Lessons on online course creation: Why I created two online courses I didn’t want to create… In this episode, I want to share with you some exciting news about something we have coming up in the new year. I have been working on this project, in collaboration with some good friends, over the last few months so it will be ready to launch in February when I come back from maternity leave. But today I am going to talk about the reason I actually didn’t want to do it in the first place!
In February I am launching an online course specifically for psychologists and therapists who want to create an online course - meta, I know. What really excites me about it is that I have designed it to sit at the heart of the DMTT membership. It will be included for all existing members and accessible to any passionate mental health professional for just £47 a month. This really excites me because I know how much I had to pay to learn to create successful online courses and while I don’t regret a penny of it, and I do NOT think that people like Amy Porterfield are overcharging, you get immense value from their programmes, I do think that sometimes that investment isn’t possible or right for every type of online course creator. In particular, if your dream is to create a low-cost option for people who can’t afford therapy, it is going to take you a LONG time to recoup an investment like that. So I wanted to create something that had EVERYTHING you needed to get an online course planned, created and in front of the right people without the terrifying price tag.


Sounds like a clear mission right? Surely I should be going after this idea all guns blazing as I clearly have passion and excitement for it?


Well no! I actually had the idea for this course two years ago. Right back at the start of the Do More Than Therapy membership. As you all know I advocate doing a lot of listening to your ideal clients, in fact, it is the most important part of the development of any product or service and also the key ingredient to good marketing. 


People have been telling me from the very start that this is what they want. So many people have told me that they want to create an online course but don’t know where to start with it all and it is something that I have been doing for the past four years so I knew I had something I could say on the subject. But I just didn’t feel ready to do it. My imposter syndrome wouldn’t let me. I kept comparing myself to others (unfavourably of course) and convincing myself that what was already on the market was too good. So I held back. 


But it niggled away at me. You see, almost everything that we have in the Do More Than Therapy membership library would help you to create and sell an online course. We have masterclasses on all aspects of marketing, social media, email marketing and press and PR. We have lessons on building authority by self publishing, public speaking, podcasting, youtubing, blogging. We even have lessons on how to develop an idea with your ideal client and how to plan and write engaging content. That is pretty much all the ingredients you really need to get an online course off the ground but I always stopped short of providing content on three topics:


The tech
The structure of the course (and whether you should do it live or pre-recorded)
Pricing your course



And the reason for that was because I feel like a chancer on those topics! I learned to do the tech on the job and my tech is far from perfect.


I teach most of my courses live first because I like the feedback from my clients and I work better that way. That does not mean it is the best way for everyone.


And pricing… well I have also learned about this on the job and the very hard way so feel far from an expert.


So about six months ago now I started to really notice this conflict in my body. I was feeling uneasy when I was talking about the membership because deep down I knew I should be...