Essential Ingredient #4

Tara Bryan: 00:00:05

Hey, everybody, it's Tara, Bryan, and you are listening to the course building secrets podcast. Whether you're a coach or a CEO, the success of your team and clients is based on your ability to deliver a consistent experience and guide them on the fastest path to results. This podcast will give you practical real life tips that you can use today to build your online experiences that get results and create raving fans. Why? So you can monetize your expertise and serve more people without adding more time or team to your business. If you're looking to uncover your million dollar framework, package it and use it to scale you're in the right place. Let's dive in.

Tara Bryan: 00:00:50

Hey, everybody, welcome to this episode of the course building secrets podcast. In this episode, we are going to continue our series of the five essential ingredients you need to create your online course. And we are on the fourth essential ingredient. And that is milestones, and targets. Alright, this is one of my favorite ones. This is a little bit like feedback. However, this is where you really determine what the key milestones are that somebody needs in order to actually become successful. So the so often, the way that I think about this one is, you know, you're going up a mountain path. And you're, you know, you're winding up and you're, you know, kind of miles and miles away from any kind of civilization. And sometimes the path gets a little bit a little bit sketchy, right, like, maybe there's a fork in the road, or maybe the path just is as defined in some places as others or you, you're just not exactly sure you're still on the path, right? There's a trail that I go on a lot when I'm in Palm Springs. And I'll be walking in and all of a sudden, I'll say, Am I still on the path, am I still going in the right direction, it's some point, you might get to know when to turn around. And it happens every single time even though I've been on the past quite a bit. But that's what happens when there's not enough sort of mile markers for you to know where where to go. And that's exactly the same thing it as your online course. And so when you're climbing that mountain, and the I think the trail I go on is like a, you know, a five or six mile trail. And, and so there are various mile markers that say, Hey, here's where you are. And here's the path that you're on. And then, you know, if you've ever been in that situation, you sort of look at it and go, Oh, okay, alright, good, I'm on the right path, I can keep going. And I know that I'm not going to get lost, and I'm going to be able to get out of here eventually, right. And it's the same feeling that that learners get when they're in the middle of learning. So what tends to happen is, people are very excited at the beginning of a course to get started. And then they're very excited at the end when they're close to that, that result. But there's this sort of messy middle, or we call it controlling the dip, right? There's this dip that happens in the middle, which is what what I equate to that same feeling of being on that trail and not being able to see any, any trail markers as that you just start looking around and you're like, Am I on the right trail? Am I doing the right thing? Am I gonna get lost? Am I going to be out here forever? You know, all those feelings that that come up. And so every time I hit one of those mile markers on the trail, I think, okay, yep, I'm good. I'm still on the path. I'm still doing the right things. I'm headed in the right direction. And that's exactly how I think about milestones and, and targets along the path is it's that reminder for people that Yep, they're still on the right trail. They're still on the right path. They may not see the end yet, but that's okay. Because they know and they have confidence that they're still moving in the right direction. So when you're planning out your online course, or if you're kind of just looking at where you know, at your kind of relooking at your online course, look and see where you have milestones and markers along the path. And make sure that You have some in the middle, you have some in the dip. Because a lot of times we do a really good job at the beginning and a really good job at the end, because that's where all the things are happening, right, and that we're more comfortable there. And our learners are more comfortable there. And it's that middle part where it gets a little bit tricky. Because people actually have to take action, they have to do different things in order to get to that transformation. And if we're not helping them, know that they're still on the trail, then a lot of times what happens is they start to panic, or they turn back or, you know, they stop, you can't really do that on the trail, you gotta keep going, but they stop and they get off of the trail. Or maybe they sit down and have a very long snack, right? Whatever it is, that is how you can keep kind of pulling them through to help them keep learning. Because let's be honest, once you are in sort of that messy middle, and you're in, you're taking action,

Tara Bryan: 00:06:06

but you're not seeing the results yet. We do we all have that tendency to say, Oh, this is hard, or I don't know if this is the right thing. Or I'm just not, I'm just not seeing the finish line. So maybe I should quit, maybe I should stop, maybe I should do something else. Maybe I should go and you know, sit by the pool or whatever, right. So all of these things are going through your learner's minds as they're trying to get through to this transformation, because again, they may not be able to see the end. So mile markers, and, and specific targets where you're helping them get that clarity that they're still on the right path, and that they just need to keep going, then that is what will help determine their level of success. And a lot of times, this is the difference between a course that's successful, and one that just never goes anywhere, right. So if you have a lot of people coming into your program, and not a lot of people finishing this may be what's what's broken in your online course. So just adding in some specific trail markers may just be the difference between, you know, kind of you lose you winning or losing this game. So think about that hike. If you've ever been on that hike without trail markers, where you just have to stop and look around and and you just have that feeling that you're not confident that you're still on the trail. That's how your learner's are feeling. Add those milestones in and those targets and you will see a huge shift in the completion rates for your online course. And if you haven't built your course yet, obviously this will help you as you do. So you have those people who continue to to ascend and continue to become raving fans and actually get the results that you want them to have. Alright, that is essential ingredient number four. And in our last essential ingredient we're going to talk about in the next episode is obstacles and challenges. Alright, we will see you in the next one.