Online E-Course Creation! Come Map Out a Passive Course With Me!

Friends!

Have you been itching to start a passive e-course but been unsure of how to begin? I’m here to guide you through all of the steps to creating your own online course so you can make money the passive, easy way.

First things first, the only way to create a course successfully, is to make sure it offers a sought-after solution to a problem. “Don’t teach something you haven’t successfully implemented and conquered.” You want to be trustworthy and provide a reliable solution with your e-course but are unsure of how to get it done…

If your course idea makes it through the first round, it’s time to get to work. Let’s build that framework, make the outline, create a simple PowerPoint deck, and hit record on the video modules! Wa-la!

However, I know figuring out the who, what, why, and how of these steps can be tricky. Don’t worry, I’ve been there. In today’s podcast episode, I give you all of my tried and true resources for all things “course creation.” Plus, I go over some other helpful hints to make sure your course is tailor-made for your target market!

Once you’ve done the heavy lifting and your e-course is ready to share, it’s decision time. I’ll give you the run-down of the best ways to finalize your e-course so that it is accessible, organized, and ready to impress! I even found the best way to host using ThriveCart and Teachable AND a step-by-step guide to make sure everything goes smoothly!

I pray this blesses you!

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00)
Hey, Lola, welcome to episode 177 of the podcast. This is a continuation from last week. When we talked about being an affiliate versus creating your own course. Today, I’m going to reteach how to create your own passive product in the form of an online course. I have taught this before, but it was way back in episode 32, and I still recommend you listen to that.

(00:28)
It’s just that I’ve learned so much in the past year. Since I have published that episode and I’ve coached so many more women on creating their own products that have become successful. I just wanted to do a refresher and help all of you that are sitting in that space of, I want something that’s mine. I’m ready for this. I want to create an online, passive product. I wanted to lay out for you what to do, the actual framework to get you from I think I want to create a thing to have clarity over what my course is and I’m ready and I’m excited. I’m going to do the things. Yes, yes. Give me an amen. Let’s get into this. It’s going to be so juicy.

(01:12)
Before we do, though, I just wanted to remind you if at any point in this process, you guys, you are stuck on limiting beliefs, mindset. You can’t get the breakthrough. You can’t figure out the clarity. What’s the brand look like. What’s the course, which modules work for me? The copy, the sales page copy. You’re just stuck. Basically stuck on something that’s keeping you from moving the needle forward.

(01:39)
Please reach out to me at support@stefaniegass.com and let’s do a coaching session. Okay? One of my giftings is clarity coaching. I’m here for you, and there’s no reason that you should be stuck on one simple piece of this puzzle. Let’s break through that. Let’s map that out together, and it includes this. If you get to the end of this episode and you still feel confused or frustrated and you need help with the implementation, let’s do this. Let’s talk. Let’s grab a coaching session. I am here to support you. I coach. And you can get in touch with us for pricing, for availability support@stefaniegass.com.

(03:46)
So Susan created this macro thing. She figured out protein and fat and carbs and calories that would work, but it’s a little bit different than something that everyone else has ever done before. And she saw it work for herself. That’s your first aha moment that maybe you have something that you could package into a course. It’s worked for you. Next tier. It’s also worked for others. We’ve got to make sure that whatever you’re going to teach your system, your solution, it’s not a one off. It’s actually worked for other people as well.

(04:33)
So there’s a couple of ways that Susan can do this. Susan can take on pro bono clients and say, hey, best friends, Lola and Karen. I’m going to give you guys my macro plan and I’m going to have you take it for 30 days and I’ll walk you through the process. We’re going to go through all the stuff at the end of it. If you have amazing results, I need a testimony from you. And I want to pick your brain on what I could do better.

(05:04)
Well, now let’s say it works for Lola and Karen. Okay. Now we’re talking now Susan has a bit of social proof and enough to be sure that if she created a course, it could work. Okay? So the next step for Susan is to then create a framework around this solution. Because at this point it’s probably a little bit clunky. She figured it out for herself, she figured it out for Karen and for Lola, she talked to them every week. She got them through the process.

(05:38)
How can Susan streamline this solution into a step by step process where there is no fluff? There is no back and forth either. It is Susan going from A, B, C, D, E, and getting someone results using her macro plan. It’s a framework. So don’t create a course when you’re not sure what your step by step process is to get someone from step A to step whatever okay.

(06:12)
So basically Susan’s creating this macro master course for moms. Why what’s her framework? She’s going to get the busy mom to understand food as fuel and to go through the process of figuring out what she needs to fuel her body in a simple, easy, seamless, efficient, and cheap or inexpensive way. Give her the plan of executing that food plan, that macro plan each week, then providing the accountability so she can actually have success with it. And seeing her through the process.

(06:48)
That is a framework it’s, I’m creating the plan with you. Here’s the grocery list, the meal prep. Here’s how you plug in all your numbers and you calculate and you track and then step whatever is accountability implementation and having ongoing success, right? So you’ve got to create that for your solution.

(07:08)
So at this process, at this point, let’s pause. Okay, what have we done? We’ve identified something we have done in our niche that has brought us success, where you sit today. Okay. If you are in the female entrepreneurship space and you’re like, I just started, I’m so excited. I’ve got a podcast it’s a month old. I don’t have a course yet. I’m so pumped. I’m going to go teach people how to create funnels. Wrong.

(07:41)
Don’t teach something you haven’t successfully implemented and conquered. Don’t teach something that you haven’t helped other people do. And guys, I’m raising my hand. I did this over and over and over again because I just thought that’s what people wanted. I saw other people doing courses that looked fancy and cool. And I thought, that’s what I should do. But until you have the solution and you’ve seen it through and proven it, it’s actually unethical to teach it.

(08:11)
So pause and ask yourself where I sit, what have I done that someone else hasn’t done yet in my space and then ask yourself, is it something teachable? And can I get some other people to have the same result? If all of those answers are, yes, you’re ready. You’re ready to grab a sheet of paper, get an Excel spreadsheet. Use mindmeister.com, thanks Chelsi Jo again for sharing that with all of us. It’s a free program where you can build out your course, very simply your framework, because that’s the next step. It’s the framework.

(08:48)
So this gal is taking her macro master course for moms. And she’s going to map it out into a framework. Another word for that is a step-by-step process that we can then plug into modules in the course, right? When you go into a course, you want to see an introduction. What do we expect here? How to get the most out of this program. We then want to see what, what are macros? Why do I care? What goes into having a successful lifestyle health system as a busy mom, right? What, why am I here?

(09:23)
Then you want to explain what they were going to get at the end of this process, because you want to get people to commit with you. That’s going to be the biggest thing you want to focus on in step one in module one of your program. And module one is pretty much just going to be a PowerPoint presentation with your voiceover. And I just use Zoom. I create my little PowerPoint with module one.

(09:46)
After the framework has been built and separated into pieces. And I just record just like this. Plug in my mic record using Zoom and my PowerPoint. I don’t really show my face except for the introduction and the exit. And I’m talking people through what I’m teaching. Very, very simple. Okay. So then the next thing for this macro master course might be mindset. We got to get into a healthy mindset. We’ve got to understand why we’re going to take two hours a week to meal prep. Why we’re going to swap out the foods that we are, why we’re going to purge our pantry of all of that bad stuff.

(10:20)
Why we can’t have gallons and gallons of ice cream in the freezer? You guys, I need to take this course. Someone create this course for me ASAP. I don’t know about y’all, but the past 30 days, whatever it is, of quarantine got me like, Oh, where are my stretchy pants? It’s real bad, real bad. Anyway. Then she’s going to go into what’s next personalized macro planning. And maybe she has a calculator and this person plugs in all their stats or they email her and she emails them back a personalized plan. Okay.

(10:55)
Then maybe they go through meal prepping and food prepping. And then maybe the next module is execution and accountability. So when to create your meals, how to feed your family how to grocery shop on a budget, like whatever the things are that fit into this execution and accountability portion, you’re going to map that out and you’re going to plug it into your PowerPoint and then you’re going to have that ready to go.

(11:18)
The final one is maybe a printable, a tracker of some kind. And then finally you have your conclusion and last but not least always hear me, always have an upsell. Because now that your person’s had success with the macro master course, and she’s starting to see success and feel healthier and more energetic and lose a couple pounds, she goes, oh my gosh, I need more Susan. Susan. I loved you. I loved your course. How do I work with you at a deeper capacity?

(11:48)
Well, Susan can show up and go, Hey mama, I hope you loved this macro master course that you are having success in macro planning. Guess what? Here I am. I’m Susan and I offer macro master master sessions where we can sit together for 60 minutes and go through your stuff together. Beat the roadblocks, have accountability sessions. Like maybe she offers one-on-one and then she can charge a premium for that.

(12:13)
So inside your course, you should always offer somebody the next step in the final module. All right. So now what? You’ve got everything mapped out. You’ve built your framework in Mind Meister or Excel even on paper. I don’t care. You got it mapped out, you know, step one, step two, step three. What goes inside of each step? You’re going to then create your PowerPoint slide for each separate module. Each separate step deserves a video.

(12:47)
If your videos are really long, break it down into sub steps with smaller videos, I would rather have, you know, 10, five minute videos with mini steps than one huge 60 minute long video. Granted, I have long videos in my courses because well, time and I figure people can pause it, but it’s totally up to you and how you would prefer to consume, but just something to consider.

(13:16)
If you’re teaching macros to a busy mom, you might want to think about the length of your videos and it doesn’t mean you should cut your content short. It just means how can you break it up so that it’s more digestible. All right, then you’re actually going to sit behind your computer. What I do is I take a whole day or two away, go to my mom’s house as she has better internet. She doesn’t live in the country, she’s in the city, I sit down and I’m ready. I knock out all my videos, right?

(13:46)
Got my makeup on, got my charger, ready to go. I’m on my A game. I get there and I record all my modules in one or two days. Then I can go back home and upload everything and get all the little pieces put together. So then the next step is to figure out, where are you going to host your online product? There are so many places that you guys can host your courses. All of them are an investment. Okay.

(14:11)
I have tried my own website and I found it was super clunky. It didn’t allow people to go through one module, complete it, and then see the next module. When they logged in, it was, you know, janky. I’ve also tried YouTube, same thing. I needed a platform that was built for courses. So I went with Teachable. Why did I go with Teachable? Because I’m actually obsessed with Thrive Cart as my checkout.

(14:44)
I increased checkout by 50% by switching to Thrive cart. It does upsells for me. It’s how I sell my coaching packages, it’s where my affiliate program lives. It’s the best plus it’s a one time investment. And so, because I was so obsessed with Thrive cart, I went with Teachable because Thrive Cart has a program with Teachable. So that’s what I use, Thrive Cart paired with Teachable.

(15:11)
If you guys want to use the programs I use you can go to stefaniegass.com/resources. Every program I use is there, like I mentioned last week. If you guys buy through my affiliate links, that is an incredible way that you can support this show. Okay? I do make a percentage of every sale and I am so grateful for that. I’m so grateful for those of you that use my links because that’s how we make money.

(16:07)
That’s how this show is here. This is my job. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A million thank yous to every single one of you that use my affiliate links, which is also why we love affiliate marketing. Right? Go back to last episode and think about what can you affiliate for.

(16:25)
So I use Teachable and what you can do is create your account wherever you decide, and you log in and you just upload your modules. Just upload them one by one, you create steps and sub categories for each portion of what you are teaching, right? So for example, the macro master course for moms would have module one welcome introduction and a beautiful video of Susan explaining who she is and why she created this program and what to expect.

(16:56)
Module two would maybe be introduction to macros. There is a PowerPoint that Susan is going through teaching what macros are, why we care, what it looks like. And then step B is maybe calculate your macros, okay, etc. And on and on and on and on. So that’s what you’re going to do for your course. Then the only other things you really have to think about are, what do I price this thing at? And then when am I going to launch it because you really have to consider your audience size, how you want to sell open cart versus closed cart, evergreen.

(17:36)
You guys can go to episode 140 to hear me teach all about launch strategy, episode 140. So I’m not going to go into that right now, but you really just want to think about that. Now, what I have discovered in three of running programs, when you are newish, you have a smallish audience, and to me that means under 100,000 very active super fans, I would start with a product that’s under $500 because it’s really a no brainer buy.

(18:08)
You really want to ask yourself, what is this solution worth to someone? And number two, where is my avatar at financially, mindset, demographic, all of those questions, okay? Because those are going to equal whether you sell your product or not. I have had clients whose courses have flopped because of the price point. They’ve had all these thousands of people coming to the checkout page, but they had a $3,200 price point and they had never sold anything before. And so nobody was ready to make that investment.

(19:05)
When you’re selling something to a market for the first time, start with a no brainer price point. And it’s probably a little more than you think a lot of my clients will say, awesome, I’ll start with 60 bucks. I’m like, you know, this is a huge course, right? Like you just created this masterpiece, let’s go $200, $300. So you’ve got to consider what is the course worth? What is the solution worth to her?

(19:30)
So if I was to price this course that I just laid out with you guys, the macro master course for moms, it is getting her a solution for healthy lifestyle change based on macros and healthy food swaps and simplicity that she can meal prep every single week and get her to lose weight, get her to have that sustainable, healthy mindset. And it ended up being, let’s see, one, two, three, four, six, or seven modules. I feel a no brainer buy for this course is $197, potentially $247.

(20:11)
I think it’s a great place to start. And it’s also great because as your first product, you want to sell some, okay, you want to know that this is going to work for people and you can always raise the price in the future. If your course goes gangbusters and you end up creating the master course 2.0 in a year, you can double the price if it has high demand. And you’ve seen a ton of great results, but we’re just not there yet.

(20:35)
Here’s the beauty though, of having a upsell at the end of your course, Susan can then upsell her private macro mastermind coaching or whatever it is for $150 bucks an hour or something, and she can get more people to work with her at a deeper level. The deeper you go with your customer, the more they’re going to be willing to spend more money with you, more time with you and buy your premier products.

(21:06)
Almost everybody that works with me as an elite entrepreneur, we meet by bimonthly or monthly for a long period of time. Or they’re part of my mastermind. They’ve already worked with me before, they’ve already taken courses with me. They’ve spent time and energy and invested in themselves with my programs, gotten results, and now they trust me to work with me at a deeper level and to be a repeat a student or a repeat client of mine. But it takes something to get them in the door.

(21:41)
I just want you guys to think about that as you price your stuff. Now the very last thing I’m going to leave you with is a reminder to once you’ve created the product, please go listen to episode 140 about launching it. That is a whole training in and of itself. But the only other thing I want you to think about is how can you support? Because a course is great and passive income is like no other. Waking up every day to a sale feels surreal. It’s crazy, but I can’t get people to have a ton of results unless I give them some type of accountability, some type of that sisterhood to help hold their hands through the process.

(22:24)
So what I’ve done with Podcast Pro University, which is my number one product is, I created a Facebook group where people come and join after they’ve purchased the course and they get community. There’s hundreds of women in there launching podcasts, leaving reviews for each other. Giving feedback, helping with channel art. Every time someone launches a show, they’re like, Hey guys, it just launched, go show me some love.

(22:50)
Everybody’s promoting it for them and leaving reviews. And it’s just the most beautiful space where people can see this course is working. If I have a question there is support. And then I say, Hey guys, what questions do you have? And once or twice a month, I go live in the group. It has changed everything. Instead of somebody hoping that they can have success, they can come be part of the group and see success, feel success, ask the questions that are keeping them held back. And for me, it’s a self sustaining group.

(23:21)
You guys, everyone else answers the questions. I’m so happy to spend two hours a month going live in there and supporting. It’s awesome. It’s a great model. So think about how do you want to add support? And I really would encourage you to at least have some type of support group. Even if you are not going to go live in there, or maybe adding a 30 private one-on-one with people as a bonus. People need a bit of hand holding to see a process through.

(23:53)
So I would recommend adding some type of accountability there. Okay. Have one-on-one or of group support. I hope this was helpful and that your wheels are spinning on what you want to create. I hope that you are already digging into laying out your own framework, brainstorming on what this product could be for you. And if you feel stuck once again, let me just tell you. I have helped dozens of women map out courses that are very successful today. So please reach out and let’s grab a coaching session.

(24:28)
If you feel like you need to tap into my brain for this one, I am here for you. All right. Just email us. Leaving you with a quick prayer. So I’m going to leave you guys just with some encouragement today. I pray over you that you are fueled and excited and motivated about your business. I pray that you remove the mindset blocks that are telling you, you can’t, you don’t know how, you’re not good enough, you’re an imposter.

(24:58)
I want you to just remove all of that and know that God placed that pull and tug in your heart on purpose. You are equipped because God will gift you everything you need. The podcast, the mentor, the course, the thing, the idea, the book, whatever you need. It’s right there. Just ask him to lead you and then take the step. I pray for your bravery. As you take steps and things you feel equipped to do, because I know you can, and you don’t have that idea on accident. It’s there on purpose. It’s your responsibility to leap and surprise yourself because I know you can do this. I’ll see you soon. Love and light, Stef.