Expert Tips for Creating a Course as a Beginner 

Have you ever tried to create a course, but you’re a little scared and don’t know how to get started? It can seem overwhelming when it’s your first time creating one–or just creating one in general. A lot goes into it and you want to make sure it’s perfect for your customers! Here are the best expert tips for creating a course as a beginner. These tips come from a friend of mine, Wes Wages, owner of Film Your Course. 

 

 

Wes and his wife started their business about 15 years ago. They started as wedding videographers, then moved into the corporate world, and then wound up in the course creator world. They’ve worked with Chris Gibo, Amy Porterfield, and Michael Hyatt, just to name a few! Their business, Film Your Course, builds courses for people–along with some marketing materials if desired. You can check out their full story HERE. 

To be honest, I’ve heard quite a few people say they think courses are dead. They believe there’s no more space for them to create a course because there’s already enough out there. That’s why I had this conversation with Wes. He will give us the truth about courses and if they are still worth it to create and sell. Let’s jump right in! 

 

 

Expert Tips for Creating a Course as a Beginner 

Wes admitted to saying just last year that he didn’t think courses were going to make it. This was post-COVID and tons more people were investing more money in online content. This caused a dip in courses because the market was supersaturated. However, in just the beginning of this year, Wes has seen quite an uptick in courses. 

 

The Best Format for Your Course

One of the biggest trends Wes is seeing right now is creating a course in a 9-week format that includes office hours. Courses that include “office hours” are invaluable to customers because they not only get the face of the prerecorded videos in your course, but they also get to interact with the creator (you) in real-time. 

This setup is also the smartest strategy for the content creator because your customers will already have an understanding of what you teach BEFORE they ask you any questions. If you have people meeting with you one-on-one before they’ve taken your course, it runs the risk of wasting your time. You want to save your time and attention for customers who are already invested in your course and have specific clarifying questions about it. 

Also, including office hours as part of your course will increase the completion rate of your customers. When they have you to clear things up and cheer them on, they are more likely to stick it out until the end. When you add this personal element to your course, you can charge more because you are more invested in your customers. 

 

 

3 Steps to Creating a Course for Your Business

If you have this burning idea for a course but have no idea how to turn it into one, these three steps will help! Whether you’re creating a course for the very first time or you have a few under your belt, these three steps will help you get the ball rolling for your new course idea. 

 

Course Creation Step #1: Get your idea out of your head and onto paper. 

So many people have a goal to write a book before they die. And the ones who do realize how little money they make from writing a book. So the secret is to write a book and then create a course based on that book, and eventually a mastermind. This is where you’ll make the most money! 

First and foremost, get your idea out of your head. ChatGPT is a HUGE help for this step. You can write down your thoughts on ChatGPT and just tell it to format it a certain way that you want it done. For example, you could write, “Create a YouTube video script for “x” idea.” The format options are endless, and now you have a robot that can create your first rough draft for you. This saves so much time and helps get your ideas flowing! 

One ChatGPT writes out your draft, block it out, create a table of contents and then start filling it in. Pick a course topic that you are super passionate about and it’ll be pretty easy to complete this first step. 

 

Course Creation Step #2: Chat with a friend about your idea & record it. 

Invite a friend over and chat with them about your course idea–preferably someone who is not in your field. Have them ask questions about what they need to know to successfully complete the course. Record this conversation for reference, so you can go back and add content to the course later on. 

Having a friend over to help talk things through will give you an idea of what your course content is missing. You can also pay attention to the questions your online audience asks you. Maybe you have several people asking you the same type of questions. These questions are clues to what type of content you need to either include in your course or create more of in your online content. 

 

Course Creation Step #3: Shoot a quick first draft of your course on your iPhone. 

Once you’ve added the necessary content and organized it into a course, it’s time to film! Wes recommends having a teleprompter for your script as you record your course. There’s an app you can download for a teleprompter, so you can read your script as you go. This will save you a ton of time in the editing process and it’ll have you know exactly what you said and where you want to make edits. 

Once it’s recorded, watch it back and take notes of what you want to change. Wes also recommends sending this draft to at least 10 people (for free) and asking them to give you a testimonial about your course once they’ve completed it. 

A lot of people get stuck on this step because imposter syndrome kicks in and it’s hard putting themselves on camera. You could let those negative thoughts keep you from moving forward OR you could own who you are and lead with that. Remember that you are giving valuable content and you’re changing people’s lives with it. 

 

 

Bonus Tip for Creating Courses

Make sure your course is at least 60-70 percent of your face on camera. You can use a slideshow to help teach your content, but the more you can show your face the better. At the end of the day, your whole job is for people to know and trust you. If they know you and trust you then they are more likely to buy from you. And they are going to connect with you when they can see your face while talking to them, not by staring at a bulleted list on a slideshow.

One of the best ways to overcome this hesitation is to hire someone to film and edit your course for you. If you don’t even want to deal with the back and forth and watching yourself on camera, hiring a professional will help you stay on track to getting your course done and ready to sell! You can check out Wes’s expert team HERE who would love to help you make the course of your dreams!

 

The Best Strategies for Marketing Your Course 

Now that you have this beautiful course edited and ready to sell, how do you talk about it so people will start buying it? One of the main things you can do is get on your social media accounts and transition your followers into email subscribers–and then your email subscribers into paid course attendees through your sales funnel. 

We all know social is where people find you, but your email is where people become loyal customers. For tips on converting people to email subscribers, check out my post HERE that’ll show you how to grow your email list by the thousands. Plus, my new favorite secret weapon that tripled my email list in just a few short months! 

 

 

Expert Tips for Creating a Course as a Beginner 

If you’re reading this post and you’re feeling like you aren’t ready to create a course, just remember the work you put in qualifies you. Think about what work you need to do to get the experience that qualifies you to create your course. If you’re all in and ready to go, check out Wes’s website HERE. He and his team work with a lot of different budgets and tiers, and they’re ready to work with you! 

P.S. If you loved this post on expert tips for creating a course as a beginner and want to keep getting content on how to grow your business, follow me on Instagram @iammichellegifford. I can’t wait to connect with you!