243 - 6 Ways to Integrate Courses into Your Business

On today's episode of the podcast I share ideas for integrating courses into your current business. 

Before we begin, I want to clarify that a course-based business is a business whose income is centered around courses and is different from a business that creates courses to supplement your current business. Creating a course-based business is tougher than it looks than the outside. To get your toes wet, I recommend creating courses to help you break past your income ceiling. 

Amy Porterfield talks about 5 different types of courses -starter, spotlight, signature, workshop and certification courses.

Ways to get started with a course: 

1. Make it a list-builder:  A starter course is created to help people get started. It gives a quick fix to a problem or the first couple of steps they need. This is something they can implement in a short amount of time. This could be a list-builder or you can offer a corresponding freebie to generate leads and then sell the course at a discount from the standard price if they buy it without opting into the freebie. 

2. Make it a down-sell: This is great for spotlight courses, something that gives someone the full system in a very specific area. An example of this is my course Sole Prop to LLC which covers specifically how to go from a Sole Prop to filing an LLC. I no longer sell this in my current business model but I previously offered this as a downsell if people were not interested in paying for a 1:1 formation service with me. Ask yourself if there is any service you provide that you could teach if people do not want to pay the price for you to do the service. 

3. Make it your cornerstone (signature) offer: This is what I've done with my signature, one to many offer, Profit Rx. I typically would not recommend pivoting to make a course your signature offer until you've done some of these other offers first. 

4. Make it a summit/bundle contribution: I really like the option of having a starter course (or a splinter course which is taking a module from your course and offering it separately). This is a great way to make contributions to summits, bundles, etc. which is a great way to become a speaker, author or influencer in your business. This will only make sense for you if the buyers/attendees are in your market. 

5. Make it a complementary supplement to your services: An example would be that a few years ago I hired someone to set up my Pinterest account. When she handed over the set-up account  she had recorded three hours of tutorial videos for my to hand to my VA on how to run the account, create the graphics, do the SEO, etc. That's a lot of work on her end and she could turn that into a course. Complement the service you offer, for example if you design websites, with a course you can offer about how to create blog posts, troubleshoot FAQs, maintain your website, etc. It's a great way to help your current clients even if you don't have an email list yet. 

6. Make it an upsell: What can you offer on top of an existing  product, offer or service? An example of this is my contract vault that I offer on top of current 1:1 services to help people prevent contract issues in the future. 

To learn more about creating a course, check out Amy Porterfield's Course Confident: A 5-Day LIVE Bootcamp to Nail Your Digital Course Topic, Attract Your Audience, and Show Up with Confidence Online. Inside this private community, Amy will be going live to help you cement the foundations of your own digital course. Including:

1. What you might teach
2.What you’d be able to charge (based on examples across TONS of industries)
3. How to structure your course content
4. How to grow an audience NOW that’s ready to enroll when you’re ready to launch
5. And I’ll be there too, helping you and sharing my own insights every step of the way.

ALLLLL of that for $47. ( Are you kidding me?! ) Click here to join. 

Even better, I earn the entire $47 in affiliate commissions on all bootcamp sales with my link.