The Challenges Of Growing A Successful Online Course
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It’s a lot for most of us to take our online course from an idea, to launch, to creating, to having the fortitude to grow it as the years pass.
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You’ll have to work through your inner critic who will show up at the worst possible times.
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You may have colleagues and loved ones who will deter you with “well intentioned” sayings: “So...you’re not going to see clients anymore?” or “I don’t think you can ethically do that.”
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You’ll have to work through money and mindset stuff as you price + scale your flagship offer.
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In a way weird, it feels more and more isolating the greater success you have.
And you’ll have to do all of this while juggling your busy practice, time with loved ones, and a host of other responsibilities. As a colleague, I can tell you this is hard. It takes commitment and hard work.
But creating online course income is also life-changing. It gives you a life of ease and flow, where self care + family time are prioritized.
If I Have Achieved This Life, You Can Too
Our family immigrated from India to the U.S. in 1989.
My father’s law degree didn’t transfer over so he worked two jobs: unpacking boxes in the warehouse at our local Walmart and cleaning dirty bed linens at the county hospital.
We started by living in a government-funded apartment.
As a young boy, I saw my parents struggle and, through sheer hard work, unbelievable grace, and grit, succeed.
But I also learned an unfortunate lesson: That the only way to truly achieve success was to “stay in your lane,” and trade time for income.
But I felt like I was meant to do so much more.
The supervisor that I mentioned at the start of this page changed my life.
I began to see that our clinical skills could be translated beyond the therapy room.
And, in doing so, we could enter this online realm with courage and hope because we had a competitive advantage.
But, like most of us, when we get great advice, I didn’t listen... 😅
My Story - From Burnt Out To A Life I Love
My partner and I got married and we moved to Philadelphia from Nashville in 2012.
I left behind a stable clinical job offer at Vanderbilt.
Being too scared and having a 0 professional network, I joined a group practice.
I love clinical work and had wonderful clients.
With 90% show rates + a five-week wait list, I looked successful on the outside. But on the inside, I was unfulfilled.
I hated the crisis calls, the loads and loads of paperwork, and the cumulative toll on my own mental health of hearing heart breaking story after story.
I also hated how all of my income was from a single income source, one that required me to trade my time for money.
A nor'easter that slammed the Northeast in Jan 2015 confirmed this for me.
It ended up dumping 20 inches of snow in a matter of hours, leading to me canceling over 20 clients due to downed power lines, spotty cell service, and icy roads.
And the worst part? We were saving up for the down payment on our first home.
So, later that spring, I started to move away from 1:1 and towards online business.
It all started with the launch of the STC podcast, which is fulfilling, helps others, and makes money.
Other therapists started asking me to give them tips on how to start a successful podcast.
And so I started consulting and then launched a self-paced podcasting course for therapists too.
Over the past 7 years,
- I went from working 35 hours a week over 5.5 days (including Tuesday nights + Saturday mornings) to working 4 days and 16 hours a week (with no weekends or nights).
- I do deep, meaningful work in the mornings and spend my afternoons and evenings hiking, napping, doing “sacred learning” and “sacred writing” times, and hanging out with our friends, partner, and our daughter.
- I get to work in my zone of genius, doing stuff I truly love (teaching, building, and mentoring) and helping the types of people I truly love.
- My podcast has made an impact: 1.5 million downloads, listeners in 130 countries while commanding premium fees for sponsorships ($5k/month with plans to double that in the coming years)
- My course has impacted the lives of over 275 colleagues and recently passed $300k in sales and currently brings in around $6k/month.
I've been through many of the same challenges that you're going through now as a course creator and have designed this mastermind to guide you through.