If your course clients are struggling to finish the content, or not getting consistent results, there is a good chance your course could use an update. And no shame in that! I am so glad you are here and care enough to do something about it!

All too often in this industry, we see people who are great at marketing  become wildly successful because they can paint the picture that people want to buy. But then when you buy, you realize you were sold a lot of promises with very little outcome. Can you relate?

I have definitely bought my fair share of crappy courses. So when I was creating my first course, I was modeling my program off of the programs I had taken. And it wasn't pretty.

Not only was I committing the cardinal sin of selling old zoom call recordings (GAH!) but I had no clue how to teach so people would actually learn.

4 years, dozens (and dozens) of courses later, and after studying Instructional Design, I finally have a clear, easy to follow process to create a course that doesn't suck! And it all stems from this radical idea.

We as course creators should care more about our client results rate, than our launch conversion rate.

I said it. All too often we glorify the number of people who bought our course, but never talk about the ones who finish it. Or even get results. And at the end of the day, we should care more about helping the people we sold to get results than the revenue our launches generated.

Because a "6 figure launch" that yields 0 results is not an effective program.

So how do you make sure your course actually works? Here are the 3 questions I ask.

What percentage of students complete your course?

This is really the big question, right? What percentage of people are completing it? As much as "Mega Course" gurus will tell you that low completion rates are just "industry standard", is it? And why have we just accepted that?

When that student purchased your course, they wanted the outcome you promised. They wanted it badly enough to shell out their hard earned money for the prospect that you were going to help them achieve it. And yet, somewhere along the way, they lost sight of that.

Did they change their mind about wanting that outcome? Maybe their circumstances changed. Or did they get the outcome otherwise? Maybe one thing they learned in your course got them to the outcome without having to finish the program.

Or did your content create a barrier to them finishing?

Was there something missing, unclear, or hard to follow in your program that led them to give up mid way through? Was it inaccessible? Did they not get support? This is important to find out!

When you see a trend of students not finishing your course, its a great opportunity to get curious. Find out where they are falling off- is there one particular place? Is there something missing in this spot that would help them keep moving forward?

You can also create an exit survey that is triggered when someone hasn't logged in for a certain amount of time. This is a good chance to check in with them, help them get back on track, and ask them for some feedback. This feedback can be invaluable in the process of developing your course!

Aim to see a completion rate of at least 50%. If more than half the people in your course are just not finishing, that is a big 🚩🚩🚩

Are your students getting consistent results?

I love a "rags to riches" testimonial as much as the next person, but if your course is either producing massive results, or none at all, this is something to look at.

In this industry, we glorify the shiny, larger than life testimonials. We don't just want to see that someone got the expected outcome, we want to see the person who went from food stamps to 7 figure months in just 6 weeks! We want to believe that kind of MASSIVE change is possible for us!

But here's the truth about results like that. Not only are they not reasonable for most people, they are likely actually hurting your clients in the process. When you position only the "star student" testimonials, every student who gets less than rockstar level results feels like they didn't do well enough. They instantly compare their reasonable results to the unreasonable expectation you set by highlighting the person who you thought made you look the best.

I am going to go on record and say getting most students mediocre results is better than getting a few people unbelievable results.

Your course should produce a predictable outcome for the majority of people who go through it. They should walk away with the same knowledge, skills and beliefs regardless of where they started. If your students aren't getting consistent results, there is a good chance your program is lacking some of the foundational information needed to level the playing field. Or you are attracting people who are not yet at the place to get those desired results.

Either way, this is a chance to get curious and improve your program.

Prefer to listen? Check out Episode 123 of the Quantum Course Creator Podcast!

Are you being asked the same questions over and over?

Don't get me wrong, I love student questions. A healthy amount of questions is an indicator that your students are engaged in the material and are working through the process of applying the knowledge to their unique situation.

But if you are hearing the same questions repeatedly, that is a sign something is missing. Look at the nature of the question. Is it something you are not being clear about in your curriculum? Or is it extraneous information that isn't covered (and really shouldn't be). Is this piece of missing information keeping your students from moving forward?

Either way, it's worth addressing. Identify when and why this question is coming up, and create a supplementary video or piece of content that addresses it. The goal isn't to eliminate all questions, but to use client questions to inform what needs to be clarified.

I also like to look at client questions as an opportunity to create content! No doubt if your clients have this question, people who are considering working with you have it too. Why not feed two birds with one seed?

It is worth creating a course that actually works.

At the end of the day, the quality of your course really does matter, even if you are a good marketer. Anyone can sell a bag of shit, but at the end of the day word will get around that its just shit in a fancy bag.

And your students WILL talk, even if they initially feel ostracized and isolated from the group for their experience (as so many mega course creators make people feel). And that reputation will follow you.

Plus, you became a course creator to help people, not just sell people something that doesn't work, so it is in your best interest to do the best you can to deliver on that promise.

It's about personal responsibility.

So many mega course creators with low completion rates will chalk it up to the student's personal responsibility for their results. But maybe we as creators should take just a little more personal responsibility for the results we help people get (or not get).

Want to learn how to create a course that doesn't suck? Check out my program Create Your Quantum Course!