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I started creating online courses in 2016. And since then I've created six courses, hit exciting milestones (like six figure launches) and I've taught over 2000 students.

It's been a journey, and I've learned a lot.

In today's video, I'm going to share with you my biggest lessons!

Lesson #1: On feeling like “I’m not expert enough”… 💭

So lots of people message me that they want to become course creators but there's a lot of hesitations in doing so, particularly around the topic of “I'm not expert enough”.

But here's the thing:

You do not have to be the world's number one expert in order to create an online course!

With any form of success, or anything that people want to achieve, there's going to be a starting point. Over here is that person you're imagining right now that is what you are considering like the ultimate success, but from here to here, there are all these mini accomplishments along the way, many of which you will have already achieved.

Those are things that you can help others with in the form of your online course - so what you're doing with your course is you're helping someone go from here to here or from here to here, right?

It's not always the ultimate highest level of success. Success is a journey and there's so many things along the way that you could help others with because online courses are really about helping people that are a few steps behind you get to where you are now.

For example, an online business, these starting point might be over here: You have a great idea for an online business, but you haven't started one yet. Over here is who you're comparing to: maybe they have a $20 million business. Just because you're not all the way over here doesn't mean that there's not all these other things along the way that you could help people achieve.

So that's exactly why I can teach how to organize your business. I can teach you how to create your website. I can teach you how to create your online course. I can definitely help you achieve six figures or more with it. And these are all things that I've done myself.

So hopefully that all makes sense, but basically life and success is a journey and there's all these points along the way that you can help people with.

Lesson #2: Clear, Specific Outcomes Are Key 🔑

The second thing I learned is that really clear, specific outcomes are best for your students and they're easier to sell. I made this mistake when I was trying to expand one of my courses and make it even better and stronger, but in doing so, I actually complicated the messaging and made it more difficult to communicate what exactly what was inside, what people were going to get. And when you make a course too big like that it's difficult for your students to get through and see the success that they want.

So be careful with this! Try and get really clear on the outcome you want your students to achieve and create a course all about that rather than trying to cover all these different topics in one course container.

Instead, I would get specific and I would create additional courses for the other areas.

Lesson #3: Know Your Ideal Client 👥

The person that knows their ideal client best wins. The more you know your ideal client, the more effective your copy will be, the more engagement your content will get, and the easier it will be to grow your business.

Because ultimately what online courses are, are you are helping people achieve certain results in their life. So you need to know exactly where they're starting from, where they want to get to, and what's important to them. All of those things are really important for you as a course creator to know.

So how do you get to know your ideal client?

Well, you can speak to them in your DMS on Instagram, you can use your stories and the question stickers to get people to self identify that they are your ideal client and then start conversations with them.

You can also offer free coaching and advice in exchange for them getting on a zoom call with you and answering some of your questions and talking about where they're at, their struggles, and where they're trying to go.

You can also reach out to friends of yours that fit this profile. You can take them out for coffee and just ask them questions, ask them what they've struggled with most, what are their hesitations towards making this sort of change in their life are.

Doing that is going to give you such a valuable insight that you will then be able to use when developing your course and in your marketing materials as well!

Lesson #4: Do Everything That You Can To Make It Easier and Faster For Your Ideal Client To Achieve the Result 🎯

The metric of success as a course creator is not just sales. It's how many people are achieving the result. So as a course creator, you want to do everything possible to help your students achieve this result.

This can be going beyond just theory and giving really specific, tangible examples. This can be including as many done for you templates as possible so they have that starting point and they're more so just customizing (especially when they're getting started in a particular area).

This can also be video trainings of every single step. So not assuming that people know how to do certain things, it's making sure they are covered for every single step.

Lesson #5: Your #1 Job Is Marketing 📣

Once your online course is complete and your systems are set up your number one job is to market it.

Courses are more of a volume game. So you have to make sure that enough people are actually seeing your online course!

A standard conversion rate is anywhere from 1-5%. That means if a hundred people sign up for your sales funnel, for example, then one to five people will actually buy it.

So you have to ensure that you have lots of different strategies in place that are sending traffic to it.

Lesson #6: Business Is A Numbers Game 🔢

This is actually the number one thing that I see course creators struggle with because business is just a numbers game. If you're not selling the volume you want, you likely just don't have enough volume going through it.

So stop getting discouraged that your online course isn't selling enough and remember it is just a numbers game! It is going to follow a very typical conversion rate. It's not about you or your course or how good it is. Very often, it is just the fact that you don't have enough people going through your sales system.

Lesson #7: If You’ve Sold 1, You Can Sell 100! 💰

Now here's the good news: If you've sold 1, you can sell 100!

Shout out to my student, Melody from The Launch Library, for this incredible quote. It is something we use all the time now - and it's so, so true.

Most people can feel discouraged with this model, especially at the beginning of their journey. But if you've already sold one then there is so much proof behind you already. So instead, I want you to shift this mindset and get excited about all of the other people that you're going to be able to help with your course.

Lesson #8: For An Instant Boost In Revenue, Start Launching 🚀

Speaking of selling…

If you want an instant boost in revenue, start launching. Even though I'm the biggest fan of sales in your sleep, or while you're traveling, or at your favorite cafe, I still launch because it's that impactful.

When I added this in, it made a huge difference to our revenue!

I have so many launch tips that I want to share with you - so I'm actually going to do a whole video on that topic as well.

Lesson #9: Online Business Is Like A Puzzle 🧩

Online business is like a puzzle - and if you can have all of these pieces working together, you will have a wildly successful business.

Most people, they will be strong in one or two of these areas:

Louise Henry shows an image of what she feels an online business is comprised of (content, email list growth, launches/promos, and sales funnels)

…but they won't have the entire puzzle complete. So work on all of these elements and come share with me your results in a few months.

Lesson #10: Results Take Time ⏰

And for many things, you're not going to see the results right away. You're actually going to see the results of your work about three months later.

I really think that any successful course creator is successful because they were able to keep going and push through those periods when it feels like nothing is working.

So settle into that fact and keep showing up. It is in progress of all working. 💛

Lesson #11: Get Support in Strengthening Your Strategy 💪

Finally, get support in strengthening your strategy and seeing your blind spots.

I have had so much support and help in growing this business from mentors to coaches, to online courses that I've enrolled in. There's a lot of skills that work together to make this sort of business successful.

You have to be good at marketing copy, creating content - there are quite a few things that fall under this umbrella.

I definitely have not done it alone.

All right. I believe in you. I think it is such a fantastic decision to create an online course. It's one of the best things that I ever did. So I am sending you lots of love and encouraging you to go for it.

And thank you so much for watching. If you have any questions at all, let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you real soon with another video.