10 Reasons You Should NOT Start an Online Course

You want to get rich quick

There is no “quick” in this process. It takes time to work through the 7 steps from idea to launch. It takes time to test and measure what is going to work. If you want vast riches overnight you should go buy a lotto ticket instead. Your odds will be better.

Creating an online course is a marathon, not a sprint. If you’re willing to play the long game you will have an awesome business for years to come. There is no system or course that can teach you how to start making boat loads of cash with online courses super fast. If there was everyone would be doing it.

You’re an ideas person, not an action taker

Ideas people are great, I happen to be one of them. If you can’t balance that with follow through you will end up with lots of ideas that lead nowhere and help no one. You have to be prepared to be single-minded about your initial idea and back bench anything else until you have launched, tested and measured your initial idea.

I see too many women start with one idea only to go chasing the next shiny object. Some claim it is fear of failure (launching something no one buys and failing terribly). Some blame competition (someone else has launched the same course, so there is no point – which is complete rubbish). Some are just plain unfocused.

To be successful at this you need to stick to a plan and see it through if it doesn’t work you go back to the numbers and you try again.

You want what “she” has

Many people see someone they really admire like Denise Duffield-Thomas, Marie Forleo, Amy Porterfield, Tara Gentile, Kimra Luna etc.. and decide they want “that” without knowing the full ins and outs.

You can’t simply replicate someone else’s system or re-create their business model. You need to start from scratch and build from the ground up. I see women lust after the perceived lifestyle of women they love and respect but there is a reality behind that lifestyle. One made up of discipline, focus, persistence, and hard work.

You’re not willing to be persistent

There will be a lot of new techniques, strategies, tools, and tricks that you will need to be open to persistent to learn. If you’re closed off and not interested in really stretching your mind muscles you won’t succeed in the long term. The online course world is ever-shifting and for me, that is part of the attraction. I LOVE trying new ideas and testing new tools and strategies. If you don’t then this is not the right business for you.

I haven’t succeeded at this business because I know something others don’t or have some special skill. I am just persistent. Many people who have far more expertise than me have given up way to early.

You’re not prepared to or interested in tracking numbers

Creative people often start online courses. They can see how their knowledge could be packaged and sold. They often fail at the less creative part of running an online business. They don’t want to or can’t be bothered looking at the numbers. People who refuse to look at the number often have awesome launches but then when sales cool down they can’t figure out why. Another red flag is course creators who outsource big chunks of their business without understanding their profit. They end up working really hard to pay everyone but themselves. This is MUCH more common than you think!

Despite the fact that tracking numbers takes a few minutes a week it is often ignored. It is such a shame as many amazing courses are lying around doing nothing because their creator can’t figure out why they’re not selling. The answer lies in the numbers!

You don’t want to interact with your course members

This one is a big no-no in my opinion. If you don’t want to put yourself out there and interact with your course members are you doing this to make money or to build a business? You might make some bucks in the short term but there is no longevity in a business where you don’t invest some of yourself.

An online business requires some sort of interaction, you can choose where and when but not interacting at all leaves your potential course members looking for someone they feel they can really connect with.

You won’t invest any money in getting started

Online courses are just like any other business. They require an investment. I am not sure who is out there in world leading people to believe otherwise. They don’t require a massive investment, but you will need to pony up some cash. I started super lean with my online course.

I had to persist through learning to build a WordPress website and creating my own graphics and images because I could not afford to pay someone else to do it. For the stuff that really matters, I spent money. The money I invested I knew I had to make back really fast so I was a lot more driven to make this all work.

The key is to follow my 7 Steps so you have your idea fleshed out, and an opt-in ready to test out before you go spending money on fancy platforms or course creating tools. If you do it the right way there is very little time between building your list and launching so you’re paying out of pocket for a lot of stuff.

The quickest way to get traction with your online business is to invest in Facebook ads to test your idea and grow your audience. I have seen women say they don’t have the money to grow their business but they’re on social media posting photos of their daily take out coffee, new yoga pants or pilates class, holidays etc..

Once again, you don’t need to spend a lot but if you’re not willing to put some skin in the game this business might not be right for you.

You don’t want to invest any time

I know an online course sounds like a super way of creating a side hustle, however, if you’re not willing to invest some time your course will remain a dream. The key to getting started is being focused on doing the stuff that matters. That is why you really need to start with the 7 Steps to Creating an Online Course so you don’t journey off onto a tangent and waste time on the wrong stuff.

Sitting around complaining about why you don’t have the time to get started is just wasting time that you could be using to get started. You don’t need to commit days and days every week. Start with an hour and focus your attention entirely on this new amazing online business you’re creating! Get out the old dream board and use that to fuel your fire. 

You think an online course is “passive” income

The passive part of online course sales is that you don’t need to be present to make a sale. It doesn’t mean you create a course, stick some ads up and the money river starts flowing.

You have to be prepared to create high-value free content continuously, always be looking for new ways to grow your list, trying new strategies to increase your conversion numbers and checking in with your members to see what you could be doing better.

Everything about an online business is testing and measuring and tweaking. The good news is you can do that from literally anywhere with an internet connection so while “passive” is misleading this is most definitely a lifestyle business.

I still work in my business every single weekday. I just have the freedom and flexibility to choose my hours and location.

You make excuses about why you can’t succeed

Ok. So this is the one that grinds my gears the most. I literally have no special skills or magically talents. I have a lot of fears around success and money, as many women do. I grew up in very unpleasant circumstances and still to this day I deal with that.

When I created my first online course my mother was dying of breast cancer. I was her carer and working full time. It was nothing short of chaos. I was covering all medical costs and budgeting to the last dollar as we quickly depleted savings. But I did it. I created my course. I created a big chunk of it in the hospital waiting room with constant noise and distraction.

That course saved my bacon after she passed away. I was able to work part time through my grief and support my 22-year-old sister through hers while still generating an income.

If you want to make this work then leave the excuses behind. I had no clue what an opt-in/lead magnet was, or how to create a funnel. I didn’t have a big database of subscribers and was completely clueless about video and audio and website .. etc…

You either want this or you don’t. Leave your excuses at the door. I am no different to you. As cliched as it is to say.. “if I can do this so can you!”