The Purpose of Your Course: More Important Than Money?

What do all great course authors have in common?

• It’s not their experience.
• It’s not that they are sharing extraordinary skills.
• It’s not even that they are driven.

Although all of these things can definitely help your course be successful, they’re not a prerequisite for success. After all, just about anyone can be taught new information or skills, and plenty of courses authors don’t suffer from lack drive.

The one thing that does make a difference in your courses success, though, is they “what.”

What is the purpose of the course? Why did you decide to create the course?

Why do you spend too many hours in front of your computer creating the course?

Why do you stay up too late and get up too early, just so you can create professional looking lessons?

The “why” is what ultimately drives us to success, but here’s the thing: it’s your purpose of the course that makes it different for everyone. Your why is not my why, and my why is not my why. It’s a deeply personal choice you have to make about the purpose of the course.

What is it that you are promising anyone taking the course?  How is it going to help them reach the promised outcome.

So what’s your courses big “what”?  It might be a how to for a specific task, to teach a set of skills or a process,  a way to be more efficient with time or have better relationships…

Whatever it is, your what is the “purpose” that you’ll be sharing and the driving force behind every action you take. When you’re deciding whether or not to create the course, ask yourself if it’s aligned with your “course purpose.”

When you’re setting modules and lessons for the program you’re creating, ask yourself if they are moving you closer or further from your the purpose of the course. Just creating content for the sake of course content? Make sure it’s in alignment with your big why, and a successful course is suddenly much more attainable.