702: What No One Tells You About Online Courses

0:01Okay, I have been on this ruthless pursuit to purge any clothes that I'm not actually wearing. Like if I haven't reached for it in months, it's got to go. I am trying to be really intentional about what I bring into my closet right now, which means I am only buying pieces that I know I will actually wear and use. Revolve just gets it though. I'm literally wearing my brown Autry sneakers from there right now and my new suede purse. It fits my laptop in it. So it's basically a fancy shoulder bag that works for everything. I love finding pieces like that. Things that look good, but also work hard for my actual life.

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1:15So happy shopping. We trick ourselves into thinking, okay, once it's perfect, then I'll put it out into the world. Once it's perfect, then I'll tell people I'm working on it. Once it's perfect, then it will make an impact. Perfectionism will absolutely derail you. If you are someone who wants to create an online course. Hey, my name is Jenna Kutcher and I am obsessed with all things business, marketing numbers, and helping you to navigate both the messy and the magical seasons of this thing called life. I'm a small town mama who took a$300 camera, grew a successful photo biz, and now I work from home and run a seven figure online business.

1:50I teach you the tried and true secrets to building a career you adore. Shy away from the real talk? No way. Money, hardship, growth, loss, and marketing are all topics we discuss here. Think of this as your one-stop shop for happy hour with a gal pal mixed with business school. Pull up a seat, make sure you're cozy, and get ready to be challenged and encouraged while you learn. This is the Gold Digger Podcast. My life has been forever transformed by this one thing on the internet. And that one thing is digital courses. When I think about how my journey has changed, shifted, evolved, and exploded, most of that growth was experienced through one medium, both as a student, but also as a teacher.

2:34Digital courses literally changed the trajectory of my life and my career, and they also helped amplify the ability to make a greater impact. In today's episode, I'm going to unpack what no one is telling you about digital courses. As someone who has created digital courses over the last eight years, sold multiple millions of dollars in online courses, all from the comfort of my home, I want to walk you through the things that you maybe have not yet considered when it comes to digital courses, both as a student and as a teacher. Without further ado, let's dive on in and talk about what no one is telling you about online courses.

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4:35So back in 2015, I was a few years into my entrepreneurial journey as a wedding photographer. I was shooting weddings, my business was exploding, I was starting to get awards, and I had hit that elusive six-figure goal. And when I hit that goal, I had this kind of wake-up call, this moment where it didn't feel like I thought it would, like I imagined six figures feeling. Now it was an amazing accomplishment, one that I'd worked so hard to reach. But when I reached that accomplishment, what I found was that I was really burnt out and exhausted. And I couldn't imagine myself doing this same thing for the next decade, let alone multiple decades until the age of retirement.

5:16That was when I had a big wake up call. I tell this story in my book, but I remember the day I hit six figures and I checked in with myself because I was feeling this nagging feeling of this doesn't feel like I thought it would. And so like any entrepreneur would do, I sat down with some spreadsheets. Nerdy, right? I remember my husband, Drew, got home from work at the time he was selling wine in different grocery stores. And he sat down at this little farmhouse table that we had in our home in Wisconsin that overlooked this cornfield. And I said, I never thought I'd be saying this, but I'm about to say three important words to you.

5:52I said, screw six figures. And Drew kind of looked at me and I said, I was so much happier when I made$50 ,000 a year. I had time. I had a life. This isn't what I thought it would be. Can I go back to that? And it was so interesting because I had imagined the scenario run out in my head so many different times. But what Drew looked like was relieved. He looked like he was about to get his wife back. And I will never forget that day because he said, absolutely, let's do it. And so as a wedding photographer, I was able to kind of plan my life out one year in advance, which is both a blessing and a curse.

6:29But I said, next year, I'm going to only shoot half of the amount of weddings. I want to have weekends with my family. I want to have weekends with you. I want to experience summer that is so fleeting in the Midwest. And so that year, I cut back to $50 ,000 a year. Now, why does this all matter? And what does it have to do with online courses? Well, when I finally claimed time is my currency, I suddenly had both time and energy to learn, to explore new things, to check out new passions. And in that newfound time that I had, because again, I was claiming time is my currency. I found my first digital course.

7:07Now I'll never forget. I saw this link on Instagram and someone said, you know, sign up for a free coaching call. And I knew who this person was. He was the husband to one of my friends who was also a photographer. And I was like, interesting. I've never had a business coach. Maybe I'll try this out. So I sign up for a free coaching call. Well, on this coaching call, we talked through a lot of different things with my business, but at the very end, this person tried to sell me an online course. Now this was the first I had ever been exposed to online courses. This was the first I'd ever really heard of them, but I was fascinated by it.

7:40Not by the content inside of his course, but by the fact that he was able to create something once, sell it to many, make a greater impact and teach people his system. And so on the call, he asked if I wanted to sign up for his course. And I said, I will consider signing up if you do one thing. And he said, what's that? I said, if you teach me how you created this, I didn't even really care about the content inside of the course. I just wanted to understand how he created the course itself. Right? So this person said, yes, I'll do that because we got three one-on-one coaching calls as a part of buying his course.

8:14And I said, in those one-on-one coaching calls, I don't even want to talk about your content. I want to know exactly how to do this. So that was my journey in dipping my toes in the water. Now here's something super interesting that I want you to hear in the year that I was cutting back to$50 ,000 a year and claiming time as my currency. I ended up making seven figures. That's over a million dollars. That was not planned. That was not on my vision board. But when I started to understand this online course world and understand that I could both do and pursue the thing that I loved while also teaching people and helping them on their own path, I was able to exponentially grow my business without the overwhelm and burnout that I had experienced as a service-based business owner.

9:07Now, maybe you're thinking, wait, wait, wait, back up. How did all this happen? Well, I took that online course and I learned how to create an online course. And I had been doing peer-to-peer mentorship behind the scenes. It was kind of rare that someone who had no experience in the photography world was able to start a photography business and scale it to six figures in three years flat. and people had started to pay attention. In the off season, I had opened up peer-to-peer mentorship opportunities where people would drive to our tiny condo in a town called Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, and they would sit at my table and I would walk them through exactly how I was able to do what I had done.

9:43And so I had all of this experience one-on-one coaching people, but with that experience, I had started to notice trends in the questions they were asking, in the resources they needed, in the templates they were wanting. And so I took all of that and created my first online course. Now, over the last eight years, I have sold millions of dollars in online courses. I have scaled my business to heights that I didn't even know were possible. And I've also been fortunate enough to teach tens of thousands of students. Maybe you've even been one of them. So I wanted to set the stage as to what my own online course journey looked like so that you can listen to what I'm about to tell you through the lens of someone with experience who understands the importance of this digital course world.

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11:43Look, I've become kind of a systems nerd. and anything that gives me more space in my day, I'm all in. And a reliable connection is a huge part of that because when the internet lags or cuts out, everything pauses and suddenly the simplest tasks take forever. I learned really early on that dependable internet, it's not a luxury, it is a must. Whether you're a content creator like me, a restaurant owner, or running a busy dry cleaning business, you need that steady connection to support your team and your clients. That's why I'm excited to share a solution for my fellow business owners. Spectrum Business keeps businesses of all types connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, and mobile services, all with connectivity solutions built for your budget.

12:26And they have a truly incredible offer. Business owners can get free business internet advantage forever when you add four or more mobile lines. It's simple with no contracts and no added fees. Visit spectrum.com forward slash free for life to learn how you can get business internet free forever. Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas. So the first thing that I want for you to know, because I know you're probably thinking about it, is you do not have to start super fancy. Our tendency is to get things right from the very beginning, right? When we announce something new, when we're working on a new project, we want things to be perfect.

13:07And I truly believe that perfectionism is procrastination cloaked in a pretty robe. We trick ourselves into thinking, okay, once it's perfect, then I'll put it out into the world. Once it's perfect, then I'll tell people I'm working on it. Once it's perfect, then it will make an impact. Perfectionism will absolutely derail you. If you are someone who wants to create an online course, you can absolutely start simple and get fancy later. As my friend, Amy Porterfield says, let me tell you about my first program. So I looked up some of the data because I wanted to give you the exact numbers and how it worked.

13:42So at the time, when I first launched my course, I had learned the importance of email marketing. If you listen to this show, you will know that I've recorded countless episodes on the topic of email marketing. And this online course creator who I had hired to teach me how to create courses, and I had purchased his course, had talked to me about the importance of an email list. I'll never forget on our first call, he said, Jenna, how big is your list? and I said, what list? My to-do list? It's super long. And he was not talking about my to-do list. He was talking about my email list, which meant that I got started growing an email list.

14:16So at the time of my first launch, I had 841 people on my email list. The price of the course was $1 ,500, which is hilarious because I don't even have a course that costs that much to this day. I did over$35 ,000 in sales on my first course launch with zero paid ads. And this all happened back in 2015. So I took this information and this knowledge and know-how, and I created my first course. Now, let me tell you, I am not someone who would consider myself tech savvy. In fact, setting up to record this podcast episode took me quite some time because I had to figure out some new technology we're using.

14:56So I'm not tech savvy. When I created my first online course, I didn't know how to record video. I didn't know how to create the slides. I definitely did not know how to record me reading slides. And so my first course was audio only, which is actually hilarious because this is before I had this podcast. I will never forget sitting in my bed with my computer in front of me with notes, reading into a microphone. It was literally MP3s. And I was able to charge$1 ,500 because I was teaching people my system and offering my coaching. So I want for you to hear this loud and clear. It is not about the method.

15:32It is about the message and the outcomes that you can deliver in your online course. So if you are someone who is used to being a perfectionist, who wants everything to be absolutely beautiful, do not let that be your form of procrastination of getting a course out into the world and making a difference. You can absolutely start simple. Now, what's interesting about this is when I look at my online courses today, they look drastically different, but this is coming from someone who has been doing these for over eight years. I have improved over time as have my online courses, just like anything you do.

16:09I am a mom to some young kids and I'm teaching them practice is just going to propel you forward. It doesn't make perfect because perfect doesn't exist, but let practice propel you forward. When I look at my first course to my courses today, they look different, but guess what? The same heartbeat is underneath them. The heartbeat that wants people to get results. And so when you start to think about creating an online course, maybe you are where I was when I bought my first course and just wanted somebody to walk me through the steps of how do I do this thing? I know I have something to share.

16:42I know I want to share it and I know I want to make a difference, but I don't even know where to begin. If you're like me, keep on listening. Now, the next thing that people don't tell you about online courses is that you can update them any time. So I feel like we have this fear of when we create something that we want it to be perfect from the jump. We have this fear of like, okay, I have to put it out there. It has to be fully complete. It has to be perfectly done. But what's amazing about online courses is you can always iterate, expand, and evolve them. That is exactly what I've been able to do.

17:16I've been able to create the course, get it off the ground, get the feedback, get the testimonials, learn more, make them better, make them better, make them better, make them better. Literally every single quarter I'm updating an online course of mine. And so I want for you to know that it is not set in stone. It is very easy to edit and change and add to your online course. And so if you're thinking about creating one and you're like, okay, I need to know steps A through Z. That's absolutely not true. If you could get someone from steps A to C, you would already be improving their life, saving them time, saving them frustration, money, stress, energy.

17:51That is a win. And so what I love about the online course world is that as you teach, you learn. And that is something that is so huge. And so if you're thinking about creating an online course, I want for you to know that your course will evolve with you. And if you're somebody who truly cares about getting people results, that is the most beautiful way to approach it. And And it also gives you this relief of like, I don't have to get it perfectly right from the jump. If you love Gold Digger, you will love Business Made Simple, hosted by Donald Miller, brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network.

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19:40So calling all single gold diggers. If you want to meet your equal, your soulmate and your goalmate, download the league app today and message hashtag goalmate to your in-app concierge to skip the wait and graduate to the dating app with higher standards. So the next thing you might be thinking is, well, can't somebody just Google it? Like, I know I know something. I know it could help people, but obviously they can just go out and Google it or read a book or listen to a podcast or watch a YouTube. And the answer is yes. But when you create an online course, you are creating a means to save people time.

20:16They are paying for the convenience of having a laid out system step by step. Most information out there is available on the internet. But what I found, especially for myself, is that when I tell myself, okay, I'm going to learn this on my own. I'll figure it out on my own. I'll piecemeal my plan together. One, I don't do it because there's no skin in the game. There's no urgency around it. But two, a lot of times I will waste time doing the wrong thing and then have to circle back and pay more to learn it the right way. It's kind of like, it reminds me of when you get your hair colored, like let's say you want to box dye your hair and you're like, I don't need to go sit at a salon.

20:56I can just do it myself. Well, then you ruin your hair. And now all of a sudden you're paying even more at a salon to get it first fixed and corrected, and then colored the way you wanted it in the first place. You can save yourself so much time, energy, frustration, and money by both creating and taking online courses. And so you're essentially paying for convenience, but you're also paying for a proven system. Someone that is teaching an online course that has a history in success and positive outcomes, you are getting that packaged up together to save you so much time. I, to this day, have taken so many online courses.

21:34Anything from business and marketing to I was just watching an online course about Instagram stories the other day. I've taken courses in feeding my babies, in speech for toddlers, sleep training babies. You asked me if I've taken a course in it. The answer is probably yes, but that is because I value my time so much that I'm willing to invest money to save myself time. And I think that if you hit a certain stage in your life where time is your currency, you are willing to trade your dollars to save yourself so much time. The next thing I want you to hear that nobody really talks about is that you don't have to be a total expert.

22:12You just have to be one step ahead of someone else and able to save them time. make them money or entertain them. That's it. I think a lot of times we're like, okay, well, everyone's waiting for this massive transformation. Let me get this massive transformation. And by the time you go to reveal exactly how you got that massive transformation, you are now unrelatable to the people that you could have helped the most. When you recognize that you do not have to be a total expert in all things, but you just have to be one or two steps ahead of the people that you want to help, that will change the way that you look at this, you are most equipped to help the person you once were.

22:51So when you think about the things that you have overcome, the things you have achieved, the things you have learned, the lessons that life has taught you, think about how you can take all that information that you have and help other people. You are most equipped to help the person you once were. So you don't have to be a total expert in all things. You just have to understand how to get yourself or someone else a result in a way that you can systemize and then sell. The next thing that nobody's talking about, and I want to talk about a little bit, is that you can't just launch an online course or program once and expect to hit a home run.

23:28Every single launch you do is a learning experience, and it will actually help you learn about yourself, learn about your offer, grow your email list, widen your reach, and refine what it is that you're selling. Okay, so let me tell you this story. So my best selling course is called the list to launch lab. It is my email list building course. And as I stated before, I learned the importance of starting an email list back when I hired that first online coach. And I saw that there was a huge gap in the marketplace. And so many people in my industry had no idea what an email list was, why they needed one, how they would use it and how it would impact their business.

24:07And so I set out to create an email list building course. Well, I was so passionate about the topic. I still am to this day, many, many, many years later. But I also knew that this is a topic that my industry, the creative industry hadn't really heard much about. So when I did my first launch, it was the worst launch I had ever done. It was still very successful by many standards. However, it was the worst personal launch I had ever done. And guess how I felt? I was thrilled. I was thrilled that even one person started to understand why an email list was important. And I knew that if I continued to talk about this topic for years and years and years, which is exactly what I've done, that I could impact more and more and more people.

24:52We now have over 7 ,000 students who have taken that program. But at the time, it was a brand new topic. And I knew with conviction that this was a topic that I would stand on a hill and shout about. I love email list building and I will not stop talking about it. And so what if I did that course launch and I was like, that was a flop. I better stay in my lane, only teach Instagram. This doesn't work. No. Every time you launch, you get so much insight, you get so much information and you get to share your message just because someone doesn't buy the first time doesn't mean that they won't become a customer or client later on.