The following three steps will help you kickstart your course creation process and get you some serious momentum.

STEP 1: GET CLEAR ON YOUR COURSE TOPIC

You may already be crystal clear on your course topic, but if you need a little help in this area, here are some tips to help give you clarity.

What’s the #1 question you get asked all the time?When people hear about your expertise, what do they always want to know more about? The answer to this question is a great place to start in terms of creating a course around your customer’s biggest challenges.

What results have you gotten for yourself or others?When deciding on your course topic, pull from your own successes. What are some big results you’ve created for yourself that you can teach others? Also look at the successes you’ve helped others achieve as well. These wins make a great foundation for your online course.

What does your ideal audience really need and want from you?Take advantage of your social media channels to collect intel. Ask them what they need and want. For example, when I was creating my Facebook Ads program, here’s a post I created on Facebook. The great thing is that you don’t need hundreds of responses to collect quality info from your audience!

STEP 2: DECIDE ON YOUR COURSE OUTLINE

Before I start to create my content, I first create my course outline. The way I do this is break things out into modules. This helps me see the flow of the content and helps me identify any areas I might have overlooked. Here are a few other things to consider when creating your course outline.

What additional modalities can I include to better support my students?When I create a course, I also include transcripts and audio files because I know that everyone learns in di�erent ways. This extra e�ort goes a long way with my students.

Will cheat sheets, guides and/or checklists add to my students’ experience?Although it’s not necessary, you might want to consider adding extra support materials to your course. Sometimes I use worksheets and checklists to help my students to easily navigate through my content and help them put the training in action.

What extras will WOW my students?Once you have a solid outline in place, it’s time to have a little fun and brainstorm some WOW factors for your course. This is when you might want to add some bonuses to your program, live Q&A sessions, a private Facebook group, etc. The WOW components turn a first-time student into a raving fan who tells all their friends about your amazing course!

STEP 3: DECIDE ON YOUR COURSE DELIVERY MODEL

Once you are clear about your topic and have outlined your course, it’s time to think about how you plan to deliver your content. To get your creative juices flowing, check out page 2 of this guide to learn about the “7 Power Tools” I use to create all of my online courses.

YOUR COURSE CREATIONSTARTER'S GUIDE

Your Course Creation: Starter's Guide | PAGE 1 | AmyPorter�eld.com

Your Course Creation: Starter's Guide | PAGE 2 | AmyPorter�eld.com

1. KEYNOTE OR POWERPOINT

I use Keynote for the slides for creating both webinars and training videos. Keynote is a Mac program, so if you don’t have a Mac, or if you prefer PowerPoint, you can use PowerPoint instead. If you have neither Keynote or PowerPoint and are on a tight budget, a free option such as Google Slides can be used, but it has limited functionality compared to Keynote and PowerPoint. Click here to checkout Keynote.

2. SCREENFLOW OR CAMTASIA

Once I create the slides in Keynote, I use Screenflow to record the presentation. This tool records my voice and my slide deck. I also edit all of my trainings inside of Screenflow. Once I edit my videos, Screenflow will export them into videos files, such as .mov or .mp4 files. Screenflow is also a Mac program, and if you’re on a PC, Camtasia is a good option. Camtasia is also available for Macs, but it has fewer bells and whistles than the PC version, and Screenflow is what I recommend for Mac users. Click here to checkout Screenflow.

3. BLUE YETI MIC

Even if your content is stellar, if the sound quality of your training videos is inferior, the overall user experience of the people who purchase your course will be negative. While most, if not all, computers have a built in microphone, an external microphone is a must for good sound quality. I use the the Blue-Yeti and get great results. It works with both Macs and PCs. In terms of ease of use, you simply plug it into a USB port and you are good to go. Click here to checkout Blue Yeti Mic.

4. DROPBOX

There are many options when it comes to string all your media files for your online course creation, but my tool of choice is Dropbox. It's easy to use and you can access your files anywhere AND you can easily share the files with your team. Click here to check out how I use Dropbox.

5. EASY VIDEOSUITE

I use Easy VideoSuite to convert, publish and track my videos. I use this tool because it makes it very easy to turn my movie file into a file that is optimized to play on the web. I am not a techy kind of girl, so anytime I find a tool that does it all for me, I am hooked! Click here to checkout Easy VideoSuite.

6. WISHLIST MEMBER

Wishlist Member is a WordPress membership plugin I use to deliver my online programs to my customers. I upload the content to a WordPress site with WishList plugin installed. When customers purchase my programs, they are provided with a username and password which enables them to log in to access the content. Click here to checkout WishList Member.

7. SAMCART

SamCart is a shopping cart for internet marketers selling digital products online. It's easy to use and their order forms look fantastic. In addition, SamCart makes selling upsells extremely easy, which means more revenue generating opportunities for your business! Click here to check out SamCart.