I have witnessed a few common mistakes that are made over and over again, causing new course creators to fail before they really get themselves off the starting line:
Mistake 1. Giving up too easily.
Of course, there are lots of things that you need to learn. It is hard work selling anything online and it requires dedication, consistency and persistence over a long period of time. Many new course creators think that as soon as they publish their course it will bring in millions of dollars right away. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. It takes a bit more work and effort for that. Some think that posting the link to their course on Facebook a couple of times a week is going to make them successful. Again, that's not how it works.
You have high hopes from all the gurus out there who told you that you will become a millionaire overnight. Now that it didn't, you told yourself that you aren't good at this or this isn't going to work for you and you are ready to quit. Please don't quit early because quitting doesn't get you there faster. Remember:
- Step 1 is creating your product.
- Step 2 is marketing that product, building an audience, getting it in front of people. Making sales consistently requires consistent marketing.
Your product will only sell to the level at which you are putting in the marketing and to the number of people you are actively putting it in front of. Do not quit because quitting does not sell your course.
Mistake 2. Trying to create an enormous course on your first go at it.
This can be setting yourself up for failure so please do not place so much pressure on yourself. Creating a course, like doing anything new, requires a learning curve. You must figure many things out for the first time. When you go hiking for the first time, are you going to go climb Mt. Everest on your first time ever? You have to work up to doing these larger courses. I recommend that the first course that you create be a small lead magnet course. This way you'll learn the process of:
- picking the right topic
- conducting market research to make sure it's going to sell and that people are interested
- structuring it
- filming it
- editing it
- installing it on an online platform
You are going to learn these things on a small scale first. It's going to be much easier for you to tackle, execute and (most importantly) complete. Then you duplicate that same process again for a slightly larger course for your coaching program, your authority flagship, or copy-and-paste on a small scale for micro-learning for your membership academy.
Please don't start off with a huge course that is going to be so overwhelming for you the first time you're going through this process. You will just get imposter syndrome and feel suffocated. Anyone trying to do brand new things at a huge scale straight from the starting line will just be setting themselves up for overwhelm and it's going to be tough. Start small.
Mistake 3. Fear of trolls.
Of course, none of us like to be criticized. In the online space people might say mean things about you, give you or your product a negative review, and Mad Margaret may come onto your Facebook page in a drunken sprawl saying something ridiculous. Hey, it's the internet, but too many course creators focus on what might go wrong rather than focusing on what might go right. What if people:
- Say nice things about you?
- Love you?
- Write really cool things such as, “Hey. Thank you for this course. You've changed my life!”
It's amazing to me how we focus so much on self- preservation (me too). That's that flight or fight biologically ingrained in us to protect ourselves from danger. Are you really going to focus on a mean word (that cannot kill you), rather than focusing on all of the amazing, positive, happy, great, expanding things that could happen to you if you get the course out there? We focus on what could go wrong instead of focusing on what could (and likely) will go right if we just get over ourselves and get our thing out there. Let's face it: You have full control over your own platforms. If Mad Margaret does get on a wine binge and starts saying something mean about you, you can delete it and get on with your life.
Please just put aside the fears of what might go wrong and instead focus on all the people out there who you can help--all the lives that you can change (including your own).
Now there you have it—three big mistakes that several course creators make when they first start creating their online courses, coaching programs or memberships. If you want to make sure that you skip all the mistakes and get the results that you're looking for, let's have a brief conversation about it. Just think, you will have it out of your head, on your own platform, and launched out into the world before you know it!
