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Want to build your online course, but not sure where to start in creating it?

It helps to follow a proven framework to validate your topic and flesh out your content to stay on track. 

There are many methods to market validation. While the goal is always to invite your audience into the creation process and hear their feedback on what they want to learn, this can be done through surveys, webinars, or phone calls.

This article will explain how to rapidly prototype your online course using webinars and YouTube Lives.

The method comes from Steve Dotto, an educator, entrepreneur, and online course creator. Steve is the Founder of Dotto Tech, where he teaches entrepreneurs how to master the tech and tools they need to grow an online business. He offers a range of online courses on Thinkific, covering topics like how to grow your email list, build an online community, and attract visitors to your YouTube channel.

Watch the video below to hear Steve’s method for rapidly prototyping and creating your first online course using YouTube live, and how to invite your audience into the creation process:

 

Creating Online Course From Live Videos

Steve’s method for creating courses leverages the power of live videos – like webinars and YouTube livestreams – to invite your audience into the creation process. This way, you can be certain that the course content you develop is exactly in line with what your audience wants to learn. 

Note: this method works best with a certain type of course. 

If you are planning to create an introductory course, simple tutorial, or a course to use for lead generation, this is a great method to use. On the flipside, this method is less suited for premium courses at say, the $2,000 price point. For creating longer and  more in-depth course, you’ll want to choose a validation method that includes more detailed check-points along the way. 

Audience Research Workbook

The method involves delivering training while collecting feedback from your audience. Once the session is recorded, you can repurpose it as an online course. 

To do this, Steve runs what he calls ‘hybrid webinars’, which you can deliver using any livestream tool.  Here are a few pointers to execute this strategy:

Include a pre-recorded element

Plan out a portion of the training to be pre-recorded in advance so that you can control the length, topic, content, and ensure your session is packed with value. To do this on YouTube live, you could use a tool like Ecamm Live to insert a piece of video within your livestream.

Answer audience questions

While your pre-recorded portion is playing, you as the host can jump into the chatroom to answer questions and keep the conversation going with your audience. Then once your prepared content is done, you can answer key audience questions for the remainder of the session. Focus on filling in any gaps in the content you prepared, based on what the audience wants to know.

Package the live training up as your course

Once the live session is done, you want to package up the video to repurpose into your online course. Document all of the questions that were asked and build out any extra content to make sure you fully answer them in your course. Import your content into Thinkific, and you’ve rapidly prototyped online course.

With this method, you’ll end up with a value-packed online course, designed to specifically answer your audience’s most common questions. You effectively have a minimum viable product that you can continue to update over time. 

Connect with Steve at dottotech.com.


Need help knowing where to start? Download our free guide below which will walk you through the first five steps to getting started with online courses, as a YouTube content creator!

Download the YouTube Monetization guide