Course Creation Bites

Show Notes:New years often mean new goals - goals like "create an online course".But it's such a big task, how do you get started and give yourself the best chance for success?Today we are going to talk about how to best approach your goal and take steps to achieve it. Set a date for the goal.    If you have a task without a deadline it gets pushed to the bottom the list over and over.   Work out if you are motivated by internal or external deadlines. Make time.  Unless you physically make time for your course, it won't happen. Set a really clear objective.  “By the end of your course, students will be able to……”Start to map your course out.   Start to think about how content will go into a program.  Action Steps: The best thing you can do is set a date and block the time out so that you have a dedicated time to make it happen. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:Content Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

What's happening in the world of online courses next year? In this episode I'll share with you what I think you can expect to see in 2022 and how it will impact you as a course creator. This is the last episode of season 3 of course creation bites. At the end of this episode I'll also give you a sneak peek into what's coming in next season and how you can get involved. 

In this episode we go through what worked in the world of course creation in 2021, and what you can learn from this for your courses. 

You are a vital part of your course. Your audience needs to trust that you are the perfect facilitator and the solution to their problems. In this episode of Course Creation Bites we talk about building trust, and adding more of you to your course. 

And I don't mean they can touch their toes... ;) In this episode we discuss flexibility and how staying adaptable with your content, delivery and support. 

In this episode of course creation bites we're talking about getting over your video blocks, and some of the strategies that I use to help me feel more comfortable making course videos. If I can do them - you can too. 

The word "course" has come to mean completely different things to different people. In this episode I take you through the basics of what makes a course, some of the terminology surrounding courses, and a range of functionality options you might want from your course. 

Show Notes:Repurposing – Using something that already exists for another purpose. Most people I talk to have a huge amount of content that they have already produced for blogs or books or podcasts, and the good thing about that when creating a course is it means that you don't need to start from scratch.  The truth is you probably have a huge amount of content that could be easily repurposed. The steps for repurposing what you already have into course content are:Map it all out – work out exactly what you want your course to cover and in what order.Lay out all your existing content and see where the correlations are.Fill in the gaps.  See exactly what you have – now you can re-create as required. Action Steps:If you haven't started creating your course because if felt like the task was too big or you have too much on, don't worry about the course content at the moment - instead start with a course map.  Work your way from the beginning to the end and work out exactly what your modules and lessons would be and in what order.  Then you can look at a strategy to work your course materials out.   It all starts with a solid, really clear course map. I have both course mapping templates and programs available, or if you need help sorting out what is going on in your head that is something that I can take you through as well.   Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:The 4 Stages of Competency is a model based on the premise that before learning something, learners are completely unaware of what it is that they need to learn and they move through 4 psychological stages before achieving full competence.  In this episode we'll look at these 4 stages and how these impact you selling and running your course. Unconscious Incompetence – You don't know what you don't know. Conscious Incompetence – You do know what you don't know. Conscious Competence – You know how to use the skill, but it still requires practice and conscious effort and hard work. Unconscious Competence – You have enough experience with the skill that you know how to do it unconsciously. Action Steps:Think about your current audience and work out where they are at in their competence journey.  Are you trying to sell them something that doesn't meet their needs?   It's really worth thinking about where your audience is and what suits them best.  It will save your time and effort trying to sell them something that doesn't meet their needs, and it also means they are going to be more satisfied with the product.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:When it comes to course creation, people seem to have an urge to make things more complicated than they need to be, so let's talk about keeping things simple. The first thing you can do to keep it simple is to use what you already have.    The second thing you can do is to keep it small.  Good quality content is important, but there doesn't need to be a lot of it - there just needs to be the right information to solve their problem. The next thing to think about is the technical component.   Think about your processes - these should be as small & as simple as possible as well. Lastly, think about what is easiest for your audience.   Who are they and where are they?  What are they doing and how they using your content?  Target your delivery to what is easiest for your student, not what you think is best. Action Steps:The one thing I want you to take away is Keep It Simple.   What do you already have that you can use, what can you do to make this the smallest and easiest course it can possibly be?   It's better for you because it's easier to build, but it's also better for your audience because it is quicker to use.   Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Let's talk about getting online fast.    What do you do when you are in a position where you need to get a course online fast?The first thing you can do to speed up your production time is to get clear on your outcomes and modules.   This will make your content creation process much faster. The second way to speed up your production is to understand that content creation takes time.   The production of the content – the videos, the PDFs etc – they all take time.  Understanding this allows you to block out time specifically to get it done or to outsource it.   The third thing you can do if you need to move quickly is to presell the program.   The risk with preselling is that it is incredibly stressful – so if you need to get things moving, my advice is to at least create module one so you have a) something to give your students, and b) so you have an idea about what a realistic timeframe is to create the rest of the course.  The last thing to understand is that sometimes you will have to let the perfection slide a little.  What is the minimum viable product that you can get online now? What are the minimum pieces that your students need to have?Action Steps:If you need to get a course online fast, look at your calendar for the next few weeks and block out the time to work on your course now.    Then when it comes to that time you have a period when you can work on your course without being interrupted.   This is the biggest piece of advice I can give you no matter where you are in your course creation journey. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes: Let's talk course type and price points.  There are three major styles of courses around at the moment.  The Tiny Offer($0 - $100): An entry component to a major course & should be value laden.    Will suit you if you have higher priced content that you want to build a warm list for – it's great for attracting new clients to check out your content and to build that know, like and trust factor.   Pre-training ($100 - $900): Prepares/trains your audience for what you want them to do next, a lead in for the high-level sales.    This mid-range course gets your client thinking about what level they are at and what they need to work on so that if they want to invest in a high level course they can move that way when they are ready. Signature Program ($1000 – $10,000+): High price, high touch, guided programs.  People come to you for this because you are known for it. Instead of trying to build all three straight away, decide where your current gap is, and which one is going to suit you best at the moment.   Look for the one thing that suits you where you are at and what suits your business model. Action Steps:If you are thinking about building a course, think about this three-level system and what suits you and your business model.   Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes: Online courses don't work.  This seems like a strange thing for an online course creator to make – but if you look at the stats this is something you could easily think.The truth is online courses can work and do work, but it is worth considering some of the reasons that they don't work so that we can improve those things. Initial course login process is complicated/delayed.  In that period between pressing buy and getting access to their course materials, a student gets distracted and never comes back.   It's easy to hide.   It is easy to drop away and never come back as there is no accountability.    It's online.   It's very easy for students to get distracted while on the internet.   Action Steps:What are you doing to make sure your course does work?   How easy it to get into your course content and log in?   How easy is it for your students to hide once they are in your course? Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:The question I have been asked is – Will online courses replace traditional, classroom style classes? – and the answer is no.   Online courses are not the death of traditional courses and I believe will not replace face to face learning.  They are not the same. This is because:While you can teach technique online, you cannot correct/influence technique online. You can't provide  the interaction & support that a classroom does, online.While I don't expect online courses to replace face to face learning, I do expect to see more online blended learning going forward – a combination of online and face to face learning.  Action Steps:Think about how you would deliver the course face to face, and how you can bring some of those elements across to your online course.   Would you have an opportunity for students to ask questions at the end?  Would you get people to do an icebreaker at the beginning of the course?  How would you bring some of the great aspects of face to face training to your online course?Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:In this episode I take you behind the scenes in a client's course. This week we are talking all about The Seedling Group. You can find out more about their amazing work here: https://www.theseedlinggroup.org/ The program we are looking into is called the Billabongs of Knowledge Training by The Seedling Group.    The Billabongs of Knowledge Training is a series of 8 modules, each about an hour duration, and is all about culturally safe trauma informed practice – specifically designed for first nations people or those who work with or deliver services to the community. Things I love: It comes from a place of experience, knowledge, research and understanding.    Its delivery style.   Kelleigh & Nicole sit side by side and use story telling and a really conversational manner to talk through some incredibly heavy information, but they come across in such a way that it feels like you are talking to family. It uses an app called Padlet to offer a whole range of resources and links that go with each of the lessons.  Because it is offered slightly separately to the program, it means that you aren't overwhelmed while you are trying to go through the content, but you do have a wonderful range of resources when you are ready for them. They have some fun engaging worksheets that are designed in a manner that suits the program perfectly but have a graphic element that makes them really fun to work with. Things they could do to improve:This is heavy content, and it would be good to see other elements of support available within the course. The length of the sessions – one hour can be quite long and it would be better if it were in smaller bite sized pieces. Action Steps:Firstly, when you are looking at your courses, take a moment to stop and think about the wealth of experience you have – because for most people I work with, it is more than they realised.    Secondly, really think about your delivery styles – can you vary your delivery style?   With your additional resources, how are you delivering them to the student – are they accessible, are they overwhelming, are they opening in a different window?  How are you giving them the information and are you giving them too much at one time?  Can you pull it back and bit and put it in a bonus lesson rather than putting it all into one place and hoping they go through it in one go?Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:So often we aim for a standard that just doesn't exist. Are you waiting for your course to feel 'finished'?   Today we are going to talk about one of my favourite sayings:  Progress over perfection.  Course creators often wait for something to be finished or perfect or done before releasing their course to their students.   Unfortunately though, that is a standard that is often unattainable - mostly because it is a standard that is only in YOUR head.  The standard of finished is completely different for everyone. Another important thing to think about when considering ‘perfect' or ‘finished' is that a course isn't designed for you – it's for the person using it - and we don't know if it's any good until someone else is actually using it.   Until it's in the hands of the user, it's just theory about what is finished or perfect. Action Steps:If you have a course that is part built or not finished, take a step back and think about what needs to be done.  Write a list of everything you think still needs fixing or finishing – be as thorough as possible.  Next, look at that list and decide which tasks are essential and which ones have a work around that could get your course out and circulating earlier. Where can you look for the concept of progress over perfection. I want you to have a great course, but I also know that most people are striving for a standard that physically does not exist.   What is the fastest way you can get your course out and live?Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Let's talk all things Notion.   If you are not familiar with Notion, it is an all-in-one workspace.  It can do just about anything you want it to do – it is a single space where you can think, write and plan anything you want.   It takes planning and project management to the next level.    If you haven't looked at Notion, go have a look – the link is: https://www.notion.so/Notion can also be used to host course content and guides, workshops, modules and lessons.  It isn't a course platform as such, but because it is a completely blank page you can make it into one.   If you have found yourself limited by a platform because you want more flexibility with your branding, or you want to break things into more than just lessons and modules, then Notion might be something to consider. The downside is also that it is too flexible – opening a blank page can be incredibly overwhelming if you don't know what to do.    It's also important to remember that it isn't a course platform, and therefore isn't designed to host courses or show you all the data that specific course platforms can. Things to consider if you are thinking about trying Notion:It is free so great to experiment with.It a blank slate & therefore has a lot of flexibility.It gives you the opportunity to be smart about the way you build a content database.If you want all the functionality that comes with a course platform, Notion is probably not for you.  Action Steps:If you found this interesting, then by all means go and look at Notion and see if it could work for you. If you have a course platform that is working for you though, then stick with it. If you know you need some of the functionality of a course platform, then don't get distracted by this podcast! Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Let's talk all things time.    Research shows that the main thing that gets in the way of people creating their course is time.  Finding the time to create new content or new course material is hard, especially when you are already busy with client work.  I want to share with you some of the things I use to create my own courses.External deadlines.   You will find that with an external deadline you will work faster and harder than you will for your own deadlines. Accountability & POM Sessions.   Having an accountability buddy really keeps you accountable and the POM sessions means you get a dedicated work time.Outsource.  Outsource the tasks that are taking up your time so you can dedicate your time to building content and creating income.   Or you could hire a course creator to help build the course.  Action Steps:Today I challenge you. If time has been the one thing that is stopping you from moving forward what I want you to do today is set the date for when the course is going to go live and then Go and Tell someone about it. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:In this episode I'll take you behind the scenes in Kim Dunn's course, Essential Self Care for Psychologists.Kim is a psychologist who has a large network of psychologists and clearly knows her target audience and their needs.    It makes such a difference when you are going through a program that is written for exactly the people it is intended to reach and help, and that is probably the biggest takeaway of this course review – the more you understand the people you are trying to help the better you can help them.Firstly, I want to make it very clear that when I do a course review, I am not looking to rip the course apart or find great holes.  I'm looking at it to find those small niggly bits that might prevent your audience from doing the work you want them to do or that might take away from the experience.   Most courses I review have great content. Things Kim has done really well:Used activities that are helpful to her studentsUnderstood the needs of her studentsBroken down her content into reasonably sized modulesAsked questions that genuinely make people stop and thinkIn terms of user experience some of the things she can look at are:Small spelling and grammar mistakes (that everyone makes)The length of gaps and spaces in both written and video mediaThe ways that videos are embedded and the kind of information that is available on and around themConnect with Kim:CourseWebsite   Action Steps:What I hope you have taken away today is some of the insights into what I find when I go through a program.   I generally find that the content (physical words) is great – you know your stuff.  Helping you build a course isn't about you knowing your content though.  The focus needs to be on knowing your audience and then all the little things that impact user experience – the gaps, pauses and the little idiosyncrasies that might break their concentration.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:What I want you to think about today is what you can sell people before they buy your course, product, or service.   How can you use courses to help prime your audience for the courses you really want them to buy that might be bigger, or more expensive, or that they aren't ready for yet?   These are likely to be freebies or lower priced programs that are an ideal lead into something you want them to buy next. There are a couple of ways you can do this:1.       Alternate smaller courses.  If a client lands on your sales page, has requested information and shown a lot of interest but doesn't finalise the sale, you could offer them a smaller program instead.   The person was obviously interested or curious, but they weren't quite ready for your larger, more expensive product or course. 2.        Using a course to help clients get ready for the thing that you want them to buy.  Having a course that is a bit of a downsell or a presell helps potential clients get ready to use your products and services and they are more likely to come back to you for the big purchase because they know you and they trust you. This is a great way to warm your leads and also a great way to pre-qualify them so they are ready to purchase from you. Action Steps:Take a moment and think about what you are selling that some people are not quite ready for yet.    Could you offer a free or low-priced program to help people get ready so that they are able to purchase your signature program from you?  Is there something people need to know or have done, or is there a system or a process they need to go through before they are ready to work with you?   I get so excited because there are so many opportunities to support your clients to get them ready for you & your product that aren't being taken advantage of yet because you just haven't thought about it. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:In this week's episode we are looking at the different ways you can use courses as upsells to increase your profit margins and your sales. Upselling is taking what was going to be a sale of an original purchase price and increasing the sale price.  For example, at McDonalds, how many times have you been asked “Would you like fries with that?” or “Would you like that in a meal?” There are two clear examples of using courses as part of an upsell. 1.       You can add courses as a bonus, or a value add to increase the value of an original sale.  Also known as creating companion programs.   It is an upsell where you are already giving them a digital or physical product, but you are going to upsell them by adding a course to a sale.   You could either give them the course for free as a value add if they increase their purchase size or you could give the course away for a small fee.    2.       You can upsell people to a more expensive program or course when they were coming to buy the original course anyway.  There might be one version of your course which is available for a base level price and there is a VIP or a handholding version that is a more expensive version of the program with extra bonuses or benefits. Action Steps:Think about your strategy for upselling.  Are you upselling anywhere?  When people are landing on your course sales page are they being offered a different price point, or an advanced/VIP version?   If you are selling digital/physical products, have you considered using a course to increase your sale value?    Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:This season we are going to move away from the theoretical and look instead at what people are doing in the industry, courses that I have loved, what is working and also some course reviews that I am working on with clients currently.   Today I'm going to take you behind the scenes and give you an insight into a course review.  The client that I am working with in this example is moving from the platform Elucidat to Kajabi.  Elucidat is a program that focuses on slide by slide activity & is often used for corporate training.  When moving to Kajabi, a lot of time had to be spent combining bite sized chunks of information together to make more robust lessons.  This is an important thought – how long can your student focus and concentrate for and how big should a “bite” be?   The truth is that when we want to we can concentrate for far more than 30 seconds and so if you have good content that your students are interested in, then you can make the slide bigger and a more effective and clear presentation of information.  The other major thing that needed to be worked on with this course was adding more action steps.   There was some brilliant content that gave some great insights into the industry, but there was nothing that allowed the student to use the information in a real-life situation.   Using action steps within a course gives students the opportunity to apply learnings and ask questions in the learning environment to ensure they are clear on the process. Action Steps:Apply what you have learnt here today to your current program.  The first thing I want you to do is really think about whether you have action steps for every piece of content you share.   (Season 1 has some great tips on developing action steps).  The second thing I want you to do is look at the length of your lessons and consider if they are the right size.  Have you got too much?  Have you got too little?  Where can you pull two random parts together so you have one more robust lesson rather than two tiny bite size pieces?  If you haven't created your course already, keep them in mind because they will definitely help in the future. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Welcome to the wrap up of Season 2. Today's podcast is a quick summary of the highlights of Season 2 and a big thank you to the guest speakers who took the time to come and present throughout the season. In Season 3, I'm going to do things a little differently. Firstly, my goal is to present what is most current when it comes to course creation.   Things are always changing, not just from a technical point of view (as in platforms etc) but also from a theoretical point of view on content & course creation.    E-Learning is still relatively new and the way we approach that and the theory behind it is still shifting.  I want to share with you what is working now (not what worked 10 years ago) so for the next season I'm going to share examples of courses that are for sale in the marketplace currently. I'll go through what they have done well and what makes their course great.    Some of these will be past courses that I have helped to build, and some will be courses that I really admire or have completed myself.    There will be a whole range of different examples – some corporate, some small business, some marketing or sales – and I want to go into what they are doing differently, what is working and why. The other thing I am going to introduce for Season 3 is live course reviews.   This is where I go through a course from beginning to end, do a complete review and give the course creator an action report on the things they have done well, things they can improve upon and what they can change.    What I plan on doing (with the owner's permission) is sharing the results with you too so you can have practical examples on how to improve your course. Finally, we will be looking at strategy.   I want to share some of the things I have seen working in the industry in terms of sales and marketing strategy and how you can implement this with your course.   Action Steps:It's over to you today – only you know where you are at with your course & I want you to take a moment to reflect on this and to think about what comes next.   I would love you to reach out and tell me what you thought about this season and what you would love to see coming up in future seasons.   I want to make sure that I am talking about the aspects of course creation that are most relevant and interesting to you and I am completely open to the hearing about the things you want to know about.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:No matter where you are in your course creation journey, there is a lot to be said for taking a pause and reviewing what you have done and what you plan to do. 1.       If you are thinking of creating a course and are at the beginning of your course creation journey, what I want you to do next is to write down exactly what you are going to teach in what order.   A course map is an overview or outline that helps you to consolidate your thoughts and logically think about what goes where and is an incredibly important step in developing a successful course. 2.       If you are part-way through writing a course, I want you to pause, review what you have done and take stock.   It is easy to get bogged down in all of the things that you have to do; there are so many moving parts when writing a course and sometimes the job feels overwhelming.  It really helps if you take a moment to write a physical list of all the things you have done and then another list of all the things you still need to do - and celebrate your accomplishments.  3.       If you already have a completed course, I want you to leave it for a while.   Once people have started to complete the course, do a course review and learn from them what works and doesn't work. Action Steps:If you are at the beginning of your course creation journey – put together a course map. If you are in the middle of your course creation journey – pause and take stock of what you have and haven't done. If you are at the end of your course creation journey – wait until some students have completed the program and then ask and learn what worked and didn't work for them. Contact me and let me know what you have done and where you are at so I can celebrate your wins with you!Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:This week's podcast is the third in the series about sales, and is about what you can do to make a sale.   There are many strategies that you can use online - some better than others - but I want to focus on some important ones that we can use to ensure that your sales strategies are genuine and honest and grounded in good faith. 1.       Learning the difference between features and benefits.  A feature is an aspect of a course – it might have 6 modules or 9 videos.   A benefit is something a buyer ‘gets' after finishing the course or the outcome.    Both are important, and both should be included on your sales page. 2.       A sales page that sells.  Do some research and learn how to make a sales page sell – good copywriting is really important.  3.       Clear pricing.   Confusion with pricing will stop people from purchasing. 4.        Clear Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).   You can use the FAQ to ask the questions that you want people to ask and to answer the questions that they have already asked.  Action Steps:Reflect on your sales page.  Is it converting for you?   Do you have clear features and benefits? Do you have clear pricing and FAQs?    Do you know your stats?  It is really important to know your stats to know where you can improve.    Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:This is Part 2 in the series about Sales.   Having an audience is one thing but making them feel like the are nurtured and important is another.    So, what can you do to nurture your audience?1.        Show up.  I'm not going to put a caveat on that because it completely depends on you and what works for you.    It doesn't have to be all the places all the time, but you do have to be there regularly so people can get to know you. 2.       Offer longer form value-based contact.  Your audience is looking to see value from you and to learn from you.   They want to know that they can trust you and sharing your knowledge regularly is a great way to do this.3.       Build a community.  People love to feel like they belong somewhere and that they aren't alone.   It could be a Facebook group or an Instagram page.   4.       Start a conversation.  Your audience wants to feel heard and the best way to do this is to start a conversation in a forum where they can contribute and have their say.Action Steps: Reflect on what you are currently doing and pick one thing that you can work on.  If your audience feels nurtured, respected, looked after and heard they are far more likely to buy from you because they trust you. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Over the next couple of episodes, we are going to talk about sales; and today we are specifically talking about increasing your reach and growing your audience.  It's about increasing the number of people who hear you and see you and know who you are.Sales can seem like a numbers game, but you don't necessarily need a huge reach, you just need the right reach.  I'm going to share with you three things that I think are important to consider when determining your reach. Reach them where they are at.  You need to know who your people are and where they are hanging out. Their age and their interests all make a big difference to where they are going to be spending their time – and that may or may not be online. Collaborate with others.  It's really hard going it alone and building an audience is no different.  There are lots of ways you can collaborate to help build your audience, eg being a guest on other people's podcast or blog, or a presenter on a summit. Options that other people may not be thinking about.   You need to think outside the box – what other strategies could you be using other than online marketing.   Face to face networking, radio ads, offline media.  There is nothing wrong with using offline media to reach an audience and sell an online program.  You can reach them where they are at, then drive them back to your website or socials.  Action Steps:Make a decision about trying one thing that you aren't doing.   Where is your audience & can you either collaborate with someone else to do something new or can you find another option (which might be an offline option) to reach people you haven't reached before. Work together!  You are going to get much further working with other people than on your own. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes: While it's true your course should be all about your students, what I do want you to think about is you and your personality and your presence and what goes into making your course yours.   Today we are going to talk about how to bring you into your program.  You can outsource workbooks, pdfs, content – but you can't outsource you.   If your course needs video or audio or those sorts of support aspects, it needs to be you.  You are the person that your audience wants to buy from, you are the person that your audience trusts.  There are three ways you can bring your personality and presence into your course:1.       Face to camera video.   Great for introduction videos, explainer pieces, sharing stories and building relationships.  Allowing them to see you and who you are really helps you build that connection.  If they trust you and they believe you, they will learn from you. 2.       Audio.   People like to hear who they are learning from.    Letting people into your ears (like in a podcast) is quite a personal relationship – the audience gets to the point where they feel like they know you, they recognise your voice & know what you are going to say.   3.       Live support.  There are many ways you can do this, it might be one on one, or group support or a live Q&A.   Be on camera so everyone can see you.   People want to feel like they can talk to you, as though they have a personal connection with you and a personal response to their question. Action Steps:Think about the importance of you in your program.   How can you bring more of you into your program?   Think about face to face, think about audio, think about live support, and really think about how you can be there for your audience.   It's all about building a relationship with your student and supporting them to get the outcomes they want.Remember, every course is different and there are no right answers.  The only person who knows what is right for your course is you, so think about your program and what the best ways to bring your personality into it might be.  Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Most people I know go out of their way to build a good course and I don't want to take away from what they are giving and what they are trying to do -so this isn't coming from a place of being nasty or horrible.  Its more what I see people doing that I think could be done better. The three big mistakes I see course creators make are:1. Not truly understanding the needs of their audience.   2. Not setting a clear, realistic, launch date - and this can be two-phase, eitherNot setting a launch date at all orOn the flip side, it could be an unrealistic deadline.    3. Not considering the strategy behind pricing.   Action Steps:If you are already running a program, reflect back across those three things and consider if there is a gap and whether you can go to it now and dig deeper.If you are still building your course I don't want you to panic about these all at the same time, but pick the one that resonates with you the most and spend some time researching it.  Work out what will work for you, your audience and your strategy so you can develop something sustainable for you. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Today we are going to be talking about ego - and this might be a little bit raw, so stick with me with this one.  This is your reminder that your course isn't about you. I hear warning signs from course creators all the time and its normally statements like ‘I want' and ‘I think'. There are a couple of ‘I want' statements that are red flags and show that you need to adjust your thinking:The biggest one I see from course creators is ‘I want this to be perfect'.   Another warning sign I see is when course creators are focused on the branding and design elements of the content, slides, and PDFs without thinking about the learner and what they want/need it to look like.   In a similar way, the same thing happens with platform design and development.  It's statements like ‘I want this button here' and  ‘I want this button to click through to this thing' that cause concern.     Action Steps:For the next couple of weeks when you are working on your program, I want you to look out for when you say ‘I think' or ‘I want', because it is probably not about your student, it's about you.  When this starts to happen, it's important to take a step back and really think about what is going to work best for your student – not what you want and not what you think, but about the best for them. If you can do that, you are going to create a great course – not perfect, because that doesn't exist - but it will be great, I promise you that. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Everyone knows how important it is to test your course before you open it to enrolments, however testing comes down to more than just poking around and making sure it is ok.Here are the three things that I think you should be testing that you probably aren't doing independently at the moment:The content: Is the content understandable for your target market?   You want to find your ideal client – this is where beta testing comes in – and ask them to go through and do all or part of your course.   Is everything clear or are there some areas that are confusing?The tech: The tester needs to work from beginning to end and test every button and link. The process and user experience:  This is going through the journey as you would if you were a customer or client of your program.  It also includes completing the payment process right through to the end to make sure it works the way you want it to work.   Action Steps:Test!  If you have a live program that is already running, this is a good opportunity to go back and make sure everything is running right.  If you haven't launched your course yet, this is your reminder to book in some time to test your program before launch date.   Remember, it is important to give yourself time to test your course and enough time to correct the issues as well.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Let's talk all things Facebook advertising.      Facebook ads are incredibly powerful when it comes to building your list and selling your program, but I am the first to admit that they are not my zone of genius. This is why I have the amazing Bianca McKenzie on for you.  Bianca is a  Marketing agency owner and Facebook advertising strategist.   She helps entrepreneurs by taking the stress out of launching, generating targeted leads, making sales and growing businesses through Facebook advertising. You can find more of Bianca here:Bianca McKenzieNew School of Marketing Facebook PageInstagramAction Steps: Check your foundations and infrastructure: Do you have a free offer?Do you have a mailing list software?Do you have a landing page for your free offer?Do you have a thank you page to display after people sign up for your free offer?Do you have an email nurture sequence?Do you have a sales page for your course? If you answer no to any of these, that is the start to building your foundations and infrastructure before you start running Facebook ads to sell your course. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Keeping students engaged and re engaging students once they have dropped off are two completely different strategies, which is why I have covered them in separate podcasts.   The first thing to remember is that it is completely natural that some people will drop off.   Things happen, and there is no such thing as 100% completion.   The second thing to remember is that they will already be feeling bad about dropping out or falling behind.    Think about why they might be falling behind - is there to much work, are they not understanding the course?     Two simple strategies that could help are:1.  Re engage with emails.  This could be automated, or, if your course is small enough it is nicer if you send a personal email reaching out to make contact. 2.  Make it easier for them to catch up with content.   For example, you could offer course work in Week 1 & Week 2 and then leave Week 3 spare for students to catch up.   Maybe you could offer catch up lessons or live calls or a bonus Q&A.   You need to let them know that it is OK to fall behind and that there is help to catch them up again. Action Step:Think about if you have a strategy to re engage people and what it is.   Its up to you which one you will have, but it is important to have something planned in advance so that it is easy to implement. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Many people have asked how to keep their students participating in their program.   The short answer is that it's natural to have some drop off the longer a course runs.  However, if you know who is completing your course, you can design it to help your students stay engaged using some simple but effective strategies:What do they want to know?  What is the gap in their knowledge and how can your course match this?How do they learn?  If you create content that is easy to fit into your student's life, they won't need to find time to use it.What support do they need?   If your student is overwhelmed or doesn't understand, they are much less likely to stay engaged. If you don't have good content that meets these three needs, then it doesn't matter how many incentives you have to encourage course completion, your engagement levels will remain low. Action Steps:If you have already run your course:Look back and see how your engagement went.  Looking at your stats, where did the drop offs occur? If you haven't run your course yet:Focus on building a really good program using the strategies we have discussed.  The aim is to naturally engage students by giving them the right information at the right time. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Understanding the legal requirements when running a course can feel overwhelming to say the least. So this week we are jumping into some of the things you'll need consider for your course terms and conditions, with the wonderful Emma Heuston. Emma Heuston is a lawyer, author and online business entrepreneur.10 years ago, Emma was on the traditional lawyer corporate path with an office job in a boutique firm on the North Shore of Sydney. But a near death experience changed her views on work/ life balance and showed her that life is way too short not to take chances. This led Emma to a sea change with her young family, moving from Sydney to the far north coast of New South Wales. After the sea change, Emma worked remotely at partner level in a law firm for a number of years. But that didn't light that fire in my belly to help others build their own online empire and let them know it was okay, they didn't have to buy into the 9 to 5 corporate life while trying to raise a family.  In 2018, Emma wrote the  work from home bible, "The Tracksuit Economy: how to work productively and effectively from home", she was also named “Thought leader of the Year” that year by Lawyers Weekly at the Women in Law Award. In 2019 Emma won a gold Mumpreneur Award in the Women's Business School Excellence Award (Ignite) and in 2020 became a best selling author for the second time with her contribution to "Back Yourself" edited by Peace Mitchell and Katy Garner.Emma specialises in online and remote work and has developed a strong niche helping people with the legalities surrounding their online courses.You can find out more about Emma on her website, The Remote Expert.    Action Step:Go and really look at your terms and conditions.   Make a list of some of the things Emma mentions and see if you have them covered. If you don't have terms and conditions, this is a timely reminder that they are necessary and you should speak to someone who can help you with them. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:I talk a lot about course mapping. It's one of my most popular services, it's the starting point for most of my client work, and I highly recommend it for all course creators before you start to build out your content. So in this weeks episode we're digging into a few key points about course mapping. What is a course map?    It is a document that outlines all the modules, lessons, tasks and content that is going to form part of your course.  It's the process that takes all of your ideas and notes and puts them into one logical straightforward piece.    Once completed, it gives you a step-by-step guide or plan to get you from no course to finished course.How do you course map?   You could course map into Word, Excel, Trello, Asana or Google Docs.   Whatever tool you prefer, stick with that.  The only thing that is important is that all your information ends up in a clear format in one place. Why should I build a course map?  There are two reasons.  One, because it will put everything into a logical, succinct format that guides you in your course creation journey.   Secondly, it helps you make informed decisions on important things like how much your course should cost, what platform you should put it on, how much help should you outsource.Action Step:If you are currently building or thinking about building a program, build a course map.   I have a small How to map your course content program which you can take if you need, but first you need to find a tool that works for you and start to combine your thoughts into one place.  If you get stuck doing this, then reach out for help. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:In this episode Mel Daniels talks to us about using a lead magnet to promote your course. Mel Daniels is a Content Strategist and Coach who loves to understand ‘why'. Even past her toddler years, she always asked why. She wanted to understand why things worked like they did, why people acted a certain way and why she was the only one who loved peanut butter and sultana sandwiches. Her curiosity has lead her on an interesting life journey from academic achiever to corporate leader, mum extraordinaire and now business owner.Mel's purpose is to teach and empower women who want more from their business, on how to use content in a genuine way. She gives them the confidence they need to become more visible, seen as the expert that they are and inspired to take their business to the next level. When she's not talking about content and client journeys, you will find Mel cheering on her clients from the side-lines. Her other favourite hangouts are the kitchen and gym. Luckily her love of dead-lifting counteracts the amount of baking she consumes. Kind of. You can find more of Mel here:Meld Business ServicesFacebookInstagram And check out some of her great content here:The Un-boring ideal client avatarStep by step guide to lead magnet creationHow to create a lead magnet that grows your email listAction Step:Brainstorm possible ideas for your next lead magnet.  It needs to be actionable, it needs to speak to your ideal client's challenges and what they think their problem is right now; and it needs to logically lead into your course. Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Are you students already taking too many courses or don't have enough bandwidth to complete your program?  In this episode, we talk about Course Fatigue - when your target audience is simply "over" courses or are looking for other options - and how we manage it as a sales objection.Action Step:Think about your audience - do you think course fatigue is something they are going through at the moment?  Look at sales objections for your last course - were any of those course fatigue and can any of today's strategies be implemented to combat it?Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Welcome to another takeover episode of Course Creation Bites with special guest Jenn Donovan!Online courses don't magically sell themselves (as much as I wish they did) so this week we're looking into marketing your online course, with the wonderful Jenn Donovan.Jenn Donovan: ex-lawyer, ex-retailer, and now a marketing thought leader, coach, and mentor for small businesses.  Not to mention a keynote speaker and podcaster (Small Business Made Simple)!Jenn has a massive following on social media, with her Facebook alone having over 300,000 active members.Jenn is all about community and believes that the currency of "community" is underestimated in business and in 2021 is more profound and relevant to the success of their business than most realise.Connect with Jenn:Instagram - @smallbusinessmadesimpleLinkedIn - @jenndonovanFacebook - @socialmediaandmarketingau Action Step:Think about Jenn's great course marketing advice and work out how you can Show Up, Have a Strategy, and Sell!Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Do course completion rates matter?  This great question came from the Content Into Courses Facebook Group.  In this episode, we discuss the effects of notoriously low completion rates and whether completion rates really matter in a successful course.Action Step:Go away and find your completion rate numbers and find out WHY your completion rate is low through a feedback cycle.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Can you have TOO MUCH course support?  This great question was raised in the Content Into Courses Facebook Group and really made me think!  So, in this episode, we have a chat about whether you can offer too much support and determining how much support is just right for your course.Action Step:Think about how many methods of support you have and how much time is absorbed in the support you offer?  How can you improve this for yourself and your students?Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:What makes a course, a course?  In this episode, we talk about the 5 differences between just content and a really good course:Structure and orderGuided implementationSupportAssessmentFeedbackAction Step:Have a think about the 5 differences and apply one of them to your course.  Once you've done that with one, have a think about if and how the others can be applied to your course.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Building a course can be a long journey, so how do you stay motivated to get it finished?  In this episode, I'll take you through my 4  favourite strategies you can use to stay on track:Accountability - tell people!Put a deadline on itCelebrate each baby stepSchedule working timeAction Step:Use at least one of the motivation strategies - tell someone else that you're going to get the course done, set a deadline, share your baby steps, schedule your time.  If you want a group to share with, come on over to the Content Into Courses Facebook Group!Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Is your head overflowing with ideas for courses right now?  In this episode, we talk about the fact that the biggest thing that might be stopping you from creating your course is knowing how to choose which one to build first.Action Step:Stop and have a think about whether you're building the right course and whether it fits inside your business model.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:How do you know if it's the right time to create a course?  In this episode, I dig into some of the signs that you might be ready to get started.Action Step:Take a moment, take stock, and see if it really is time to create a course.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:We've got a big season coming up!This time we're focussing on making your course bigger and better.  We'll look at strategies within your course like student engagement, but we'll also look at strategies outside of your course like sales and marketing.Action Step:Pop on over to the Content Into Courses Facebook Group and share with us "What are your intentions with your learning?  What do you want to achieve with it?"Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Courses don't take time off... but I do, and you should, too.   In the last episode of season 1, we're talking about leveraging your time and building courses that fit your business strategy. Action Step:Stop and have a think about how you want courses to work for you and your business.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:What will everyone be doing with their online courses next year?  In this episode, I've shared some of my insights and my predictions for the year ahead. Action Step:Stop and take stock of what has happened this year and then look forward into 2021.   What will work better for next year?  Are there courses you want to change to make them better?  Are there courses you want to create?Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:Let's take a moment to take stock of the year that was... and what worked in the world of course creation.----Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram

Show Notes:In this episode, we look at how you can use courses as a part of your business model to support your existing products and services.Action Step:Take a moment to think about your existing services or products and consider whether you could build course content around that.Connect with Sam Winch About Your Online Course:FacebookContent Into Courses Facebook GroupInstagram