've been through it personally, there are THOUSANDS of other people struggling with the exact same thing, right now. 

Want to create your own online course? Learn how to determine your profitable course idea HERE!

3. Bridge the expert-student language gap

Once you know who your ideal student is - do you know HOW to speak to them? One of the most difficult things about creating an online course, and another thing I wish I knew when first starting out, is that the way you speak TO your students and ABOUT your online course, matters. Once you become an "expert" on a specific topic, it is SO easy to forget how to speak to those who need your help.

For example, a course on:

The complete roadmap to liver/gallbladder health

VS. 

Detox your way out of PMS!

Both courses could have the exact same information - but most likely, if your ideal student is not a nutrition expert, they are not going to know WHY they need improved liver/gallbladder health. They DO however, know that they have horrible PMS, and let's be honest, "detox" is a sexy word. 

Knowing how to talk about, teach, and market your course topic IN LANGUAGE THAT RESONATES WITH YOUR STUDENTS (and not necessarily language YOU use) can make the difference between a 5 figure launch, and one that falls flat - even if the course content is EXACTLY the same. 

4. You don't have to be an "expert"

Did my use of the words "expert" bring out your inner mean girl? Are you "totally not an expert" on anything yet? I hear you. 

Nutrition/wellness peeps are notoriously humble, I love you guys. 

Well, get ready to have you mind blown: but I wish I would have known that I didn't need to be the best in the world at something before creating my first online course. 

I created a course on adrenal fatigue. Am I smarter than Dr. Josh Axe, Chris Kresser, or Diane Sanfillipo? Um, no. 

I created a course on minimalism and paying off debt. Am I more of an expert than Dave Ramsey? Um, no. 

I created a course on starting your own online business. Do I know more than Marie Forleo or Amy Porterfield? Hell no. 

But, have I achieved results around each of these topics for MYSELF and my clients? YES. 

Do I have an important, unique message to share based on my own struggles and triumphs? YES. A method to get my clients from A-B successfully? YES. YES. YES.

Am I more of an expert on these topics than my ideal students? YES. 

The bottom line is: if you have gotten results for yourself or your clients, you are passionate about your topic, and you have an important message to share with the world, you are enough of an expert to start sharing your expertise. Your playing small serves no one. 

Hope this was helpful for you :)

Also, if you are interested in creating your own online course (or you've already started, woohoo!) and you want to make sure it will be PROFITABLE before you spend any more time working on it, grab my cheatsheet below that will help you determine your online course idea :)

XO,

Amie