Introduction
There are so many choices out there for digital tools and technology when we build our digital course business. It is downright dizzy-ing!
All too often, course creators ask me what technology they need because the process of figuring it out is time consuming, overwhelming, and no one has time to compare 20 different tools when we are wearing all of the hats in our business.
As a digital course creator for over 15 years, I’ve gotten to know a lot of the platforms out there and today I’m going to help simplify your search for the right tech tools, and this is not just another recommendation for an AI tool.
I’ll share with you 6 of my favorite tools, but to keep this episode short and listenable, I’ll walk you through three this week and three in Episode 181. This will give you time to check out the tools in manageable chunks and to actually make some decisions.
Whether you genuinely enjoy spending hours researching tech tools or want a shortcut to getting tech figured out, I’m sure you’ll find something for you inside this episode.
Top Tech Tools
One of the biggest challenges that I see course creators having is with choosing technology. In fact, I was in a Facebook group not too long ago and there was a whole thread of course creators commenting that the big thing holding them up in making progress on their course and even in their business was the tech.
Choosing the right technology. Even though we can often pay month-to-month while we test out different options, it still feels like a big commitment. Don’t even get me started on the pressure that you can feel when you hit the annual subscription button, even if you do get a few months for free by doing that.
As I mentioned, I have a total of 6 tech tools for you that I’m going to split across two episodes. I’ll cover 3 in this episode and three in episode 181 so that you can take action and test them out without feeling rushed.
Now I also said that the tools I’m sharing are not just a bunch of AI tools. I don’t actually love most AI tools, but there is one part of a tool that I’m going to share that has an AI component that makes my day. At the end of today’s episode I’ll share more about that specific AI piece of Tool 2.
Let’s jump in with the first adjustment.
1: Brainstorming/Planning
Can we all agree that a digital course business requires a LOT of brainstorming, planning, and jotting down of notes? Right now, my desk is pretty organized and I still have about 12 sticky notes filled with ideas and next steps. Some are for my clients, some are for my own business, and some are just reminders.
Brainstorming is a big part of a successful business. It is how we sort through ideas to find the best ones to pursue and the ones that need to be set on the back burner to simmer for a while.
The challenge is that you could pull out your trusty paper sticky notes…I clearly love mine. Or you can use an online tool to keep everything organized and away from your puppy who loves to eat paper, the cat who bats loose papers under the couch, or your child who grabs any available paper for their next art project.
Whenever I post my course module brainstorming and mapping in Facebook groups, I always get questions about how to create something that is so organized and neat. I use Miro for this and love it.
Miro has templates or a blank canvas to map out pretty much any idea that you might have. It can be a vision board, a planner for your month, a way to organize your course modules, a flow chart for your Virtual Assistant, and the list goes on.
Miro has a lot of different tiers for pricing, including a generous free tier. In my book, it is worth checking out.
I’ve created email flow charts for clients, visually mapped out entire courses complete with resources, examples, and key concepts, outlined challenges and sprints for list growth, and so many other little tasks.
So while, I still love my sticky notes, Miro really works well, especially if I’m out and about. I don’t have to worry that I’ve left behind the all important sticky note. I can sign in to Miro, check out what I needed to know and keep moving forward.
It is a time-saver, paper-saver, and keeps me organized.
2: Content Creation
Now if we are busy getting everything organized, it stands to reason that we will soon be ready to create content for our business. Content creation sometimes gets an ugly rap, but in reality content creation is all about getting your name out into the world, building visibility, credibility, and authority. It doesn’t have to be this ugly thing, especially with the right tools.
AI has really revolutionized content creation, but the reality is that AI isn’t going to create content that is truly unique to you, your core values, your mission, and your personality. It might get close, but there will always be something that is a little off. That doesn’t mean that I’m opposed to AI, in fact, at the end of today’s episode, I’ll share more about the AI portion of one of my favorite content creation tools, Social Curator.
You may have heard me talk about Social Curator before in episode 85, but that review doesn’t even begin to touch on the innovations that have become a part of Social Curator in the past year or so.
Jasmine Star is an expert at guiding you to create content that is highly personalized but doable. She provides not only templates that give you the chance to create a unique caption, but there is also an entire library of beautiful, high quality photographs that you can include with your posts, blogs, sales pages, and more.
Social Curator also gives you access to schedule your content and have it automatically post to several outlets, like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
As part of the platform, there is a built-in community, monthly classes, calls with Jasmine, action plans, and the opportunity to get help when you are feeling blocked with your content creation.
Social Curator is another one of my must have tools that I happily pay the annual fee for. There is even an AI feature that I love. I’ll share more about Dottie at the end of today’s episode.
Quite honestly, with Social Curator, there isn’t any reason to avoid content creation when there is endless inspiration with the templates, plans, and gamification available inside.
3: Design
Our third and final tool for the episode revolves around all of the design work that we have to do as digital course creators. As a digital course creator we need logos, brand colors, templates for our course modules so that they are cohesive, podcast intros, workbooks for students, course calendars, and more.
The thought of having to create all of that in a Google Doc is mind-numbing. The good news is that Canva helps to streamline all of these things.
You might not be surprised to hear that I’m recommending Canva, but you might be surprised to hear a few of the ways that I use it. First up, I use it to collaborate with clients in real-time. If a client is creating a flyer for an upcoming workshop, we can hop into Canva at the same time and collaborate on the changes that need to be made.
Secondly, I use Canva to create templates for the video version of this podcast. This means that creating a visually interesting video podcast takes less than 5 minutes. I adjust the templates in Canva and load them straight into my video editing tool, Descript. Who doesn’t love finding more time in your day!
Finally, I’ve used Canva for creating timelines for groups. For example, when I headed up a group of 10 entrepreneurs in a collaborative list building event, I created an entire schedule of To Do’s, where to find each resource, and a list of important dates with key actions. Everyone who participated appreciated the simplicity of the documents.
So, even though Canva might be a no-brainer tool that you adopted long ago, I encourage you to look for new ways to use it to save time, money on other subscriptions, and energy so that you can do more of what you love and less time pulling your hair out designing something in a word doc that could have been accomplished in a few short minutes within Canva.
Action Item: Test The Tools
My challenge for you this week is to look at each of the three tools I shared and explore them. How could they help you stay focused and more productive? What are some potential ways they could distract you from your key tasks this quarter.
Not all tools work for every person; that is ok. We have to find the ones that work best for us, which is exactly why I’ll share more about an AI tool at the end of this episode that I actually enjoy using as a skeptic of AI in content creation.
The key is to take action this week instead of getting stuck in the muck and mire of technology. Each time we make a decision, we are strengthening that muscle and the tech decisions get easier and faster over time.
Don’t Get Stuck on Tech
Today, we’ve been talking about the technology that we can use within our business. We focused on brainstorming and planning, content creation, and design work. I shared some of my favorite tools with you and will share 3 more in Episode 181, but the key is to find a tool and get to work. As a Digital Course Creator Guide, I’m committed to helping course creators build a successful business. Today I hope you’ve learned about a new tool or have been able to see a tool in a new light with a new purpose.
As you’ve heard, on the Digital Course Creator Podcast I’m openly sharing the lessons I’ve learned, the tools and tactics that I’ve used so that you can become a Six-Figure Digital Course Creator.
But here’s what I’ve realized. All too often the solutions designed to help you get to six-figures focus on the surface level things.
Although choosing tech tools is an important piece of the process, success in business and in any area of life requires strategy in a number of categories. We have to dig deeper and you can get that from a lot of different resources: books, podcasts, webinars, and even courses.
So do we still struggle to reach our enrollment and financial goals? Because whatever change we want in our lives will be 10% what we learn, read, or study, and 90% or more mindset.
As a Psychology Professor and Coach, I share as much as I can about mindset here on the show, but to truly thrive we all need individualized attention, accountability, and support.
So if you are ready to say yes to a thriving, financially solid business, I’d love to have a conversation with you.
I have at least two slots open on my calendar each week to help course creators take action, dig into their purpose, and create a strategic plan for growth so that they can get unstuck! These are free, no obligation calls.
If you are ready to make the next 12 months THE year that you go from being uncertain about your course creation business to a Six-Figure Course Creator, grab a strategy call slot at coursecalls.com.
Sixty-Second Solution
If you’ve been around me for any length of time, you’ll know that I don’t use a lot of AI in my business. There is one piece of AI I get giddy over: Social Curator’s Dottie. Dottie uses the Social Curator method of creating compelling content. I’ve found that some of the best suggestions, edits, and ideas for getting an idea across concisely have come from Dottie. For instance, Dottie has helped me refine my social media posts, suggesting more engaging headlines and improving my writing flow.
I’ve compared many different systems, and time and again, I return to Dottie. So, if you haven’t found an AI tool you love and trust as an assistant in your content creation, check out Social Curator and Dottie!
