Introduction
Have you ever stopped to count up the number of tasks you have to complete before launching your digital course?
Even if you haven’t stopped to count, you’ve probably looked at the ever growing list and wondered how you would get it all done before the end of time.
That feeling of overwhelm and mystification over how it will all get done is not unusual. In other words, you are not alone.
A lot of course creator get bogged down in the to-do list, the tasks that every says they need to do from writing email sequences, creating lessons, building out modules in their course platform, creating a launch mechanism, adding in resources designed to help students engage, gamifying everything possible, and the list goes on.
The details are downright mind-boggling. But here is the secret, the majority of those tasks on the list of creating your course don’t actually move the needle toward getting your course finished and ready to record and ultimately launch.
Instead of spending countless hours, days, months, and even years on things that won’t move you forward, today we are going to focus on the 80/20 rule for course creation. We are going to look at the 20% of the tasks that get 80% of the course done and ready for your students.
We are going to focus on prioritizing the most important tasks and talk about what tasks should be put off until much later in the process to keep your workflow streamlined.
Today is all about what reigns supreme and what should be shuffled to the bottom of the list so that you can stay focused on actions that make a difference. No more getting sidetracked!
Why Prioritization Matters
Have you ever wondered why every business doesn’t have a digital course in their arsenal of products? It is because when they look at what it would take to create a digital course the list feels Herculean.
There are so many things to think about: choosing a platform, designing graphics, creating resources, building a website, and the list goes on.
This overwhelming to-do list can quickly lead to procrastination, overwhelm, and ultimately, burnout.
Take a moment here to pause the podcast if you are in a place to do so, set a timer for 3 minutes, and write down all of the tasks that you need to complete to get your digital course ready to record and launch. Then hit play on the episode. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Ok, if you made that list, take a look at it. Can you easily choose the items that will have the biggest impact on your progress? Are you spending a lot of time on non-essential tasks like choosing a platform or creating stellar slide templates? These tasks can easily lead to analysis paralysis, which is definitely not the way to course creation success.
These kinds of task lists that are endless also tend to amp up procrastination and burnout. I mean who legitimately wants to complete 100 tasks to launch a course for your business? That kind of constant pressure to finish everything and get it right makes it hard to keep plodding through the list. It is easy to get distracted from the most important part of the course creation process: the content that your students will learn from.
And that brings me to tip number 1 on what tasks give you the most bang for your buck in getting that course ready to record and launch.
Tip 1: Content is King (or Queen)!
A lot of course creators get caught up in how their course will look when their students view the videos, click through the modules, and download resources. But here is the thing, none of that will matter without having solid content.
So the very first thing to focus on that will have the most impact on your progress is to get that content nailed down. Content is King, or Queen.
Many course creators get caught up in the aesthetics of their course before they even have solid content.
The aesthetics, while important, won’t matter if the content isn’t superb when students start digging in. The last thing we want is a course that is all fluff and window dressing and no substance.
The absolute best use of your time as a course creator, and I say this as someone who loves all of the nitty-gritty details of course creation, is to outline your course from start to finish. Identify the core objective of the course, the big elements that you have to teach in order to meet the objective, and then break that down into the key concepts and lessons that will support the big elements.
This is what the students will remember. A course that delivers the information promised in a way that connects through examples and actionable lessons.
When I work with clients a lot of times they will want to start working on the slides for their video presentation before the content is fully created. And this is where I say no. Not because the slides aren’t important, but because we can’t create the best possible slides until we know what type of content will need to be represented.
For example, you might create slide templates assuming that every slide will have three bullet points, but when you create the content you discover that some slides will have charts or graphs, other slides might have demonstration photos, and still other slides might be just one or two words to highlight something really important.
We want to focus on creating high-quality, valuable content for our students.Slides that are well-designed certainly enhance the learning experience, but they aren’t the foundation of the course. The content forms the foundation of the course upon which everything else is built.
I know you are thinking, but this is the hard part. You are right. It is probably the hardest part because we are often brimming with ideas and want to include everything in our course. That is a real temptation, but one that can and should be avoided. The easiest way to avoid providing too much information and content in your course is to follow a roadmap for course creation. I always share an excel file or a word doc that walks my clients through the process of creating their course content in a thoughtful, organized, and non-inclusive way. In other words, following the roadmap means that they don’t feel the need to include everything that they know.
If you are itching to create slides, here are a few things to keep in mind. First up, create the content separate from the slide design and creation. Those tasks, content and design, use different parts of the brain. Simplify the process for yourself and start with the content and then move to the design. Second up, start with simple slides. You can always make them fancier or more polished down the road as you revise and refresh your course content over time.
So if we are thinking about what tasks on that to-do list will make the most impact on our course creation process, it is definitely outlining and creating your course content.
Tip 2: Resources Support, Not Dictate, Content
Everything follows from that course content. And that brings me to tip 2 today. Your course resources support, but should not dictate course content. Let me talk about that a little bit. Have you ever looked in the fridge when you are getting ready to cook dinner and you see a fresh piece of produce that is about to go bad that you’d like to use? You start shifting what you are going to make for dinner so that the piece of produce works. You are letting that one ingredient dictate your meal.
As a course creator we have to make sure that our content is always at the foundation of everything that we create. Everything else enhances that content. The same is true of the resources, checklists, workbooks, templates, etc. that we provide throughout the course. If we start creating resources before the content is complete, we are going to create a situation where the resource that we lovingly dreamed up and created dictates what we are teaching and how.
When we do that, the content becomes choppy and doesn’t flow nearly as well. Focusing on resources too early in the process will also slow down progress immensely and keep us in that course creation process longer than necessary.
Once the course content is nearing finalization then it is time to create the resources. Focus on creating resources that are valuable, actionable, and easy for students to use. The key is to only create resources that will genuinely add value to the student experience. Remember, resources should make their learning easier, faster, or clearer.
In other words, don’t create those resources too soon and don’t let them take on a life of their own!
I promised you three tips for narrowing down that to-do list to make the most progress. First up, we talked about the importance of zeroing in and focusing on the content that will make up your course without getting caught up in fancy slides. Once the content is created then it is time to review it and identify the key resources that will best help students navigate and implement the ideas that you’re covering in your course.
Notice that these are just two items from that lengthy to-do list, but these will have the biggest impact on your progress. Finally, let’s talk about the next thing that you can cross off your to-do list to make progress and that is choosing a tech platform.
Tip 3: Platform Selection Comes Last (Usually)
A lot of times, I see course creators getting wrapped up in what course platform to choose before they even have their course idea nailed down, let alone the content and resources all mapped out.
I get it, it is tempting to get something checked off and it can feel like this would be a fast thing to check off with a big payout. It isn’t. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen course creators get stuck for months trying to choose a platform.
The reality is that there are zillion and one perfectly acceptable platforms at every price point these days. There is no unicorn platform that is perfect at everything or has everything that you might ever want and need.
This is part of what makes the process of choosing a platform so daunting despite it looking like a relatively easy decision to make.
What makes it even harder is that if we crowdsource favorite platforms, everyone will tell you something different. Recently I had a colleague who was asking about possible course platforms because they were looking to make a change. Everyone jumped into the conversation writing their favorite course platform but without sharing why and what features they required that makes it the right platform for them. When I commented asking what this person was looking for for their course and encouraged them to make a list first and set a budget they said that approach felt more doable. Instead of testing 20 platforms, we can narrow it down to just 2 or 3 to check out based on our requirements and budget.
The thing is that you won’t know what features you need until you’ve created your course and figured out what will be included as well as the resources and setup you have planned. By focusing on the content before anything else, we can let the content dictate the platform versus the platform dictating the content.
I would also encourage you to not necessarily go for all of the bells and whistles for your first course. Start with a simple platform that meets your needs and launch. Have students go through your course, keep detailed notes about what is working, what isn’t working, and what features are being requested. Track what you find yourself wishing for time and time again. Then after you have some solid data, you can decide if the platform is still the right one for you or if you need to start looking for an alternative.
Truly, you can present your entire course with a screen recording of a Google Doc and you on the screen and then post that video as an unlisted video on YouTube. It isn’t ideal because that link can get shared around, but it is better to get your course launched and into the hands of your students than to spend years trying to find the right platform, learn how to use it, and then finally launch.
Action Item
There you have it. Three to do tasks that you should focus on first, content, resources, and finally tech. This week I want you to take action. Too often as course creators we sink into a pattern of learning and putting off the doing. Today, take action. I challenge you to apply the 80/20 rule to your course creation journey. Tackle the 20% of tasks on your list that lead to 80% of the progress toward recording and launching your course.
How can you do this? You can identify one key area where you’ve been getting sidetracked. Is it spending too much time on design, overthinking platform selection, or getting lost in the details of resource creation? Get unstuck by choosing to focus on the most important task, namely creating high-quality course content.
Even if it is just one key concept that you work on each day, one example that you write down, or one module objective that you put into concrete words, do something.
Sixty-Second Solution
Now one of the common challenges that I see when trying to implement a content first approach to course creation is a fear of missing out on course platforms and graphic design if they aren’t tackled first, or alongside, the content building that is happening.
I typically see this happening when a course creator is taking a course on course creation because there is always a tech section that encourages you to make a choice right then because there is a special promo with several months either free or at a reduced rate.
Remind yourself that those deals will continue to come around and there isn’t any rush to choose a platform before you are ready. Someone is always promoting free months, a special intro price or some extra goodie that you get.
Take your time and focus first on creating your course content and the resources that accompany that content. Then you can make a really simple decision about the tech needed.
Where to Go Next?
Alright this week has been all about focusing on the 20% of tasks that will create 80% of your progress on your digital course. By working first on the content, then the resources before even tackling the tech side of things we can streamline our workflow, reduce overwhelm and frustration, and make sure that the content is really what we need and want for our students.
We are more likely to create a high quality course that delivers results.
I’d love to know what you are taking action on this week and where you are in your course creation process, whether you are just getting started or refining an existing course, send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook at Digital Course Creator Guide.
As always, thank you so much for listening in. If you found this episode helpful, please share with your entrepreneur friends and colleagues who are building a digital course in their business and be sure to subscribe to the Digital Course Creator Podcast.
Until next time, happy creating!
