Warning: In this post I’m going to first, bum you out. Then I promise to give you hope!
So you’re an expert marketer/graphic designer/florist/self-love guru/inline skater (or whatever you may be!) and now you’ve decided to create an online course. Awesome! Good for you! Really, I love that we live in a day and age where we can easily teach one another and inspire learning.
The only problem is that you are not the first person to create a marketing/graphic design/floral arranging/self-love/inline skating course. In fact, the chances are you are not even one of the first hundred to create an online course on your chosen topic. That means there is a lot of competition going against your course. Bummer.
That brings us to the question: how are you going to set your course apart from the competition? Price, right?! Make your course the cheapest then EVERYONE will want to take your course!
NOOOOOOO, m’friend! That is the wrong answer. Competing on price is nothing more than a quick race to the bottom. In fact, I bet if you look hard enough, there’s probably even a free course out there on your subject. Ya can’t compete with free!
So what’s a course creator to do? Why bother trying to compete?
Answer: Pump your online course full of the one thing that no one can compete with you on- YOU!
- your perspective
- your background
- your contacts
- your time
- your connections
- your creativity
Your audience wants to learn from you for a reason. Is it because you developed your expertise while being a mom to 3 kids 3 and under? Is it because you did it on a budget? Do you have contacts or connections that you can incorporate into the course that would benefit your students?
Yes, putting more of yourself into your course takes more time and effort than simply cobbling some steps together and calling it a course. But the more love you put into your course, the more your students will love you back!