The meeting had been going on for hours.

Five LONG hours.

But it was important.

The company was creating a new product, and they needed to know what their target customer really wanted.

They made pie charts…

They drew up spreadsheets…

They analysed trend forecasts…

They each stood up and made speeches arguing for this or that, waving big wads of A4 paper full of data.

Coffees were brought in.

Then doughnuts.

Lots of doughnuts.

It was a calorific nightmare.

But after months of expensive research, they HAD to get a clear answer – what was it that their customer really wanted?

If they didn’t get it right, there would be disappointed shareholders, redundancies, lost bonuses – heads would roll!

Now, this sounds stressful, doesn’t it?

You can imagine this being what it’s like to launch a product.

And believe me, this kind of scenario happens.

Big companies and agencies spend small fortunes on customer surveys, focus groups, trend forecasters, consultants and marketing agencies.

But they have a lot riding on their decisions, and a lot of responsibilities to staff, shareholders and suppliers, never mind their customers.

So I’m not saying all those processes aren’t valuable.

BUT…

You don’t need to go through any of this.

And here’s why…

The beauty of setting up a small enterprise, like an online course, is that you have low risks, low overheads, and only yourself to answer to.

You’re nimble and adaptable.

You can try things out without too much fear.

So you don’t need to make things overly complicated.

In fact, making things complicated is one of the big pitfalls that trip up first-time course creators.

They assume that they have to go through the rigmarole of endless research, analysis, surveys…

Or that they need the budget of the ‘big boys’.

But really, you don’t.

For instance (and this might sound crazy) but if you want to find out what your target customer wants you could just…. ASK THEM!

After all, even if you have no clients or customers at the moment, I’m sure that you will know at least one or two people who fit into your customer profile.

How about emailing or phoning them with a simple question:

“If you could wave a magic wand and discover the perfect solution to your [INSERT SUBJECT] problem, what would that look like?”

For instance, it could be:

“If you could wave a magic wand and discover the perfect solution to your business’s recruitment problem, what would that look like?”

Or you could adapt it a bit so it’s like this…

“If you could wave a magic wand and fix ONE problem in your online businesses’ marketing strategy what would it be?”

You can tweak this question to match your voice or subject matter – but you can see what I mean.

It is MORE than enough to get you going.

Because once you know this, you have something to create your course around… a problem that needs YOUR course as a solution.

And look, it doesn’t have to be perfect straight off.

Because the great thing about publishing an information product online is that you can CHANGE it later, again and again, until it’s bang-on.

Better to get something out into the world now than working for months to get something ‘perfect’ that might not even work.

You see, I’m a big believer in taking action – and not waiting till everything is 100% right before you launch a product.

Because truth is, it will never be perfect – although if you follow my Course Creation Academy, you’ll be able to get it very close indeed, using my templates and strategies.

I know this from my own experience…

I was lucky enough to learn from Michael Masterson, a writer and product developer in the USA, who wrote a book called Ready, Fire, Aim (a book I’d highly recommend!).

He believed that with information products, the important thing was to get your idea out there into the world first. Then, once you see it working, you can make some adjustments to make it even better because you get real-world feedback.

That’s what I did with my first product.

No focus groups. No big-budget research programmes. No overnight sessions with coffee analysing spreadsheets.

Instead I identified that there was a specific kind of customer who needed a specific kind of information.

Then I got our first product out there as quickly as I could to test the idea.

When I knew it worked, that’s when I started refining it.

The process really can be that simple and it works…

So, with that in mind, let’s see if we can get you started!

The sooner you test your course out, the better

I know you’ve got an interest in creating online courses…

But I realise it seems like a daunting process.

And if you aren’t already a member of Course Creation Academy then please check out this free masterclass as I can help move any roadblocks in your way – whether those are practical or psychological.

Believe me, when it comes to creating courses, I’ve been there, seen it, done it… and got the t-shirt!

So click here and let me help you overcome those obstacles – let’s get your first course out there!

As you’ll see, you could even start testing sales before you create the product itself. Then you can go ahead, knowing it’s a winner, with some income already rolling in.

Click here to find out more