One of the main reasons why online courses are created is to serve a bigger audience. However, how to draw the line between supporting your course students vs not caring about them at all? Here will be some ideas on how to support your course students without getting yourself in burnout.
As we found out in the blueprint of a best-selling online course, adding 1:1 support might be a great way to serve your course audience.
However, while adding 1:1 support might be ideal and often can be a great deal for high-end products, it definitely won’t be as versatile for smaller or evergreen course that are created for more passive income.
The main focus when creating a course should be on delivering valuable content and giving as much support and guidance as needed and possible.
How to find the middle ground between having a passive product and giving your students the attention they might need?
Start by deciding your priorities
Courses, by default, can be created as fully self-paced products, therefore, you shouldn’t overthink this.
If you intended to add 1:1 or group support, go for it! But if this wasn’t your plan, your course can thrive without that as well. Maybe consider adding some other features that can increase the value of your course instead.
The thing is, you have to decide your own priorities.
- Are you creating a course to earn extra passive income?
- Do you want to serve a bigger auidence and free up your time?
- Or maybe your course will be a stepping stone to another product?
- Will you offer high-end course and your students would expect a personal
If you have decided to support your course students, check out some ways how to do it below.
5 ways to support your course students
If you have decided to provide your course students more access to you, here are a few variations to consider!
Facebook group or a community space
The simplest and somewhat the lowest level kind of support would be giving your students a chance to join members-only Facebook group (or built-in community space).
Often Facebook groups can work like a charm as your students can support each other along in their journey through your course.
This also can – and should – include your appearance within the group. Either that would be in the comments section or by doing some ocassional Lives.
You have the power to set the expectations – this group doesn’t have to be specifically led by you, it can also be driven by your student engagement.
Additionally, there are other options to consider besides hosting a group on Facebook like a Slack channel that could provide the same type of access in a more personalized space
Related read: FB alternatives to consider for creating your group
Group coaching
One of the most versatile options on how to give more personal attention to your students would be by offering a group coaching as part of the deal (or maybe an upgraded option!)
Group coaching can be Live sessions in your group or as Zoom calls.
They can follow along with the curriculum, each week or month reviewing a specific part of the content. Or they can be an independent addition – working in its own pace or maybe even sharing additional information beyond what’s in your course.
Group coaching can be an amazing way to add value to your course because it will still feel rather tight-knit as not everyone of your students will always join the sessions. Therefore, you’ll always have the option to build those 1:1 connections as well.
If you don’t want to do group coaching per se, you can also consider it as regular catch-ups or Q&A’s.
Voxer support
If you want to give some more 1:1 attention, consider adding Voxer support.
Voxer is an app that works similarly like Whatsapp and it’s widely used by online coaches. It’s more like a walkie-talkie that gives you a chance to easily record and listen to voice messages. Plus you don’t need to know the phone number of the person to add them!
Usually, Voxer support is added for a limited time only like the first month or three and would include, for example, 24hr access to your expertise. Meaning, whenever your student has a question, you’re there to answer it and support them along the way.
(The timeframe of the answers would depend, of course, this doesn’t require you being on your phone 24/7!)
1:1 strategy call
More of a high-end option would be to add in 1:1 strategy call option.
A strategy call – or a coaching session – can be 45-90 min long session that helps your students to deal with issues specific to their situation.
As you have the power to tailor these strategies based on your specific content, you can choose for them to be either user initiated or laid out and prepared by you, as it suits your overall strategy.
Be realistic about the amount of students you could take on with such offer included! Usually such spots are rather limited as they do take quite a lot of additional energy and time.
1:1 coaching
The last but not least way to support your course students would be by including 1:1 coaching in your offer.
There are several variations to work with here.
In this case, the course often becomes a background material – something for your students to do along with your coaching sessions versus the opposite way. However, the offered extend of the coaching can be light and the course can still be in the focus.
This also would be the most high-end option that’d require quite a bigger investment than the self-paced course itself.
A great option is to give this as an upgrade option for those who feel like they might benefit from 1:1 coaching more. This gives you a chance to provide several different pricing plans, with an upgrade opportunity for those who want more of the extended support included.
What are your favorite ways to support your course students? Are you already using either of these?
Follow @coursecreationlab for more tips!
