The first thing just about anyone will tell you about creating an information product of any kind is, “Start by coming up with a course idea.”
BUT the biggest mistake most people make is they think of a course idea like it’s just a topic—an umbrella category of things that your information will fall under.
As an example: “I want to create a mini-course about the topic of debt.”
NOPE! You don’t just want to teach people about a topic; that isn’t very compelling and it doesn’t position your product as something your customers need. A broad topic also doesn't solve specific enough of a problem for a mini-course.
Instead, a compelling and valuable mini-course objective should have two key components:
- A transformation
- A specific outcome
Transformation: How your customer’s life will be improved because of the knowledge you’re sharing.
Specific outcome: What your customer will gain or achieve specifically by the end of your course.
These two components are the key to crafting a sales message that converts to purchases.
Using the previous example, instead of “a mini-course about debt…”
My mini-course will help someone become financially free and less stressed about money (transformation) by teaching them how to build a debt-payoff plan (the specific outcome).
Now, brainstorm your mini-course idea and be sure you can fill in the following blanks:
My mini-course will help customers upgrade their lives by: [the transformation].
The specific outcome a customer can expect after completing my course: [the specific outcome].
Something to keep in mind: The more your specific outcome has the possibility of making your customer money, the more you’ll be able to charge for your course. This doesn’t mean you can’t teach a hobby course, just keep in mind a skill like “how to ask for a raise” is going to appeal to a customer who wants to make a return on their investment.
Once you've filled in the two parts of your objective, head to Part 2: Managing expectations.
