If you have been paying attention in the past few years then you probably have noticed a lot of hype around creating & selling online courses – and with good reason.

Online courses represent a truly amazing opportunity for nearly anyone. You don’t need any special training to create an course in your area of expertise (although some coaching never hurts) and the barriers to entry are nearly non-existent.

Courses can be created on just about any subject. Seriously. I happen to know of one LearnDash user who makes six-figures a year selling a course on cleaning! He spends most of his time traveling the country.

Literally all you need is an idea and to follow-through with that idea. At its core you need the following to start a business in this space:

1. Course content
2. Website
3. Time

If you are waiting for more steps then you will be disappointed. This is all you need.

Interestingly I often see people over-complicate the entire process by getting too focused on every small detail.

For example, they focus too much on figuring out how to add special security settings to the course. Or they keep jumping from one WordPress theme to the next (spoiler: the theme won’t dictate the success of your course).

Why not start today with your course? It won’t cost you a thing!

Open up Microsoft Word (or Google Docs, whichever you prefer) and start outlining your course. Then, start filling it in. You don’t need to worry about technical things at this point. Domain name isn’t important, theme doesn’t matter, logo is pointless.

Problem is that most people don’t like to start here. It’s not as fun. They get distracted thinking about business cards, colors, and names. Look, there is nothing wrong with thinking about these things but please, please do yourself a favor and don’t obsess over them.

Remember item #3 (time)? You only have a limited amount of this so you should be sure to put it to good use.

When you are ready to implement the technical stuff then come have a look at what we’re doing at LearnDash.

Good luck!