What you'll learn

Welcome to Choose Your Course Topic! We're thrilled to have you in this teachable:u course.

In this quick welcome video, you'll meet your instructor (Randle) and learn more about what you'll be able to accomplish by the end of the course.

Welcome to Choose Your Course Topic! In this course, you'll learn everything you need to kick off your online course business, even if you're starting from scratch.

We'll start with finding your idea. Maybe you have an idea for a course topic, but you're not totally sure about it. We're going to help you get clarity about your niche and choose a profitable course business idea.

Then you're going to validate your course idea. Do you still have a nagging feeling that your course won't sell? That you'll launch to crickets? You'll take the easy, methodical steps that will validate your course topic and identify your target market, so you can be confident you're creating the right course.

From there, you're going to identify your target audience. Identifying your target audience is different than actually growing your audience. Before you start attracting people to your course business, you want to have a crystal clear picture of WHO those people will be. Focusing on a broad audience is one of the most common pitfalls of first-time course creators, and we'll show you how to avoid that. You'll figure out exactly who your course is for so you can market it to them.

From there you'll learn how to niche down. Chances are your course idea is a little bit too big. We're going to help you refine that that broad idea into a valuable, focused course topic specifically designed for your students and customers.

Next, you'll learn to craft a transformation in your course. You'll hone in on exactly how taking your course will transform your students lives, and why it's so important that it does. You'll also do a productive brain dump about your course curriculum. You'll get your expertise on paper (or, you know, on screen), and leave with a clear idea of the major milestones you need to teach and the courses, minicourses, or flagship courses you could create.

Finally, you'll make your course official by giving it a name you're sure will attract your audience.This Teachable training course should only take you a few hours to finish. In that time, you'll learn how to build a sustainable, successful course business. Chances are, you have a lot of interests and are capable of building several different businesses. This course is designed to help you decide where to start. You'll leave with clarity and confidence that you're creating the right course for you and your audience.

Ready? Good! All you have to do is get started! Oh! One more thing. :)

We wanted to be 100% sure that all of our advice holds up. So we created our own online course to go along with all of your lessons. Our school is called Karla's Cookies, and you can check it out any time at cookies.teachable.com.

For our demo course, we're following along with Karla, who is a paid acquisition master here at Teachable, as she gets her ducks in a row for her own course. Spoiler alert! Her topic might make you hungry!

Let's talk about how to find your course idea. Now, at Teachable, courses come in 3 sizes: small, medium, and large. We call those small courses mini courses - mini courses are very short, and usually offered for free. You'll use a mini course to grow your list.

Large courses are flagship courses - they're high-dollar courses that gather ALL of your knowledge in a niche and promise a huge transformation to your audience. They're kind of like your life's work as a course creator. Medium courses on the other hand, are your bread and butter. And as you're coming up with the perfect idea for your online course, you want to be thinking about your regular old medium sized online course. Everything else will naturally grow from there.

Chances are, you already have some ideas brewing for your online course. In case you're stumped, here's how to get a clear picture of the courses you could teach online. Your course topic should be a combination of what you know, what you love, and what your audience wants and needs.

But before you get into those details, think about why you want to create an online course. Why do you want to teach online?

  • Could it be to make more money?
  • To make passive income and have more freedom in your life?
  • To quit your day job?
  • Or maybe you are a freelancer or consultant, and you can't meet the demand from clients?
  • Maybe you're sick of doing the same in-person workshop or training over and over again, and you want to automate it.
  • Do you want to make money without doing more work?
  • Is it a passion project? A way to spend time with your family?

The list goes on. Whatever that reason is, you need to be sure of your WHY before you start thinking about the actual course topic. You need to be clear on your goals if you want to pick the course topic that will help you meet those goals.

Complete and Continue