Mythbusting: Are Online Courses Dying?
If you've been anywhere in the online space recently, you've probably heard something along the lines of, ‘Ugh, courses, no one wants to do an online course anymore’, or ‘e-courses are dying, they're fading’. Before you know it, it's time to move onto the next thing, whether it's high ticket masterminds or membership sites.
I want to bust through the myth that’s surrounding a lot of these trends in the online learning space AND I want to share one trend that's coming in hot that a lot of people aren't talking about yet.
Why Are We So Quick to Assume E-Courses Are Dying?
The whole conversation around online courses are dying, eCourses are dying, everyone's sick of e-courses tends to be a big buzz because we've all just kind of accepted that less than 10% of people will finish your online course and that's just how it goes.
I want to bust through those myths that people are sick of e-courses, and that no one wants e-courses anymore. I can tell you what people are sick of: they’re sick of online learning experiences that are treated like information instead of an experience. They're sick of courses that have been thrown together and are content-driven. People are ready for intentionally designed, intentionally crafted online programs that suit their needs.
Let's Bust the Myth That it's One Size Fits All For Online Programs
What we need to do is pull back and think about what our people need. What is it that our people are looking for? And most importantly, what problem are we trying to solve for them?
The reason that we see these big trends that rise and fall is because people are so swept up in doing what everyone else is doing, that they forget to take a pause and think about what problem are they solving for their people and what tool, what pathway is going to get their people to the solution the fastest.
Just because other people are doing a membership site doesn't mean you need to. Just because other people are doing a course doesn't mean you need to. And just because a specific style, a specific format doesn't fit your people, doesn't mean that that's dying.
We Need to Rethink How We Think About Online Learning
Online courses, online programs, even memberships, blog posts, webinars... they are all experiences that we're crafting for our people and, as teachers, as leaders, as coaches, we want to give them the most amazing experience possible.
That starts with one simple shift and that is to stop letting the content drive what you are creating. Instead of letting the content drive things, I want you to shift it and think about letting action drive what you create.
What does your learner need to do?
What does your client need to do?
What do your students need to do?
These are actions that they need to take to get results. Instead of thinking online courses are dying or no one wants them, no one's finishing them, maybe we should look at what's going on with our courses that people aren't liking.
Maybe we should look and see are they actually in alignment with what our people need? And that brings me to my main point of this blog, which is a trend that is coming in hot, that not a lot of people are talking about right now.
Let's Talk About Laser-Focused Mini Courses
If you have to hang a picture on your wall, you probably just need a hammer and a nail. You don't need someone to go out and give you an entire toolbox.
Imagine that your ideal client, your student, your people, have a problem. And often what happens is we go, okay, I'm going to create a signature course for them. It's 12 weeks long and it gives them absolutely everything they need, but really they just need one tiny little piece of that experience to solve their problem.
These laser-focused mini courses, toolboxes (whatever you want to call them!) solve one specific problem for one specific person. Think about a targeted guide for a curated Instagram feed instead of an entire Instagram course, or a toolbox for difficult conversations over email opposed to an entire signature program on communication.
These are the courses that are usually under $500. They're a fast, easy tactile solution that help people get results fast
Now, don't get me wrong: there is still a place for signature programs. Those types of programs are great for the inner work, the deeper transformations that require a longer amount of time, and a bigger amount of support.
In my experience the longer the course, the more present the leader needs to be. The shorter the course, the more targeted the solution, the more you can make it closer to truly passive income... (although, in my opinion, there's no such thing as true passive income.)
Different Learning Experiences Serve Different Purposes
The next time you're thinking about creating a program for your people (or maybe you already have one and you want to revisit it) I want you to think about what the problem is that you're solving and what your people need to be able to do to solve that problem. Ask yourself, do I need a toolbox or do I just need to give them a hammer?
Before you create anything, take a step back and ask yourself, how can I help my people? How can I set them up for success in the easiest, fastest way possible? Do they need an entire toolbox of a longer, more signature program with more of my support and more facetime? Or maybe they just need a wrench and I can give them a laser-focused, specific guide that is going to set them up for success and solve their problems super quick.
In the spirit of giving people the tools to set them up for success, I have created a totally free guide for you that you can grab using the link below.
Stay action-focused and inspire amazing results with this FREE video series.
In this series, I share some of the exact tools I use with my clients to design incredible, life-changing online courses.
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Whether it’s a full-length signature program, a laser-focused mini-course or you want to take your existing program to the next level, I want to help you make it happen.
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