Create your course
- 1. HOW TO CREATE YOUR COURSE QUICK RE-CAP
- 2. 1. PICK THE PERFECT COURSE TOPIC (I ALSO GO IN DEPTH IN A DIFFERENT MODULE) • Your course topic must be something that you LOVE or know very WELL. If you are not passionate or highly knowledgeable about your topic, it will be obvious and will make your training about as engaging as a cardboard sandwich. • Don’t feel like you have to teach a university-level profession. Think about your skills, talents and life experiences that you have been through. Cooking your favorite dishes, interior design, writing non- fiction, overcoming the death of a loved one… the list of possible course topics is endless. • In short, if you love your topic or know your topic, you are good at your topic and you have experience (formal or life) in it, then you have a topic that will work for you.
- 3. 2. ENSURE YOUR COURSE IDEA HAS HIGH MARKET DEMAND (THERE IS ALSO 3 MODULES ON THIS) • The next step is to conduct a number of market research tests to see if it has a market demand or not. Many course creators make the mistake of thinking that if there is a lot of competition in their topic area, then their course idea won’t work. But actually, this shows that there is a high chance of there being a strong market demand for that course idea and is therefore well worth investigating further. • The main three things you want to be checking for are: Are people talking about it? Are people asking questions about it? Is there a gap in what the competition is offering? • If your answer to the above three questions is ‘yes’ and your idea is similar but different to what is already out there, then you have a course idea that has a chance of being a best-seller.
- 4. 3. CREATE COMPELLING LEARNING OUTCOMES • Don’t underestimate the importance of learning outcomes. If you don’t do this for your online courses you could severely risk your reputation and your bottom line – let alone make the course creation process a frustrating one. • Would you hand over your money to someone for a product you don’t understand and you have no idea what it will do for you? Of course not. Just because you know what your course will give your students, it does not mean that they will know. If your students don’t know HOW your course is going to help them, they are unlikely to enroll in it. • Learning outcomes clearly explain, with measurable verbs, what the learner will be able to do, know and feel by the end of your course. What skills will they be able to demonstrate? What new knowledge will they have obtained? What feelings will they have moved away from or to? • Having clear learning outcomes also ensures that only the RIGHT students are joining your course – which means higher completion and satisfaction rates.
- 5. 4. SELECT, CREATE AND GATHER YOUR COURSE CONTENT • This is the stage where many course creators start to procrastinating. • The main reason we get stuck here is often because of the sheer volume of information we have in our heads or all around us in books, on our hard drives, in our notepads and so on. The art at this stage is not just about what we should include in our course, but what stuff we need to leave out. • This is where the research you will have conducted in the market testing phase and your learning outcomes, now come to serve you again. As you are sorting through your piles of content, throw out anything that does not directly relate to achieving a learning outcome. • Secondly, make sure that every learning outcome does have content aligned to it. • Only include content that answers your audiences burning questions, or fills gaps not met by your competitors.
- 6. 5. STRUCTURE YOUR MODULES AND COURSE PLAN • This is the stage where you now take a look at all of your content and start grouping together your similar themes, tips, and ideas into modules and then ordering the lectures in a logical manner to make the information flow smoother for the customer (the person who is actually going to go through your course and LEARN).
- 7. 6. DETERMINE THE MOST ENGAGING AND EFFECTIVE DELIVERY METHODS FOR EACH LESSON • Now it’s time to decide on the best way to deliver your content. • You need to be aware of the different principles of adult learning, learning preferences and all of the different ways that you can deliver your training to really make sure that your information is as engaging as possible. Will you have videos, reading content, activities, audio content? What type of visuals will you have? Will you have community learning areas? • You need to make sure that you have a balance of visual, audio and practical methodologies so that everyone is engaged and provided with the optimum learning experience.
- 8. 7. FILMING, RECORDING AND EDITING YOUR ONLINE COURSE • By now you should have a thorough course plan, all of your content together and know exactly how you are going to deliver each element of your online course. • Of course how you deliver your training is entirely dependent on what your audience will prefer to engage with and what method delivers your learning outcomes most effectively. However, at present the most effective method of delivery is video. • This could be a ‘talking head’ video which is when you are in the shot on camera. You could also have ‘green screen’ talking head videos. This means that you are recording with a green background behind you – where you have a green screen, you can have anything behind you during the editing process. It could be a video behind you, animations, or just a still image. Another method is called screencasting which is when you are recording your computer screen – you can choose to include a webcam type video of yourself on top of this.
- 9. 8. LAUNCH AND ONGOING MARKETING • If you think the work is over now that you’ve completed on your online course think again now the real work begins! • Too many course creators make the mistake of thinking that once their course is created, they now have an income stream. You need to launch and ongoing marketing strategy to promote and enroll students. Will you run early bird discount promotions? Do you have a content marketing plan that will sell your online courses? Will you run ads? Do you have a list to market to? Can you partner up with influencers? Will you run an affiliate program? How will you use social media? • The list is endless. Remember that the second you stop marketing is the second you stop selling.