🚀 The Course Creator’s Journey

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A warm welcome here! I see my courses as a learning community that I'm facilitating -- we learn from each other, I learn from you, as well as you learn from whatever I share that is relevant to you. I invite your questions and your replies to each other's questions.  Be helpful, be kind, be engaged in the chat as much as you'd enjoy! Each of us who participates in this course is a culture-setter... You influence our course's culture with every interaction. How would you like for this course community to feel like? What are a few top values you'd love to see? Comment below. Some principles for us: Comment once, reply twice. For each comment that you make, try to find 2 other comments, especially those with few replies, and try to add a reply – with your encouragement and suggestions, if appropriate. This helps to balance the comment/reply ratio, making the community more like... a community :) Co-Learning Community. Nobody here (not even the "teacher") knows everything about the topic... as we each learn from our actions in the world, we can share that learning with each other here. So let's create a co-learning environment! Even the "teacher" will learn from your comments :) Keep all sharings confidential.  Let's keep this a safe space for sharing by promising to keep all comments (particularly the personal ones) confidential. Receive deeply what others see/feel from you, especially if you're sharing something personal. It’s a meaningful practice. It’ll help you integrate and express better your energy signature. Let me know below if these values are helpful, and if you have any suggestions. The values we embody together here is what makes this course experience amazing for each other 😊 If no comments below and no ability to comment, first log into the course.

"What if this is my first offering as a creator? Should people just entering the content creation field start elsewhere?" This is a fantastic question that many aspiring course creators grapple with. The short answer is: No, you don't need a large, established audience to successfully create and launch a course.  In fact, creating a well-crafted course can be one of the fastest ways to build your audience and establish yourself as an expert in your field. The Power of Courses for New Creators: The beauty of courses, especially shorter courses or even a single, well-focused webinar, lies in their ability to: Showcase Your Expertise: A course allows you to demonstrate your knowledge and passion in a structured, in-depth way that goes far beyond a blog post or social media update. It positions you as a go-to resource. Provide Tangible Value: Students are actively seeking solutions and transformation. A well-designed course offers that, making it inherently valuable and attractive. Accelerate Audience Growth: When your course is aligned with what people want and need, and it's delivered well, it can be a highly effective tool for word-of-mouth audience growth. Build Authority Quickly: Successfully teaching a course, even a small one, establishes credibility and positions you as an authority in your niche. My Personal Story and Strategy: I (George Kao) actually started my online business by creating courses right from the start. I didn't have a large following. Here's the strategy I used, and it's one you can adapt, starting with the people you already know: Identify Your Expertise & Passion: What are you genuinely knowledgeable and passionate about? What problems can you solve for others? This is the foundation of your courses. Identify "Influencers" (Within Your Network): Look at the people already in your network. This includes: Facebook friends LinkedIn connections People who follow you on Instagram (or other social media) Contacts in your cell phone address book Email contacts People you've met at networking events or conferences Colleagues past and present Clients past and present Are there friends, colleagues, or acquaintances who have a network or audience that would benefit from your course topic? These could be bloggers, authors, podcasters, service providers, other course creators with a complementary offering, or even just individuals with a bit of a following. Think broadly – "influence" doesn't always mean having a massive following. It can mean having a small but highly relevant following. Offer Genuine Help: Approach these individuals and offer to help them personally (for free) with the topic of your course. This isn't a sales pitch; it's a genuine offer of value, leveraging your existing connection. You might say something like, "Hey [Name], I know you're interested in [Topic]. I've been developing some expertise in this area, and I'd love to offer you a free consultation/mini-training/resource to help you with [Specific Problem]." Build (or Strengthen) Relationships: By providing valuable assistance, you build (or deepen) trust and rapport with these individuals. Strategic Collaboration: After you've provided value and established a stronger connection, you can then explore the possibility of them sharing your course with their audience. This is much more effective than a cold outreach because it's built on a foundation of genuine help and a pre-existing relationship. Key Takeaway: Don't let the lack of a large audience hold you back. A well-crafted course, combined with a strategic approach to leveraging your existing network, can be a powerful engine for growth. We will be diving a lot more deeply into the above strategy, and working on the specifics, in the coming modules of this course. Revisiting Lesson 1: Think back to the qualities of an effective course creator we discussed in Lesson 1. Do you want to embody those qualities more fully? If so, creating courses is not just a business strategy; it's a path to personal and professional development. Action Step: Start brainstorming a list of people in your existing network who might be a good fit for the "influencer" strategy described above. Consider who has a relevant audience and who you could genuinely help. Comment below on whether you have ever thought of this strategy, or how you might now use it. Also comment on any connections that came to mind! 

I use Simplero -- it handles my website, email lists, course platform, event registration, client scheduling, and more -- but you can use whichever platform you enjoy as a student and a creator. Yes, try out various ones as a student and see which you like best, then try it out as a creator on their platform! If you have a favorite course platform, comment below. Perhaps you can find others who use a similar platform as you and provide mutual support :) If no comments below and no ability to comment, first log into the course.

This is a co-learning experience... so what strengths and energy would you like to bring to this community?   What do you look forward to receiving?  Comment below :)

Welcome to Module 2! Before we dive into the practical aspects of course creation, we need to talk about mindset... adopting a light, experimental approach that will prevent overwhelm and encourage consistent action. The Challenge of Overthinking Many aspiring course creators get stuck in the planning and preparation phase. They feel like they need to have everything perfect before they can launch. A student in this course perfectly captured this common feeling: "Do you have recommendations about how to keep the steps small enough? And how do you stay loose and not too attached to specific ideas as you are going about the development process?" The answer is in embracing an iterative mindset. Work Lightly ✨ Learn Lightly ✨ The core principle we'll be emphasizing throughout this course is to work lightly and learn lightly. This means: Taking small, manageable steps. Don't try to do everything at once. Break down the process into bite-sized actions for yourself. Embracing imperfection. Your first course (or even your tenth!) won't be perfect, and that's okay. The goal is to get it out there, learn from the experience, and improve over time. Being flexible and adaptable. Be willing to adjust your plans based on feedback and results. Don't get too attached to any single idea. Prioritizing action over endless planning. The best way to learn is by doing. Don't get stuck in "analysis paralysis." Take on an iterative mindset. The "paper airplane" analogy might help. The Paper Airplane Analogy: Think about creating a paper airplane. You fold a piece of paper, give it a toss, and see how it flies. It might nosedive, veer off course, or maybe even fly surprisingly well. Do you give up and declare yourself a failure if the first flight isn't perfect? Of course not! You pick up the airplane, make adjustments (bend a wing, straighten the nose), and try again. You learn from each flight, making small tweaks until the airplane flies better and better. This is an iterative mindset. Your courses are similar. They're not quite as inconsequential as paper airplanes, but in the grand scheme of your business, each individual course launch is definitely an experiment. The faster you launch, get feedback, and iterate, the faster you'll improve and create truly impactful courses. Journaling Exercise: Take a few minutes to journal about the experimentation mindset. What does it mean to you to "work lightly and learn lightly", and to take on an iterative mindset? How might adopting this mindset change your approach to course creation? Write whatever comes to mind – there are no right or wrong answers. Share your responses below as a comment if you'd like!

Thanks to Guillaume of MetaHelm

As we conclude Module 2, here's a gentle but important reminder: you don't have to do this alone! Connecting with your fellow participants in this course can make the entire process more fun, less daunting, and significantly more rewarding. Imagine having peers to: Brainstorm ideas with. Troubleshoot challenges alongside. Offer and receive encouragement. Potentially provide feedback on your descriptions or ideas. Maybe even become referral partners or collaborators down the road! And, of course, build genuine friendships with like-minded soulpreneurs. Revisit the Coordination Space: We have a dedicated space within this course platform specifically for coordinating meetups, support sessions, or accountability partnerships. If you haven't visited it recently, or if you're feeling the need for some peer connection, now is a great time! Click here to visit the coordination lesson comments Go take a look! See who else has posted, reply to someone, or add your own comment expressing your interest in connecting. Taking even a small step to engage with the community here can make a big difference in your journey. We're all in this together 🤗

I do a lot of Q&A calls on various topics including: How to describe your offerings Creating authentic content Growing a true fan audience Joyful productivity tips Gentle Launches Recent Q&A video segments are located here: George Kao Bonus Q&A Segments If you've enrolled in the full course, you can access these bonus Q&A segments for the next 2 months. Enjoy them while you can :)