FCB #024: Is There an Online Course in Your Future Success?

INTRODUCTION

For most of my career, I was a commercial real estate (CRE) appraiser. Then, I morphed into a CRE appraisal business owner and franchise co-founder.

Through the years, I spent a lot of money on college and professional education. However, I learned how to be successful at business ownership and management through reading books and participating in coaching programs.

It’s never been more important for professionals to build their personal brands online. Owners and managers need to constantly learn how to market and do business online.

Anyone in business needs help with professional growth, staying motivated, and personal development.

Colleges and professional associations do okay with teaching technical skills, but they fall woefully short when it comes to teaching online marketing & sales, success habits, motivation, and personal growth and development.

Online courses fill in the gaps for specialized education addressing specific needs of today’s professionals, managers, and business owners.

Online courses also provide today’s professionals with an opportunity to earn significant passive income on the side, apart from their day jobs.

POSSIBLE COURSES TO TAKE

Personal Development / Motivation / Self-Improvement

• “The 5 Second Rule Course” by Mel Robbins
• “High Performance Academy” by Brendon Burchard
• “Unleash the Power Within” (UPW) by Tony Robbins

Marketing & Sales

• “Cardone University” by Grant Cardone
• “The Marketing Seminar” by Seth Godin
• “Sales Communication Mastery” by Steli Efti

Online Marketing & Sales

• “Digital Marketing Mastery” by DigitalMarketer
• “Advanced Content Marketing Program” by Neil Patel
• “The Content Marketing Mastery Course” by Russ Henneberry

LinkedIn & Social Media

• “Ship 30 for 30” by Dickie Bush & Nicolas Cole
• “LinkedIn OS” & “Content OS” by Justin Welsh
• “Founder OS” & “Newsletter OS” by Matt Gray

Success Habits

• “Atomic Habits Academy” by James Clear
• “High Performance Habits” by Brendon Burchard
• “The 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires” by Brian Tracy

Mindset & Paradigm Shifts

• “Paradigm Shift” by Bob Proctor
• “Think and Grow Rich Online Learning Center” by Napolean Hill Foundation
• “Mindset Reset” by Mel Robbins

LIKE AN ADDITIONAL 4-5 FIGURES A MONTH?

The global eLearning market size is projected to grow from $315 billion in 2021 to more than $1 trillion in 2028, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20%.

In 2021, North America was the largest eLearning market, with an estimated size of $120 billion.

Here are some online content & course creators who have done exceptionally well:

• Matt Gray’s portfolio of online businesses will do $6M/year in 2023.
• Amy Porterfield’s 8 online courses have generated $40M since 2013.  
• Justin Welsh made over $4M since 2019 (over $2M on digital courses).
• Kat Norton (aka Miss Excel) built a $2M/year online business by age 29.
• Brendon Burchard was the first with a $1M+ online course launch (2009).
• Brendon now makes $10M/year using the online business platform Kajabi.
• YouTube sensation "MrBeast" has 129M subscribers and $105M net worth.

Of course, these are some of the top earners with exceptional success stories.

The average Kajabi creator earns $37,000/year, and the platform’s 60,000 creators have earned a combined $5 billion in lifetime GMV (gross merchandizing value) from more than 70 million customers worldwide.

Note: An extra $37,000/year is going to help me buy the RV of my dreams and travel around the U.S., visiting many of its national and state parks.

DO YOU HAVE AN INTEREST YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT?

The following is a list of 20 popular high-level course topics. 

1. Tech Skills
2. Health & Fitness
3. Digital Marketing
4. Language Learning
5. Travel & Adventure
6. Real Estate Investing
7. Writing & Publishing
8. Creative Arts & Design
9. Cooking & Culinary Arts
10. Mindfulness & Meditation
11. Science & Nature Education
12. Photography & Videography
13. Relationship & Dating Advice
14. Business & Entrepreneurship
15. Course Creation & Launching
16. Parenting & Family Dynamics
17. Interior Design & Home Decor
18. Career Development & Job Skills
19. Financial Literacy & Wealth Building
20. Personal Development & Self-Improvement

Keep in mind for each one of these high-level topics, there can be dozens if not hundreds of niches and subniche topics you can create a profitable online side business around.

For instance, if someone wanted to create online courses about real estate investing, here are 20 niche topics which could be taught on.

Real Estate Investing Niche Topics:

1. Note Investing
2. Senior Housing
3. Student Housing
4. Historic Properties
5. Flipping Properties
6. Land Development
7. Mobile Home Parks
8. Self-Storage Facilities
9. Buy and Hold Investing
10. Real Estate Syndication
11. Real Estate Wholesaling
12. Real Estate Crowdfunding
13. Vacation Rental Properties
14. Green Real Estate Investing
15. Short-Term Rentals (Airbnb)
16. Real Estate Tax Liens & Deeds
17. Residential Real Estate Investing
18. Commercial Real Estate Investing
19. International Real Estate Investing
20. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

And if you wanted to niche down even further under, say, Residential Real Estate Investing, here are several more subniche topics you could easily build a profitable online course around.

Residential Real Investing Subniche Topics:

• Fix and Flip
• House Hacking
• Multi-Family Properties
• Lease-to-Own Properties
• Accessory Dwelling Units
• Condominium Investments
• Single-Family Home Rentals

So, as you can see, the number of topics you can build a profitable online course around is virtually unlimited.

ONLINE COURSE CREATION RESOURCES

The following are some very good courses on how to go about picking the right topic, validating it, creating an online course, and then launching your first online course.

• “Digital Course Academy” by Amy Porterfield
• "Product Launch Formula" by Jeff Walker
• “Heroic Online Courses” by Pat Flynn
• “InfluencerPro” by Brendon Burchard

And, if you’re looking for some personalized one-on-one online course expert help, look no further than the following two experts:

• Hannah Fehr - Hannah does expert Kajabi design, consulting & support including: landing page, long-form sales page, sales funnel design & implementation, Kajabi website, and course builder packages. Website: www.trunorthcreative.co; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahjfehr/
• Sophie Van Tiggelen - Sophie helps solopreneurs build a successful online course (even if you’re not tech-savvy) that brings in money on auto-pilot so you can enjoy more freedom to do the things you love. Website: www.sophievantiggelen.com; LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/sophie-van-tiggelen

CONCLUSION

Traditional education is just not getting the job done in the 21st Century digital age. To grow, improve, and become more successful as a business owner, executive, manager, or professional, you need to avail yourself of specialized education addressing your specific needs, issues, and problems.

We’ve provided you with a good starting point for some of the finest online educators and courses. We’ve also possibly piqued your interest about how you too might create your own online course around something you’re passionate about – building additional income and your personal brand in the process.

If I were 20, 30, 40, 50, or even 60, I would jump online immediately with my own personal LinkedIn page and start creating and posting content about what gets me jumping out of bed excited in the morning. If you have something you’re really experienced, skilled, and passionate about, what’s stopping you?