How 10 course creators launched their first course in 60 days
When I talk to people about what Teachable does, more often than not, their ears perk up, their eyes brighten, and they exclaim something like, “Oh! I’ve been thinking about making my own course!”
And I get it! Creating an online course allows you to make money talking about something you love, and do it from anywhere. It means doing something that energizes you and gives you more control over what your career looks like, and how you live your life.
And that’s huge! But when I ask what kind of course they want to create, they suddenly turn bashful, back away, and mutter, “Oh, I’m not sure yet. I have to figure it out.”
This exchange has happened so many times it got me thinking—why do so many would-be course creators get stuck just thinking about teaching online? And why do they seem so skittish about it?
Creating a course involves hundreds of tiny steps, and it’s easy to get stuck in a “chicken and egg” scenario, wondering what comes first. Meanwhile, since there’s no clear goals to hit, it’s impossible to stay on track, and you end up just feeling bad about yourself.
Here at Teachable, we see that thought paralyze so many would-be course creators and keep them from ever getting started, so a few months ago we issued a challenge: We reached out to a small group of Teachable customers who haven’t launched a course and wanted to see if they could do so in 60 days or less.
Of those who completed the challenge, several wanted to share their and success with everyone here on the Teachable blog.
Instructors who have created a course in just 60 days
These are just a few of the superstars on Teachable who took us up on the challenge of creating and launching an online course in 60 days and made it look easy. Check them out and cheer them on, because they killed it.
Chanel Hays
Chanel created an online course, The Media Palm, designed for small business owners, bloggers, or social media managers who not only need to optimize the time they spend on marketing, but also want to give their audience quality, consistent content.
Chanel’s biggest takeaway? “The knowledge you use daily isn’t necessarily common and it’s worth it to share it with others!”
She also wanted to share a piece of advice for first time course creators: “Find your voice — don’t be afraid to show your personality. Think about extras that you can add to make your students feel like insiders.”
Lola Akinkuowo
Lola created BRANDPRINT, a 6-week accelerator program designed to give you a step-by-step guide to clarifying your brand’s messaging, connecting with your true audience, and building an irresistible brand story that’s validated and valued.
She recommends prelaunching your online course once you’ve created a bit of your content saying, “Don’t wait until you’ve completed the entire course to launch because you may never start. Have a solid plan, build up to 50% of the content, then launch!”
Sue Broome
Sue created an online course, Memories Shared with your Loved Ones, offering strategies for bringing happy memories of loved ones who have passed to the forefront of your mind. The course includes downloadable meditations that can be enjoyed over and over again.
Sue’s advice for brand new course creators? “Take your time and when you get frustrated, walk away for awhile.”
Karmen Cook
Karmen created the online course, How to Revamp your Instagram Feed in One Hour, where her students learn the basic elements of creating a solid foundational plan for reinvigorating their Instagram feed.
In the process of creating her online course, Karmen learned that creating course content is much simpler when you break action items down into smaller parts and focus on the transformation piece.
She’d tell new course creators: “Don’t be afraid to change your ideas! I noticed that my thoughts shifted as I worked, and allowing yourself the space to alter ideas and content will make for a course that’s far more beneficial to students than something you’re forcing.”
Jamelle Lindo
Jamelle created The Self-Architect, an experiential, personal transformation program based on emotional intelligence, guided meditation and self-awareness. It is delivered through 5-week comprehensive lessons, including video and audio content. His course also has an active online community of peers and professional certified coaches to support learning.
Jamelle’s advice for first time course creators is this: “My advice would be to lay out the structure of the course as clearly as possible before starting.
This would include the content, the timelines, and the media outlines to deliver the material. I would also say to look at what level of quality you would like to produce and then build a budget and timeline based on everything from this pre-planning stage.”
Jeannine Sanderson
Jeannine created the online course, Easy Intelligent Weight Loss, to teach her students how to use self-hypnosis to train their mind and begin their weight loss journey.
When it came to creating her online course, here’s what Jeannine said her biggest challenge was: “I think the biggest challenge was my preconceived idea that is was going to be difficult. The biggest roadblock for me was my technical inexperience, I had to learn PowerPoint and other programs I had never used. To my surprise, it was easy… actually easy. The Teachable platform provided me with all the tips and tools I needed to make it happen. I would not be creating online courses if it were not for Teachable!
Jessica Gardner
Jessica created the online course, Queen of Critique | King of Conversation to help artists and designers speak English more confidently at work. It includes lessons on the culture and etiquette of American conversation, critique strategies, sentence starters with pronunciation tips, and suggestions for empowerment.
Her advice for first-time online course creators is: “Take the time to set up a good recording environment before you begin making your videos.”
Deanna Butcher
Deanna created her online course, Intuitive Tarot for Beginners, to help her students learn how to read Tarot intuitively without having to memorize a thing. Her movie-like course concept not only makes it easier to learn Tarot, but also teaches her students how to put the story together when they conduct their own readings.
Deanna’s biggest challenge was the actual launch portion of her online course. Here’s what she had to say: “My biggest challenge was launch. Although I am happy with the outcome of the launch, I had difficulty with advertising it and getting the word out. I did FB Ads and didn’t get the response I expected. I did mail-outs, they did great. I know my clients are looking forward to the next course, the Intuition Development. So I am hopeful that the next launch will be great!”
Amanda Lederle
Amanda created the online course, Vision & Goals, to help her students discover what they want out of the future. The guide will help her students imagine what their futures will look like in 10 years, create stories for their future, construct actionable phrases for each goal and more.
When it came to creating her online course, Amanda’s biggest challenge was getting organized planning out how to execute her idea and program.
Jillian Hishaw
Jillian created the online course, Protecting You and Your Parent’s Home and Assets From a Medicaid Lien, to educate her students on the basics of Medicaid and the low-cost estate planning ways you can protect their or their parent’s assets.
Jillian said her biggest struggle was planning her online course out properly. Her advice for new course creators is to avoid stressing out about the process.
Are you next?
If you’ve been thinking about creating an online course but have been procrastinating, we challenge you to get started today. You could be just sixty days away from joining the ranks of the course creators above.
Here are a few resources to get you started:
And stick around for our Thursday blog post, where we’ll be breaking down exactly how you can create your online course in just 60 days.
Any questions? Let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer them!