And why the “favour arrow” needs to point the right way — Yesterday, I held the first weekly call for the latest beta “cohort” of my Build Your Best Course programme. It’s a great group of people and I’m really excited about working with them over the next 12 weeks. And it got me thinking more deeply about what makes a good…

What ultra niche humour has to do with online courses — I have a soft spot for very niche genres of humour. When I worked at BBC Comedy, I came across a guy who would write funny graffiti in hidden places in hotel rooms. Like the backs of mirrors or inside the lid of the toilet cistern. One example: “This hotel…

Feeling daunted? Start like this… — I totally get it. Creating a course feels daunting. You have a sense for what a good course could do for you. But it seems like a lot of work to get there. (With no cast-iron guarantee of success.) It’s a lot to take on trust, right? I blame what…

Here‘s a simple sliding scale of support — When you’re guiding someone to a result, there are three “layers” of help you can give: You can tell them the steps. You can tell them the steps AND teach them how to execute. You can tell them the steps AND teach them how to execute AND support them when…

Why content is the illogical first step in creating a course — I’m a logical kind of a guy. I like doing things in the right order. And if you’re serious about creating an online course, creating content definitely isn’t the most logical first step. In truth, it barely makes the top five. First you need to work out your market, then…

(aka: the price vs trust “seesaw”) — My son’s still young enough to enjoy visits to the playground. He really likes the seesaw but of course if we sit on either end, he ends up stranded in the air because his weight can’t balance mine. (It’s funny for about five seconds but then I make the whole…

Which one fits you? If you’re serious about course creation, at some point you’ll need to create some content. Obvious? Sure. But it’s a common sticking point for many would-be course creators. Your exact process will naturally depend on the content you’re creating — a “talking head” video, a narrated slide deck or a…

Here’s my advice — I recently ran a one-question survey asking “what’s holding you back from creating a course?” The top answer: lack of time. Usually “I don’t have time” is just another way of saying “this is less important than other things I’m working on right now.” And if that’s true for you…

Use this one-sentence template When I teach or coach people about course creation, one of the first tasks is defining their target audience. Here’s my go-to template for doing that: [Group] who want [Goal] but [Obstacle] Where: “Group” is a simple demographic like: stressed parents, middle-aged women, freelance web designers, etc. “Goal” is what…