Digitally She Does It Podcast

EPISODE 100: [SCALING UP SERIES] Scaling with online courses

• Karen Davies • Season 1 • Episode 100

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In this special milestone episode of the Digitally She Does It podcast, I am thrilled to celebrate our 100th episode! It’s been an incredible journey filled with actionable advice, inspiring stories, and transformative strategies to help you build a thriving online business.

This episode continues the Scaling Up Series with a focus on unlocking the potential of online courses to revolutionise your business. I’ll guide you through the process of creating scalable, repeatable income streams that not only boost your revenue but also free up your time to focus on what truly matters to you.

We’ll explore the key steps to building an online course that aligns with your expertise, setting up automated systems like sales funnels to sell on autopilot, and implementing strategies that allow you to scale with ease. I’ll share examples and practical insights to inspire you to take the leap into course creation.

Whether you’re just starting or looking to take your online business to the next level, this episode is packed with tips and strategies to help you achieve the freedom and flexibility you desire.

Tune in, celebrate this exciting milestone with me, and let’s dive into how you can scale up your business through the power of online courses!

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Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to the digitally she does it show. This is episode a 100. And in today's episode, I'm going to be continuing with the scaling up series and talking about how you can scale up 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, energised, and ready to bring those big dreams to life.

Karen Davies [00:00:51]:
Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step to help you accelerate your businesses grow. 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. So welcome to the 100th episode of the digitally she does it podcast. I am thrilled to pieces.

Karen Davies [00:01:30]:
I am so excited to be celebrating this milestone with you, and I cannot thank you enough for all of your support and for tuning in on this journey with me. And to mark this momentous occasion, I want to dive into one of the most powerful ways to scale your business, which is, of course, talking about online courses. But before I do, I just want to just take a moment just to, as I said, reflect on the fact that this is the 100th episode of the podcast.

I didn't even think I would make it past 10 if truth be told. I procrastinated for so long, over 2 years, about the podcast and then it just took forever to get it up and to get it running and whatnot. So the fact that I have made it to a 100, I do feel very proud actually. I read somewhere I can't even remember where it was, but I read somewhere that a lot of podcasts don't make it past a 100. The 100 is a really key milestone because with podcasting, there is, of course, work that's involved and, of course, there is a a barrier to entry when it comes to setting up the tech and doing all the things and editing and whatnot.

Karen Davies [00:02:55]:
And so what tends to happen or what can happen is that many podcasts are launched but then they tail off. And so to get to a 100 just feels like such an occasion because I'm probably in the minority of podcasts that actually have made it to a100. So I am really pleased. It's I do feel it's a personal achievement. It has taken a lot of consistency, a lot of focus, and, of course, I really do try to bring so much value to the podcast. This is my way of sharing the things that I'm passionate about with you guys and I get to support you on your journey. And I get to do this by jumping behind the mic and talking about things that I love to talk about, but also which I hope is of value to you guys as well. So, again, I just wanna really thank you for listening, taking the time in your day to press play, and to listen to my podcast because, honestly, it means so much.

Karen Davies [00:04:07]:
And, yeah, the podcast wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you guys listening to it. So thank you. Thank you. I really do appreciate it. Okay. So in celebration of this 100th episode, I have created the scaling up series. And what that is is it's about looking at ways that you can scale your income. So what we wanna do is we wanna be thinking about how we can move away from selling our time for money and making income that is scalable.

Karen Davies [00:04:42]:
And so over the and I I'm doing it over 5 episodes. So I started last week on episode 99. And over 5 episodes, I'm going to be sharing with you key ways in which you could start to build scalable income in your business so that you could move away from having that demand on your time and move into a space where you can actually get that freedom that you you wanted in the first place. Let's face it. The reason why we create businesses is to give ourselves some freedom. Whether it's financial freedom, freedom of time, freedom to do what we wanna do, to serve in the way we wanna serve, there is some kind of freedom that lays at the heart of the desire of running a business. And so we wanna be looking at how we can get that freedom back so we can build businesses that support us and and not the other way around. We don't wanna be chained chained to our desks.

Karen Davies [00:05:44]:
We don't wanna be working with really crappy clients, and we don't wanna be given our time all the time for less money than than what it's worth. So today, I am diving into online courses. It is probably one of my favourite topics to talk about. But what I wanna do is I want to just talk about what an online course is and why it's a game changer and what you can do to get yourself started. So I just wanna touch upon this idea of scalable income. What is it and why do you need it? So scalable income is where you get to increase your income on autopilot and it doesn't require you to give more of your time. Now we're all busy. We all have the demands of life, families, husbands, businesses, home, whatever whatever those demands are.

Karen Davies [00:06:39]:
And we only have a certain amount of hours in a day. So we wanna be working out how we can maximize the time that we have so that we can make as much money as possible because you're in business to make money. Yes. You are in business to provide a service and to help provide solutions. And as entrepreneurs and business owners, you are in the business of transformation. So that is obviously at the half what you do, but you are still in the business of making money. You have to make money in order to keep those lights on and your bills paid and cover the expenses that your business is going to have. So we need to be thinking about creating scalable income because we need to be thinking about how we can maximize our earning potential.

Karen Davies [00:07:31]:
And I've said this before. You cannot do this if you are simply providing a service to clients because you have capacity. You are limited. You have limited time. You have limited energy. And most likely, you probably have limited inclination to wanna work with clients because they probably do take a lot from you. So we need to be looking at ways in which we can package up what it is we know and sell it on repeat. And online courses are absolutely brilliant for this.

Karen Davies [00:08:05]:
Now the great thing is that once you have created your online course, it becomes an asset that works for you because it will generate you income on autopilot. And the beauty of online courses is that they allow you to pro provide immense value to your audience whilst you're creating passive income. So you put the work in upfront to create your online course and then after that the income continues to flow without you needing to be actively involved in the day to day delivery. Now that's scalable income. Online courses are a brilliant way to scale your business because they let you deliver the value once so that you can earn on repeat. Now I think the first step to scaling with an online course is, of course, creating one that serves your audience. You want to solve a specific problem that your ideal audience is facing. So, you need to identify what their challenges are, what their pain points are, what they're struggling with and then create a course that delivers a solution in a way that nobody else does.

Karen Davies [00:09:25]:
So, if you're thinking about creating a course I want you to ask yourself the following. What problems do your current ideal clients struggle with? What unique skills or knowledge do you have that can solve those problems? And how can you break your content down in a way that's really simple, actionable and engaging? Because when you create a a course that truly meets the needs of your audience and delivers value, then they're much more likely to purchase it, share it, and then, of course, recommend it to their audience as well. So your online course should be focusing on delivering a specific result. Now that result doesn't have to be life changing. It doesn't have to be a big big big transformational result. It could just be something simple that gives them what they need to solve their problems. So one of my clients runs national awards for entrepreneurs in the UK and she developed some content to help people complete their entry forms in an effective way so that when the, nomination entry forms went to judges, they would have the best shot possible of going through to the finals and potentially winning. Because what she was finding was that people weren't completing the forms and doing it in a way that really served them.

Karen Davies [00:11:05]:
And so she developed a system to support people as they were completing their entry forms. Now what she wanted was to create an online course where people would walk through the process step by step. So by the end of it, they would be have it they would have an entry form that would actually position themselves in a really strong way so that they could enter the awards knowing that they had a really good shot of potentially winning. So we worked together on this course. Now this course was just a really simple course. My client had the framework. She had the content. It was a step by step process of walking somebody through how to complete an entry form for the awards.

Karen Davies [00:12:02]:
Now she's gone on to sell so many of her courses because come number 1 nomination time where people are being nominated and therefore being entered into the awards, the thing that they need is the system that ultimately helps them to fill their entry form in in the right way. So she's taken a really simple idea, created a really valuable online course that serves her audience. So your online course doesn't have to be a massive course. It can just be a 4, a 5, a stick 6 step system that ultimately gets somebody to a place where they get a result. So yesterday I had a planning session actually with one of my really close friends who runs a business and we we do this every year. We get together. We go to a beautiful country hotel in in the middle of the Kent countryside, and we spend the day looking at both of our businesses and planning for the year ahead. This is being recorded.

Karen Davies [00:13:13]:
I think it's the 20th November, so we're obviously planning for 2025. Now one of the things that my friend wants to do is launch her program. She wants to create something that delivers her teaching in a one to many format. So she's not necessarily looking at an online course at this point, but what she is looking at is delivering something to a group of people that she can deliver on repeat. Now the interesting thing was when she sat down and worked out what this program looked like and the time that she would have to dedicate to in order to be able to deliver it, the hours were huge. I mean, she was literally looking at something like 30 hours, so that's a long time. And if you are looking at creating a business that is scalable or a part of your business that you can scale, then having that amount of time where you have to give that in person in order to teach is a huge drain on your on your your your day, your week, your month. So one of the things that I did with her yesterday is I sat her down and we worked out what parts of the program could be automated.

Karen Davies [00:14:34]:
Because here's the thing, she didn't doesn't need to deliver all 30 hours. There are parts of the program that she can actually automate. She, of course, wants to be there for the important bits, the group discussions and the moments and the q and a's, and all of that those pieces that require her to be present so she can be with her students in person in order to deliver that extra value. But she doesn't need to deliver that training in person time after time because that is such a drain on her time and she's time poor as it is. So we sat down, we looked at what could be automated and we cut it down by 50%. 50%. So now we're looking at 15 hours of her time rather than 30 hours of her time. Now what that means for her is that she now would make double the money because she's got that time back.

Karen Davies [00:15:40]:
She's not having to trade 30 hours of her time in order to make some money. She's actually now reduced that time simply by automating what she knows. Now that's a game changer for her because it starts to make her program look really lucrative. But also, and this is the best bit, she gets to create micro offers within her program that she can sell separately outside of her program because when she automates, I e she records her content, she can then sell pieces of that for extra income. So she has created a product within a product that she can then use to scale her earnings. So it starts to make that picture look very different. And also, if she was to take time out of her business because god forbid something happened and she needed to be there for her family or she just couldn't be at work, she would then have something separate to her program that she could sell on repeat. She can set it up on auto and then sell it on repeat.

Karen Davies [00:16:58]:
Meaning that it's working for her in the background. And that's where we wanna get to. We don't want everything in our business to rely on us having to be there in order to deliver it. We want to create income that comes to us on auto, but that is scalable as well. And this is where online courses just are absolutely brilliant because this is what it does. Once you've created the course and you've set it up, you can then sell it on repeat. Now one of the great things about creating an online course is that you can sell it evergreen. Meaning that you create it once and then it could be sold over and over again, so it's not time limited.

Karen Davies [00:17:41]:
Once your course is live, you don't have to keep creating new content from scratch because you're building an asset that is continuously generating you income. Now to scale with online courses, think about how you can create a course that caters to different levels of your audience. So for example, you might start with a beginner course to attract new customers, but then you might move them up your value ladder to an intermediate or an advanced course as they grow. Now what this approach does is that ensures that you're not only reaching more people but that you're also keeping them engaged because you're creating more offerings. So once you have your online course created the next step to scaling is setting up a system that is going to sell it for you. So this is where your sales funnel comes into play. Now a sales funnel is a step by step system that essentially guides potential customers from the discovery phase right through to the purchase phase. And it allows you to automate the process of attracting and nurturing and, of course, converting those leads that come into your world into course buyers.

Karen Davies [00:18:59]:
That's what we wanna do. We want to be able to reach audiences, bring them into our world, and then convert them into paying customers. Now a really good way of doing this is by, firstly, creating some kind of freebie that really does align well with your course. So where whatever you do in your course, you need to be thinking about the very first step. What do they need to know? So for example, in order for people to come into my online course which is all about creating an online course, for my first step to helping them on that journey is by giving them clarity. So one of my freebies is called the 10 steps to online course success where I break down 10 essential steps for creating your online course. Because it's really important that before you create an online course, you understand what goes into the creation of 1 and and the and the different pieces of the puzzle. So that's my freebie.

Karen Davies [00:20:05]:
And you can download the freebie by going to my website www.karenhyphendavies.com. It's a really simple freebie but it's a beautifully designed ebook that essentially provides clarity. Now, obviously, once somebody has downloaded a freebie you want to be able to create an email sequence that reaches out to them via email. So you're sort of nurturing that relationship. So once somebody opts in to your freebie or your lead magnet, you then nurture them with a series of emails that provides more value and then of course leads them towards the your online course. And then you have your course offer. This is the thing that you're actually going to be offering them. So once you, have people register and sign up and you're sending those emails, when you go to offer your course to your leads, you're spending the time focusing on highlighting the transformation that they're going to be getting from your online course.

Karen Davies [00:21:11]:
So you really need to have that nailed. You need to understand exactly what your online course delivers because there will be a transformational aspect of that, and that's where you want to focus your attention on. But the great thing is that if you set yourself up with a really good funnel, you can then start to generate sales on autopilot. And this will allow you to focus on creating new courses and new offers that will allow you to expand your reach and build relationships with your audience whilst bringing in new customers. And the great thing is your funnel's working for you in the background because it's all automated. A sales funnel is essentially the backbone of your scalable online business because it does automate the process of turning leads into paying customers. One of the great things about creating online courses that you can, of course, add additional things like bundles and upsells. Now bundles are just where you add other courses to a bundle and you sell it for a discounted price, which means that your customer's gonna get more for their money so they walk away a bit more happier.

Karen Davies [00:22:29]:
But, of course, you can only do that when you have multiple courses created. The other option is that you offer an upsell. So when somebody's at the checkout and they're purchasing your online course, you have a little box that offers them something else. So it could be extra resource, it could be one to one coaching, or it could just be some extended support. And that will help to boost income as well because they're not just buying the online course, they're buying the other stuff. So bundling your courses and adding upsells is a really great way to maximize your revenue without adding much extra work. And there are tools out there that make this super super easy. So as you can see, scaling with the online courses is a brilliant opportunity for any entrepreneur that is essentially looking to increase impact and income.

Karen Davies [00:23:25]:
By creating a really high valuable course that delivers results and setting up an automated sales funnel and consistently marking your online course online, in networking, wherever, you can start to scale your business and create long term passive income. Now as you can see, online courses provides an a fantastic opportunity for any entrepreneur looking to increase their impact and income. By creating a high value course, setting up your automated sales funnel, and then consistently marketing your online course, you can scale your business and create long term passive revenue in your business. Now the best thing that I ever did for my business was to create my first online course because what it did, it opened up opportunity. It gave me a route to new customers that I could serve through creating something on auto. And when COVID hit and the world of business more or less shut down, I had something that I could sell on repeat. And my business today is very different because of that. It is a game changer in your business.

Karen Davies [00:24:44]:
And I encourage you, if you're on the fence and you've been thinking about this but you haven't taken the first step to creating your online course, then I encourage you to to do it. 2025 is around the corner and wouldn't it be brilliant to have that extra income in your business? Income that you can make whilst you're out enjoying yourself with your favorite people or doing the things that you love to do. Because it's possible. And you may be sitting there thinking, but I'm not expert enough. I don't have the time. Or the the tag absolutely gives me the heebie jeebies. I it it scares me to hell. I can't deal with the tag.

Karen Davies [00:25:28]:
Then please rest assure all of those concerns are valid, but the results will outweigh those concerns. Because when you're on the other side of it and you're making that money and you're scaling your business and suddenly you have that freedom in your business that you never had before, all of the all of the the challenges that you face at the beginning when you're learning become worth it. Because you end up with something that you can scale and you can repeat you can generate repeatable income from on a consistent basis. Now, if you're ready to take the next step and you want to learn more about how to create an online course or you wanna dive in and get started, then come into my all inclusive membership, sell your brilliance online, which is designed to guide you through creating your very first online course with confidence and with ease. Now I have a whole load of stuff going on in the membership. I have live master classes. I have q and a sessions. I have accountability sessions.

Karen Davies [00:26:35]:
I have training, resources, plug and play systems. Everything you need to get your online course done, I have for you in the membership. So if you wanna find out more, then head over to my website www.karen-davies.com/membership.

For less than a cup of coffee a day, you can get your online course created and up and out in the world and start making that scalable, repeatable income that your business is crying out for. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope you found this episode of value. And of course, please do feel free to share it with others who you may think will also benefit from listening to today's episode.

Karen Davies [00:27:29]:
If today's discussion has sparked some inspiration and you're eager to dive into creating your very first online course, then please head over to my website to check out my all inclusive membership, sell your brilliance online, which is designed to guide you through the process of creating your very first online course. Head over to my website, www.karen-davies.com/membership. 

I will be back next week with another episode but until then have a great week. 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 resources mentioned in today's episode. New episodes drop every week on a Wednesday. So, why not rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Thank you for tuning in today and I will see you next time.