🖐 Happy Wednesday!

Issue #41 is 680 words and a 3.0-minute read.

1 big topic: Creators Give Online Courses an A+

Online courses are the top income source for global creators who make at least US $100K in annual sales. ⁽¹⁾

Why it matters: In the age of AI, customers still want human insights when they buy an online course.

📊 By the numbers: The creator economy is on track to be a $480 billion industry by 2027. ⁽²⁾

• Creators sold 12 million course offers on Kajabi in 2023, up 32% from 2021 ⁽³⁾
  

• Creators who have more than US $150K in sales per year have 7+ income streams, including multiple online courses ⁽⁴⁾
  

• 62% of Thinkific survey respondents are more interested in educational content than entertainment ⁽⁵⁾

Zoom out: Trading your time for money is a grind.

Sure, consulting models can work if you have enough clients who will pay your fee.

While you work toward that goal, online courses give you 3 big perks.

• Feedback on which problems clients might pay you to fix in one-on-one sessions
   
  

• Diversity in your revenue
  
  

• Time for business development once your online course is on auto-pilot

Zoom in: Start with a run-down of your products and services.

• How many products and services do you offer?
  

• Is your digital course your sales leader?
  

• If you don’t offer a digital course, can you test market demand with your other digital products?

Remember, the top creators have 7+ revenue sources, and their online course(s) bring in the most money.

Does this mean you stop everything to build an online course?

No.

💀The cemetery for bad courses is still open, and you don’t want yours in there.

📘 Guides, e-books, and templates give you a ‘safer’ way to test your ideas, earn money, and provide value.

When your audience shows high interest in your Level 1 digital products, it’s time to pursue Level II with a digital course.

👇 Go deeper:

Here’s your online course recipe, according to the experts.

• 1 conversation (or 6) with other creators who have a great course in their portfolio: (here’s the chat I had with expert course consultant, Eli Natoli)
  

• 1 BIG transition that your students demand
  

• 1 platform (Thinkific, Kajabi, Teachable, and others)
  

• 1 smart marketing strategy that pre-sells the course, drives demand and tests the price
  

• A pinch of feedback forms to double down on what students liked and remove what they did not
  

One of the biggest mistakes I made in 2022 was building an online course that I never launched.

I thought the topic was great.

I did not test it enough in the open market.

The money, design, and creation process taught me a ton about what not to do.

😃 You can do better!

📣Business Breakdown: Life Coaching Students Yell, “Fraud!”

The big picture: Students are angry about the life coaching classes they paid tens of thousands to take without getting the positive results they wanted. ⁽⁶⁾

Why it matters: Your reputation is your most important asset, and every product you sell reflects your integrity.

🔑 Your takeaways:

• Test your course with students who will give you honest feedback before you release it to the public

• It’s smarter to under promise in your marketing and overdeliver on your student experience
  

• 9 happy students may not tell anyone if your course is great; yet, 1 unhappy student will tell 9 friends if it’s not

1 fun idea:

I’ve never had a dog.

🐶 It’s time to change that.

Instead of binge-watching videos on digital courses, I’m down the rabbit hole with labs, cavaliers, and retrievers.

It’s amazing how much joy a pet brings.

I hope I make a good choice.

Do you have any advice?

Stay curious and keep opening doors.

-Erik

Sources:

⁽¹⁾ Kajabi, “The State of Creators ‘24 Report: Secrets of Six-Figure Creators, Kajabi, June 3, 2024, https://creatortrends.kajabi.com/?_gl=1*i4qcew*_gcl_au*OTAwNzE3NjA4LjE3MTcyNjQzNjA.

⁽²⁾ Ibid.

⁽³⁾ Ibid.

⁽⁴⁾ Ibid.

⁽⁵⁾ Thinkific, “Online Learning Trends 2024, Thinkific, June 3, 2024, https://www.thinkific.com/elearning-trends/#lp-pom-block-634

⁽⁶⁾ Bishop, Katie, “They Spent Their Life Savings on Life Coaching,” The New York Times, June 4, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/02/business/life-coach-debt-savings.html