Digitally She Does It Podcast

EPISODE 83: From idea to impact with online courses

• Karen Davies • Season 1 • Episode 83

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In this episode of the Digitally She Does It show, I am diving into the dynamic and exciting world of online courses and how they can create real impact for your business and your life. As an Online course Coach, I share my journey from a corporate marketing career to becoming a successful digital entrepreneur.

Discover the potential for online courses to bring freedom, scalability, and joy to your business. I will guide you through the essential components of creating a successful online course, from choosing the perfect topic to selecting the right delivery system. I also provide practical tips on validating your course idea, building confidence, and empowering you to take action. Plus, get ready to explore the Digital Creators Hub, a free resource designed to support you on your journey to creating a thriving online business.

Tune in to learn how to harness the transformative power of online courses and take the first steps towards making a meaningful impact in the digital world. Listen to the full episode now to find out more!


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Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. This is episode 83 and in today's episode I've got an extra special episode because I'm going to share a recent master class that I hosted with you which is all about how to create impact with online courses. So let's jump right in and let's get started.

Welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. I'm your host Karen and I'm here to lift the lid on what it actually takes to create a successful business. If you are an ambitious creative ready to build a business on your own terms and without compromise, then this podcast is perfect for you. With my award winning approach to marketing, an expert knowledge in creating online courses, this show will leave you feeling inspired, energized, and ready to bring those big dreams to life.

Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step strategies to help you accelerate your businesses' growth.

Karen Davies [00:01:04]:
So let's dive in, and don't forget to subscribe to all my upcoming episodes, which drop every Wednesday. Hello and welcome. Thank you for joining me today. I'm your host Karen and I really do appreciate you hitting that play button to listen to today's episode. Now today's episode is going to be a little bit different because I recently hosted a masterclass all about online courses and how online courses can create impact in your business and I'd like to share that masterclass with you and so today that's what I'm going to be sharing. But before I do, I just want to talk about the Digital Creators Hub. Your one stop shop for getting started online. Now, I've been talking about this, Digital Creators Hub for a little while now.

Karen Davies [00:02:05]:
So if you are an avid listener of my episodes, you will know that this is something that I've been inviting you into so that if you are looking to start online, you have a place to go in order to get started. But today I want to talk about the changes that I've made to the Hub because I'm building it out and I am making it even more amazing. I am sharing so much stuff with you guys. I've got resources in there. I've got training in there. I've recently added some training all about getting started with your amazing idea that's gonna get you earning that passive income. I've also put the masterclass in here that I'm sharing with you today. So if you like what you listen to today and you wanna actually go and work through it in the harp then go and join.

Karen Davies [00:03:00]:
But I've also got templates. I've got a business tool in there to help you streamline your business and I've got lots of other things as well. Now, this hub is completely free. I'm not charging for it. I could but I'm not going to because I want to help you to get started online and so everything in there is gonna help you to get started. All you have to do is head on over to www.pink-lemondigital.com/hub. That's all you've got to do and then you get access to all these amazing freebies that is going to help you to move forward in your business. Now let's talk about today's episode.

Karen Davies [00:03:46]:
Today's episode, as I said, I am sharing the recording of a recent masterclass that I delivered at an event and I thought because I've covered so much stuff and there is so much goodness in this masterclass, I'm going to share it with you guys on this podcast. Now, this masterclass is available in the hub, the Digital Creators Hub, over at www.pink-lemondigital.com/hub forward slash hub. So go and access it and you'll get access to the full recording. 

But for today I wanna share this with you because if you are curious about online courses and you're looking to move forward then this is going to help you. So why not go and grab your favourite beverage, a pen, your notebook and sit back and enjoy whilst I press play so you can listen to this masterclass. Enjoy guys. Now through this masterclass, my goal is ultimately to empower you to develop an online course that makes a lasting impression that captivates your learners and delivers incredible value. And then by doing this, not only are you going to move your business forward, but it's also going to help you to achieve the freedom that you most likely desire in your business and in your life.

Karen Davies [00:05:08]:
So who am I? My name is Karen Davies, and I'm the passive profit mentor. I work with clients helping them to create profitable online courses. And I do this because they have started a business for a reason. They most likely have wanted to create freedom of some kind in their business, but the problem is they're most likely caught up in that trap of trading their time for money. So it becomes limiting. And so what I do is I help clients to get unstuck and to work out how they can monetize what they know, their knowledge, their skills, their expertise so that they can make money from it. Now it hasn't always been like that, and I have been around for a while. My journey started in my early twenties when I had no idea what it is I wanted to do.

Karen Davies [00:06:01]:
All I knew was that I didn't want to be doing the thing that I was doing. And that was working at an ad agency in London. So my boyfriend at the time and myself, we decided to take the summer off, and we went travelling around Italy and Greece. And it was amazing. We had, like, the best time taking that entire summer off to just go and be in these amazing places was incredible. But it got me thinking when I was away. It started getting me to evaluate where my life was, what I wanted, and the path that I was on and whether that was right for where I was going. And I just kept feeling like the the path that I was on wasn't right.

Karen Davies [00:06:48]:
It wasn't aligned to the person that I am and really what I wanted to achieve in my life. I had a good job. I had a good career. I was working in communications and marketing, and I had in the ad agency, I was working on big presentation pitches in the international team, and I was having an amazing experience. It was a very work hard, play hard environment, and I thrived in it. But it gave me an insight into another world, and that world was design. And the job that I was doing whilst I was predominantly designing these presentations, I wasn't a graphic designer. And so that's what I decided that I was gonna work towards to become once I got back from my travels.

Karen Davies [00:07:34]:
And so I then went on and spent 5 years at night school at the London College of Communication, where I did a whole host of different courses from typography design to graphic design to visual thinking to color theory. You name it, I did it. And I then went on and did a diploma, which then enabled me to build a portfolio of artwork that I could then use going forward. I had no plans to go to university, but the universe had plans because due to a personal circumstance I was given the opportunity to not go back to my career and instead take 3 years out to go and do my honours degree. Now this wasn't in my plan. It it hadn't even crossed my mind because I come from a family where nobody has got a degree. It's just not our way of being. And so the opportunity to go and get this education behind me was it just was too good to, to not take up.

Karen Davies [00:08:45]:
And so I decided to not go back to my career, but to go and embark on this 3 year degree at the UCA in Maidstone, which is the creative arts university. Now as you can imagine, I'm at by this stage, I'm 28. So I'm not young, but I'm there with 19 year olds. So for me, that university experience was very different. I can imagine being a 19 year old at university, the last thing you want to do is be getting your head down and working when there is so much social life going on around you. But for me, it was very different because I'd been in a career that was good, that paid well, but it didn't light me up. And so I knew that if I didn't get my degree behind me, I knew what I was going back to. And for me, that was not an option.

Karen Davies [00:09:34]:
So I got my head down, and I worked really hard. And I'm proud to say that I walked away not only with the first with my foundation degree, but with my BA honors as well. So I then became a qualified graphic and web designer, and then I essentially got my first job as a graphic and web designer before I even finished my degree. So it all worked out really well, and I do put that down to the fact that the universe, the universe very much had my back there. So there I was at the age of 31, starting out a brand new career in the world of design, and I loved it. And I soon went on and worked at a design agency, but then I had my children. And it became very difficult because I wanted to be around for my children, but my employers at that time wanted me to be in the office. So it became a conflict of interest.

Karen Davies [00:10:29]:
I didn't I didn't really wanna be there. I wanted to still be working on my career, but I wanted to equally take a step back and enjoy my children as well. And so in 2016, I decided to leave a well paid job to go it alone and become self employed. I then went on to spend 9 months where I was freelancing. So I was taking a lot of design work, a lot of website work, until, eventually, I launched my business in September 2017, Pink Lemon branding and design. Now the reason why I did that is because I wanted to be around for my children. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be active, and I wanted to go and do the school run and just be mum as well.

Karen Davies [00:11:16]:
I didn't want to have to compromise. I'd waited a long time to have my children. My husband and I, we made the decision that we were going to have our children quite late, but we were going to equally get everything that we needed to do out of the way so that we could really be present with them and enjoy them. And so I didn't really want to compromise that time because I'd waited so long to be able to have my children and to be a mum. So I freelanced around the children until I, as I said, eventually started my business. Now when I started my business, I kind of had this, sort of sense that I would suddenly get a lot of time back, that I could sort of mold my working day around my family life. And to a point, you can, but very quickly, I got busy, and then I got fully booked. So by the time lockdown hit, I was stacked.

Karen Davies [00:12:17]:
And I think at one point, I was sort of running, like, 12 design projects, which is a huge amount. I had a team, but it was a lot. And I think looking back at lockdown, I was probably burnt out because it'd been nonstop. I was trying to be mum. I was trying to be wife. I was also trying to be business owner, and, also, I was trying to be there for my clients as well. But I realized in lockdown, when I had some time to think about it, that this whole idea of building a business in order to achieve freedom, it's an elusive thought. Because if you're good at what you do, you're going to get booked up because that's the sign that people wanna work with you and that you actually can do the thing that you say.

Karen Davies [00:13:01]:
The problem with that is that you compromise your freedom. You get caught up in this time for money model that becomes very limited because you only have a certain amount of hours in the day, certain amount of hours in the week, and a certain amount of hours in the year to be able to work and provide support. And if you're juggling all the balls and you're spinning all those plates, then it becomes even harder. So there is a capacity issue. You have limited capacity capacity. You have limited time. You have limited energy, and, of course, you have limited inclination to wanna work with clients that are tricky and that make the working day difficult. So then you're up against the problem, and this is exactly what I faced around lockdown.

Karen Davies [00:13:53]:
Because marketing in the world of marketing, when anything happens in the economy, people put a brake on it. They they hold their budgets, and they put marketing to the side. And that's exactly what happened. Some of my projects dried up, which then affected my business. Now the saving grace for me was that I was already selling digital products. I already had an online course. So I was able to make money at a time that was probably most difficult for most entrepreneurs. And then it kind of dawned on me the power of having an online course and how it removes that barrier of capacity.

Karen Davies [00:14:36]:
Because when you have something that you can sell and repeat, when you have something that you don't need to be there in person to deliver, it becomes so much easier. So over my time, I have won multiple awards, which I'm really proud of. But, of course, it isn't about the awards. It's about showing up and serving and doing the best job. But I'm really proud of the fact that in the time that my business has been running, we have been recognized for the work that we've done. So today, I am a passive profit mentor, but I'm also a digital and I'm a graphic designer as well. I have a design studio. I support clients with their branding, their graphic design, their web design, and their digital marketing needs.

Karen Davies [00:15:23]:
And I'm really proud of that because the 2 merge together. I work in the online space where I help clients create profitable online courses and digital products, but I also support them with the marketing and the selling of those products as well. Now I'm also a podcast host. I'm really proud of my podcast. It's called Digitally She Does It, and this is where I dive into the world of online business. And this is a subject that I can talk about forever because I absolutely love it. It's a very dynamic space to be in. There's always lots going on, but what I try and do is I try and break it down and I try and make it easy for people to understand and I also provide actionable strategies that get people moving.

Karen Davies [00:16:13]:
So if you're looking to find out more about how to create an online course or a digital product or how to create a business online, then please visit my podcast, digitally she does it, because I've got a whole host of episodes just waiting to be listened to. So as I said, back in 2018, I created my first online course, and this is my first online course, crafting your brand. Because at the time, I was focused on helping businesses create a really strong brand image for their businesses. And I delivered a workshop, which was a discovery workshop that helped clients to get really clear on their business, their vision, what they want to achieve, and, of course, how they're going to achieve it. Now what transpired for me delivering these workshops was that my clients were loving the clarity that they were getting because they were able to crystallize their vision, get clear on the direction they wanted to take their business, and know how they were going to make it happen, which for me worked really well because they meant that when it came to working on their brand identity, I had a really good understanding as to who they are and what they were looking to achieve. Because branding is all about connecting to the heart of the business. And unless you have that clarity, it's very difficult to create an identity that truly represents what that brand's about. So for me, the discovery workshop was brilliant because I was getting access to all of these good stuff, but my clients were loving it because of what it was given them.

Karen Davies [00:17:52]:
So I thought that is my first online course. That is how I'm going to bring my knowledge and my skills together, and I'm gonna monetize it. And so that's what I did. I created crafting your brand, and that was my first online course. So I carry a belief that I really do feel strongly about, and that is by simply sharing our knowledge through teaching others, we can create a more positive impact in the world, and then we can change people's lives. Now it doesn't matter what you create, You're going to create an impact, and that impact will have a ripple effect. And so it can be really easy to underestimate the power of what you do. But even the smallest shift in somebody's life can make the greatest difference.

Karen Davies [00:18:44]:
And that, for me is exactly what online courses bring to table. I shared with you earlier my story about how I spent essentially 8 years studying. Now I did this through traipsing into night school after work every week. And then I would have to jump on a train and commute all the way home. So at the end of a working day, I would then do my study. And then I would have to commute for over an hour before I even got back home to settle down. If only there were online courses available at that time, it would have made my life so much easier. The brilliant thing about online courses now is that it removes that need to travel.

Karen Davies [00:19:28]:
You can access it easily and more efficiently. And our courses changed my life. It transformed everything because what it gave me was the skills that I needed, the knowledge I needed, the insights, and the ability to believe in myself so that I could change my life, and that's what those courses did. So, yes, it took me 8 years because I didn't have everything available to me that I have now, But what it gave me was a transformation, and that transformation has been life changing. Now your course or your idea that you have for a course may not have such a massive effect as what my courses did for me. But just know that even the smallest shift can be life changing for your person Because whatever you bring to the table, there is going to be a transformational effect. And that effect will be what improves that person's life. And that's how powerful online courses are.

Karen Davies [00:20:33]:
So what is an online course? And why create one for your business? So just to be really clear, an online course is a self study learning program that is delivered by an online platform that students can work through at their own pace, in their own time, and in their own location. So, again, as I mentioned, it removes the need to go and traipse into a night school to gain access to teaching. It means that people can have it at their fingertips and learn the things that they want to learn and need to learn in order to move themselves forward. Now as entrepreneurs creating online courses with the tools available in today's world, it makes it so easy to package up our knowledge and our skills and share it with other people. And then as long as they have an interconnect Internet connection, and they have a computer or a mobile device, they can access that training. And I just think I think that's just mind blowing because it just makes learning so much easier. So why create one for your business? Well, there are so many reasons why creating an online course is a really smart move. Firstly, it's about creating an impact in the world.

Karen Davies [00:21:52]:
I'm sure when you started your business, you did so because you wanted to create some kind of legacy, or maybe you wanted to create an impact in your family where you're making more money, or maybe it was the fact that you just didn't want to be somebody's puppet anymore, and you wanted to do things your own way. It doesn't matter. Whatever your reason is, you are wanting to create some kind of impact, and that's what online courses do. It also starts to move you away from relying solely on 1 to 1 services. Because when you start to work it, move into the one to many model, it means that you get to build it once and sell it on repeat. So then you can choose and be selective as to the one to one services that you then offer. It's going to build resilience in your business. So when COVID hit, a lot of businesses had to stop trading because they weren't able to meet their clients in person, and they weren't sure on how to deliver it in the online world.

Karen Davies [00:22:55]:
And that took time, but there was a period where businesses were having to stop trading because of the shifts that were happening. Having online courses or digital products in your business, it builds resilience because it means whatever's going on in the economy, you get safeguarded with that because you've got something to sell all of the time. You can't deliver your one to one coaching? No problem. You'll just sell your online course, and you'll put some time, energy, and effort into getting that out into in front of the right people so that you can get those sales, which then enables you to create strategic offers. Because here's the thing, it doesn't matter how brilliant your premium programme is, not everybody has the money at the beginning to hand over to you to buy your premium program. So what an online course or a digital product offers, it offers a strategic approach to being able to nurture that person. So when they're ready to buy, they're in your funnel already. They're in your world.

Karen Davies [00:24:04]:
So having an online course enables you to create strategic offers that builds that know, like, and trust with your customers that are coming into your business. It also widens your customer base because it means that you can start to serve a different audience. Instead of just focusing on your audience that requires services, you can widen it so that you'll start to work with people that maybe want to do things themselves. Maybe they want to explore and kind of work through things in their own pace. Maybe they don't want to pay for somebody to do it for them. Maybe they want to do it for themselves. This is what I was aiming for when I created my course because they didn't need to have me there to walk them through their business. They could do that themselves, which meant that when they came to me to work on their branding, they'd done all of this stuff, which then went on to make my life so much easier.

Karen Davies [00:25:07]:
The other thing online courses does is that it creates a passive revenue stream in your business, which means that you have money coming in when you're not at your desk. I mean, how cool is that? That you can make money whilst you're sleeping. I was out in Florida last April, and it was amazing. We had this massive family holiday, and I was in one of the parks in one of the universal parks, and I literally was making money. My phone was pinging. It's an incredible feeling to have knowing that you can be on holiday, spending time with your favourite people, and you're still making money. You're still bringing income in to keep the lights on in your business. Now online courses also help to differentiate you from your competition.

Karen Davies [00:25:56]:
So if your competitors are not providing self study approaches, then this might be an opportunity for you to capitalize on because it might be that your your competitors just haven't thought about it. It might be that they don't know how to do it. It might be that they're not even at that point where they're thinking about diversifying their income, in which case you are way ahead because you have something that you can sell off the shelf when your customers need it. The other thing it does, it builds community. Community is gonna help a business grow. It brings people together, like minded people that you can then nurture. So when you have other things that you have to sell, you have a community ready and waiting to buy the things that you want to sell. And it gives you freedom because when you have things that you can sell on repeat, not requiring you to be there in person, all of a sudden your world opens up because it means that you can start working on other things, doing other things that starts to kinda bring more joy into your life.

Karen Davies [00:27:06]:
So it kinda gives you that freedom to be able to focus on other things as well. And then it scales your business because out of all the business models out there, online courses is the most scalable business model that you can find. Because it doesn't matter whether there's 1 person, buying your course, 10 people, a1000, or a1000000. It doesn't matter. You don't need to be there. It doesn't affect you. All you can do is sit back and enjoy the sales coming in. So it's highly scalable, and it means that you can sell it on repeat to as many people as what you want, but you still do not need to be there to deliver it in person.

Karen Davies [00:27:46]:
So it removes that capacity limit, meaning you can scale it. And then it's gonna solidify your online brand because if you're selling something online, you've got this amazing product. You're helping people. You're serving people. You're creating impact. That's gonna solidify how you come across. So it's gonna do wonders for your online brand image. And the most important thing, and I have gone through a lot, but the most important thing that should be a nonnegotiable is that it's gonna fill you with joy and excitement.

Karen Davies [00:28:18]:
You have created your business for a reason. Most likely because you were unhappy probably in a job that you were in. So you thought, let's start a business because I'm gonna enjoy it and it's gonna give me the things that I need. This is going to give you that because it's going to give give you the excitement of creating something that's going to create lasting impact that's gonna serve people and make you money whilst you do it. Now Amy Porterfield, I think, sums this up beautifully. She says creating and launching a digital course is the single most powerful and strategic way to make an impact in the world while growing your income and freedom to life changing levels. She should know she's done it for herself, but it's possible. You can do this because if you deliver a transformation in the business that you offer, then you can create an online course.

Karen Davies [00:29:19]:
Now you just need three things, I believe, to have a successful online course. And those three things are your course topic, teaching material, and a delivery system. Now I'm not saying that there's nothing else to think about because there is, but I just wanna keep it top level for now because this can be overwhelming. And the problem is when people feel overwhelmed, they stop, and they don't take action. So we want to just scale it back and just keep it simple. So as long as you have a course topic and you have teaching material and you have a way of getting in front of your people, you can create an your online course. So how do you pick your perfect topic? Now this is a question I get asked a lot because often when somebody's thinking about creating an online course, it's because they have this wealth of knowledge and expertise that they wanna share with the world. The problem is often not I don't have anything to teach.

Karen Davies [00:30:21]:
The problem is most likely going to be I have too much. Where do I start from? Now what I want you to think about are 3 things. I want you to think about the problem you solve, the benefits that you offer, and how this improves your person's life. These three things are really essential because an online course is a vehicle that's gonna take somebody from a place of problem to a price of solution. So the clearer you can get on what that looks like, the easier it's going to be to create a course that delivers a result. And that's what we're aiming for. We're aiming at creating something that provides so much damn value that that your students are gonna walk away knowing exactly what they need to do, implementing whatever they need to do, and getting those results that they're after. But it has to start by identifying what that problem is.

Karen Davies [00:31:22]:
So you almost want to reverse engineer your efforts, and you want to think about it from a place of, okay, what do people to come to me for? Where are they in their life and what problems are they experiencing? And really sit on that and think about it and get really clear as to what that looks like. Now it might be something like, you know, I I help with Instagram marketing, and people come to me because they have no idea about the Instagram platform. They have no idea how to get started or how they could even make it work for them. But they know they need to be on that platform because that's where the audience is. So something like that, you've got a clear problem. You've got a problem of the fact that they have no idea what they're doing. And and so from there, you can then start to work through towards a solution. Now the your course must deliver a result.

Karen Davies [00:32:17]:
There is no point creating an online course if it doesn't deliver anything because what you'll find is that your students just won't finish it, and it'll be ineffective. We wanna create courses that are profitable because they actually deliver results. Always, always, always focus on the transformation. Okay. By somebody knowing the Instagram platform, by understanding how it works, getting clear on what they want to achieve from it, what is that gonna give them? What is that transformational piece? Well, it could potentially grow their business to life changing levels. It could have a huge effects on their income. It could help them position themselves, like, in an influential way online. So really dig into what that transformation looks like and how it's going to impact your ideal student.

Karen Davies [00:33:10]:
Now I've used Instagram as a an as an example, but you can do this to whatever topic that you pick because I guarantee you there'll be a problem. There'll be a solution, and your perfect person will want a result. And from that result, there will be a transformation. You just need to identify what that is. Now as entrepreneurs, we are in the business of providing solutions. That's what we do. Whether we run a service based business or whether we run an online business where we're selling online courses and digital products. So we have to come from that place of wanting to show up and serve and deliver solutions.

Karen Davies [00:33:56]:
So get really clear on what the problem is, what the solution is, and what that transformation looks like as well. Choosing your content to teach. Now this can lead to a rabbit, for you going down a rabbit hole. Because how much how much is enough? How much content do you put in a course that is enough for somebody to get result? That's often one of the questions that is often, I'm often asked because it's a real fine line. You don't wanna throw everything in the kitchen sink. But at the same time, you don't wanna not provide enough because then there's not gonna be enough there for them to get their result. So how do you choose the amount of content and what content to include in your course? Now I've just broken it down here and I because I want you to think about the actionable content that you're likely going to need to teach. So think about it from again, they're at a certain point.

Karen Davies [00:34:55]:
They're at point a. You want to get them over to point b. What do they need to do? What do they need to have in order to get over to that point b. So what actionable content will you need to teach? Also think about it in terms of a system. You're providing a framework through your teaching. If you can break it down into about 5 steps, then that will be easy enough for your students to do, but it won't overwhelm them. So can you break down your teaching into 5 steps? And how will you deliver the content? So thinking about the way you share your content. Will you do what I'm doing here where I'm doing voice over slides? Will it be face to face video so they can see your face on screen? Will it be audio? Will will you create audio recordings, or will it be visual? Will it be case studies? Will you will you deliver it in story form? Think about how your students are most likely going to want to receive that content.

Karen Davies [00:36:05]:
And then will you be providing resources as well to support their learning? Will you need to? And if so, what do they look like? And resources that you know, they can come in many different forms. It could be cheat sheets, checklists, how to, guides, extra video training, audio recordings. You know, you can get really creative with this. But at the end of the day, it boils down to who your ideal student is, what they're looking to get from you, what they're looking to walk away with, and how they're going to receive that content. So you really need to dig in, find out who your ideal student is, and get really clear about them so that you can make conscious decisions about how you then teach your content. And then think about how long you're going to take in terms of completing the course. So how long will it take for your student to start and finish your course? If you, again, get really clear on this because when you start to talk about your course, that's going to be something that your your prospective students going to want to find out. Now, just to give you the heads up, I would always recommend if you start out in a course for the very first time, start with a mini course because the mini course is a great place to start when you haven't done a course before because it's a jumping off point.

Karen Davies [00:37:29]:
You don't give everything. You don't give everything in the kitchen sink. You just do it from high level. So you can create stuff that your students will enjoy receiving, but it won't overwhelm them. If you wanted to create a more detailed course, then there are other course types available out there. And each course type is, you know, sort of priced at a different, price point because they will go more in detail into the subject. But if you are starting out for the very first time and wanting to create your first online course, I would start with a, a mini course because it's it's not gonna take you long to create. It means that you don't have to go into laser detail with the stuff that you're teaching, and it means that it's not going to overwhelm your students when they're learning something from you for the very first time.

Karen Davies [00:38:25]:
Now I just wanna touch on the framework that I mentioned in the previous slide. At the core of your online course is your framework, and your framework is the skeleton. It's the thing that's gonna hold everything together. So you need to get really clear on what that framework looks like, and that framework needs to flow. It needs to take your students from a place of a problem to a place of solution. Now your online course is essentially the bridge that you walk them through. It's the vehicle. It's the thing that's going to get them there.

Karen Davies [00:39:02]:
So it's not your course isn't going to be the solution. Your framework is going to be the solution and how you teach your topic that's going to deliver the result. So really get to know what your audience is struggling with and what results that they are looking for. And as I said earlier, the clearer you can be on this, the easier it's going to be to create your online course, and the more effective your online course is going to be. So I just wanna dive in and talk a little bit about tech. Because, again, this is an area that I know many people get a little bit overwhelmed with. And it's understandable because there is so much tech out there. How do you even just, you know, how do you even know where to start? So I just wanna talk you through a delivery system, and what that looks like.

Karen Davies [00:39:56]:
Now you have various options available. I'm gonna share my favourite, because I have reasons behind it. But I just wanna touch upon a couple of others as well. Now first and foremost, if you have a WordPress member, website, you can self host your own online course. You would just need to make sure that it's on a subdomain and that it's set up in a way that is going to be easy enough for you to manage. Now if you are not a web designer or a web developer, you may have to bring somebody on board to support you with this, because there is some tech involved in setting this up. But there are some really great plugins out there that that can be integrated into your website that you can then use, to host your online course. Now with anything, there's gonna be a subscription fee, or there's most likely going to be a subscription fee.

Karen Davies [00:40:53]:
So if you use MemberPress or Kinstar or any of the other ones, you're most likely going to have to pay a fee in in order to use their plug in. The other option that is available is an online course marketplace. These are place like Udemy and Upskill where you can literally build your course, stick it in a marketplace, and then the marketplace will do everything for you. So with Udemy, they have a whole host of online courses on there. And what people do is they set them up, and then they leave it to Udemy to market and get those sales for. Now this might suit you if you literally just wanna create a course, stick it somewhere, never to think about it again. It might be the perfect option, and there's not that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Again, this this is gonna align with the vision that you have for your business and why you're doing this.

Karen Davies [00:41:49]:
If you just want something that's gonna tick along in the background, then this might be a viable option for you. The the one thing I just want to, obviously, mention is the restrictions. Now I I feel like for me as a digital marketer and a product creator and somebody that, you know, I'm building products under my brand, the fact that I haven't got full control over my product and that it's in a place where somebody another company is dictating the price and all of that, I I personally feel is does it like, for me, it doesn't feel right. So if you are somebody that is looking to really build out your business, scale your business, you know, create community, create an audience, really serve your people, then this may not be the best option for you. The other thing it does, there's a few things. You don't get access to, your students' emails, which means that you can't engage with them, further. You can't bring them into your email list and nurture them and build relationship with them. I think you can talk to them, like, if they have a query or a question, but I don't think you can really build a relationship because a Deni doesn't give you that information.

Karen Davies [00:43:09]:
The other thing it does, it dictates the price of your course. And I kind of feel like if you are sharing your skills and knowledge that you have spent years years years accumulating, probably through doing courses and things yourself, then to be able to kind of put it in a course and spend that time creating a course and then sticking on a platform only for it to then be sold at a low price, To me, it just seems a little bit like like it just it doesn't feel right. You can create a course and you can earn really well from it. A mini course can sell between a £103100. That's a really good price marker. If you stick it on an ademmy form, you may be selling it for like £10. And that's your work. That's your intellectual property that you're giving over for them to control.

Karen Davies [00:43:57]:
So I really want you to think about that. If you thought in your mind that a Demi could be an option, it may very well be an option. But I want you to really do your due diligence and really find out if it's right for you. Because I think when you put something on Udemy, I think that you have to give them exclusivity. I don't believe you can then go and sell it somewhere else and make, you know, money in other places. So I really want you to really do your research and find out almost be really sort of, you know, critical as to what the platform offers. So that if you do decide to go down that route, you're you're, you know, your hand on heart, you're making the right decision. My preferred way of doing this and and how I teach my my students is through using learning management systems like Kajabi or Podia, Thinkific.

Karen Davies [00:44:54]:
I use a platform called MemberVault. I love MemberVault. I was, I used Kajabi for over 3 years. I know can chart Kajabi very well. It's the more premium platform because it has everything in the kitchen sink. I mean, you can do everything. You can even host your podcast on Kajabi, and it's a really good platform. The the I only really moved to MemberVault because of the other options I had available to me, that aligns really well with the direction I'm taking my business.

Karen Davies [00:45:26]:
But I think, ultimately, when it comes to online platforms like these, you have to do research and you have to look at what is gonna be right for you. This market is saturated. Post pandemic, the e learning market has grown exponentially because people are moving online. Not only do you have customers wanting online courses, but you've entrepreneurs building online courses, which is absolutely fantastic because it suddenly makes things more accessible in the way that we build relationships with people. But with that comes choice. And sometimes too much choice could be really overwhelming. So if you are looking for or you're at least thinking about what learning management systems go for, then Podia is a really good one. It's cost effective.

Karen Davies [00:46:18]:
I think prices start from about £30, might be a little bit more because prices may have gone up. Thinkific's a really good platform. Again, Punjabi Punjabi starts, I believe, at about a £115, so that's a lot more expensive. But what I love about MemberVault is that it is a really affordable platform because it starts from I think it's like $20, and you can have up to 5 products. And it's such an easy platform to use. So there's lots there to think about, but, hopefully, this will at least give you a little bit of a steer as to what is available to you and some things to think about when you're choosing your delivery system. I personally sort of feel when it comes to creating products in your business, they're your products. They're your intellectual property.

Karen Davies [00:47:12]:
You own them. I would think very carefully about giving the control of that away to any other company or platform. So even though we've learned in management systems, you would need to have a sales strategy sitting behind it in order to sell your product. At least then you're able to have full control over the thing that you've created. But there are so many benefits from doing it because you get to dictate the price, how you communicate with your students, how you build relationships with your students, and, of course, any future updates and things like that. You get to set the perimeters around the product that you have created. And I think out of everything, for me, that that just trumps everything, to be honest. But what I will say is I've provided you with 3 options here.

Karen Davies [00:48:07]:
Do your due diligence, research each one, and then make a decision that ultimately is right for you and where you're taking your business. Now another question I get asked is, especially when people are starting out, is how will they know if their course is going to sell? And and I get it because there's no magic pill to say, yep, you're gonna make a £1,000 by selling that course. So it becomes really difficult to judge if what we're creating is actually going to work for us or not. My answer to that though, in the most simplest of terms, is spend time validating your course at the very beginning. Because it's gonna do several things. Number 1, it's going to prove that there is a need and a demand for the thing that you're creating, which you're going to need to have before you create the thing that you're creating. Because you wanna know that it will sell. So that answers that question.

Karen Davies [00:49:08]:
But also, it's gonna build your confidence. It's gonna give you the confidence to know that people are gonna want the thing that you're creating. If you're going to spend quite a lot of time creating your online course, You wanna make sure that you're gonna get the sales at the end because you're doing it predominantly to generate income. So spend some time at the very beginning validating your course idea. So how do you do this? Well, there are so many Facebook groups. Identify who your ideal student is, and then go and seek them out in Facebook groups. And then run a poll. Ask some questions, you know, start a conversation with them, and just ask them what they want.

Karen Davies [00:49:59]:
The other thing you can do is you can go into YouTube. You can go into Amazon. You can either go onto Udemy and go and have a look and see if there are any courses out there that currently exist. If they do, don't be cut off by it. Just know that they exist most likely because there's a need for it, which means you're validating your idea. And also, don't be afraid to draw inspiration from what is out there because you might look at something that is kind of a similar topic to yours, but you may deliver that content very differently. Because how you see your topic, somebody else is gonna see differently. And the way you deliver your topic, you're gonna attract the students that appeal to the way yours you're gonna teach it.

Karen Davies [00:50:48]:
They're gonna they're going to be attracted to your style and the way you break things down and the way you teach your content. So don't be deterred if you find that there's another course that exists already in the marketplace. 

Just know that that just proves that there is a need and a demand for the thing that you're creating. The more time you can spend on this at the very beginning, the more it's gonna grow your confidence. And when you have that increase of confidence, it is gonna drive you, push you forward, and keep you focused. So validate your course idea, spend some time, do your due diligence around your course topic so that you know before you even put pen to paper that what you're creating is needed. Okay. So next step.

Karen Davies [00:51:41]:
So, obviously, today, I've shared a lot of stuff with you. But what do you need to do next in order to get started? Well, what I want to do is I want to invite you into the digital creators hub. This hub is something that I've created to support digital creators and to help you get started. 

What I have created is a hub of resources and tools and trainings to help you get out your own way and to start taking those very first steps to creating your online course. Now this hub is getting is completely free. I'm not asking for any money. I just want you to get yourselves over into the hub because this is going to help you start your course creation journey. Before I finish, I just want to leave you with this thought.

Karen Davies [00:52:37]:
Now is the time to take action and to start creating a business that works for you, that supports your goals and ambitions, and gives you time back so that you can bring your dreams to life. Now I truly believe that our businesses are vehicles that can take us where ever we want to go. 

We have the power to determine what our future looks like, but you have to take action. It doesn't matter how messy that action is. You just have to start with taking the first step forward. And by doing so, you'll then move yourself to a place where things start to shift and change. But just know that you have the power to do this, and you can create an online course that sells and brings that freedom into your business that you truly want. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this master class.

Karen Davies [00:53:39]:
I do hope you found it of value. And if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me on, Instagram, email me, leave me a message. It's absolutely fine, and I will always try where possible to come back and to give you the answers that you need. But go forth. Create your online course. And just enjoy the journey because this is a game changer. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to today's episode. I hope you found this episode of value and, of course, please feel free to share with others who you may think will also benefit from listening to today's episode.

Karen Davies [00:54:22]:
If you're feeling inspired and would like to know more about I hope you enjoyed this episode of the digitally she does it show. Don't forget to check out the show notes for all the links and today, and I will see you next time. Today, and I will see you next time.