A quick guide to help you choose the right course topic.
You know that thing you do that you find super easy? Well, that could be an ideal course topic.
You see just because something comes easy to you doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy for others. To give you an example I’m going to pick on filing taxes here – because I really struggle with filing taxes for my business.
Let’s say you figured out a super easy, step-by-step way to file your taxes and created a course for that. I’d happily pay you money to learn how to do it myself rather than hand it over to an accountant.
See how this works? You take something that you find easy and help break it down and simplify it for others.
You may already have a good idea of what your topic is, but if you’re sitting there thinking I’m not good at anything read this blog post and consider the following:
- What skills or knowledge have you gained in your work or career?
- Do you have any hobbies that you’re really passionate about?
- What topics do people come to you for advice on?
- Have you undergone a personal transformation like overcoming anxiety, quitting binge drinking, or successfully removing a narcissist from your life?
Create a list of possible topics you could create a course on, then start to narrow that list down.
When considering what to choose for your course topic, there are really only three things to consider:
- Can you do the thing well
- Do others want to learn how to do the thing
- And will they pay to learn the thing
But what if there are already other people offering a course with the same topic?
If there are – that’s a good thing because it means that you’ve got number 2 and 3 covered. Consider chocolate cake recipes, there are hundreds of chocolate cake recipes that all use the same basic ingredients, but your grandma’s recipe is still the best. It’s the same with courses, the other people offering the course won’t be offering it in your unique way – so it won’t be the same even though the topic is the same.
You just need to figure out your own unique spin on the topic or find a narrow niche. For example, there are probably hundreds of people who offer yoga courses online. But there probably aren’t too many who teach yoga for people with scoliosis.
But what happens if the things you’re good at aren’t things you want to teach.
Now this is a tricky one, because ideally you need to enjoy teaching it to others. If you’re a bit meh! about it, that will come across to your audience and they’ll feel the same. It should be something you enjoy doing. In this instance I’d recommend trying to find a way to make it interesting for yourself – or choose another topic. For example, if you want to teach copywriting, but copywriting in general doesn’t excite you – but you’re passionate about fashion – maybe create a course about copywriting for the fashion industry.
What comes next after deciding on a course topic? You need to figure out what type of course to create and then create a minimal viable product to test that there’s a demand for it.
So, what are you waiting for?