Why you shouldn’t create a “comprehensive” online course

Thinking of creating a comprehensive online course? I’ve created and launched online courses over the last few years and even though my specialty is launching online courses, I’ve learned a thing or two about online course creation along the way as well. One of the BIG places I see so many of you getting stuck is this idea that you want to create the most comprehensive online course out there – you want to teach your audience EVERYTHING there is to know about your area of expertise. But, there are a few problems with creating a super comprehensive online course that’s jam-packed with everything they could possibly ever learn. This episode, I’m sharing why you shouldn’t create a comprehensive online course.

>> Click here to listen to the podcast on your app of choice <<

 

5 reasons you don't need to create a comprehensive online course.

 

I’ve created a bunch of online courses over the last few years and even though my specialty is launching them, I’ve learned a thing or two about course creation along the way as well. 

One of the BIG places I see so many of you getting stuck is this idea that you want to create the most comprehensive course out there – you want to teach your audience EVERYTHING there is to know about your area of expertise. 

But, there are a few problems with creating a super comprehensive course that’s jam-packed with everything they could possibly ever learn. 

So I’m sharing why you shouldn’t create a comprehensive course.

 

1. Because the overwhelm is real

 

I’m talking about your students here, although you’ll probably find it pretty overwhelming too.

But, can you imagine being a student, logging into the course portal for the first time and seeing just how much content there is to learn? They’ll probably feel a little overwhelmed.

The best online courses I’ve completed have actually been quite minimal in terms of content – but the content has been very specific. 

There’s this big misconception that the more content is in your course, the more you can charge for it – and this is worthy of an entire blog on its own – but basically, it’s not true. 

And that’s because of this next reason… 

 

 

2. Because people don’t want to learn, they want the transformation

 

People don’t want content – they want the end result. Think of it this way: There are 2 online courses teaching you how to launch a podcast. One of them is 8 weeks long and the other is 4 weeks long, and at the end of both courses, the outcome is you’ve launched a podcast. 

I don’t know about you, but I’d be willing to pay a little more for the 4 week one because it’s getting me the exact same result in HALF THE TIME. 

Why would I want to spend the extra 4 weeks watching lessons that aren’t really adding any value or getting me to the end result any quicker? 

Comprehensive courses tend to be more focused around how much content is in the course, rather than what outcome they’re providing for the student. At the end of the day, it’s the outcome or the result or the transformation that they’re buying – so you need to know exactly what result you’re giving your student. And sometimes with a comprehensive course, this isn’t so clear.

 

3. Because it’s not about proving how much you know

 

I feel like this is an impostor syndrome thing actually. We feel like people are going to prove us wrong, tell the world how little we know about our area of expertise… So we try to cram in everything we could teach them to prove that we do actually know what we’re talking about.

Your online course shouldn’t be about proving how much you know, but rather proving how quickly and reliably you can get people from point A to point B. 

 

4. Because you’ll never finish creating it

 

Honestly, if you try to include everything in your course, it’s going to wind up being a monster. And you’re never going to finish it and launch it. 

You’ll keep going down little rabbit holes where you want to add more and more and more and eventually you’ll wind up overwhelmed and just plain over it.

 

5. Because it’ll be a nightmare to keep updating it

 

This does depend on what you’re teaching – obviously, there are some topics that never go out of date – but if you’re teaching something like Facebook Ads or digital marketing, these topics are forever changing.

And you know what happens when they change? You have to update your course. 

That’s a big part of the reason why I retired my Facebook Ads course – because I didn’t have the bandwidth to keep updating it every time Facebook changed its mind. 

Anyway, my point is: The more content in your course, the more content you’ll have to update when things change.

 

Pin this?