The First Time I Failed at Course Creation

Very early on in my business I decided to create a mini-course to bring some passive income into my business.

My plan was to create a 1 module, 3 lesson course, sell it for $27 and sit back and watch the money roll in.

So I did what most first-time course creators do…

I started creating content.

I wrote my scripts, filmed the videos, loaded them to my video host, created the emails to deliver the trainings, designed a super simple sales page, and wrote some social posts to promote it.

And I “launched” it…

I sat back like a queen surveying my dominion and waited expectantly for the pings of stripe to ring in my ears as the masses purchased my amazing, must-have, new mini-course.

24 hours later…

Crickets.

So I did another post...this one was a bit more detailed (and probably a lot more desperate).

And I sat back again - this timeless like a queen and more like a tourist trying to navigate someone else's dominion without a map (or compass, or sense of direction).

And guess what happened…

Yeah, nothing different.

Still crickets. 

Now I’m not one to throw in the towel...tenacious is my middle name, so I kept presenting the offer to my market and not.one.single.sale.

What was going on?

This was an amazing min-course.

Everyone needed to know what I was sharing.

It was sure to get you some quick wins in your business.

And it was only $27…

Come on!

About 6 weeks later I was chatting with a fellow business owner who was having amazing success with her own mini-course. 

She was hearing those stripe pings day and night.

When I told her what I’d created and that I was dumbfounded that I’d only had one sale (a current client who felt bad for me I think) she asked me one question.

Did you validate your idea?

“What do you mean” I asked...my naivety and lack of business nouse on display for all to see.

And she gently explained what she meant. 

That even though I was certain what I was offering was needed by every man and his dog; I hadn’t confirmed it.

I hadn’t asked a single person if they were struggling with the thing my mini-course would help with.

I hadn’t researched the market for it.

I didn’t poll my audience and even though it was very small at the time, they would have given me some amazing insights.

And I made a critical and rookie mistake...I made a huge assumption.

I assumed people needed what I was offering...and no doubt someone out there did (and still does).

But no one wanted it.

No one was looking for it.

No one was going out of their way to find this solution to a problem that they didn’t really realise they had.

So....

My first course was, on paper, a complete failure.

But in practice it wasn’t a failure...it was a HUGE learning experience and it’s a mistake that I’ve never made again and one that I now instruct all my students on.

Whether it’s an online course, a new service, a program, coaching offer, retreat, mastermind…

It doesn’t matter.

Validate, validate, validate.

There are many gentle, engaging and comfortable ways to validate your offer if you’re not a fan of the ‘market research’ route.

Just do it.

Ask the questions.

Poll your audience.

Make sure you know it’s wanted AND needed before you spend time and energy creating something.

Learn from the benefit of my ‘bad’ experience.

This is an area I cover IN DETAIL inside my course about creating a course (an offer I completely validated before I created). So if you want more support, guidance, or know-how on getting your course created, then join me inside The Course Creation Formula.

I have a live round kicking off on the 12th of July 2021.

Or you can enroll in the self-paced course and go at your own speed, right here.

If you have any questions, ask away.