Off the top of your head, can you name the BEST money you’ve spent in your business? I can – it was a course from Breanne Dyck on creating courses.

I KNOW. It sounds so meta, right? A course on courses? But I’ve taken those six weeks of knowledge and applied them to so much – from getting to know my clients to crafting services that light me up + satisfy my clients’ needs.

Speaking of satisfaction…ever wonder how you satisfy your course participants? Concerned that people might never finish it? (Aren’t we all?) I (metaphorically) sat down with Breanne to talk shop about courses.

Interview: Satisfying Courses With Breanne Dyck

What makes you passionate about online courses? Why did you decide to focus on teaching entrepreneurs how to create efficient + profitable courses?

In a lot of ways, my passion for online courses — and specifically for creating amazing ones — comes from having taken too many bad ones! That’s actually how I got started; when I was starting out on my own, I focused on web design work. As I was trying to learn how to be a freelancer, I took a lot of courses. Some were good, many weren’t.

What I realized is that — while I love the work that so many of these amazing entrepreneurs are putting out into the world, I hate that they’re sabotaging themselves and hampering their efforts to have as big an impact as they could. Having just worked for the previous 5 years in higher ed, I knew there was an alternative — and that I could help them actually craft learning experiences that create results. I also happen to love business for its own sake, and so helping entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses is music to my ears.

What’s your favorite method to keep course “lurkers” actively participating in the course content?

It’s important to realize that there will always be people in a program who get in there and then don’t complete. Someone in the family dies, they get sick, unavoidable stuff happens. That said, what I do instead is actively work to help people recognize and take accountability for their own choices and their own results. I’ll ask them things like: “what could get in the way of you successfully implementing this course?” and “what steps will you take if and when those things happen?”

By asking people to pre-plan and pre-commit, they’re more likely to honor those commitments.

Is there a way to encourage passive participants to be more active?

The most important thing you can do is to focus on what they actually want from the course. Why are they there? Then, tie back everything you do to that goal. It’s not that passive participants don’t want to do the work at all; it’s that they only really are motivated to do it if they can see how it gets them closer to their goal.

Make that connection clear, and they’ll be more active.

Is there ONE easy way for course creators to keep participants engaged and taking action?

Unfortunately, there’s no one magic bullet for engagement. Researchers have tried and tried to find it, but no such luck! Rather than focusing on specific techniques, then, it’s more important to focus on the big picture: what ARE the actions that you want participants to take, and how can you make it as simple as possible for them to take those actions?

How do you measure success in your own courses?

For me personally, I measure my courses based on ripple effects. If my customers’ and clients’ businesses grow, that’s great. But if their business grows and has a positive impact on their customers … that’s a win, in my books.

What are a few traits of a successful course?

The definition of a successful course depends a lot on the business, the business model, and the goals of the CEO. Some measure success by impact, others by revenue, and yet others by profit margins. For me, though, I find that if you stay focused on the Three Rs (retention, repeat buyers and referrals), you’ll be able to move the needle in all the other areas. Focusing on creating transformation for your customers is the lead indicator for pretty much every other aspect of business.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Without customers, you have no business. – @MNIBreanne” quote=”Without customers, you have no business. – @MNIBreanne”]

After all, without customers, you have no business.

Want to get a taste of Breanne’s work?

Her newest book: BEYOND SATISFACTION walks you through some of her course making magic + how to create profitable courses that SATISFY your dream clients to keep them coming back for more.