Jeannie Sullivan
Essays Collection Gatherings About
On Work · 3 min read

The Real Reason to Consider Creating a Course

If you've ever thought of teaching others, offering a workshop, creating an online course, or writing a guide to share what you've learned the hard way, I hope you'll keep reading. In this post, I'm sharing the *why* behind creating courses. You know, beyond the money and the passive revenue. Beyond "everyone else is doing it." Let's get real about why now is the time for you to create a course.

But first, let's take a closer look at learning. All of us have a natural inclination to learn. But what sparks our desire to learn? Psychologist Po Chi Wu has written about curiosity triggering a dopamine response in the brain, creating a feedback loop where curiosity itself becomes pleasurable, which sparks more curiosity.

In a world full of natural learners, we need teachers we can trust to guide us through a transformation with skill and grace.

I'm willing to bet you could be one of those teachers. But what if you've never thought of yourself as a teacher? Or maybe you'd love to teach, if only you knew how?

Most of the conversation about creating courses these days is focused on marketing. How do I sell my course? What kind of course do I create to make a million dollars? How do I hook my buyer into purchasing my course with the perfect funnel?

When you create a course that gets results, your learners will do most of the marketing for you.

While effectively marketing your course is an essential step in creating a profitable learning-based revenue stream, those aren't the most important questions we should be asking. Instead, ask yourself:

  • What do I have to teach people that could truly make a difference in their lives?
  • What is my zone of genius, so instinctual and enjoyable that I don't even recognize it as a strength?
  • What would I happily teach people even if they never paid me a dime?

These are the questions that lead to profitable courses that transform lives. Because when you create a course that gets results, your learners will do most of the marketing for you. Your testimonials and case studies will speak for themselves. Your belief and passion in your own course will sell it for you, saving you from feeling like a cheesy online marketer.

I see so many of my clients with profitable courses giddy about the additional income, of course! But what's even better is the joy they feel when they realize just how many lives they transform by showing up and sharing what they know.

If this is stirring something in you, that quiet sense that you have something worth teaching, that's the whole idea behind the Learning-Based Business Plan and the Curated Path: helping you turn what you already know into something real.

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Practice · 3 min read

5 Questions For a Fantastic New Year

Before you map out the year ahead, five questions that make room for the big dreams to land.

Story · 4 min read

The Misblessings of Thanksgiving

My gratitude list has been the same for ten years. This year I wondered what would happen if I gave thanks for the hard parts too.

Notes

Every so often I write one of these before it is finished, and send it to whoever wants it.

No schedule, no pitch. An invitation, something worth passing along, or a question I have been asking myself that day.

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