Level Up Your Course Podcast With Janelle Allen: Create Online Courses That Change Lives

Hey everybody! Welcome back to our usual programming. I’m joined today by Tiago Forte, writer, productivity expert, and founder of Forte Labs. He’s here to share how he got into optimizing productivity and learning, and how he created his course, Building a Second Brain.Expanding the number of things you can pay attention to and you can manage expands your capacity for lifePrior to creating online courses, Tiago has worked in microfinance, served in the Peace Corps, and consulted for large companies on product development. He has spent more than 10 years researching, developing, and teaching the practices of Idea Management to professionals. His online course, Building a Second Brain, is helping people around the world save their best ideas and organize their learning by providing the necessary system and approach to reliably produce creative outputs.Stay tuned as Tiago shares his business journey, his course, and tips on how to productively manage information. Let’s get started! Episode Quotes"Information is

Hey everyone! It’s time to review Q3 and look ahead to the last quarter of the year. I’m excited to share what worked, what I plan on changing, and the awesome things you can expect before 2020.  Focus, take action that is intentional and effective, and keep doing itIf you tuned in to Episode 100, you know I had three focus areas for Q3: to double down on my group program, Finish Your Damn Course; to increase the top-of-funnel traffic on my site; and to finish setting up my email marketing systems.  Did I do everything I set out to last quarter? What pivots did I make in my strategy? What am I doing to wrap up 2019? Tune in to hear the highlights and big lessons of the last few months, and then join me to dig into my Big Three for Q4. Let’s do it!   Episode Quotes"It is not about creating a course... it is about building a business.""Focus on actions that are going to generate long term returns.""Momentum matters.""You got to have the systems in place to be able to scale.""One of the key things that helped me

Hey family! In this episode, I’m joined by Kim Doyal, content marketing strategist and creator of Content Marketing Secrets. She is here to talk about her course and how to develop a content strategy that drives growth.You don’t get good at something by not doing it.Five years after the death of her husband, Kim went all in on online business. Despite wanting to be an information marketer, she started out as The Wordpress Chick, building websites for clients. In 2018, she decided it was time to get back to what she loved and pivoted her focus to content marketing. She’s since launched her course, Content Marketing Secrets, which teaches online business owners how to develop and implement a customized content strategy.Check out what Kim has to say about her course, the fundamentals of content strategy, and how to create content that drives traffic. Episode Quotes"Being able to let go of what it is supposed to look like is such FREEDOM.""Nobody cares what you don't do.""Go for it! Your dreams are worth pursuing

I’m joined today by Joe Williams, SEO expert, founder of Tribe SEO, and creator of Learn SEO Fast. He’s here to share his course and how it demystifies SEO to help small businesses make huge impacts online.My goal is to make SEO easier, fun, and profitable for small businessesJoe got into the world of SEO in 2004. After seeing business owners struggle to make sense of the hype surrounding optimization, and seeing that most agencies weren’t doing anything about it, he launched Tribe SEO. What started as an in-person training in and around London is now an online community with global reach. Joe’s online course, Learn SEO Fast, takes a common sense approach to ranking so that anyone can learn how to do it -- quickly!  Tune in to hear Joe’s straight forward perspective on SEO, why it’s important for every business, and how you can use it to make your business more profitable. Enjoy! Episode Quotes"Burn-out is simply from over committing and not knowing your capacity.""Moments of uncertainty are normal in a busin

What’s up everyone! In this episode, I am joined by Tanya Geisler, leadership coach, TEDx speaker, and the encouraging voice behind Starring Role Playbook. Tanya is here today to share her entrepreneurial journey and how she’s helping women bust out of their Impostor Complex with her course and coaching. Don’t postpone joy. Do the thing you are called to do. Do it! Tanya came to coaching after years in an outwardly successful but ultimately unsatisfying career in advertising. Her fascination about the Impostor Complex, and as someone who personally struggled with it, Tanya created Starring Role Playbook to help people claim the success that is rightfully theirs. Her course is a journey that allows her students to recognize their own potential, empower them to achieve it, and live life to the fullest. Listen as Tanya shares her magnificent story, how she created Starring Role Playbook, and how her course is transforming the lives of her students. Enjoy! Episode Quotes "It was important for me to see in re

What’s up everyone! Today’s episode is a little different. I’m joined by Philip VanDusen, designer, founder of Verhaal Brand Design, and host of brand•muse Interviews. He’s here to share his story and some awesome insight into using YouTube as a marketing channel to grow your business.You have to very quickly start opening yourself up to the feedback of your viewers.Philip came from the corporate world where he worked as the Head of Design for massive companies like PepsiCo. After building a business with a partner, he eventually dropped everything to pursue his passion for branding and design on his own terms. He has over 20 years’ experience in strategic branding, graphic design, and creative leadership for some of the world’s most successful businesses. He’s also an expert as using YouTube to build relationships and create valuable content for his audience.Join us to hear how Philip transitioned into the entrepreneurial arena, how to use YouTube to grow your business, and some tips for course creators want

What’s up everyone! In this episode, I talk with Kerri Twigg, career coach and job search strategist. Kerri is the founder of Career Stories, which helps people use their stories to land ideal work and grow their careers. She’s here today to share her own journey and how she’s impacting lives with her coaching and courses. I am allergic to formulas that make you look like everyone else. You are more interesting than that. Kerri started as a drama teacher, then moved into community art which fueled her love of helping people, building programs, and solving problems. She was a career transition coach for three years before starting her own business. Listen as Kerri shares her interesting experience in this unique coaching field, how she built Career Stories and incorporated the teaching component, and how she generated 400 sign-ups for her course. We also dig into her Career Mapping Masterclass and how she manages to run her workshops monthly. Enjoy! Episode Quotes "Career coaching is like a big drama clas

What’s up, everyone! Today I’m speaking with Claire Pelletreau, Facebook ads strategist and course creator. Claire is a returning guest on the show and she’s here to share what’s happened in her business since we last spoke and her new program, Ad Consultant Incubator. No matter how high I raised the price, the way I was running the program wasn't working Seeing big opportunities in the world of Facebook ads, Claire transitioned from being a life coach to an ad strategist and eventually a course creator. Pricing her Ad Consultant Incubator has been a challenge, but with some tweaks, she was able to use the program to scale her business. Join us in this episode to hear what Claire’s learned about effective pricing, how courses can help grow your business, and practical tips about Facebook ads. Enjoy! Episode Quotes "There are great benefits in setting a more accessible pricing and impacting more lives and still making a lot of money." "You don't need to put people's finances in dire straights to

What’s up everyone! In this episode, I’m joined by Lisa Princic, a coach and business strategist who is here to share her business journey and her workshop, Position Your Mastery. It takes courage to build a business you believe in ... and not just do what everyone else is doing. Lisa believes in being true to yourself and building a profitable business that fulfills you. Her Position Your Mastery workshop helps business owners who are struggling to make consistent income, figuring out their ideal clients, and building a noticeable brand. Tune in to hear Lisa and I discuss how to build a brand that matters, how to grow without feeling isolated, and the benefits of creating an active community. We also dig into how Position Your Mastery helps learners develop the business they want, and why workshops are a great precursor to courses. Enjoy! Episode Quotes "True purpose and joy is when you begin to do something that you love and also enjoy the journey and lessons." "Just keep going. Don't focus o

What’s up everyone! I am here today with Victoria Stith, a therapist, new course creator, and a recent graduate of my group program, Finish Your Damn Course! After many starts and stops on her own, Victoria joined Finish Your Damn Course to overcome her fears, get unstuck, and create her online course. In this episode, Victoria shares her experience in the program, how she overcame resistance, and what it was like to finish--and teach--her damn course. Let’s dig in! Creating the online course allowed me to be more accessible and help more people at once. After experiencing the struggle of online course creation, Victoria was motivated to join Finish Your Damn Course to overcome her fears, identify her needs, and move forward from the stuck zone. In this episode, Victoria discusses her experience joining the program and the results it brought her. You’ll hear how FYDC helped her start her LIVE course that helps parents learn the techniques of healthy communication with children suffering from substance abuse d

What’s up, everybody! It is great to be back! For those just tuning in, I’m back from a two-month summer break and I’m excited to be doing the show again. Before we start this episode, I want to thank my listeners. We’re on the 100th episode of Level Up Your Course! Thank you so much for being here and being part of the Zen Courses family. Business is just about solving problems. During my summer hiatus, I realized that I’m in a personal growth period. In this episode, I share the key things I’ve done to embrace this transition and my thoughts on why delegation is a vital part of the growth process. I also dig into how the course stratosphere is changing, too, and give you a sneak peek into next week’s episode. New things are coming up for Zen Courses, so get pumped! Join the Zen Courses family here: https://www.zencourses.co/newsletter Episode Quotes "One of the key things that I did was automating a lot of repetitive tasks that I was doing, and it saved me so much time." "Learning how to dele

What’s up, everybody! In this episode, I’m joined by Josh Doody, author and founder of Fearless Salary Negotiation. After successfully negotiating his own salary, Josh wrote a #1 bestselling book to help others learn his process. Soon after, he added video courses to help his students better implement the strategies. In this episode, Josh shares how he turned his book into an online course, why he still coaches clients, and what he's learned along the way. Having a visual component helps people to see in action the things written in my book Episode Quotes "I knew that I could learn a lot of valuable skills if I started learning how business actually works." "All I had to do was ask and they just gave me money for this job." "Creating the online course was a way to augment the book, but also to teach people who kind of think like me." "I definitely did design the book so that it's not necessarily meant to be completed." "I do this because I like helping people and i

What’s up, everybody? In this episode, I’m joined by Joel Hooks, co-founder of egghead.io. egghead is an education platform built for developers by developers. They specialize in no-fluff, just-in-time online lessons and courses for web developers. Joel and I chat about the importance of instructional design, why it’s often overlooked, and how egghead is using learning design to improve their product--in other words, we geek out. Enjoy! I want to use these instructional design principles to help people reach their goals. Episode Quotes "I want to use these instructional design principles and wrap it in with our knowledge to help people reach their goals." "Monetization isn't the point. The point is to get people where they want and need to be, and the rest follows." "The nature of being helpful is profitable in my experience." "I think there is a craving for community, connection, and a sense of belonging." "Maximize the amount of free time you have available to yo

Hey, everyone! Today, I am joined by Jacques Hopkins, founder of Piano in 21 Days. After years of piano lessons, Jacques realized that he could only play two songs no matter how much he practiced. Luckily, he soon learned a new approach that allowed him to play hit songs--in minutes. Jacques decided to teach his piano playing method online. He joins me today to share his course, how he struggled with sales, and the system that eventually helped him generate $40k per month. Enjoy! One of the biggest reasons that people don't succeed as an online course creator is they give up too easily. Episode Quotes “Learning piano doesn’t have to take years. It can be faster, more fun, and easier than you thought.” "It wasn't until I created an online course based on something that I love that I found success with my own online business." "With online courses, I’m having a direct impact on other people’s lives, and that’s been the biggest ‘why’ with what I’m doing today." "Not only do I need to be

What’s up, everybody! We’re changing things up this week with a solo episode. I’m excited to share this with you because I dig into some key things you need to be thinking about. First: the state of online marketing. What’s going on, and how will it affect online courses? I’ll also share a bit about building community and making sales. You’ll hear some of the lessons I’ve learned and the tools I recommend for improving and growing your business. Lastly, you’ll get the scoop about what’s coming up for Zen Courses and the Level Up Your Course Podcast; I’ve got some fun and exciting things planned for this summer! Make sure you are part of my email list to keep you updated. Sign up at https://www.zencourses.co/newsletter. Episode Quotes "Solopreneurs are realizing the importance of learning & engagement and sales & marketing." "Improving learning and focusing on sales & marketing must go together. It is not an either/or game." "A social component needs to be present in online

Hey, everyone! In this episode, I’m joined by Kristin Larsen: Pinterest expert, course creator, and founder of Believe In a Budget. Blogging wasn’t an easy journey for Kristin until she discovered the power of Pinterest as a search engine to drive traffic to her websites. Check out this episode to hear Kristin’s journey from blogger to VA to course creator, and how you can use her strategies to skyrocket your own traffic. Pinterest virtual assistance turned into this new opportunity which I never thought -- in a million years -- would be a thing. Episode Quotes "Pinterest was my favorite thing, I love looking at Pins." "I want to be able to give my clients something instead of saying, 'No, I can't help you.'" "The main challenge was conveying my message in the easiest way possible." "It's important to always update and let your audience know. The more you communicate the better." "It just feels so good knowing that I am helping other people through the stories I sh

What’s up, everybody! In this episode, I’m joined by Gina Horkey: writer, marketing consultant, and founder of Horkey Handbook. After experiencing a cycle of ups-and-downs in her career, Gina transitioned to doing remote work and creating online courses. Her program, 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success, is for people ready to change their career, pursue their passion, and do something different. Gina believes that remote work is the future and her program gives students a complete roadmap to take advantage of this alternative, flexible industry. She’s here today to talk about her journey and the creation of 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success. Remote work is totally the future, and you need to get onto that train. Episode Quotes "Perfection is the enemy." "The program is for career changers, people who want to do something different and they're more passionate about." "It is good to validate what you are offering first." "If you are average at everything, y

What’s up, everyone? In this episode, I am joined by Jennifer Bourn, designer and owner of Bourn Creative Agency. Starting a business while pregnant was a challenge for Jennifer. Marketing automation was the key to the freedom and flexibility she wanted for her family, and it eventually paved the way for the client management system behind her business. While project management is important, Jennifer stresses that it can’t come at the expense of client management. Her course, Profitable Project Plan, is designed for developers and business owners to support the client-focused side of their business. It’s a 14-week program that explains Jennifer’s system in an easy-to-understand and interactive way. Listen as Jennifer and I talk about Profitable Project Plan, its development, and how it empowers business owners to create consistency and take control of their business. Building a successful business requires hard work, but it doesn't have to be difficult work. Episode Quotes "Stand on your ground when you

Hey, everyone! I’m joined in this episode by Rachel Brenke: lawyer, MBA, and entrepreneur. Rachel knows the legal challenges that startups face and she’s dedicated to helping small businesses implement strategic legal plans. Her course, Blog Legally, equips bloggers and entrepreneurs with legal information in a budget-friendly medium. It doesn’t just save them time and money; it saves new business owners from being overwhelmed by big law firms or CPAs. Stay tuned as Rachel shares valuable information about protecting your rights, filing your taxes, and writing your disclaimers and disclosures. As a course creator, the biggest thing is listening to your students. Episode Quotes "My whole entrepreneurship journey came out of a need to fulfill something for me and the people asking me." “Blog Legally is completely different from what you get from a lawyer down the street.” "Blogging is one of the top freemium-type content medium these days." "Having a lawyer is great but there is great b

What’s up, everybody! Joining me on the show today is Michelle Ward: former actress, entrepreneur, and certified coach. After making the tough choice to leave the world of theatre, and after choosing her health over a stressful job, she decided to stop playing by other people’s rules. Now as a career coach, she uses her program, Discover Your Dream Business, to help creative people find a business idea they can be passionate about. Listen to find out more about her online course, her journey and her advice for discovering your dream business. Your business shouldn’t just become another job; it needs to fulfill something in you Episode Quotes “I help my clients have their dream business that allows them to feel valued and fulfilled.” "No matter how long you're in this game, you got to evolve and not rely on what's worked in the past." "It was not acceptable for me to just find a job that was going to pay the bills and be a paycheck." "I realized that I was not going to be happy unless