A fantastic way to end 2021 was to present a webinar to 'Yorkshire In Business' on 16th December.
I had been asked to present a webinar around the topic of online course creation to support the small business owners who are supported by 'Yorkshire In Business.' I have spoken at many events and locations over the years, but this was my first opportunity to present on online course creation. An exciting way to finish up 2021 for sure!
Who are Yorkshire In Business?
They are an organisation that have been supporting and nurturing small business across the Yorkshire Coast since 1985. They are based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire and I am located a few miles further down the coast in Hornsea. Over the last couple of years, I have attended several of their presentations and networking events, online & in real life. You can discover more about them here https://yorkshireinbusiness.org.uk/
I was really pleased to be asked to present, 'cos I know many of the small businesses supported by Yorkshire In Business could benefit from some practical advice and inspiration around the benefits of adding an online course into their business income streams.
What to share & talk about?
I was expecting an audience of small business owners who had perhaps started wondering about creating an online course. Or who had heard a lot of hype and weren't sure what was true for their situation. Or who had various business (or personal) challenges and were open to new ideas. And I knew that there would likely be some 'crafty' creative types who want to add online courses into their business but aren't sure where to actually make a start in doing so.
I wanted to help the attendees really THINK about what the impact of adding a course into their business would have. To think about it as an important and valuable strategic business asset. And most importantly to understand the realistic amount of work needed and the skills and resources they would likely need.
What to think about before you create an online course!
This title hits the nail on the head and seems to resonate well. It also helps me to help business owners understand the practicalities and benefits of creating an online course.
I get so sad and angry at all the crappy hype and frankly misleading so-called advice that I see being shouted by so many so-called online course gurus. They are great at marketing of course, so the unwary get sucked in and end up paying through the nose for a course that isn't suitable for them, and doesn't actually teach them the practicalities of what to do, what tools are needed and how to use them. The issues around 'the tech' are very often simply brushed aside.
Video editing, for example is rarely taught, but is an essential skill for a small business owner to grasp so they can self-sufficiently get on with creating a course. This is particularly important for those who wish to teach a practical topic, arts and crafts, cookery etc where you need to demonstrate with your hands and the close up details needs to be very good.
Anyway, rant over!
A few years ago I pulled together what I identified as the 5 foundations of a strategic podcast. I realised that those same foundations, with minor tweaks, are also the 5 Foundations Of A Successful Online Course. Yup, that was the main structure of the content decided.
As I jotted notes and brought together my ideas, I highlighted one KEY ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESS.
And finally I identified the 3 Delights that online course success would bring to the determined business owner.
I pulled together my slides and practised talking and presenting.
I was ready, and excited to get started!
After I had finished sharing my ideas, I invited questions and comments.
WOW!
Some great questions, but what made a massive impact on me was the stories and relief shared by the participants. One person said that it finally all made sense, and she was feeling very upbeat about the possibilities for her business by creating online courses. Another said that they had learnt more in the 45 minutes with me than they had on other paid-for courses and even after a week of attending a major online course 'guru's' free course creation challenge and their daily 'trainings'.
The session was recorded by Yorkshire In Business to share with their members who couldn't attend live. I am going to go back through the recording, specifically the discussion at the end to extract these testimonials and comments. Pure marketing gold!
Re-Purposing This Webinar Content
So I now have the content and the slides, as well as the comments & feedback to help shape my marketing. I am going to create a video series from this to use as a 'lead magnet', to attract interested business owners into my world and help you discover what you need to think about before you commit to creating an online course. It's my intention to cut out your learning curve, to cut out your pain and time wasting and for you to be in a position to make a strong start on building an online course as an important business asset.
I will come back and add the links in here when it is created.
I'm not going to dive into the content of the webinar / new video series in this post.
I am however, going to write a post about my presentation / course content creation process as I think you will find it useful, and full of helpful tips.
In the meantime, if this sounds appealing, and you want to learn more, send me a message, or Contact Me with any questions.
It was great to end 2021 on such a high point.
I had created some powerful content that resonate strongly with my 'target audience'.
I had the basis to create a very useful 'lead magnet' to attract my ideal course buyers.
And, most importantly, I had inspired and motivated several business owners that creating an online course was within their grasp and would have a strong impact upon their business and their life.