23: Five Unexpected Benefits of Launching a Digital Course Business

Courses are a fantastic way to share your knowledge and expertise with the world. And with the power of the internet, you can reach people all over the globe. But what if you went one step further and launched a digital course business?

In this episode, I share five unexpected benefits I've experienced in my journey. From the financial freedom it provides to the empowerment of helping others transform their lives, starting a digital course business has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.

If you're considering taking the plunge, or if you're just curious about the benefits of creating a digital course, this episode is for you. Listen in and learn how you can change your life for the better by launching a digital course business.

Wondering where to start? Check out these resources from my digital course mentor, Amy Porterfield:

👉 The digital course event of the year is kicking off on August 30th and you don't want to miss it! Join Amy Porterfield's brand new LIVE Bootcamp, Course Confident, and get clarity on the course you want to create and launch. Click here to learn more.

 👉 Get the FREE GUIDE: Surprisingly Simple Ways to Turn Your Knowledge into a Digital Course >> CLICK HERE

👉 Get on the waitlist for Digital Course Academy >> CLICK HERE

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Transcript:

Before we get started, I just want to say a big thank you to all of you for listening to the Launch Perspective Podcast. Many of you have messaged us and told us how certain episodes have inspired or encouraged you. And we so appreciate that and would absolutely love if you would leave a rating or a review, because it does encourage others to listen as well. So, thank you so much for taking the time to do that.

So, why would you ever want to create a digital course? Well, today we're going to jump into five unexpected benefits that I've received since launching my digital course business. Now, if you've heard enough about my story, you know that I dreamt about creating a digital course business thanks to Amy Porterfield, who first introduced digital courses to me in 2014, but I really didn't understand the value of what digital courses could be for me and my family. So, I wanted to share these five unexpected benefits because as you listen to today's episode, you may think to yourself, wow, that is something I would love to experience as well and maybe a digital course is the answer for you.

So, the first unexpected benefit is confidence in myself. And, you know, confidence in not just what I teach or confidence in who I am. That isn't really where I lacked confidence before. The confidence that I've discovered since I've launched my digital course business is confidence in being okay with making mistakes, confidence in understanding that I may fail before I succeed, confidence in understanding that really there is no failure. We either learn or we earn, or we do both. And I've really embraced through these last two and a half years a new understanding that launching things when I don't feel a hundred percent ready, I don't feel a hundred percent comfortable, when I don't feel like something's perfect. Really settling in and being okay in that scenario, honestly, would have never occurred 5, 10, 15 years ago.

I just remember in all of the previous jobs and businesses that I've had this constant need to reach this level of perfection. And when I couldn't reach it, I felt incompetent. I felt that I was not succeeding. I was constantly feeling that drive of you've got to do better. You've got to do more. You've got to be, you know, at the top of the leader board or whatever the case may be. And I'm just surprised in launching this digital course business, my own business, which really seems scarier or more risky in some ways. Yet I have found the absolute peace of mind as I move forward confidently in who I am, who I serve, what I offer. And it's only come because I've realized that it's part of the journey. The mistakes, the parts of feeling uncomfortable, it's just all part of the journey to ultimately where I would like to be in my business.

So, that has definitely been an unexpected benefit. I think some people would say, oh my goodness, you know, the first course I made, I did not feel confident. And I agree, I didn't either in the beginning. But over these last two and a half years, I've really started to find my voice. My voice in this podcast, my voice in how I teach online, in my courses, my voice with Facebook live. Whatever the avenues are that you are creating content, whether that's written, audio, or video content, I do think creating a digital course helps bring you to a new level of confidence. And the more you launch a digital course, the more launches you go through, the more you just understand the ups, the downs, and you just take it all in stride.

Now, number two is this realization that what I have to share, my experience, my expertise, roadmaps, ways that I do things. That what I share actually inspires and impacts others. It has just been mind blowing to me to get feedback from all of the students in my courses, those who are in my Facebook communities, to hear people say, wow, that tip you just shared was mind blowing. Wow, that strategy is something that I implemented, and I can't believe the results. Wow, your story inspired and encouraged me because I've really been struggling. I don't think many of us or I actually think many of us underestimate that our experiences can impact other people in this way.

And by launching my digital course business and knowing that I need to share content consistently. By doing that consistently, I've gotten to connect with so many people who have responded back and shared that feedback and it's just been an amazing benefit. Because I'm not here to create digital courses, to be a multimillionaire, as much as I am to leave a legacy and impact others. And of course, that does involve benefiting my family financially. Sure. But I absolutely do not take it lightly that I have a platform to make a difference. And that has been definitely one of my unexpected benefits.

Number three is the freedom and flexibility for my husband and I to live life on our terms. And what I mean by that is we get to live in a way that we do not ever have to go to a boss and request time off: time off for vacations, for sick days, for trips to visit parents when they need us, trips to see our daughter who lives out of state. I love that we're able to work from anywhere. We're getting ready to travel for a vacation. We can take work with us and be gone even longer where we could work some while we're there in a new location and then of course we can vacation as well. It's such a win-win and I think back to when my husband, of course, was working his 30-year career and all the expectations that they used to put on him and all the restrictions we used to have on when we could take time off when we could travel.

And that freedom and flexibility has just been the most incredible benefit. The fact that my husband and I can wake up when we want, go on walks, when we want. It's not just about living at the beach all the time. You know, we see these posts from people that say live life on your terms and have a laptop lifestyle. Honestly, I'm just thankful that we can live even the everyday how we want to live it. And that flexibility has been huge.

We recently found out that our 14-year-old son is going to need a pretty extensive back surgery for a severe scoliosis curve. And when we got the news, I just remember thinking, oh my goodness, what would we do if Brian was working full time, or I was working full time? How in the world would we work this out where he has this six-week recovery period? What if he was even in school? The fact that we are able to homeschool our son gives us also more flexibility when it comes to his schedule and his needs. So, just so thankful for that extra freedom and flexibility, and being able to work for ourselves.

Number four is probably the biggest, unexpected benefit. And that is all of the meaningful relationships that I've been able to build with mentors that I've followed, peers that are in the same place I am, building their digital course business, and relationships with my students. The students in my courses and the peers and all of the communities I’ve become a part of. Those relationships have meant so much to me. And I remember thinking when I created my business, ugh, I'm going to feel alone. I'm going to feel like I'm out in, you know, in my office, in this space where no one's going to know I exist, I'll have no one to talk to.

And I had come from a corporate position where we were very interactive with everyone in the team. I was coaching a lot of people and I felt like I had all these great relationships. And I definitely worried that when I launched my business that a lot of that was going to change. I had no idea how many connections you can make in this digital course space and how many communities are available, where you can connect with people. And even people like Amy Porterfield, one of my mentors, the fact that I've been able to be a part of her world, that I had an opportunity to be an affiliate with her, to be an ambassador in her membership. I got to interview her on my podcast. I just never dreamed that I'd actually be able to personally know some of the people that have gone before me and just those amazing relationships that I built with the students in my programs.

Being able to see them succeed, you know, them reaching out to me and saying, Lydia, I did such and such from what you taught, and I can't believe the results, or I'm just so encouraged by what you shared. And this is just to me an amazing way to live life. None of us were meant to be isolated. Right? We were meant to have community with one another. And I feel like after the COVID pandemic, it created a very difficult situation for people who worked in a workplace. They all went from workplaces to just connecting with people on video. And for the rest of us who were already used to working from home, you know, we now had even more opportunities to connect online. And I've been so happy with the relationships that I've been able to build without ever leaving my home. I just think it's amazing.

Number five is having the ability to create something once that you can sell again and again. I don't have to trade time for money. I don't have to physically show up to earn a set amount of money. The fact that I can create a course that is available to sell in any number of ways and how I decide to launch it. But the fact that I can sell it again and again and create that revenue stream anytime I do a launch or all the time if it's an evergreen course. It's just amazing. Being able to be creative, being able to spend time building our legacy instead of working 40 and 50 hours a week to, you know, fill the pockets of someone else. It's very exciting to be able to create for yourself.

My husband and I, you know, if we're working extra hard in our business, knowing that we're building our business is a very different experience than him working 50 hours a week for a company. And it's just exciting. And of course, we didn't leave our full-time corporate jobs to work 60 and 70 hours a week as an entrepreneur. I'm not saying that. But in this space, you do need to have those push times. You need to have those weeks where you do feel like you're working a lot. But it's just different because you're working to build a legacy for your family, for your kids. I just can't even describe how it feels.

If anybody who's listening to me has a digital course business and maybe you've experienced some of these things, you're thankful for some of these things. Maybe you do have a digital course business and you don't feel like you have quite gotten there yet. I just want to encourage you because there's so much potential and opportunity in this space and you just need to get connected with people who have gone before you. That's what I've done. I've just tried to connect and be a part of people who are making a difference, making things happen, that are teaching me the best streamlined ways to make sure I'm launching consistently and getting the results that I need.

So, Amy Porterfield is definitely one of my mentors. I have others as well. But check out some of the resources that we have in our show notes below, because if you are interested in launching your own digital course business, or even just a digital course. Maybe you already work a full-time job that you don't want to leave, but you need an extra stream of income. You can create a side hustle with a digital course. And others of you maybe are one-on-one coaches or done-for-you service providers. And you're like, I would love to stop trading time for money. I want to create a digital course. Well, look no farther than Digital Course Academy.

Amy is getting ready to launch DCA again in September of 2022. And if you CLICK HERE, you can get on the wait list for that right now or depending on when you're listening the doors may be open. Digital Course Academy is what I jumped into about two years ago now. And it really did equip me with the information I needed to scale my digital course business.

So, jump in, take a look, see if Digital Course Academy is for you. One thing I love doing, of course, is supporting those who join Digital Course Academy through my link. So, if you do, stay tuned because I will be inviting you to some very special mastermind sessions on Zoom. You'll get my Kajabi training program to help you get your digital course business launched. And we will help work with you to reach your digital course business dreams.