Tiago’s Comprehensive Guide to Creating a Profitable Online Course

This is a comprehensive guide to creating a profitable online course, based on my experience developing 6 courses over 7 years, which have been taken by more than 25,000 students and generated well over $1 million in revenue.

It introduces my 4-P model for developing a course, referring to the 4 main stages of Planning, Preparation, Production, and Promotion. This doesn’t include the actual running and delivery of the course, which is a whole different topic and depends a lot on the format you choose.

This guide also assumes you want to create a profitable, self-sustaining course. There are a lot of excellent reasons to create one, including learning, personal fulfillment, fun and experimentation, and simply to share what you know. But the level of preparation and effort I’m recommending in this guide is aimed at those who want to make a business out of it.

Here is a Table of Contents of the 36 specific steps that I use in my own course development. Under most of them I’ve included multiple examples of what it looks like in my own courses or those I’ve learned from. I’m sharing them in their full, messy glory because this process is inherently messy. I hope it gives you some guidance and ideas for your own course creation.

Table of Contents

Planning

What are your personal objectives for this course?Desired outcomes for BSB1Create a master course outline as the centralized reference for the courseBASB v1 PlanningHeadings:To Do’sPlanningObjectivesBrand designResearchContent Outline1. Title slide2. Unit 13. Unit 24. Unit 35. Unit 46. Unit 57. Unit 68. Unit 7Content to addSales pagePromotionLogisticsVideosCommunityActivitiesFinal ProjectFollowupWho is this course for?BASB customer personasBASB big picture and personasWhat’s the transformation they’re seeking?Forte Labs Customer ProblemsWhat it feels like to be disorganizedHow is this different?What Makes Building a Second Brain DifferentWhich ideas or phrases have resonated with your audience?Notes on Beta Sessions (FLO-Evernote) 12/13/16 (four 60-minute feedback sessions where I presented initial material and got live feedback from 15 people)Possible titles and subtitlesBrainstorm with RaphaelWrite/design the course pledge or promiseBASB: You will learn how to capture, organize, and share your ideas and insights using digital notes, with a systematic approach and tools that you trust to support creative breakthroughs in your workWhich sources do you want to review for inspiration and ideas?Content:Eureka notes (ebook by Evernote thought leader)Evernote Essentials notesUntethered with Evernote notesSpark Joy, by Marie Kondo notesPromotion:Mastermind Package (premium upsell to an online course)Little List Leverage: How to sell out your course… even with a small listGrowth Day Webinar: Table of ContentsHow to Create Mini-Courses and Email Courses to Grow Your ListJenna Soard – YouCanBrand notesFwd: (Super Time Sensitive) Content Marketing Bootcamp is open for registrationsTeachableBlog-UltimateEmailExampleGuideRebecca Katz’s Cancer-Fighting Kitchen notesHow to Write a Powerful Sales Page notesDan Kennedy – The Ultimate Sales LetterValue Prop Design notesFarnam Street: The Art of Reading online course notesaltMBA notesHow to Design Marketing Campaigns: The Importance of Market Segmentation – The Startup – MediumFlow Fundamentals sales page notesWho do you want to talk to?Stacey Harmon (Evernote certified consultant and online course creator)Brainstorm with RaphaelTing’s recommendationsStrategy Lunch (12-19-2017) w/ Tiago and AmitStart collecting v1 course material in a dedicated notebookInspirationWe believe that in work is the possibility of the full realization of human potentialImages:Photos to use in slidesRoad to universeLogistics notes:Zoom webinar modeResearch on Markdown in EvernoteThree ways to use Markdown with EvernoteWikiMatrix – Comparison of PKM appsForum/Discourse notesRealTimeBoard notesSSO ErrorsTeachable notesTechnical complaints for TeachableTeachable: Affiliate redirect setupInternet connection contingency plansPromotion:Future PaceSocial Media: Scheduled PostsDavid Allen quotes from GTD Connect interview w/ TiagoStart collecting material for future versions in a dedicated notebookEvernote notebook “BASB content”Schedule first live cohort and begin recruiting beta testersPreparationHire videographerCreate a promotional planForte Labs Marketing briefReferral sources for BASBBSB3 Promotional PlanWrite follow-up emails to be sent after each live sessionBASB1 Takeaway emailsCreate a checklist for conducting live sessionsPre and Post-Session ChecklistGuest Instructor ChecklistProductionProduce the core course contentUnit 3: Digital CognitionUnit 5: Maximizing Return-on-AttentionUnit 6: JIT Project ManagementUnit 8: The Big PictureIdentify the learning objective of each moduleIntentions of unitsWrite out personal storiesThe Story Behind Building a Second BrainDesign exercisesBASB2 activities/exercisesUnit 3 Exercise: 12 Favorite Problems (the Feynman Method)BASB4 Exercise #3: Define Your Project ListGuidelines/best practices on Project List exerciseUnit 2 Exercise: Define Your Project ListProject List MindsweepProject List MindsweepGTD Project List TemplatePARA Implementation ChecklistPARA Implementation GuideP.A.R.A. Migration ChecklistPARA setup walkthroughs notesPARA migration live walkthroughP.A.R.A. Setup ChecklistP.A.R.A. Setup Checklist (walkthrough)Unit 4 Exercise: Markup a NoteProject Execution ChecklistUnit 5 Exercise: Strengths as ConstraintsUnit 6 Exercise: Workflow StrategiesExercise #7: Learning QuestExercise #8: Design a Learning QuestPKM Workflow CanvasPKM Workflow Canvas NotesPKM Canvas revisionsBASB4 – Exercises v5Create case studies and walkthroughsFive Dysfunctions of a Team notesBASB Case Study: Toyota Design Thinking Workshop source notesBASB WalkthroughsBASB screen recording checklistCreate a pre and post-course evaluationQuestions for Note-taking Self-EvaluationWhat level are you at in your personal knowledge management?PKM Self-assessmentCreate post-course feedback surveyFeedback form notesCreate “next steps” moduleBASB Next Actions Checklist10 Steps Post-GTDCreate public FAQ document26 Highlights from Frequently Asked Questions | Seth Godin’s altMBADesign onboarding processaltMBA downloadable GcalPromotionHire course managerAgenda for Ben onboarding meetingBSB3 Course Manager job descriptionCourse Manager kickoff and standing agendaBSB3 Course Manager TimelogCreate landing pageBASB2 sales page copyBASB sales pageCopy of Course Price CalculatorBSB3 Sales PageIdentify potential partnershipsNotes on Appsumo partnershipWrite a version of the course curriculum for sharingBASB CurriculumPre-write and schedule social media postsScheduled social media posts for BASB2Create free content and bonusesBASB described in 10 stepsRESCOM (PDF freebie example)altMBA_OnePageraltmba free ebookGraphic: examples of tiny habitsBASB 20 CommandmentsHarmon’s EN desktop settings for MacPS Quick OverviewCubo docsOfficial BASB Note TemplateCool spectrum chartWrite introductory email sequenceBASB2 intro email sequenceBASB3 Introductory Email SeriesPromo Email CampaignsaltMBA email sequenceCreate promo kitExamples of PR assets from The Coaching HabitExplaining BSB in 140 charactersBASB simplified in others’ wordsMetaphors for Second BrainSchedule guest sessions/interviews and announce themGuest Interview: Dr. FrandGuest Interview: Venkatesh Rao

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