This One Exercise Will Help You Decide Which Course to Create (or What Business to Build)
What lights you up will illuminate the path forward
Five years ago, I sat down for a job interview with one of Australia’s top investors. I’d just found out that due to immigration changes, my employer would no longer be able to sponsor my work visa and I was encroaching on the six-month limit I was permitted to work for them on my current one.
So I went from sky-high about getting a promotion and settling (at least for a couple more years) in Australia to down in the dumps about losing my job with a team I loved—oh, and the realization I’d no longer be permitted to stay in the country beyond the next five months. I was crushed—and panicked about the prospect of paying rent in Sydney without a steady income.
Fortunately, my boss sprung into action and posted on LinkedIn that she had a great candidate for any short-term administrative roles (I was desperate to find another job even if meant temporarily taking a step backward). Fast forward a week and I was sitting down with “veteran stockpicker” John Sevior after a mutual connection teed up an interview.
John’s team was looking for a maternity cover for their Office Manager. The only problem was they needed someone for at least eight months but my visa was up in five. I remember my internal deflation when I realized I’d wasted everyone’s time coming in—thinking my timeline has been correctly relayed—only to realize in my last interview that it wasn’t. Then it got worse.
Once I explained I was only permitted to work in Australia for another five months, I added that in that short time, I’d also need to take a two-week vacation to fly home to Canada for my sister’s wedding. I figured that was the last nail in the coffin and mentally called “time of death” on the whole thing. But to my astonishment, I got the job and the time off.
When I later asked John why they were willing to accommodate me given they could easily find someone without visa restrictions, he simply said “It’s better to have the right person for a short time than the wrong person for a longer one.” That always stuck with me. And it was merely the first bit of a long line of wisdom I picked up in my time working for him.
Keep reading for another gem he imparted on how to build a business.
This One Exercise Will Help You Decide Which Course to Create (or What Business to Build)
Last week, I shared my latest publishing goal: publish weekly YouTube videos for a year. I’m now two weeks down and have fifty to go. Here’s my latest video on how I help course creators decide what course to create. As you’re watching, think about how this exercise applies to you and any course ideas you’ve been toying with.
In case you’d rather skip the video (and I won’t judge you as I’m still experimenting), here’s the gist of what I’ve shared: to come up with a strong course concept, think about your expertise in the context of how it energizes you.
Let’s say you have a rough idea of what you want to teach (ex. product management, user experience design, yoga, etc.). What fires you up about it? What problem are you continuously and relentlessly keen to solve within that sphere?
Think about a topic you’re so passionate about, you can’t not teach it. By that I mean you’re already teaching it to some extent (even if you don’t realize it). This could mean you pipe up in conversations, chime into social media exchanges, and enthusiastically share resources—maybe even stuff you’ve created—not to mention you post about it firsthand. Chances are if you’re family and friends joke about your obsession with something, that’s where your heart lies.
Take one of my closest friends for example. She’s so passionate about her work and the impact it has that she’s always primed to pitch. I’ve watched in awe as she’s pitched everyone from the C-suite at the office to a cab driver in passing with the smoothest of ease. I often joke she’ll be handing out business cards on her deathbed.
On a more serious note, her enthusiasm about pitching signals she’s fired up about her expertise. She could teach a course on it and never tire of the topic because she loves it. Her heart’s in it. And if you want your best shot at creating a scalable course, your heart needs to be in it too.
Creating a Course = Building a Business
Something many course creators overlook is creating a course equates to building a business. And building a business is hard—really hard. Harder than I imagined. I now shake my head when I see people Tweeting that “everyone should start a business at least once in their life.”
I wholeheartedly agree with the startup coaches I used to work with at District 3 who used to say “We’re not here to convince anyone to become an entrepreneur because being an entrepreneur is extremely difficult. We’re here to support those who have decided to become entrepreneurs.”
But if you do choose to become an entrepreneur, here’s some great advice on how to think about your course or business (and they could very well be one and the same):
“With my own benefit of hindsight, I think the best path to financial security is to leverage an idea/hobby/skill/passion into some sort of business.
Not just because it’s what I did but I think identifying insight or skill that is special to you means you’ll just work at it a little harder at it and the compounding effect of that, especially if it is a half-decent idea, is HUGE!”
—John Sevior
My question to you is, what idea/hobby/skill/passion could you leverage into a course? Make a list and then vet your options. Ask yourself, which one would I never tire of? That’s where you should focus your energy—and ironically, where you’ll gain energy in return.
Join My Course-Building Sprint Starting May 1st
If you’ve been thinking about creating a cohort-based course and holding yourself back out of fear, I have great news. I’m running my next sprint within my course creator community beginning May 1st. Here’s the rundown of the 12-week schedule:
Eric Ho is a course creator who joined the last sprint and successfully wrapped his first cohort earlier this month (HUGE congrats, Eric). Here’s how he described the experience in his newsletter
:
Eric’s first cohort was designed for lawyers and he did a fantastic job of recruiting students by simply announcing his course in an email sent to a pre-existing list of lawyers. This goes to show how valuable it is to build an email list of targeted students as well as how tapping into pre-existing communities can accelerate awareness around your course.
A lot of aspiring course creators focus too much on building generic audiences that don’t convert to paid customers. When what really counts is building intentional email lists and communities (or being an active member of the right communities). That way you get the right people signing up for your pilot cohort and can refine your course concept based on their feedback, which makes it easier to scale.
If you’re keen to follow in Eric’s footsteps but a small audience, fear of putting yourself out there, a lack of direction, or any other hang-up has been holding you back, join us for the next sprint starting May 1st. We’ll help you launch, build, and scale with confidence.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week,
P.S. Ironically, shortly after I left Australia, the government “relaxed” the terms of the Working Holiday Visa allowing visa holders to forego the six-month limit on working for one employer. I couldn’t believe it.
But looking back, the restrictions were a blessing in disguise. After all, had I not been forced to change employers, I never would’ve met John and picked up the wisdom I’ve shared today.
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In my world of coaching sales reps, I've found this same concept to be true. You have to believe in what you sell - whether it's your business or somebody elses.
Even if the product or service itself doesn't excite you, the outcome it provides for your customer has to be something that excites you. There has to be a purpose.
Great info as always Alexandra!