How to reduce friction in your business as an online course creator
Last year I tried to get fancy….well, I tried to make my BUSINESS fancy.
And while I certainly didn’t succeed in making anything “fancy,” I certainly did succeed at something-- creating MASSIVE amounts of friction in my business that stopped me from moving forward.
Maybe you feel the same way? Maybe right now it’s feeling like you ALSO have massive amounts of friction in your business-- things that keep you from making progress because you can’t seem to move past them…and if so, then this episode is for you!
But first let’s backtrack a bit:
Last year, we had reached a level in revenue + time in business where I found that my peers were hiring EVERYTHING out and doing payroll for full-time employees, keeping dozens of contractors on retainers, and basically just and stepping into this CEO mindset.
And I figured that if I wanted to “keep up,” I’d better do the same. So last year I:
I hired an extremely expensive design team to custom build a new website for me instead of sticking with the platform that I knew the ins + outs of
I hired MULTIPLE people to form a “team of support” for my business…instead of staying scrappy + lean in my systems.
I hired a copywriter to re-write a lot of my copy in a more “optimized” voice…instead of sticking with MY unique way to presenting things.
I created + launched a high-ticket program that had a lot more bells + whistles instead of sticking with my traditional strength of more self-study online courses.
I tried creating + sharing content in a more optimized way to gain traction instead of relying on what I was comfortable + skilled at.
And guess what?
I also created a business that *I* didn’t even recognize-- because I had removed myself from it in an effort to be more “legit” as a business owner.
I also realized that I had create a business where it was hard to get anything done-- because I had so many hands in the pot that I couldn’t even make a simple change to my website without scheduling a design day with my web team….or take a day off without clearing it with 5+ people because I was trying to work “normal hours” where they expected responses from me during certain time frames.
And while there were so many amazing things about last year, there were also some REALLY hard lessons-- and that was that by trying to “uplevel” in my business, I had created a LOT of friction that didn’t need to be there.
Maybe you can relate? Have you ever found yourself putting off posting on social media because you felt you had to repurpose the content across 5+ platforms, too? Or never launching that online course because the process seemed so overwhelming and you couldn’t afford to hire a professional camera crew?
I preach that done is better than perfect, but last year I didn’t live it. And there were so many steps I didn’t take in my business because I was so worried about this “CEO” persona I was supposed to have created that I forgot what it felt like to have a business that actually felt EASY to me.
And maybe your’e at that point, too. Maybe you’re feeling #allthefriction from trying to do things so perfectly and “optimized” that you’re completely missing the part where you actually enjoy running your business.
So how can you avoid this natural friction build-up in your business?
1- Lean into your natural skill set + talents
One of the biggest problems I’ve seen myself face-- and I know so many business owners that have felt the same way-- is to look at someone else’s business from the outside-- someone we admire and strive to be like-- and try to copy what they are doing-- or at least, how they are doing it.
But what that fails to take into account is that it doesn’t really factor, well, YOU into the equation.
One of the biggest blessings (and likewise curses) in running a business is that YOU ARE 100% UNIQUE.
Which means just because someone else is doing it successfully doesn’t mean that it’s something you should try to do as well.
Especially if you fail to take into account YOUR unique skills + talents + personality.
One example of this? I recently took a Youtube course because I had seen an online course creator I admired immensely launch her Youtube channel. It was working really well for her, so I figured it was something worth doing in my business. I had been really enjoying podcasting, but thought that taking this “next step” was the right answer.
And so I decided to give it a go.
Ask me how much time I spent recording video clips for this youtube channel? SO MUCH.
Ask how much time I messed around with editing those clips? SO MUCH TIME.
Ask me how many of those said video clips actually made it onto my Youtube channel? NONE.
Because everytime I sat down to work on my Youtube channel, I would get caught up in all these little things that I would never be able to make progress. And then I would see myself on camera and think “Oh, I could make a better expression there!” and then re-record myself.
And it just became this huge time-suck + friction creator in my business.
Business doesn’t have to be hard and you DON’T have to do things just because everyone else is. If you’ve found something that you enjoy that works to get you similar results, keep at it! If you enjoy blogging, keep blogging! If you enjoy podcasting, keep podcasting! There’s not one “right” way to build a business-- except for the fact that it needs to be a way that resonates with YOU.
Take a look at the natural skills + talents you have-- be it writing, video editing, whatever-- and choose to incorporate those STRENGTHS into your business model-- your growth will be INSANE when you can build it around things that naturally come easy to you + you enjoy.
2- Approach things from a minimum viable perspective first, embellish later; done is better than perfect
Calling all perfectionists out there-- that trait-- perfectionism-- is literally the reason why you aren’t making money in your business.
As someone who struggles with this particular trait personally, I’ve come to realize over the past few years that perfectionism = procrastination.
I mean, even writing this episode I’ve had to catch myself a few times that I wasn’t making the progress on this episode that I wanted to because I kept wording and rewording certain sentences-- in ways that didn’t even change the overall message.
If you’ve found yourself stressing about brand colors or Pinterest graphic font sizes or writing + rewriting social media captions, chances are you’re dealing with a *bit* of this perfectionism procrastination.
Someone once told me that successful entrepreneurs don’t put out A-level work. And as a former honor roll, national honor society, 4.0 student, this struck a nerve because I’ve ALWAYS been one to do A-level work.
But I’ve also learned that tweaking and tweaking and adjusting things to get to that “A” level that I would be satisfied with is WAAAAAY less effective than putting out B-level work and seeing results.
Here’s the truth-- when you constantly strive for A-level work in your online course, in your lead magnet, in whatever it is-- you’re actually doing yourself + your audience harm.
You’re showing them that they HAVE to be perfect-- and that, in and of itself-- is a MAJOR turnoff for a lot of people.
You’re also holding back from helping them-- because you’re so busy trying to perfect things that you’re limited in what you actually put out into the world-- which means you’re helping them less.
Now I’m not saying to put out crappy work-- B level is NOT crappy and it’s still better than average.
But I AM saying that striving to constantly tweak and perfect work that is already good enough to help your audience is doing them -- and yourself-- a major disservice.
My first iteration of Mastermind Your Marketing was laughable looking back at it now. I am so thankful for every single student that invested in it and stuck with me because it wasn’t glamorous. The graphic design elements were horrible, I tried to cover a bit too much content in a short period of time, and there were so many things i was still trying to figure out with automating enrollment on the backend (something that is SUPER simplified now from when I first started) that it was a bit of a hot mess.
But I earned $28,000 from that first--messy-- launch and selling that product.
And over the years I improved and hired a professional graphic designer and worked out all the kinks. I streamlined the course content. I added bells and whistles.
But in the beginning? I knew the content was good and I knew that it would serve my students better to get it in front of them than to keep it hidden away in a Google Doc trying to reach perfection where it was serving NO ONE (and likewise, not making me any money).
Approaching things-- instead-- from a Minimum Vialble Perspective is KEY to getting things out there and improving them over time. Ask yourself “What is the fastest way I can get this out there and still accomplish the end goal effectively?”
If that means doing a text-based course instead of video, DO IT! If it means using Google docs instead of professionally designed graphics, DO IT. As long as the product you are putting out is still helping people + still providing the transformation you’re selling, it doesn’t have to be perfect right outta the gate. And I would even argue that if it is perfect right outta the gate, you waited too long to put it out there.
3- Choose your hard
I was reading Big Magic a few months ago and one chapter really stood out to me-- she definitely used more colorful language, but she essentially said that every creative outlet--which is exactly what a business is-- has some crap attached to it.
It’s up to you to decide which crap is worth dealing with.
And what she meant by that is that there is no “perfect” “easy breezy” creative outlet out there-- and I would argue the same for business. You can spend your entire life searching out the business model that is 100% smooth sailing and I GUARANTEE you will NEVER find it. Because it doesn’t exist.
So many entrepreneurs feel like if they try to do something-- maybe try to create that first online course, or try to build a website, or try to open an Etsy shop-- whatever it is-- that if they encounter roadblocks or get stumped or just frustrated because they can’t progress in the way they want to, it means that that business wasn’t for them.
And I’m here to tell you that is absolute bullcrap.
EVERY BUSINESS MODEL IS HARD. Every single one. Selling on Etsy is hard because you have to create product, photograph product, research SEO, market product, sell product, package product, ship product-- I mean, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s DANG HARD when you stop to think about it. And you have to continually do all these things
Creating an online course? That’s hard, too! You have to create your website, create content for your audience, create the actual online course, sell the online course. And yes, so much of that is just a one-time thing to create, but you still have to put in the hard work up front to create it! So yeah, that’s hard too.
But does that mean that either business model isn’t worth pursuing? NOPE! It means both of them are perfectly viable, but you need to choose which “hard” you’re okay dealing with.
There are always, ALWAYS going to be challenges with running a business. And sometimes you’re going to face roadblocks that you don’t know how to get around and you’re going to have to sit down and REALLY do some creative thinking about it all to get past it-- sometimes even hiring certain things out when you’re completely at a loss. Running into those roadblocks isn’t a sign your business is meant to fail or that you’re not cut out for it.
It just means that this is the “hard” that comes with your chosen territory. And you can choose to run away and hide, or you can “buck up little camper” as my dad always says-- drives me crazy but here I am saying it-- and put your head down and get through it.
And if you’re not willing to do that-- if you’re not willing to go through the “crap” associated with yoru chosen business model, you don’t have to. But you DO need to understand that no matter what business model you choose, there WILL be crap you have to deal with.
So choose the “crap” you’re willing to deal with to make things easier for you.
Reducing friction in your business is definitely something I’ve found plays a HUGE role in my productivity + effectiveness as a business owner. Leaning into my own strengths + talents, approaching things from a minimum viable position, and figuring out what I’m okay with in business (and in past years, choosing to hire most of my biggest challenges--like social media--out) have helped me to become more confident + profitable as an online business owner.
Friction is something you’re always going to have to deal with in your business-- but hopefully these tips help you find ways to REDUCE that friction and create a business that aligns with your unique abilities.
Alright, that’s it for this episode. See you next week-- same time, same place here on the Simplify Your Sales podcast.