My Online Course Creation Journey Part 3 7 Things I'd Like to Have Done Differently
Just like any other creation that you create, creating an online course is an act of passion. Since this was my very first online course that I had ever designed I plunged myself head first into the project, eager to learn how to navigate creating online courses. Plus, since I felt that I was so committed to teaching others how to use writing as an artistic and therapeutic tool, I was eager to make use of all the tools to the best of my ability.
Since my training was over (it was held between July 6 and 27) I've had the time to think about what I'd change about my next launch.
It turns out that this reflective phase has been crucial. While I more than doubled my goal of enrollment If I had the option of turning the clock back , I'd have made a few decisions differently. Now, I know exactly the things I'm planning to change as I prepare to relaunch the next iteration of Your Inner Writer this fall.
My wish is that you learn from my mistakes to ensure that the process in creating, marketing and even teaching your first online class is as smooth (and successful!) as possible.
Here's what I would like to change about I'd done differently:
1. I'd like to upgrade to Basic Plans -- Sooner
Once I'd determined my course's program, I started creating content for it. Yet, I did not have any sort of plan about how I'd present the content to my students.
I initially started using's free planthinking I would release all my lessons in one go and let the students work through the material according to their own schedule. However, I quickly realized that I wanted to incorporate the Drip Schedule feature to ensure that I could release each week's lesson. I believed that releasing the drip release of content could help build anticipation for the lesson as well as weekly writing exercises that guided students to keep my students on the right track as well as reduce the urge for students to skip to the next lesson. I also required my students to finish every lesson prior to moving on to the next.
Additionally, having content released week-by-week rather than all at once would help me to keep my students from being overwhelmed by all of the content at all times, and especially because each week , they were given an average of 45 minutes worth of video content every Wednesday.
However, I wasn't aware that I needed to upgrade my plan in order to get access to the Drip Schedule feature. It was not a huge deal; I simply had access the settings of my account on the dashboard and change my plan.
But, had I known prior to the fact that I'd be releasing content week-by-week I would have been able to communicate this information to my students early on in my marketing and sales material. In addition, it could be a better way to organize my creation procedure. Without the Drip Schedule feature, I had to complete nearly all the course materials online before the course officially began on July 6.
2. I Wish I'd Created an automated Welcome Email
The first time my students enrolled in my class I was so elated (and slightly surprised, as when I first started, the thought of having an online course that people actually wanted to buy felt like a pipedream) that I forgot about sending the students an email to acknowledge their participation in the course.
After my first student signed up for my course, I sent every one student an email- manually through Gmail to say hello to them and give them a run-down of the course's structure, remind them of the upcoming beginning date and make them aware of my expectations. Then I sent every student who signed up the identical email. If I had the option to go back I'd set up an automatic welcome email so that I wouldn't have had to worry about this extra step.
As a student I would have liked receiving an email immediately that would have guided me through what I should get from Your Inner Writer, especially due to the fact that I left the landing page vague since I was selling my course before I'd actually created it via the pre-order feature.
Furthermore, the process of setting up an automated welcome email simple and easy. All you have to do is go to your dashboard, click Support Your Students, select Notifications, make sure you're in the tab for Student Notifications, click Edit to the right of Site Welcome, make your desired changes, and then click Save. This step makes for easy efficient, clear, and effective communication between you as the person who created the email and each one of your newly enrolled students.
3. I Wish I'd Used an alternative email system
In the same vein of emails, I had sent my 22 students each week an email after the lesson video and guided writing practice were made available on Wednesdays. This gave me the chance to get in touch to my students, explain to them what they should expect from every week and give them easy access to the course's registration button.
In the beginning, I created the email using my MailChimp account. When I sent myself an experiment email, I realized it went directly to the promotions folder. I decided , yet time, email my students manually through Gmail rather than using Gmail because I didn't wish to put my students at risk of not being able to view my email.
It certainly took up a lot of wasted time. However, as it was my first time taking a course that I was taking, I wanted to perfect my communication with the students. In the future, I'll make sure to send emails to all my students through in order to save time; like the automatic emails, I didn't realize that this was an option until halfway through my course.
To email students, I would have needed to go to my dashboard and select Help Your Students Select Users and scroll to the bottom or utilize the search function to locate the student, select the email address they have, fill in the body and subject copy of the email, and then click Send.
4. I Wish I'd Understood that I'd fail the First Time
When it came to creating content for my online course, I used the easy, free design tools on Canva to create an aesthetically-cohesive powerpoint presentation for each video lesson and guided writing practice. Next, I made use of the Loom video messaging tool to record myself speaking overtop of the powerpoint slideshow in order to give it a personal feel.
When I was narrating the lesson, I'd often need to stop and go back to Canva or edit the content or add in additional slides in order to make the flow better. This was the case several times for each lesson and guided writing practice that I recorded.
I tried to remember the mantra I'd been using since the beginning and the lesson I'd learned from my interviews with high-earning creators: Done is better than flawless. In the event that I needed to make adjustments to my slides before re-recording the video again -- I could feel frustration mounting. When I next create an online course, I'll be aware that this hinging and reversing is part of my content creation procedure. It's not common to be able to do it right on the first try.
Being a person who is constantly self-critical when I got the recording to a point where it was "good enough that I was able to stop tinkering and driving myself crazy with edits. Instead, I went ahead and uploaded the videos to and tried to convince myself that it was sufficient. Also, I tried to keep in mind that this was my very first online courseand also my minimum viable products (MVP). It was just a test of my ideas. I've learned from the other creators that it's better to get your MVP to the public and then make adjustments to the content in the future.
5. I wish I'd only given one chance to get feedback
When I started sharing information about my online course with my Instagram followers and emails, I sensed doubt creeping into my mind. I thought: Am I providing enough worth? Because one of my habits is over-giving and over-deliver, I thought I'd add even more value to my class by allowing my students to send me their writing assignments following the guided writing practice each week to get comments.
It's now clear that I was offering more than I should have for a $29.99 course. If I had the chance to go back, I'd only provide the possibility of receiving feedback on students' writing work after the very last written practice that was guided. While I loved watching my students' work each week, I found it difficult to keep up to date with providing feedback to my 22 students. Additionally, providing feedback at the end of the guided writing practice would have been a great method to conclude my as well as my students' session. Lesson learned!
6. I wish I'd double-checked the date of my course's expiration.
The biggest error I made was that I did not change the defaults on my site, inputting an expiry date on the course.
When I heard from two students who couldn't log into this course, I did some investigation and discovered that their course access was expired. Because I had promised all students all year long access to the course and the course, I made sure to update everyone's expiry date by visiting my dashboard, clicking"Support Your Students," choosing users, selecting the full names of my students. Then, I clicked to open my courses, selecting Create a Date under Expiry Date, selecting a date in the calendar menu and finally clicking Update.
7. I'd like to have created an private Facebook Community
Looking back, I'm glad I'd created a place that my students could interact with each other. It was a good thing that I provided my classes asynchronously because it was launched in summer and few people have any sense of routine or organization during the summer and brighter seasons. But, when I start Your Inner Writer again, I'll ensure that I'll invite all my students to join a private Facebook community so that they have the opportunity to meet up with their classmates. Additionally, this will give my students the chance for them to share their writing with each other rather than solely relying on me to communicate with.
Reviewing my of creation has been essential to determining the next steps. Since My Inside Writer was my MVP I have four other important things I'll do before I revive it in the form of an annual course that is still available on my website:
1. I'll Get Feedback
Prior to relaunching Your Inner Writer, I intend to send my students feedback forms to fill out. It will contain questions such as:
- What was your favorite part of this class?
- What was it that you didn't like about the course?
- What do you wish was different?
- What did you learn from this class?
- How did you feel about the way in which information was distributed?
- What do you want to see modified in the future?
These questions will assist me determine the changes that must be made to the next session of my course.
2. I'll Get Testimonials
In the feedback form that I'll give my students I'm also going to ask students to write a review if they had a positive experience in Your Inner Writer. This will help me build the social proof I need to include on my landing page and social media when I launch my course in the near future and help give my course and I credibility.
3. I'll re-record the Content
When I have gathered feedback and determining what needs to be modified for my course, I plan on blocking off two days in my schedule to revisit my entire course's content
-- including both videos and written techniques -- in order to account for changes requested.
4. I'm going to increase the cost
When it comes time to relaunch Your Inner Writer, I'll increase the price but make sure that it's accessible. I'm thinking of pricing my course between $49.99 between $49.99 and $89.99 dependent on the number of modifications that must be made as well as the additional time I'll put into.