The Course Mentors Podcast

Done Is Better Than Perfect (We Can Prove It)

• The Course Mentors • Season 1 • Episode 16

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Stuck in the endless cycle of tweaking, refining, and never launching? In this permission-giving episode, we are tackling the number one course creator killer: perfectionism!

Get ready for some tough love (and encouragement) as we share why your "not-quite-perfect" course could be exactly what your audience needs right now. Plus, we'll reveal the inspiring journey of a Japanese language course that started on a 2011 laptop and grew into a million-dollar empire - all because we were willing to start imperfect.

In This Episode:

  • Why waiting for perfection is costing you money and impact
  • The MVP (Minimum Viable Product) approach to course creation
  • How student feedback creates better courses than perfectionism ever could
  • Real examples of "imperfect" courses that changed lives
  • The simple mindset shift that gets courses launched

Whether you're sitting on course ideas you haven't started or stuck in revision limbo with a course you can't seem to finish, this episode will give you the push you need. Because an imperfect course that exists will always beat a perfect course that doesn't!

Ready to break free from perfectionism paralysis? Hit play and let's get your course into the world! 🚀

#CourseCreator #PerfectionismDetox #OnlineCourse #JustStart

Want to create your own 6-figure+ course? Apply to join Online Course School https://thecoursementors.com/application

Got questions or want more free content? Follow us at https://www.instagram.com/thecoursementors/

Catch us every Wednesday for your weekly dose of course creation wisdom. Got questions or loving the show? Let us know on IG @thecoursementors. For more on our courses and mentorship, check out Online Course School's website https://thecoursementors.com/application.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Course Mentors podcast. I'm Odette, I'm Amy and today we have a myth-busting episode where we go through one of the biggest myths from the online course industry and we bust it.

Speaker 2:

And the reason that we bust these myths and we do these myth busting episodes is because not for fun. I mean, it is for fun, we love doing, we have a good time. We have a good time. But the reason why we do this is because, day in, day out, we hear these myths holding people back from course creation and from getting started, and I think that they're really, really harmful because there are so many intelligent, capable, passionate, amazing people out there ready to share their information with the world. These little things are keeping them stuck where they are right now. We just want to be here to tell you that they are not worth worrying about.

Speaker 1:

Yep, 100%. Let's get into it, the myth for today.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to ask you ready, Ready? Does the first version of my course have to be perfect?

Speaker 1:

That is a myth.

Speaker 2:

Oh, juicy. This one's a juicy one because that sounds kind of clickbaity, right, it's a little bit of a clickbaity one.

Speaker 1:

This one is my absolute favorite. Amy's was about building a huge audience before you start.

Speaker 2:

You don't need a huge audience. This one's my absolute favorite. I talk about that all day, every day.

Speaker 1:

This one's my absolute favourite. I am so passionate about starting with your MVP minimum viable product, which we'll get into, and then refining your product from there.

Speaker 2:

Okay, let's talk about it, because if you're a person, if you're a person, if you're a student who is part of online course school, you will know that dad and I bang on every single bloody day about version one and the importance of version one. And I want to talk to you really quickly listener, podcast listener about what version one really means. And there's a caveat really isn't there because we're not saying put something shit out into the world. We're not saying put something crap. We're not saying just just toss whatever oh, anything will do.

Speaker 1:

That is so not what we're talking about, absolutely not we're not saying.

Speaker 2:

Record a video on your phone, publish it on kajabi bob's, your uncle, you'll be a millionaire that's right.

Speaker 1:

We are telling you to create something awesome, but we do not want to see any perfectionism. We're not going for an a plus plus, you know, because that's what stops you from getting it out there and getting it seen and getting it sold and improving it. Because, regardless of what you create for your first version, you will want to improve it.

Speaker 2:

Abso-bloody-lutely. And if you're a millionaire sitting around with millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars in your bank account and you say to us I want to create the most perfect course the world has ever seen and I want to get a video crew in. I want to hire a set. I want to get a video crew in, I want to hire a set, I want to have a team of people and I want to invest in all this stuff. From the start, I guarantee you I put my entire my bank account on the line here to say that that will still be your first version and then there will be a second version later on 100. So if your first version is filmed on a webcam or if your first version is filmed in a film crew with it in set, there'll still be a second version later on. That is better. And do you know what makes a course better? Feedback. You cannot know what your course is going to achieve and you can guide it really, really, really closely, but you cannot know how it's going to be perceived, if it's going to hit the mark, if it's going to do what it needs to do, until people have gone through the course and achieved the results you've set out and promised them. You cannot know, you cannot confirm it.

Speaker 2:

Even I had been classroom teaching for years and years, and years and years and years and years and years, and I had taken people through the same lessons over and over again. I teach Japanese. It's very repetitive. Some of the content never changes. Like a verb, is is a verb. No matter how you look at it, a verb is a verb. So I had to, you know, take the same lessons that I've been teaching in person and transfer that to an online course. And there was still a version two of that course. There had to be absolutely.

Speaker 1:

It's a different medium. You know, just going just because you've taught something before doesn't mean it's going to work online or in the format that you've moved to and if you've never taught before, the same sort of thing applies when you teach it for the first time.

Speaker 2:

You're probably going to need to re-teach it a couple of times too. And we're not saying this to be scary. No, we're not replacing one myth with another myth. We're saying that version one doesn't have to be five star perfect. It doesn't have to create the stress, anxiety, tension, overwhelm that you think it needs to create.

Speaker 1:

It's probably a lot less work than you think. Essentially, when you're creating your course, you're seeing who it's for what you think you need to put into it to achieve your transformation. Really, at the end of the day, it is a lot of educated guesswork. The best way to refine it and see if what you think is going to work is to get it into people's hands and get that feedback. Ask them hey, what do you think about this particular lesson? Hey, what did you find difficult? What really worked for you? Were the Q&A sessions necessary? What did you think about the worksheets? Did you do them, did you not? Not? You know you can't predict people's every single minute behavior within your course.

Speaker 2:

You need to test it and see what happens the magic of online courses, the pure magic, the profitability. The reason that some people are able to make millions of dollars with online courses is because of this one tiny little fact. You deliver a course and then you listen to the feedback that you are receiving and then you can directly reiterate, republish and relaunch overnight.

Speaker 1:

You know figuratively, but pretty much overnight, because once you've done it once, it is a hell of a lot easier to do it the second time. It's really just about okay, cool, I need to jump in. I need to change this. This didn't work. Let's replace it with that and let's just 86 it all together.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, if you had a clothing brand or a makeup line, for example, you know like a product-based business and you released a makeup line and what you would probably have to do first is go through extensive testing processes, right and safety procedures and all those things, and then, if the product isn't right, or if the packaging isn't right or just something about the product isn't hitting, you then have to go back into reformulation, repackaging, design, you have to work with more teams of people and then you have to start redistribution, which is a giant job. If something in your online course isn't hitting, you can completely, you know reintroduce a new community overnight. You can change the structure of support literally overnight. Send out one email and let everybody know. That's it. That's all you need to do. That's a three hour job.

Speaker 1:

That's why working in an online course business is the absolute best. You can be so reactive when you need to change something absolutely so.

Speaker 2:

I think that it's really important, just first of all, to break down the myth that your first version doesn't need to be perfect, because it never can be perfect. Whatever you released first version is going to be your first version, and then you'll have a second version, inevitably, and it's a really really good mindset to go into with. I'm going to build something that I truly believe in. That, I know, is really really good, but I know there's a couple of things that could change maybe. But we'll see how people, how people respond to it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, release it be flexible be flexible, be open to feedback, listen to what people have to say and take their feedback on board, and then be fast to reiterate and redistribute out the new content that's right.

Speaker 1:

You'll be a professional by the time you're running your second round of videos. It's not like, oh, I've got to repeat that whole crazy experience of making my course for the first time. You just jump in, you refilm a video. It's so easy.

Speaker 2:

I think that this approach is so much less intimidating as well, because I think a lot of people and we know a lot of people that get started and go guys. First of all, I really don't know if these videos are going to work and I really don't know if people are going to love the community that I'm offering. I really want them to, but I'm just not quite sure and I'm also really afraid that this isn't going to work or I need to have professional videography done before I release it. But what ends up happening is they release the product, even though they're slightly like I'm not quite sure about this. I'm not quite sure about that. They release the product and a lot of people are really shocked to find out that 90% of people absolutely love it and then, with a couple of tiny little tweaks, they can turn that into 100% of people obsessed with it.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. We start with a really, really good course. We're not throwing anything out there. Just want to really reiterate that we do the work to get a really awesome product and then we make that awesome product perfect I want to be so, so transparent with you and tell you exactly, kind of like, where I started and where I got to.

Speaker 2:

So because I think this also helps break down the myth of it having to be completely perfect every single time, because I want you to know that I made seven figures before my course was perfect, and so it really doesn't have to be the world's most prestigious perfect course that's ever been seen or created for you to really hit those financial goals that you're thinking of. My first version of my course was filmed on my laptop from 2011, with a ring light and a cheap microphone. I put my laptop on a stack of books and I just talked into the computer screen. I used Loom and I made some Canva worksheets and then kind of like talked over those Canva worksheets with Loom videos. I then just released those videos. I made some Canva worksheets and then kind of like talked over those Canva worksheets with Loom videos. I then just released those videos. I had some quizzes and I didn't even have a community. I had kind of like this forum thing that people could post in, but it was kind of shit, to be honest. And then I did a lot of email feedback. So if you wanted feedback, you could email me at any time. That was the very, very first version and what I released straight away.

Speaker 2:

And then I had I'm going to call it version 1.5. It definitely wasn't version two yet, but it was kind of like an in-between stage. In my in-between stage I realized that I needed to add a lot more practice into my course, because people learn in different ways, and I realized that the practice that I'd included I didn't want to overwhelm people and so I kind of held it back a little bit. But then people said no, I want more, and I said, okay, great. So I added optional extra practices in and then I created an FAQ document, so all of the frequently asked questions that people were asking me. I placed it in a document that was live so I could keep adding to it as time went on. And then I also had some videos filmed later on that were about common roadblocks and how to make more quick wins in the course. So I included some extra kind of like mindset tutorials on top of the course content.

Speaker 2:

Obviously, by this stage you know the content was all being filmed at different times and the videos weren't as consistent as I liked, so I would always look at the videos and be like, oh, it's so hard for me because I really want them to be way better than this.

Speaker 2:

But again, this was a seven figure, a million dollar course, with people telling me and emailing to me every single day that this course had changed their life, which is, yeah, totally sounds a little bit dramatic for a Japanese course.

Speaker 2:

But people were telling me that they had never had access to education like this before in their life and that if they would wanted to learn Japanese, it had been a $30,000 university degree or nothing, or a local community college that was terrible, or a night school that they really didn't enjoy, that was rigid, it had textbooks. It wasn't what they wanted, and they were so thankful for the fresh approach and how committed they'd been able to be to my program. So while I was dying inside because I was like, oh God, I just want really, really good videos People were telling me that this was the best course I'd ever taken in their entire life. I had to trust the process and I had to believe in version one to get to that point, because I never could have made my first million if I hadn't just trusted in version one Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And timeline, looking at how long that actually took you. The first version took a few months to create and then 1.5 wasn't like okay, sit down, 1.5 done no, it was like adding little bits here and there, maybe a friday afternoon, maybe a monday morning yeah, and that you know. You added things over a few years, whilst you were happy with version one. A few more additions as the feedback came through and you got some ideas. You had some time and then what was like four years later?

Speaker 2:

yeah, you did four years version two Four years later, I did version two and again, just to be utterly transparent with you guys, my first version, even though I didn't love it, even though I was like I know it can be better, I still never received a review less than 8.5 ever in the entire time. So, even though I was like, oh no, people are going to think this is so crap, like I want this to be so good again, never, ever, received a review less than 8.5 in my entire life ever.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so we would have rated it as a six yeah, my perfectionism would have gone in the way and said this is a five or a six, like this is a five or a six, yeah, and that's why we're so insistent.

Speaker 1:

We always have these huge, strong like boundaries and perfectionism when it comes to our own work, but when you put yourself in the shoes of somebody else, looking at it from the outside, it's always, if it's a six for you, it's an eight for them for me.

Speaker 2:

I was like oh the loom, I'm so small, my face is so small. I wonder if people can like see my face. So I'm thinking about that. Right I, the reviews were telling me amy, I love your energy, I love how you present, the way you explain Japanese concepts has changed my life.

Speaker 1:

That's why we're so insistent with people Do not get caught up in perfectionism and thinking that you have to have the perfect course.

Speaker 2:

No such thing, because what you think is perfect is probably not going to be what people like about your course. I guarantee you'll be shocked by the process, but yeah, we ended up doing version two and that was four years later and it's been a really, really good process for me.

Speaker 1:

I've really enjoyed the process and doing that refilm a full refinement of the practices, making everything extremely cohesive has been really, really good and I can tell you I have very high standards and it is a 10 out of 10. It is now perfect.

Speaker 2:

But you know what it wouldn have been like? No, four or five years ago I said to myself okay, I'm gonna film the best course I possibly can. I wouldn't have filmed what I just did for version two. Do you know what I mean? I wouldn't have predicted that that would be the version that I would love because you can't say with certainty this is what people want, exactly yeah you'll make it give it to them.

Speaker 1:

That's not what they wanted exactly, exactly like.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't have predicted that that's what I would have done. I probably would have gone a different direction altogether. So that's why we always say no matter which way you get around this, your first version is going to be the first version. Even if you create something that you think is a 10 out of 10 out of 10 is the best thing you've ever created, it'll still be your first version and you'll still go on to make a version two later on. I guarantee it. I promise you it's much better of a mindset to go into this going.

Speaker 2:

Look, this is an eight for me. This is as good as I can possibly make it right now. There is refinements to make later on down the line, but I'm going to have faith and trust in version one because you know that there are some refinements that are available and that you could maybe add some things later to the course. You're going to be much more open to receiving that feedback from people, because people come in and tell you the feedback. You can say exactly that's what. I agree. I agree that needs to be added, or? Oh, that really shocked me. Yeah, okay, I can add that instead of going in with the mindset of this is perfect. Don't give me any feedback. I don't want to hear about it, because that's a really hard place to be too, and you'll be really disappointed when the feedback comes in.

Speaker 1:

Oh, totally, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Okay, now I'm going to leave you with one thing that Amy said once, and I loved it so much version one is better than version none exactly we do these myth busting episodes because we think that a lot of these things are really really common myths that we hear every single day that are holding back really intelligent, capable, amazing people from getting started getting their information out there, and it's a damn shame.

Speaker 1:

We're perfectionists too. We're right there with you, but you have to move past that. Get version one out and done.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for listening guys. I hope this was helpful. See you next week helpful. See you next week.