How to Structure Your Course to Sustainably Scale Your Online Business
If you’ve been in my world for a while, you know that I’m a firm believer that cookie cutters belong in the kitchen, not in your program structure (and if you’re new to my world – hello and welcome!)
I don’t believe that there is such a thing as a one size fits all approach to anything, let alone how you structure your course, how you launch, and how you encapsulate your magic into a scalable experience for your audience.
Spoiler Alert: There is no ‘secret’ or ‘perfect formula’
We know that Jeff and Joe McMarketer make a lot of money off of the ‘perfect course structure’, the ‘secret to a profitable launch’, and the ‘guarantee completion rate formula’.
And let’s face it, there are so many moving pieces when it comes to designing, building, and launching a scalable program that the promise of the perfect structure guaranteed to make money and get results can be verrrryyyy alluring.
But as someone who has:
1) tried to squish herself into the one-size-fits-all formulas only to end up redoing every single piece because it didn’t feel right; and
2) has years of experience supporting clients in designing every type of scalable program structure possible,
I know that the cookie-cutter approaches actually end up being more overwhelming to you as the leader, and more underwhelming to the experience of your learner, because, well, you and your people AREN’T COOKIES.
But if the possibilities are truly limitless, and the best, most magical learning experience is intentionally designed for you and your learners – where do you start? How do you choose what type of program structure?
Start with what matters most to you.
We want to design a program that is sustainably scalable for you -and that starts by making sure you’re clear on what feels best for you.
So before you jump into offering a membership because Mia said it’s the best way to scale, or an ecosystem of tiny offers because Kai is obsessed with how it grew their business, explore these questions:
Time + commitment (impacts live elements, community management, live calls, etc)
How much time in a week do you want to dedicate to your program? What level of ongoing commitment do you want?
Ex. do you want flexibility for your children’s schedules? Do you hate live calls and want nothing on your calendar? Do you want to only teach live 3 months a year and then go live in a forest?
Intimacy, depth + connection (impacts the volume of people you’re supporting at a given time, whether or not you include live elements, the synchronicity or asynchronous nature of your touchpoints)
How hands-on do you want to be with your learners?
How many people do you want to support at a time? 10, 100, 1000, as many as possible?
How in touch do you want to be with your people ? Hands off? A bit of feedback? With them every step of the way?
Price point, accessibility + simplicity (impacts the amount of programs in your ecosystem, the price and size of your programs, the amount of personal access or touchpoints you include)
How simple or complex do you want your ecosystem to be? Do you want one delicious offer or a buffet of snackable offers?
Do you want to offer a wide range of price points?
What is your comfort range for the price point in correlation to the amount of access to you?
What does sustainably scalable look like for you?
In my experience, there are always multiple options and ways of blending together what works best for you and the ideal learning experience for your audience – so let’s start with defining what matters most to you.
Because sustainably scalable means it feels good to deliver, without the resentment of wishing you were doing it another way, AND that it delivers a great experience for your learners.
And if you’re ready to be supported along your program creation journey, and to create an awesome program around what matters most to you – I invite you to join the Incubator.
