If you want to create an online course then you’re going to need to decide whether to host it on your own website or to use an online training platform. In this podcast my guest Jean Maund and I discuss the pros and cons of each, plus give our advice on which one you should choose.

Jean is a WordPress and online marketing expert who works mainly with experts such as coaches, trainers and speakers. You can find out more about Jean at : JustAskJean.co.uk.

Please click here to download the free brainstorming sheet I mention in this episode.

Or you’d be very welcome to join me and other online course brainstormers in my Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/onlinecoursebrainstormers/

Here’s what’s in the podcast:

• Why you shouldn’t start by deciding whether to use a platform or a plugin, and what you must do first
• What is a platform and what’s a plugin?
• The pros and cons of each
• How EU VAT impacts your choice of plugin or platform (even if you think it doesn’t)
• Whether you should choose a platform or a plugin for your online course

Enjoy!

 

 

One of the biggest fears you may have about launching an online course is that nobody will buy your course. But don’t worry, I can help you in episode two of my Totally Courses podcast.

An important way of preventing this is to get feedback on both your course idea and the pilot course itself. But unless you go about gathering feedback the right way, you’ll get information that’s useless. Or worse, you could give your confidence such a hard knock that you don’t launch your course at all.

Find out how to gather feedback the right way in this episode:

Download the brainstorming sheet I mentioned in this episode at totallycourses.com/brainstormingsheet

Four examples of places in your course creation where you might want to ask for feedback are:

• To validate your course idea
• To check your video and audio quality
• When piloting your course
• When you need testimonials

In this episode I take you through a four step process so you can gather feedback in a way that both gives you information to improve your course (and make it easier to sell) and that helps you stay positive and motivated, including:

• Working out exactly what you want from the feedback
• Who to ask
• How to craft your questions
• How to increase your chances of people responding to your request for feedback

If you’d like to follow my podcast, the direct link is www.mixcloud.com/totallycourses/

I’ve done it. After about 7 years of thinking of making a podcast…I finally made a podcast! And in the first one I talk about why you should make an online course.

I did have a good reason for holding back because I was worried about ‘spreading myself too thin’ and not being able to stick to a schedule. But I’ve made plenty of online courses and voice overs now, so recording and editing audio is pretty easy. Making my first episode was painless in the end!

Here it is…

 

In this episode of the Totally Courses podcast:

Four great reasons why you should make an online course

Download the brainstorming sheet I mentioned in this episode at totallycourses.com/brainstormingsheet

1. My story and why I decided to help people make online courses
2. Reason 1: It makes good business sense
3. Reason 2: You can change lives around the world – listen to find out how!
4. Reason 3: It’ll help you position yourself as an expert
5. Reason 4: It helps disaster-proof your business. I’ll tell you how something very small stopped me from earning money – and what I did about it.

You can follow the show on Mixcloud here.

*****

Just lately I’ve got back into listening to podcasts because I can learn and do my chores at the same time. And I know I’m not alone in using podcasts to double their time, many people listen to podcasts in the car or even at the gym. It made sense from a content creation point of view, too. Although I’m happy to make videos, I have more ideas than I have time to make them.  I can get content out of my brain faster than with video because I don’t need to set up a camera and lights with a audio!

So I’m looking forward to making more!