It's natural to think of your course topic in broad terms, like this:

• 30-Days of veganism
• Learn accounting spreadsheets
• Learn the rules of Cricket
• How to make wedding cakes
• Pass an English language test
• Learn ashtanga yoga

But to really have a viable course topic, you need to narrow it down A LOT. Still, most course creators dream of creating the ultimate, all-inclusive course on their topic. Paradoxically, you'll have better results if you focus on a more niche topic. The secret to refining your course topic is to cater it to a very specific audience. If you've identified your target audience, this should be fairly intuitive.

• 30 Days of Veganism becomes A 30-Day Vegan Meal Plan for People with Type II Diabetes
• Learn accounting spreadsheets becomes Learn the Pivot Table Skills Even if You Know More About Snapchat Than Excel
• How to make wedding cakes becomes How to Make a Beautiful Wedding Cake if You're Broke and Can't Bake

"But wait!" you might be saying, "I want to pack as much as I can into my course to make it super valuable!" It might be tempting to create the ultimate, supreme course on your topic, but it's unlikely that you'll actually be able to pack EVERYTHING into one course.

For example, say I want to create a course on dog training. I can't force every single thing every dog owner will need to know about dog training into ONE course people can easily consume.

Besides, my target audience may not want to know every single thing about dog training. They probably have a very specific need. If they're anything like me, they want their dogs to stop trying to attack every pigeon or squirrel they see and dislocating your shoulder, causing you to also spill your coffee and clothesline a jogger. ...Too specific?

The point is, you want to cater your course topic to a very specific need, so it's a no-brainer for people to invest money and time into it. Sticking with our dog training example, a few other course topics might be:

• How to train an adult rescue dog with PTSD
• How to train a puppy when you have a full-time job
• How to train multiple dogs to walk on a leash

Do I seem like I'm speaking from experience?? ::thinks:: All of these topics are narrower, and help solve a specific pain point. Pick too broad a topic, and you'll make your audience wade through a bunch of information that isn't relevant to them, and also make them pay for a lot of content that they don't need.

Now, one tool we use here at Teachable is the four-deep technique. We got this system from online course creator Joseph Michael. Let's go back to my dog training example to see how four-deep works.

1. Dog Training. This is my original topic. It's nice but pretty broad. Let's make it more specific by honing in on who this course is for.
2. Training adult dogs. Getting better, but still too broad. What subgroup of adult dogs?
3. Training adult rescue dogs. Ahh, this is getting there. People with adult rescue dogs are in a specific predicament! They need to train a dog that's set in her ways and likely has some kind of PTSD from being in a shelter. This will require love, patience, and a strategy. But what are we training the dogs to do?
4. Leash training for adult rescue dogs. Perfect! I know exactly what I'm going to learn in this course, and if I have adult rescue dogs who think of a leash as a tool that allows you to run on two legs while pulling a human, I KNOW I need this course.

Let's look at another example. Say you want to teach people how to start a blog. Let's go four-deep.

1. How to create a blog. This isn't specific. What kind of blog? For what purpose? Fun or work? Does this mean building a website or planning blog content, or something else?
2. How to create a profitable blog. Better. I know now that this will help me create a blog as a business, not a hobby. But there are lots of blogs. Is this for technical people? Lifestyle bloggers? How will I know this course is right for me?
3. How to create a profitable fashion blog. Okay, this is way better. Now I know this course will cover my specific dilemmas as someone who wants to break into the fashion blog niche.
4. How to create a profitable fashion blog with no experience. Perfect! Now I know that this course if for beginners who are totally new to fashion blogging, but want to make a profit doing it.

The options here are pretty limitless. You could have gone a different direction, like "How to create a profitable fashion blog on Squarespace," or "How to create a profitable minimalist fashion blog."

To narrow it down, think hard about your target audience and their needs, wants, and dreams. Now use the Four-Deep Technique on your course idea. Don't worry if you don't get it on the first try. Sometimes it takes a few rounds to find a specific idea you're excited to teach.