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The 5to9 Creator™┃VJ

🤑 How to build your first online course

Published about 2 months ago • 4 min read

Hey fam! Hope you are doing well. I've been quite burnt out this week so if you have a tip to share, hit reply on this email and let's get chatting! 😅

Highlights for this week:
❇️ How to build an online course
🤖 5 ChatGPT prompts to help with your next job search
🧃 How to build your own stand out personal brand | EP11
🖼️ Fun AI-Generated Images of the week: Famous Samurai


❇️ My experience building a course

Building a digital course has been one of the most challenging things I've done as a creator. There were so many times when I thought I would just drop the idea and move on but I didnt for a couple of reasons...

  1. I wanted to create a place where I could provide answers to what people find most challenging. Put all my knowledge in one place.
  2. I wanted to create a monetization opportunity - You have probably heard about the social media gurus who say "Oh just launch digital products and the money will keep rolling in"... Now while I think most of them are just BS and not true, I did find a few people who really did see success so I figured, hey why not give it a try.
  3. I wanted my content to POINT to something. Quick marketing lesson: Below is what a Marketing funnel looks like. At the bottom of the funnel is where an audience turns into paying customers. So for me, I never really had any way for people who found value in my work to invest into my life. This course now provides that.

The steps I followed to build a course:
1. Research & competitor analysis: What already exists? How is mine going to be any different? How can mine be of value.
2. Planning: Outline the course from start to end. What does it contain?
3. Detail: Work out the slides or the specific content you will include.
4. Technology: Where will you host this course? I used this platform called "Thinkific". It's free for 1 course and gives you the basic tools you need.
5. Planning: Next is the planning and execution of the video component in the course. This took me the longest since I also have a 9-5 job and had to record after work and on the weekends.
6. Packaging: Lol You would think spending all your time and effort to build this is enough, but a lot of it is actually the packaging because people don't get to see the amazing thing you've built untill they buy it yeah 🤷‍♂️
7. Launch & promotion: I'm not really stressing at all when it comes to this part because the idea was to build the best course I could think of and launch it at a later date.

My Top 3 challenges:
1. Not adding more: I found myself constantly adding more and more to the course thinking "I want my students to learn this too". Another issue was creating more tools and resources on Notion. While this is nice, it does prolong the launch. So, my suggestion would be to have your plan clearly laid out and set expectations straight from the start.
2. Technology: I used a complicated software to record my video with the slides so this took me more time. I'd recommend using "Loom" or "Zoom" to record your videos with your slides. Easy Peasy.
3. Self-doubt: It's crazy but no matter how knowledgable you may be about a subject, when it comes to creating a course and putting a price on it, There are times when you question your own credibility. My learning here was to identify this as not a sign of weakness, but that of humility in myself. The idea that I believe there is always more to learn so you always will be a student in some way. :)

If you would like to check out the course, here's the link (Pre-orders open): Personal Branding 101 (thinkific.com)


🤖 Prompt: 5 ChatGPT prompts to help with your next job search

Company research

Prompt: I have an interview with [company] for the position of [job position]. Analyze the company’s website [website link] and give me a summary of the work they do.

Generate a cover letter

Prompt: [Insert job description] Write a cover letter for the role of [insert role] at [insert company], highlighting my experience with respect to the most important qualifications in the job description. Mention how my contributions at [insert previous company] will be a great addition to the [insert company].

Interview preparation

Prompt: I am interviewing for the role of [insert role]. Give me a list of the most common questions asked in the interview for this role.

Introduction email

Prompt: Write an introduction about myself in less than 150 words focusing on my experiences in [insert job field] for the [insert job title] at [insert company].

Salary negotiation

Prompt: I am a job seeker with [x] years of experience in [field]. I am applying for the role of [job role]. What are important factors to consider while negotiating my salary?

Source: Superhuman


🧃EP11: How to build your own stand out personal brand | Episode 11

Direct Links to: Spotify | Apple Podcasts


🖼️ GEN AI - Images generated by AI

This week we have: The Famous Samurai (Shrek does look pretty bad ass, "Shrek: The LAST last Samurai" ? 🤷‍♂️lol)


🧞‍♂️Your wish is my command

Thanks for reading! When you signed up for this newsletter, my promise to you was to help you empower your individuality and help you fulfil your true potential. What did you think of today's newsletter? Reply to this email and let me know what you'd like to see more of.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

​VJ​

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If you would like to read any of the previous letters

The 5to9 Creator™┃VJ

@vishaljosephroy

You don't need to quit your 9-5 to build your personal brand. You just need a 5-9 that works. Every week, you'll get actionable tips to optimize your life, become a 5to9 Creator, and build your personal brand, all in a less than 4-minute read.

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