How to make your course irresistible (with the result-oriented approach)
Hello,
Welcome to this Thursday’s edition of Course Builder’s Corner.
The heat is still on in Sunny Southern California. It's expected to get to 80 degrees Fahrenheit today (which is 27 Celsius).
That means we're still running the air conditioner during the hottest parts of the day. When will the elctric bills cease?
In any case, I have three things to share with you this week.
I. Update on my unlimited email coaching program
II. Article: How to make your course irresistible (with the result-oriented approach)
III. Two ways I can help you
I. Update on my unlimited email coaching program
A couple of weeks ago I made a test offer of unlimited email coaching with me for 30 days at $97.
My goal was to see how well this model might work to allow me to help more people than I'm able to do one-on-one. Two people took me up on the offer. I have only received a small number of questions so far. One of my hopes was that I can learn more about what people struggle with as far as building and marketing courses.
I've learned a little but not as much as I'd hoped.
By the time the 30 days is up, I will evaluate how I can redesign the program so I get more questions from each participant. More value for them as well as value to me since I love answering hard questions.
Stay tuned for future updates.
Now onto our featured article.
II. How to make your course irresistible (with the result-oriented approach)
Ever wonder why Morton salt has a picture of a girl, in the rain spilling salt behind her?
Salt used to cake up in humidity, especially when raining as it would absorb the moisture from the air. On a humid day salt would clump up and wouldn't pour from a container. It would get stuck.
Morton came up with a safe additive (magnesium carbonate) that would prevent salt caking up.
To make sure people knew about their superior salt, Morton came up with a logo that says "When it rains, it pours" depicting a girl walking in the rain holding an umbrella spilling salt behind her. That way people knew the salt would still pour no matter how humid it was outside.
What Morton's did is an example of a results-oriented system.
They knew what outcome they wanted and figured out the simplest way to achieve it. When a student buys your course, they too, want a results-oriented system. They don't want to buy information. They don't want a series of interesting theories. Instead, they want a recipe. A set of instructions from Point A to Point X where the treasure lies. They want a results-oriented system. And you can give it to them.
There's no question that a course based on results is superior to one that delivers mere information.
Not only are results better for your students but they are better for marketing. Your testimonials are much shinier when they talk about the results achieved instead of just how nicely presented the material was. Your students can take an opportunity to brag about their progress because getting results makes them feel like a champion. You helped them cross a finish line they couldn't cross on their own. This makes them feel proud enough to share.
Now you can see some benefits to building a result-oriented system for your course but how do you create one?
You follow these four steps: define, list, organize and name.
Define - First, define a result. The result needs to be a behavior or skill the student can perform by the end.
List - Two, list everything you do to create the result - this is a brainstorm.
Organize - Three, organize that list so it fits into 3-5 steps.
Name - Four, come up with a name for each step. Make the step either all nouns or all verbs. Notice I used verbs in this list.
Here are a few examples.
Let's say you want to turn cooking beans into a result-oriented system. Follow the steps of Define Result, List Parts, Organize ideas, Name steps. (or leave as one word)
Define Result: Tasty black beans
List: Soak beans, drain, cook beans, season beans, serve beans
Organize:
1. Prep the beans (soak, drain)
2. Cook the beans (temperature, time, amount of water etc)
3. Season the beans
4. Serve the beans (plating them nicely, garnish etc)
Name
1. Prep
2. Cook
3. Season
4. Serve
Notice how the naming step makes things seem simpler and easier to remember.
With beans you just need four steps of prep, cook, season and serve.
Let's try with another example.
Define result: Clear objectives for your course
List: Create a purpose statement, brainstorm ideas to teach to reach that purpose, organize those ideas into groups, select must-have ideas (and remove excess), turn must-have ideas into learning outcomes
Organize:
1. Create a purpose statement
2. Brainstorm topics
3. Organize the topics into groups
4. Select must-have ideas (and discard the rest)
5. Define learning outcomes
Name
1. Purpose
2. Topics
3. Group
4. Select
5. Define
Of course, each of these steps would require further elaboration to make clear how a student can create the objectives for their course. But you can see how the system is shaping up. It would be much easier to build a course using this outline. (By the way, I teach this in greater detail in my Atomic Course Blueprint).
But once you simplify your material, you may start to wonder if your system is too simple to be worth teaching.
I'll be honest here. I feel that way every time I outline a system.
I taught a simple approach to organizing browser bookmarks a few months ago for Tiago Forte's Building A Second Brain Summit. The audience already knew the basic idea but never applied it to bookmarks. "Maybe this will be too elementary for them to find it useful" I thought. But I went ahead as I'd already promised to do the presentation.
How might the students respond? Will they criticize me for dumbing things down too much for showing them something that is far too obvious?
Here's are some of the chat messages I got when I was done.
As you can see, I was dead wrong that it would be too elementary for them. And notice the enthusiasm in this statement "This was way too simple not to do it
myself before. AMAZING!!!!"
What do these responses tell us?
People LOVE simplicity. All of my best lessons and presentations came about as a result of making things as simple as possible. So don't worry that you've simplified too much. When you simplify, people celebrate. You put a smile on their faces.
So let's sum this up shall we?
A results-based course is superior to one that merely delivers information because students want results and your testimonials will be much more compelling
You create a result-oriented course in four steps: define, list, organize and name.
If you're worried about simplifying too much, remember people love it when complex information is distilled to a simple essence.
Keep in mind, no one was unhappy that Morton's solved the clumpy salt problem with a single ingredient. Your students won't be unhappy either when they find you've made something hard-to-learn much easier with a simple results-oriented system.
Thanks for reading and …
Before you go, you may want to check out any of the following:
The Atomic Course Blueprint- Want to create a course without the usual overwhelm? Try creating a tiny course. Find out more here.
iPARA: How to organize your digital life for action- Is digital disorganization keeping you from reaching your goals? What if just four folders could let you not just stay organized but actually get things done. See for yourself here.
That’s it for this week. I’ll see you next Thursday with another issue.
Still here?
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