5 Signs You’re Ready to Create an Online Course
If you’ve been active online in the last couple of years (hello, all of us), then you know that online courses are a big thing right now. You’ve cheered on fellow entrepreneurs as they launched their courses that are designed to help you land more clients, write stellar website copy, or better manage your time. You’ve probably even taken an online course yourself!
But does that mean you should create an online course, too?
There are countless reasons why so many business owners have opted to create an online course of their own. Launching a course opens up the door to new opportunities including…
An additional revenue stream — hello, passive income!
A chance to build your personal brand
A way to scale your business
The opportunity to help a large group of people
If the idea of launching an online course is something you’ve been interested in, there are a few things to keep in mind to determine if you’re at that stage of your business yet. Here are a few signs you’re ready to take the next step and pursue your course creation goals.
5 Signs You’re Ready To Create An Online Course
1. You’re A Subject Matter Expert
If you’ve been wanting to create an online course, there’s a good chance you already have a topic in mind that you want to teach; it’s most likely a skill that you’ve honed from years of experience. But experience alone isn’t enough. The key to building a successful online course is to have a proven, repeatable, and *teachable* process in place. Your potential students need to not only see why YOU are the expert on this subject but that they can easily repeat your process themselves.
Let’s say you are a freelancer and want to create a course that teaches other freelancers how to land more clients. In order to establish credibility and show potential students that you’ve mastered the art of freelancing, your course should reveal your step-by-step process as well as any results that prove that it really works. For example, “this cold email formula has helped me land X additional clients per month.” If you’re still refining your process, then you may want to hold off on creating an online course until it’s super clear and proven to work.
2. You’ve Already Created Similar Content
While creating an online course is much more extensive than, say, writing a blog post, it helps if you’ve already created educational content for your business before—whether that’s blog content, worksheets, or even a workshop. Having this sort of content creation experience means that you already know how to explain a topic in an engaging way (and you likely already have an audience that’s eager to learn!).
Plus, if the content you’ve created is in line with the potential course you want to build, then you’ve already got a head start. You can most likely repackage that content in a way that makes sense for an online learning format.
And if you haven’t already created educational content? It’s never too late to start! Creating a free downloadable worksheet or checklist is a great way to test the waters before diving into full course creation.
3. You’re Ready To Reach A Larger Audience
If you have a solution for a problem that can help a large number of people, then an online course is the perfect avenue. As a business owner, especially if you have a service-based business, you love being able to help others. But when you’re limited to one-on-one client interactions, you don’t have the opportunity (or time) to help as many people as you’d like.
The beauty of an online course is that you can reach a large group of people all at once. You don’t need to spread yourself too thin by working solely with clients or offering consulting services. Instead, you can package up all of that knowledge and use it to reach a large audience online.
PRO TIP: Make it easy to share and promote your online course by creating a dedicated website for it. Our customizable Club Collective template is designed specifically for online courses and membership platforms.
4. You’re Ready To Grow Your Personal Brand
Sometimes when you’re busy building your business, it’s easy to forget about promoting yourself behind the business. All of your focus is on your product or service, and your own personal brand can get lost in the mix. But YOU are the magic behind your business and your experience matters! If you’re ready to step into the spotlight and showcase your personal experience as a business owner, it may be time to create an online course.
An online course is a great opportunity to position yourself as an expert, whether that expertise is in leadership, building a retail business, or creating a six-figure marketing agency. And when you have a strong personal brand, you open yourself up to thought leadership opportunities like speaking gigs or workshop invites.
5. You Want To Make More Time For Other Projects
Ask anyone who has created an online course before — the time and energy you spend on it upfront is no joke. But all of those late nights and early mornings spent in front of the computer for hours and hours ends up being well worth it once you have an online course that works *for* you.
Creating an additional revenue stream is arguably one of the top reasons entrepreneurs choose to make an online course. And for good reason! Once you have steady passive income coming in, you can free up time to focus on other projects or personal pursuits, whether that’s scaling back on client work, building another business, or spending more time with family.
The Wrap Up
While online courses require a ton of work, there are countless benefits to creating one. If you’ve been in business for a while, have proven experience and extensive knowledge on a specific subject, and are ready to scale your business, then you may be ready to finally launch an online course.