One of my favourite Scriptures speaks about how God calls things that are not as though they were. He spoke light into being before light existed. He determined the outcome before he began.
“God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” (Romans 4:17 KJV)
Not to liken our creative work to the genesis of the universe, but there’s a principle here that works well when we are developing our training materials.
Begin with the end in mind.
Focus on outcomes, not just incomings. What is the result your audience can expect because of their investment with you? It’s a time investment, yes, and an investment of their money, but the real currency at work here is trust.
Your customer has invested because they trust you to lead them to an expected outcome.
This is where the inflated promises of so many courses and sales pages leave many well-mannered people marooned on the island of despondency. They begin with a bang of hope and expectation and end with an all too familiar whimper of disappointment. I have been there on many occasions, and I’m certain you have too.
Don’t be the person who over-promises and under-delivers. Lean to the opposite. And with that in the frame, this gives all the more reason to clearly define your deliverables.
So many promotions weigh in on the financial outcomes and puff up the dollar payoff, but fail to emphasize the reality that there are generally many working parts to a successful business. Making money and selling well online is not as push-button as most sales pages lead you to believe. If it were, with all of the courses and resources we have purchased over the years, the entrepreneurially minded internet-savvy community would be overflowing with beach lounging millionaires.
If we came to natural, on the ground, brick-and-mortar, business carrying the same mindset people often come to online opportunities with, we’d be quick to think the person needs their head examined. I want to expend a tiny amount of money, minimal effort, and virtually no time, and get a remarkable financial deluge in return. Sounds reasonable, right? Yet so many come to the next shiny object on the row with that kind of thinking.
That’s not to say miracles don’t happen, or that there are not a multitude of magnificent opportunities out there with stellar ROI. The thing is, the return is on INVESTMENT. Here’s the rub – the investment that we are talking about here is not the money you pay for the course. This is not a slot machine. The investment is what you expend in effort after the purchase to diligently apply what you learn. The purchase is just the threshhold where the real investment begins.
As the course creator, you want to ensure that after the initial event (the purchase) there is not an Everest to climb before results are seen and enjoyed.
Carefully consider the outcomes you can cultivate, and lay the ground as smoothly as possible for your new students to quickly move to tangible results using their newfound knowledge and skills.
The clearer and more attainable the outcome (resulting from your coaching/course) the happier your students will be, and the more satisfying your own journey together with them.
What will you teach online?
And what will be the tangible outcome, not for you, but for your students?
You don’t have to offer a ballooned bagful of vague promises and fantastical happy-ever-afters, because most of those are sitting somewhere at the end of the rainbow. This kind of thing just leads people down the garden path.
Instead, make your promises concrete, manageable, and quantifiable.
Outcomes, outcomes, outcomes!
Keep that in mind, and when you are creating the inflows (the content you deliver) to help your student it will ensure that they are streamlined and on point, and that each one leads one more step toward a desired outcome for your audience.
