I always find it amusing the way online marketers over-dramatise everything :)

So in truth, my first online course didn't save my life. However, it did help me through a rather tricky period with a nasty cashflow gap a couple of years after starting my business. 

I was forced to act fast to bring in cash quickly and it taught me very clearly that a lot of the hoops we put ourselves through just aren't needed to actually create and sell an online course.

In my case I looked at the sort of questions I was getting asked and the sort of help clients were asking for – which was about how to build your own website.

I didn't have any material pre-prepared but I was confident I could deliver a course on the topic.

And I knew that although I might not have been the world's greatest expert on building your own course, I definitely could help people and that my particular experience building a site for a solo consulting business would be valuable.

So I gritted my teeth and sent an email to the small subscriber list I had at the time offering a live course delivered by webinar.

A couple more emails with some tips about building your own website along with a repeat of the offer and I had a couple of dozen signups for a $97 course.

Not life-changing money. But enough to pay the bills for a bit and take the pressure off while I brought on board more consulting clients.

But the main point is that I was able to test the market quickly by making an offer and once I knew enough demand was there I could deliver it week by week live. 

No weeks of preparing content, fancy websites and complex automation.

Just a few quick emails with the details and a Paypal link to buy.

It's something anyone can do if they're confident they can deliver a course on a topic that people are willing to pay for. 

I explain all the details of how to know whether you have something people will buy and how to quickly launch a course like this then scale it up in my in-depth guide to building online courses here:

>>> The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Online Course <<<

If you're at all interested in creating online courses it will be a big help.