I spent three months building my first online course. It was terrible. Not the content itself, which was actually pretty good. The problem was nobody bought it. I launched to my email list of 2000 people and got exactly 3 sales. Three.
What I did wrong was everything. I built the course I wanted to create, not the course people wanted to buy. I spent months on production quality while ignoring market demand. I assumed that if I built something valuable, people would naturally find it. That is not how any of this works.
The biggest mistake solopreneurs make with online courses is building in a vacuum. We think our knowledge is valuable, so we package it up and expect the market to agree. But value is not objective. What you think is valuable and what people will pay for are often completely different things.
Here is what I wish someone told me before I started: validate first, build second. Before spending a single hour on course content, talk to at least 20 people in your target market. Ask them what problems they have, what they have tried, what they would pay for. Not what they might buy in theory, but what they have actually purchased before.
Then, before building the full course, create a minimum viable version. A simple PDF, a webinar, a low-priced workshop. See if people actually buy. See if they actually complete it. See if they get results. Only then should you invest in full production.
My second course was different. I validated first. I talked to people. I pre-sold before building. The result was completely different. Not because the course was better, but because I built something people actually wanted.
Stop building in a vacuum. Your expertise is only valuable if the market agrees.
