136: How to choose the perfect online course topic that sells

In episode 136 of Online Business Uncovered, I’m diving into one of the most important (and sometimes overwhelming) steps in creating an online course... how to choose the perfect online course topic that sells.

If you’re a service-based entrepreneur who’s tired of trading time for money and you’re ready to create scalable, passive income streams, this episode is for you. I’ll walk you through my three key filters - expertise, demand, and alignment to help you pick a course topic that’s not only profitable but also lights you up.

I’ll also share the common mistakes I see entrepreneurs make when choosing their course idea, the myths around course creation that hold people back, and why you don’t need a huge program to get started.

Whether you’re overflowing with ideas and can’t decide, or you’re scared of picking the “wrong” topic, my step-by-step process will give you the clarity and confidence to move forward.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly how to validate your online course idea, avoid wasted time and start building a course your audience genuinely wants.

Tune in now and let’s get your expertise working for you (on repeat!).

Transcript

Karen [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to Online Business Uncovered. This is episode 136 and in today's episode I'm going to walk you through how to choose the perfect topic to teach in your first online course. So let's jump right in and let's get started. Welcome to Online Business Uncovered, the show.

Karen [00:00:26]:
That lifts the lid on what it really takes to turn your brilliance into digital products, passive income and time freedom. I am your host, Karen, an online business strategist, course creation expert and your go to for building a business that works for you and not the other way around. If you are an ambitious entrepreneur, feeling.

Karen [00:00:44]:
Overwhelmed, burnt out, or maybe you're just.

Karen [00:00:47]:
Ready for a smarter, more sustainable way to grow, then you're in the right place.

Karen [00:00:52]:
Because each week I'll be bringing you.

Karen [00:00:54]:
Inspiring conversations, practical strategies and step by step guidance to help you create scalable, repeatable digital products that sell even while you sleep. So if you're ready to stop trading your time for money, reclaim your time and finally build a business that gives you the freedom that you deserve, hit, subscribe and tune in every Thursday. 

Let's uncover what's truly possible for you, starting now.

Karen [00:01:25]:
Hello and welcome to Online Business Uncovered. This is the show that helps you turn your expertise into digital products, passive income and of course time freedom. I'm your host Karen and I really do appreciate you hitting that play button to listen to today's episode. Now before I dive into today's episode where I'm talking about how to pick the perfect topic for your online course, I want to remind you that I'm going to be running my free masterclass on 9th October at 7pm UK time. 

This masterclass is all about about how you can create an online course that actually sells and I'm going to walk you through the framework that you need in order to be able to create your first online course. So if this is something you're interested in, then please do sign up for free by heading on over to my website www.sell your brillianceonline.com and you'll be able to register there. Now each month I deliver a masterclass that is designed to help you get out your own and get started. So if you are looking at creating an online business where you can start to create scalable offers that bring you in that passive income, then please come along to my events.

Karen [00:02:46]:
You can register through my website at www.sellyourbillanceonline.com and why not come and join my free community which is where all the replays are going to be available and you'll also get access to free tools and resour that are designed to help you get started. Head on over to www.sellyourbillanceonline.com/community because I would love to have you in there. As I said, it's completely free and come and join the conversation and get out your own way. 

Get started and start building a business that actually works for you. Okay, so back to today's episode. And today I am talking about one of the sort of more key things that you need to think when you are thinking about creating an online course. Now why do you want to create an online course in your business? 

Well, if you are a service based provider that is currently selling your time for money, then it may be that you need to look at other ways in which you can make money in your business because selling services is great, but if you are not available to deliver the work then your business is going to stop. So we want to avoid that.

Karen [00:04:04]:
We want to remove any vulnerabilities that we may have. And one of the ways which we can do this is by creating products that we can sell on repeat when we are not at our desk. And there's no better way to do this than by creating an online course. Because this is where you get to package up your really valuable skills, your knowledge, your expertise and sell it on repeat and help people to actually achieve a result so that you can maximize the impact that you can making your field. So online courses are great. I've been selling online courses for years and I highly recommend them. Now I know you might be sitting there thinking well this sounds great but I don't have time. I don't have time to sit and create a 12 module course with upteen lessons and a ton of resources.

Karen [00:05:00]:
I don't have time. And I completely get that. And I think there is a myth that is around online courses where your first online course needs to be be this really big thing that you spend absolutely months and months and months creating and it's simply not true. You can create something very quickly, very easily, in a short time frame where you can start earning income. Now yes, with anything that you need to create in your business, you're going to need to spend time doing it and then most likely will be a bit of a learning curve to make it happen. Hell, when you created your business there was a steep learning curve because you needed to work out what you needed to do to create a business that was going to generate you income. It's exactly the same when it comes to creating scalable products like online courses. But the great thing is once you've done it once, then you can rinse and repeat.

Karen [00:06:01]:
So, yes, there's some upfront learning, but once you've learned it and you've created your first one, then you can simply repeat the process and you to build out scalable offers in your business, if that's the business model that you want to create. So when I say that you don't have to get started with a massive online course, I'm not joking. You can start by just creating something really simple. Now you have options available. You can create a digital masterclass, which is a piece of training with maybe a piece of resource that you can then pack a job and put a payment gate around that you can sell. Or you can even get started by creating a small mini course that helps your students to get started with the thing that you're helping them with. I've purchased courses where there literally has been about an hour's video content walking me through something along with maybe a template, and that's it. And that's what you can do as well.

Karen [00:07:14]:
So I don't want you sitting there thinking, oh, this is going to be a mega thing that I'm going to have to spend a ton of time on. It really doesn't have to be. It really doesn't have to be something huge that's going to take you months and months and months. In fact, I would discourage it because you want to be making money as soon as. And you can't make money if you're caught in the weeds of creating your online course. So think about what you can create that you can deliver to your students that's going to give them a result, because that'll be the thing that your customers will be buying. It won't be the length of your course, it'll be the result that it delivers. Now, I think one of the challenges that entrepreneurs have when they think about creating something is the fact that they have a ton of ideas, but they can't quite figure out which one will work.

Karen [00:08:15]:
Or it might be that they're scared of picking the wrong idea because they don't want to spend a ton of time doing a ton of work only for the course not to sell. So in this episode, I want to break it down and give you some clarity on how to get started. So by the end of this episode, you'll know exactly what to focus on so that you can move forward with confidence. So, as I said, you don't have to create a massive course, but you do need to create something that ultimately delivers a solution. And that'll be where I would get you to focus. Now your course topic is an important component of this because it's the foundation of everything else. If you get this right, then your course will essentially build itself. If you get it wrong, then you risk creating something that of course doesn't sell.

Karen [00:09:11]:
And nobody wants that. So we need to make sure that the topic that we choose is one that we know a lot about. We enjoy talking about it and it delivers a result that our audience are looking for. Now, I would say when it comes to choosing your course topic, there are three filters that you need to use to test your idea. So there are three. The first one is expertise. Ask yourself what is it that you know really well that you could teach someone else? So think about in your business. Is there a common theme that keeps coming up? Are you being asked to help somebody with a certain thing that is becoming, you know, regular? So more and more people are asking you because maybe you've had some success yourself and this is something that you know you can support somebody else on and it's something that is going to make a difference.

Karen [00:10:21]:
So for example, maybe you have done really well with creating a client onboarding sequence. It's something small, but most businesses need some kind of process to onboard their clients. And maybe you have created something that works really well, really effectively efficient, that maybe your clients have even commented on. Could you create something that walks somebody through how to create a successful client onboarding system so that they can onboard clients with confidence as well? Because here's the thing, we because if, if we are really good at something, if something comes easy to us, then it's really easy to make the assumption that other people find it easy as well. But it's always the case. What you might find really easy to do or really simple, somebody else could find really complicated. So if you can take that thing that you find really easy and simple to do and break it down in a simple framework that walks somebody through that process step by step, then you could be onto a winner. Now the result doesn't have to be life changing.

Karen [00:11:42]:
It could just be something super simple that helps somebody else move forward in their life or even in their business. So what is it that you do in your day to day work in your life where you've achieved a result and you know that you can get that result for somebody else? You don't need to be the world's number one expert in what you're teaching. You just need to Be a few steps ahead of the people that you want to help. So just as an example, recently I have sold a course that I have created all about launching your first podcast. Now, I wouldn't consider myself the world's expert at teaching people how to launch their podcast, but what I have been able to do successfully myself is start, launch and grow a podcast. And because of the journey that I've been on in my own business, there are things that I now know that I don't feel are made obvious or made available to other people. My experience has taught me what works and what doesn't work. And I've had huge success in growing my podcast downloads.

Karen [00:13:04]:
So a little while ago I was at an event and I was given a talk all about the power of podcasting. And then at the end of that event, I had a load of the attendees come up to me and ask me about how they could get started with creating their own podcast. So from there I decided to run a program where I would teach a group of people how to launch their first podcast. Now, that live program is now being sold as an online course within my membership. Now, as I said, I don't consider myself the best expert in this area, but I do know how to get results from, from launching a podcast. So for me, it was a bit of a no brainer because it means that I can help more people jump behind the mic, share their message with the world and make a difference to their business. So what can you do that you have experience in? What success have you achieved and how can you help others to get the same results? Now, I think the second thing that you need to test before you choose your topic is demand. Because you need to be confident that the topic that you're choosing is something that people actually want help with.

Karen [00:14:25]:
Because a great course isn't just about what you teach, it's what people are searching for. And if you choose something that is quite obscure that actually people don't really care about, then it's not going to help you to actually achieve those sales. So we want to make sure that the topic that we're choosing aligns with what our audience are searching for online. So you can check various platforms for this. You've got Facebook groups, you have YouTube, you've even got podcasting Pinterest, a visual search engine. So you can go on there and you can check and you can do this really easy, really simply, just by entering keywords. So, for example, if I was looking at a demand for learning how to launch a podcast, then I would put those keywords into Google to see what would come up, or I would head on over to YouTube and I would put those keywords into the YouTube platform. And again, we're podcasting as well.

Karen [00:15:31]:
Now, having done that and the conversations that I've had and the conversations that I've seen that have taken place in other Facebook groups and things, I know that even before I created anything for that program, I knew that there were people out there, other entrepreneurs, who have a really strong desire to have their own podcast. So when I was choosing my topic, I chose it with confidence because I'd researched, I'd had conversations, and I'd gained insights into what other people were looking for. So before you choose your topic, I would encourage you to just spend a little bit of time and actually have a conversation with previous clients or maybe with friends, even family members, to see if this is something that those people would be interested in, or if they're not your demographic, then, then go to a Facebook group where you know your people are going to be hanging out, and then just be in the Facebook group and watch what people are talking about. You can even go and ask questions. So it's always good to kind of maybe run a poll or something. But you want to just be sure that there is absolutely a need and a demand for what you're going to be creating, because this will build your confidence. I think when you know that there is a person out there that is waiting for what you have to create, then not only is it going to build your confidence with you creating it, but you'll want to be motivated, you'll want to stay focused, and you'll want to do the work to make sure that that person gets hold of the training. So I would encourage you to spend some time, make sure that you're validating your idea, there is a demand for, and that you're not going to be wasting your time creating a course around something that nobody cares about.

Karen [00:17:33]:
You want to make sure that it's absolutely what people are looking for so that you know that when you come to sell your course, you're going to have people out there wanting to buy it. Now, the third thing that I would encourage you to test is alignment. I want you to ask, ask yourself, when you. When you decide on your topic, I want you to ask yourself, does this topic fit with the vision that you have for your business? Because you need to choose something that's going to support the growth and the journey of where you're wanting to go, because you're going to be talking about this for a long time. And also you're going to be spending time recording content, creating content. Even when you're marketing your course, you want to be excited by the topic. So you're going to be talking about this for a long, long time. And you don't want to kind of get to a point where you're just so bored of it that you couldn't really care less that you end up starting to get distracted with other things because you're not or no longer excited about the course that you've created.

Karen [00:18:51]:
If you think of your topic and there's a bit of you that just is a bit like, oh, okay, it's a good topic, I'll choose this. But you're not really bothered, then it's probably not the right one. I want you to feel excited about the topic that you are choosing. I want you to really kind of get that excitement in the pit of your stomach at the prospect that you're going to be talking about this thing and you're going to be showing people how to get a result, and you just want to shout it from the rooftops because you need to check in with your gut. Your instincts are going to tell you your topic needs to light you up, because it's going to be that energy that you're going to display through your content, through your teaching, the way you talk about it, the way you show up, that is ultimately going to attract the students that you're going to want inside your course. So make sure that you do a gut check, that it aligns with the direction of your business and that your topic excites you and that you're going to want to talk about it. Now, when it comes to choosing your course topic, there are two big mistakes that I see entrepreneurs make all the time that I really want you to avoid. The first one is going way too broad.

Karen [00:20:13]:
So, for example, if you're thinking about creating a course on Instagram, then maybe you're thinking how to get started on Instagram. Now, the problem with that topic is that it's way too broad. And Instagram is a very dynamic, extensive platform where there's a lot to learn. And if you're just choosing a topic around how to get started, it doesn't really help the student to really know what that outcome's going to look like. Whereas if you choose something like how to get your first 1000 instant Instagram followers, then the outcome is a lot clearer and that student will know what they're looking to achieve. So make sure. That whatever topic you choose, you narrow it down so the outcome is very specific. Stay away from being too broad and make sure that you're being really clear with the outcome of what it is that you're teaching.

Karen [00:21:13]:
The second mistake that I would encourage you to avoid is going too niche. Now, I know in business we are told we need to niche down with our audiences. We need to really know our audiences and, you know, choose a niche and do all that good stuff. The problem with this is that if you go really, really narrow, then you're going to have a small, small, small, small audience. So you want to kind of keep it so that you've got a really good audience side. So if your course is about how to grow lavender in the back of your garden in North Scotland, then you're going to struggle to find buyers because that topic alone is way too niche for what it is that you're teaching. So you want to choose your. You want to kind of really hone in on your sweet spot, which is where your expertise meets audience demand.

Karen [00:22:12]:
And there's an alignment overlap, meaning that you're excited to teach it as well. Well, now, when I first started, I had this belief that my course had to cover everything I knew about branding because my first online course was all about branding. My first sort of creation, if you like. I tried to cram so much into it and it left me overwhelmed. And I kind of thought, well, if I'm overwhelmed, how's it going to leave my students? So eventually what I did is I stripped it back so that I just focused in on the very first step. So try and avoid cramming lots into your online course. You just want to start with something simple that gets a result for your student. And sometimes simple is better.

Karen [00:23:08]:
I know we can have the urge to want to kind of really add the value. And we see adding value as really kind of packing it out. So throwing everything and the kitchen sink. But that's not what our students. Students need. They just need a simple pathway to achieve a result. And if you focus on that, then your topic will be successful. So if you're trying to choose the perfect topic for your first online course, then I want you to remember three things.

Karen [00:23:37]:
Test out your expertise demand for the topic that you're going to choose. And I want you to test your gut in the topic you're choosing, because if, if you can kind of nail all three of these, then your topic will be a winner. So if you are trying to choose your perfect topic, maybe for your first online course, then remember three things. Your expertise, what are you good at teaching, how can you help others? And what have you had success with? Is there a demand for the topic that you're choosing? Are people looking for it? Is this something people need? And then I want you to gut check your topic. Does it align with the goals and the vision vision of your business? 

Now avoid going too broad or too niche and focus on the overlap where your passion meets, what people are willing to pay for. And if you focus on that then you'll have a very successful course. And of course I would love to hear from you. Let me know what your topic is.

Karen [00:24:43]:
Reach out to me on Instagram at Karen-DigitalCoach and just share your idea and let me know what you're thinking because I really do enjoy hearing from my listeners. Listeners, thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope it gave you some clarity and sparked some new ideas. If you found this episode helpful, then please do share it with a friend or a fellow entrepreneur because this could be what they need to hear today. And if this episode has you thinking that you're ready to start creating your online course, then come along to my free masterclass on 9 October at 7pm UK time. How to create an online course that sales where you can join for free by heading over to my website www.sellyourbrillianceonline.com. i will be back next week with another episode, but until then have a wonderful week.

Karen [00:25:41]:
Thanks for tuning into today's episode of Online Business Uncovered. If today's conversation has sparked an idea.

Karen [00:25:48]:
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Karen [00:25:50]:
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Karen [00:26:18]:
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