When is it time to update your course?

When should you update your course?

So… you’ve spent a lot of time creating the perfect course and your audience loves it. Now all you need to do is sit back and let the money roll in.

Well, I hate to break it to you but that’s not exactly true. There will come a time when your course needs a makeover. I’ve already written about the fact that courses are not passive income and this is one of the reasons why. Courses need to be maintained and updated.

Now, before you reach for the wine, thinking about having to do it all over again. We’re not necessarily talking about going back to the drawing board and starting from scratch – you may need to just refresh a few things.

How often you should update your course?

Well, that all depends on your niche. Some change very little over time ie if your course teaches people how to crochet – that’s not likely to change in a couple of months. But if you’re in a niche where things change quickly and often ie, Facebook ads training, your course may need regular overhauls.

How do you know it’s time to update your course?

There are essentially two things that date a course:  

• the way it looks
• and if it contains outdated information

So, if you cringe hard when you watch any of your videos – it may be time.

Here are 3 tips to help make the update process as easy and stress free as possible

#1 Create a log of possible future updates

If you know exactly what might need to be changed and where it is ie. module, lesson, video, time mark, etc. this will make your life a lot easier. So, as you create your course, type up a log listing the content you may need to update so you can easily find it later. This’ll save you from having to sit through hours of video trying to find that one point where you mentioned that one thing that has to be updated.

#2 Avoid referencing dates and current events

This will date your content pretty fast. I recently attended a webinar that spoke about the upcoming iOS update that immediately told me when the webinar was recorded.  So, whenever possible, avoid mentioning major events in your content. In most cases, they’re not necessary and only add to the list of updates to make in the future when they become outdated. If you must reference something, then make sure you add it to your future update log.

 #3 Plan regular checks

Schedule time in your diary to check the tech or software you’ve shared in your course for any changes. Otherwise, you may end up with frustrated learners trying to find something on a screen that’s moved or no longer exists. This may be time-consuming and frustrating, but if you skip this step, you’re going to eventually get a complaint. And nobody wants that right?