Creating your first online course can be scary, confusing, and downright terrifying. But with the help of fellow bloggers turned course creators, you can learn what worked and what didn’t work on their first course launch.
Next up in the first course creation experience series is Elna Cain (part 3).
Let’s jump right in:
Also in the series: Sally Miller, Cate Rosales, Megan Johnson, and Chelsea Clarke.
- Who is Elna Cain?
- How did you come up with your course idea?
- Did you have a plan in place before you started creating your course content?
- Which platform did you choose to host your course? Why? Was it a good decision?
- How did you market your first course?
- What did you learn from your first-course launch? What worked and didn’t work?
- What have you changed based on your experience?
- Do you have any tools, resources, or equipment you recommend for creating courses?
- Do you have any advice for others who are considering creating their first course?
Who is Elna Cain?
Elna is a stay-at-home mom to twins and owner of Twins Mommy (as well as owning and running Imperfectly Perfect Mama, Smart Mom Ideas, and Elna Cain).
She started her blogging journey in 2014 after replacing her full-time income within 6 months doing freelance writing part-time. Elna then launched her first blog about freelance writing.
After growing her business, she started creating courses and coaching to help others succeed at blogging (and other ventures).
And Elna has shared her experience with her first course launch – where it went right, where it went wrong, and what she suggests to others who are looking to start their own course.
I will mention that Elna’s Facebook group Mom to Mompreneur has been one of the most helpful groups I have joined with over 11,000 members!
How did you come up with your course idea?
My course is called Ready Set Blog for Traffic. Since my freelance writing niche is digital marketing I learned all about marketing tactics to grow a blog for my clients. So, when I started Twins Mommy I shared my journey to grow my blog.
After that, I decided that I could offer more help if I created a blog traffic course since most of my audience were seeking traffic tactics for their blog.
Did you have a plan in place before you started creating your course content?
The course wasn’t planned. When I started Twins Mommy it was mostly a passion project. My other blog, Elna Cain is mostly focused on business and marketing tactics for all types of freelance writers – women, moms, parents, dads, college kids, high school kids and grandparents even!
I knew I couldn’t blog about my twins and being a work at home mom so I started Twins Mommy by blogging about work at home life.
Which platform did you choose to host your course? Why? Was it a good decision?
I decided to use Teachable since my other flagship course for my other site was hosted there. I love using Teachable because they handle compliance and collect payment as well as process refunds. They also have an affiliate program, which is nice too!
Learn about other online course creation platforms here.
How did you market your first course?
My first course was Write Your Way to Your First $1k for freelance writers. I first marketed that course by doing a webinar and guest posting.
Later I started adding a graphic to my course at the end of most of my blog posts as a way to tell new readers what I offer. I then created an email funnel for my course.
What did you learn from your first-course launch? What worked and didn’t work?
I honestly thought guest posting was the best marketing tactic to share my course or lead magnet and open up my audience base. But, I found that wasn’t the case.
What worked the best was nurturing my email list with my webinar and eventually my email funnel.
What have you changed based on your experience?
From that experience, I marketed my next course, Ready Set Blog for Traffic, differently. I exclusively launched to my subscribers with a discounted rate and created an email funnel.
I then created a tripwire and that helped with future sales of my course.
Do you have any tools, resources, or equipment you recommend for creating courses?
I record my lessons with ScreenFlow and use the Audio-Technica ATR 2100 mic.
Do you have any advice for others who are considering creating their first course?
I would personally wait up to a year after starting your blog to create a product like a course or eBook for your audience.
It takes about a year to understand everything about blogging and email marketing and then to really know your audience and their needs. So take your time about coming up with your course idea as you want to help as many people as you can!
Want more insight for your course? Check out the experiences of other course creators:
Great post. I read every post in the series. I am so inspired to create my own course after reading them. Doing market research now.
It can be quite intimidating to start your first one!
This is great info! Very detailed! Thank you!
Thanks (on behalf of Elna)!
I’m hoping to create my first course soon, so this is timely. Thank you for this!
Wow! I hope that one day I can become experienced enough to make my own courses! She seemed to do a wonderful job!
Big fan of Elna! Excellent tips as usual! I’ve been looking into maybe creating a course, but haven’t taken the plunge yet. Will definitely use this advice when I finally do decide to launch a course.