9 common doubts and fears that stop people from creating an online course.
Challenges You Might Face Creating An Online Course
Want to create an online course? You are going to LOVE these statistics!
E-Learning is the future. Market research firm Global Industry Analysts projected “E-Learning” would reach $107 Billion in 2015 and it did. Now, Research and Markets forecasts show triple the revenue of 2015 - e-learning will grow to $325 Billion by 2025.
So, what this means is, if YOU are thinking about adding an Online Course to your business, then this is the RIGHT TIME!
BUT...
I hear a BIG BUT from a lot of my friends and clients. There are fears and a lot of self-doubts. But let me tell you one thing…This is normal. FEAR AND SELF DOUBT are NORMAL, and it is OK to feel those feelings.
But what is not ok is letting these fears and doubts take control of your actions.
Fear of failure may be what is stopping you from doing that damn thing.
Thus, overcoming this fear is not only important but also necessary for you to do your thing and reach your goals.
Today I would like to address 8 main doubts and fears that stop people from creating an online course.
Types of Fears During Creating An Online Course
FEAR #1: Someone has already created a course on the same topic:
So, this may have happened to you, you started thinking about creating a course on a particular topic, you do your research and you land on several courses on the exact topic.
Your heart sinks.
You think, WHAT’s THE POINT?
This has been done before.
Yes, it may have been done before!
But does it mean you should give up on creating your online course?
NO!
Let me tell you why it is a good thing that a course has been created on the topic you want to teach.
It shows that the course idea is validated and there are people teaching it and there are people paying for it.
It proves there is a need for what you want to offer, which is a good thing.
If no one had created a course on it or written a book on the topic you want to teach, then I would be really worried.
This is a great opportunity for you to make an EVEN BETTER SOLUTION than what exists in the market right now.
Could you talk to people who have taken those courses and find out what was not good about that course?
What questions did they still have after taking that course?
What were the gaps that the course left, which were very essential to the TRANSFORMATION that the course had promised?
You can take all this data and make an EVEN BETTER COURSE.
FEAR #2: I don’t feel like I’m an expert yet!
Who told you that you have to be an absolute BEST in your field, to teach it?
This isn’t true.
You need to be capable enough to deliver on the promise that you make while selling your course.
It is ok to be a contributor to the conversation and not a GURU, my mentor once said, and I so agree.
People want to learn from people who have been where they are right now.
They want to learn from people who have gone before them and have overcome the same obstacles that they are facing.
Tell me, would you like to learn from a professor who has all the knowledge about the topic but probably has never used it in his real life or would you like to learn from someone who uses what they teach in their everyday life?
I am sure you would like to learn from someone who walks their talk and not just TEACH it.
People want to learn from people they can relate with and you can be that person they want to learn from despite you not having 25 years of experience in that field or certification on that topic.
If you have got results for yourself or others, you can absolutely teach it.
FEAR #3: I am an introvert and I HATE doing videos:
I get that!
But, did you know that the percentage of people who love themselves on video and love their voice is very less!
I have not seen many people say things like
“I love how I look on camera! ”
“I love my voice when I hear it recorded”
Most of us are very critical of ourselves.
Having said that if you don’t want to be on video, it is ok, you can do a course that is your voice and PowerPoint.
IT works, it can be as effective.
Have you heard of Amy Porterfield? She is my mentor; she has been in business for 10 years.
2019 was the first year she did a face-to-face online course. For the last 9 years, she has been doing mostly PPT and voice and she has a very successful multi-million-dollar business.
I hope I convinced you that a face-to-face video is not essential for your course to be a success.
FEAR #4: No one will pay for what I teach:
There is this one BIG myth out there, that you can only create a course on a topic that directly helps the other person generate revenue.
All courses are not about helping others generate more income.
Courses can be on so many other things, I have seen successful courses on Wine Tasting, how to make Candied Apples, how to manage your curly hair.
SO, if your topic does not help generate revenue, don’t let that stop you from creating your online course.
There are people out there who need what you teach.
FEAR #5: What if they ask for refunds?
Guess what, people will ask for refunds, it is something that will happen sooner than later.
Not everyone will love what you create, there will be a few who will take advantage of you, by implementing the material, getting results, but will ask for a refund.
Will you not DO what is good for you and your business for fear of a few things that may happen?
I hope not.
FEAR #6: Technology!
Yes, I get that, there is a lot of technology involved when you run an online business, but things are so much easier now than they were10 years back.
There are tools like Kajabi which are simple to use and you can run your whole online business through a single software for the most part.
Most software will have extensive documentation and chat support.
You can also hire people who can do those things for you.
My mentor’s programme has a big tech library with her course. She makes sure all your tech needs are covered in her course about course creation.
So, this should not be a reason that is VALID enough to stop you from creating your course.
You can hire experts like me or virtual assistants from places like Fiver, and Upwork to do the tech for you.
FEAR #7: Too much work.
If you fear hard work or don’t want to work hard then I request you not to read further as Course Creation is a LOT OF HARD WORK.
I do not suggest just slapping some things together and selling them.
I only want you to go into Course Creation if you want to create a stellar course.
But what you want to consider with course creation is that the work has to be done once and you can reap the benefits of that hard work again and again.
FEAR #8: Visibility- I am too scared to put myself out there:
An online course-based business differs from having a brick-and-mortar or online service-based business.
Get out of your comfort zone and do things you have not done before if you want to have a successful business.
Promote and market yourself extensively.
But like everything in life, once you push through the initial resistance you will get used to it.
Once you get going, it will get easier.
FEAR #9: Not knowing how to market your course:
This is something that you can learn how to do or hire an expert to do for you.
There are launch strategists out there who can help you. You can choose a strategy that works for your personality type and the bandwidth you have.
There are courses on how to market your course, there are many great books, podcasts, and blogs written on this topic.
I have written a detailed blog post on different kinds of launch strategies that you can read here.
Conclusion?
This piece can be figured out, let it not stop you.
So now that I have dived deep into the fears that stop you from adding a course to your business, sometimes COURSE CREATION is not the right business model for you.
When should you not be creating a course?
1) You don’t have the gift of breaking content into easy-to-understand form, and that isn’t your skillset nor are you passionate about teaching.
2) You don’t have any following of any kind, I would like you to have an email list and you should be actively building, and nurturing that list before you put out a course to sell.
A small list is fine. But you should have gotten started on list building/ audience building. Creating and they will come is a strategy that does not work.
I hope this addresses some of the fears you were grappling with.
