If there's one thing that I've learned from creating multiple online courses over the last decade or so it's the power of fast feedback.

That's been amplified by what I've heard from the successful course builders I've interviewed recently.

You see it in the idea of pre-selling your course. And in piloting it once sold. The faster you get feedback on whether it's a good idea or whether the course is working, the faster you can adjust.

But it's much more than that. It's a different way of working, and it applies to so many different aspects of marketing and business.

Back in the day, the “right” way to create a course would be to do a ton of research, think about it deeply, create a detailed specification, build a brilliant course and then go big on your launch to ensure your success.

Except often it wasn't a success. Or at least anywhere near what you'd hoped.

Often the topic of the course wasn't the right one to inspire your audience. Or it just wasn't the right format. Or you were selling it to the wrong people. Or any one of a host of reasons you can only really find out by trying things in the real world.

Today a lot has changed which makes fast feedback much more possible.

You can reach a warm audience much easier. People are much more willing to take part in pilots and tests. The technology means you can quickly knock up a half decent version of a course and polish it later. You can get instant feedback and work with people on live video calls.

But fast feedback isn't just about the course itself.

How do you know what topic to focus on?

In the past you'd have picked a problem you thought was a big issue. Or if you were lucky, one that clients had told you was important to them.

Today you can start publishing content about a handful of problems on Linkedin or Twitter or Medium or email or whichever media reaches your audience. You can see which one really clicks with them and gets them engaged.

You can double down on it and go deeper. You can interact with them to see which aspects are important to them.

And then you can punt a potential course on that topic.

You can find out in days what might have taken you months or longer in the past. And that takes the guesswork out of creating courses – and so much of your marketing too.

And it gives you confidence too. You don't have to spend months squirrelling away in the background on your masterwork hoping that when it sees the light of day it'll be what people want. 

You can build in public and make sure it is.

Don't market in the dark. Test different options. See which works. Go deeper.