3 tips on how to build a course from High Impact Writing
It's lightly edited but otherwise untouched. I've kept them on the site to show how the journey has evolved.
Hey hey.
Just landed back from two weeks of island hopping in Greece. I’ve just about recovered from the ouzo and feta cheese overdose!
Gonna restart Digital Freedom with a banger for you - a special 6 email series breaking down the lessons from making over $320,000 with 2 launches.
This week we’ll cover:
- Building
- Copywriting
- Marketing
And next week:
- Fulfilment
- Revenue breakdown
- My mistakes and what’s next
I’ll begin with a caveat.
I’m no expert at course building, copywriting, or marketing.
But I’ve picked up a thang or two over the past 3 months - so hopefully these ideas help.
Let’s dive in.
Building a product
1. If you wanna be alpha, do a beta
The last thing you want to do is build a course no one wants that’s filled with ideas no one follows.
So before you productize your knowledge, you need to test it on people.
In October I launched Writing Accelerator - a 3 month group coaching program. I gave one webinar a week and one Q&A session a week. This tight feedback loop gave me real time feedback on what needs improved, removed, and focused on.
Plus you get what most new courses lack:
Social proof.
For the beta, don’t disappear for 6 months to create it either. It’s all about speed. Write a rough outline and then email your audience. If your content is good enough, you should have fans ready to work with you.
And if it’s not, well - check out High Impact Writing 😏
2. Keep it slim and tight
Don’t worry, we haven’t strayed into my Onlyfans masterclass. That’s next week. I’m talking about course content.
It’s tempting to put every idea into your course.
But people don’t care about how many modules you have, they care about getting results.
If you overwhelm your customers, you’ll have terrible completion rates. Which means no testimonials or support on social media. They often won’t tell you there’s too much. They’ll just decide never to buy from you again.
Here’s how I built HIW:
A course has ONE core objective - point A to point B.
Identify the 4 key steps your reader must take. These are your modules. Then breakdown the modules into 5-10 minute lessons - each sharing one big idea.
Write everything you think they need…
Then delete 80% of it.
Writing my new course entirely by hand because I can’t stand bloated products.
— Kieran Drew (@ItsKieranDrew) April 25, 2023
Coming along nicely. pic.twitter.com/5C71dyUxIh
The stuff that doesn’t make the cut becomes bonus materials (or unexpected gifts 2-3 weeks post purchase - more on that next week).
The more effort you put in as you build, the easier the product is to sell.
Leading us to the final point.
3. Production value produces value
I’ve seen people post that they put together their course in a day. It’s pure idiocy. The best part about digital assets is you can build them once and sell them thousands of times. Why the hell would you not make sure the course is absolutely banging?
The prouder you are of it, the more you want to sell of it.
Plus, a product is just as much a reputation building asset than a revenue one.
If you blow them away with their first investment, then what do you think happens when you build something else?
My advice:
Build a high quality presentation. Don’t fill the slides with text. Nobody enjoys being read to, they want to be spoken to - memorise what you have to say. Only record for 45-60 minutes a day (Virgil Brewster gave me this tip - it’s brilliant to keep up the energy).
Plus, invest in a good course hosting platform.
Notion isn’t good enough anymore because everyone uses it for free material (I use Thrivecart - which is unbelievable for the price - here’s my affiliate link).
Give your audience notes for each lesson. Send them the slides. Do whatever you can to make the journey as pleasurable as possible.
And now you’ve built something worth selling, tomorrow we’ll talk about how to sell it.
See you then,
Kieran
![Kieran Drew](/assets/kieran-avatar.png?v=cddfc38073)
About Kieran
Ex dentist, current writer, future Onlyfans star · Sharing what I learn about writing well, thinking clearly, and building an online business