Monetize Your Podcast with an Online Course ft. Michelle Smit [Ep. 91]

Click play to learn how to monetize your podcast with an online course:

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Here’s what to expect from this episode:

If you've ever thought about creating an online course, there's no better time than now. 

Because "How do I monetize my podcast?" is one of the most commonly asked questions I get. And aside from getting official sponsors for your show, one of the best ways to monetize your podcast is to drive your listeners to your offers, like TPT products, a monthly membership, or an online course. 

So today, we're kicking off a new series diving into monetizing your show through your offers. And this episode is all about online courses. To talk all about this, I have on Michelle from Digiteach, a former ESL teacher who now helps educators in business make more while teaching less by launching courses and group programs online. 

As you'll hear in the episode, creating an online course is not all rainbows and butterflies, it takes a lot of experimentation. But once you get it figured out, it's so worth it. Tune in to hear us chat about what it takes to sell courses and group programs online, who they're a good fit for (and who they're not), Michelle's 5 steps to launching your online course (and a recommended timeline), and so much more. 

So if you're looking for a way to monetize your podcast and create additional revenue streams in your business, then I think you'll love this episode and the ones to follow. So let's go ahead and get started!

Topics Covered:

• What it takes to sell courses and group programs online

• Who courses are a good fit for (and who they're not)

• The 5 (condensed) steps to launching your online course

• The role your podcast can play in your course launch runway

• Shifting from 1:1 services to selling courses and group programs

• Michelle's best advice for launching your first online course

Resources mentioned:

• Sign up for my new audio course, Podcast Like You Mean It

• Join the Podcasting for Educators Prep School

• Sign up for my mini-course, Guesting for Educators

• Get access to my private podcast, Guesting for Educators

Connect with MICHELLE:

• Download the FREE Niche Discovery Guide

• Find her on Instagram @_digiteach_

• Find her on Facebook

• Check out her website, digiteach.biz

• Sign up for The Educators Income Booster Bootcamp waitlist, and get a free Niche Discovery training!

Connect with Sara:

• Book a free call to discuss how we can work together

• Book a 1:1 strategy call

• Connect with me on Instagram @podcastingforeducators

Related episodes:

• Summer Launch Secrets: How To Leverage Podcasting For Maximum Impact With Melanie Battistelli [Ep. 88]

• DIY Podcasting + Membership Launch Strategy With Lauren Tingle Of Counselor Clique [Ep. 56]

• 5 Ways To Leverage Your Podcast Leading Up To A Launch [Ep. 33]

• Read the transcript for this episode:

  Sara Whittaker 0:00

  Hey there, and welcome back to another episode of podcasting for educators. If I had to pick one of the most commonly asked questions that I get it would be how do I monetize my podcast? My answer is this. There's several ways to monetize your podcast, but they really break down into two categories. Number one, you can get Official sponsors for your show. Or number two, you can drive your podcast listeners to your own offers and monetize that way. As far as offers go, there's so many options like TPT products and online course a monthly membership or one to one Services. Today, we're kicking off a new series is all about monetizing your podcast through your own offers. We're starting today with online courses. If you've ever thought about creating an online course, there's no better time than now. To talk all about this I have on Michelle from digit teach. Michelle helps educators in business make more while teaching less by launching courses and group programs online. I know I can speak from experience about online courses. It's something that I added to my business about a year ago, and I'm so glad that I did the majority of my course students learned about the course and build trust with me from this podcast. So while an online course is not the only option, it is a really great option. As you'll hear in the episode, creating an online course is not all rainbows and butterflies, and it takes a lot of experimentation. But once you get it figured out, it's so worth it. So if you're looking for a way to monetize your podcast and create additional revenue streams in your business, then I think you're going to love this episode and the ones to follow. So let's go ahead and get started. Your Podcast is a powerful tool that serves your audience and your business. But how do you manage it all bring in new listeners, and convert those listeners into customers. That's what this show is all about. Welcome to podcasting for educators. I'm Sara Whitaker, classroom teacher turn podcast manager, and I'm here to help you get the most out of your show, all while making an impact on other educators. All right, we are here with Michelle. Michelle, welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for being here.

  Michelle Smit 2:14

  Thank you so much for having me. Now,

  Sara Whittaker 2:17

  before we get into the bulk of what we are going to be talking about today, which is online courses and course creation, can you just give us a little bit of your background in education and how you shifted to where you are today in business?

  Michelle Smit 2:32

  Cool. Alrighty, so I used to be an ESL teacher in Vietnam. That's how I started in education. And then I progressed on to being an online ESL teacher as an online ESL teacher for about five years. In that time, I moved to the Netherlands. And I actually couldn't really afford living in the Netherlands with my online ESL teaching salary. And I was like, Okay, I need to like make some changes, this is not a vibe. And I was just getting very tired from the repetition of online ESL teaching, because I was just repeat teaching the same thing over and over. And I just got quite bored, to be honest. And I really crave growth and challenge. And of course, I wanted to make more money, so I could live in the Netherlands. So I was kind of forced into a position where I had to innovate, and I had to really push for some change in my life. I actually had to, you know, I couldn't continue the way that I was. So I ended up finding a mentor. He just sort of came into my world at the right time. And he helped me he told me about this thing called online business and courses, and I had never heard about it in my life. I was like, What is this revelation, it was all foreign talk to me, but essentially helped me launch my first course, which was helping teachers become ESL teachers, because that's what I knew how to do. And that's how did you teach started. So I then just ran that course. And it was very successful. It did very well. I ran that for about two years, that was like my main focus. And then I got out of alignment with that. And I had that itch. You know, there's that little itch inside something wasn't right. And I realized I wasn't passionate about ESL teaching and things like that what I was passionate about was business and cause creation and all the good stuff that comes with that. And so I pivoted, about two and a half years or maybe three years ago into helping educators start their own online business, specifically through launching of courses or group programs, because that's what I had done. That's what I love to do. That's how I knew how to help people. And that's kind of where I'm at today. That's kind of what I do now. So that is the nutshell of it.

  Sara Whittaker 4:47

  Yeah, that's awesome. And I also taught I did some virtual ESL teaching for a little while that was kind of like my first dip into anything in the online space and like you I found it extreme really repetitive The hours were terrible. The pay was terrible. I did not last very long. Very, very tough. Yes. And then I found out just like you about this online business space of starting your own business. And the rest is history. I just I love it right is it's like, oh my gosh, what is this world like, I did not know that this existed. And it is. It's amazing. It's amazing. And I just love that you specifically help educators with course creation, because I think, personally, I think educators just make such great course creators because we are just natural teachers. And it's just such a great fit. So tell us because that's what we're really going to be talking about today is online courses. And for those of you specifically who are listening, who maybe you have a TPT store, maybe you've dabbled in some sort of digital creation, but you're looking for some other revenue streams that you can add to your business. And in terms of podcasting, that's what this show is all about, I find that having an online course is just such a great complement to your podcast, because it's such a natural fit. It's such a great way to turn people from listeners into customers, because if they love listening to you on your podcast, it's just a very organic transition into learning more about your course. So I'm excited to talk about courses today and help some some of our listeners who maybe are dabbling with the idea of starting a course. So tell us a little bit about in your opinion. Well, actually, first, I'm gonna back up for a second, because you you help people launch courses and group programs, do you how do you define a group program versus a course.

  Michelle Smit 6:50

  So the way that I define it is that I see a course as a purely a digital product where you create the training, and people were to buy that training. And they would do the training in their own time or you create workbooks, the whole course is created, and they can then purchase it and go through it in their own time. I kind of view courses more as slower cost then group programs. So group programs is, for me, the way I do it is a combination between a digital program and some sort of live coaching component element. It's more live, it's more like in a group capacity. Where there is a curriculum, there are modules you release maybe every week, or you do it live with them every week. But essentially, the live component is more and there's more proximity to you. By nature, there's more support in a group program. And so the price is higher. Typically, that's the way I view it in my perspective. Yeah,

  Sara Whittaker 7:51

  yeah, that's perfect. So it seems like with a group program, you're definitely going to have more of like that accountability piece, which will be great for people who maybe aren't so great at doing that self paced course. So yeah, I love having those two options. And I've seen a lot of people especially lately, in the past few months, I've seen a lot of people who have an online course. And maybe it's all like on the same sales page, they'll have their their kind of like self study course. And then they'll have that upgrade option where you can also add that live components. So I just think that's a great route to go.

  Michelle Smit 8:21

  That's brilliant, because some people will prefer just doing it in their own time. And other people love the live component and in a group with for meeting people and the support and accountability. So offering both of those is actually ideal. Yeah, people have different levels.

  Sara Whittaker 8:36

  Yeah. So what do you feel like it really takes to get out there and sell an online course or a group coaching program?

  Michelle Smit 8:47

  Stuff, one, because there's so many things that I could really go on about this, but I feel like what I've noticed to be one of the most instrumental and like in the students that I've worked with is really their character and their attitude around the whole thing, like their mindset is really imperative. So you really want to have grit, in the sense that you're not just gonna do it once and just be like, cool. That was That didn't work. I'm never doing that ever again. Like, we have to know that like, we're not going to be the best or the first do something and having that grit to continue and just commitment really to making it work. So not just giving up after the first time, because the first time is probably not going to be your best time it's probably going to have a lot of mistakes in it. So just commitment to making it work. Obviously a willingness to fall along the way being just like any kind of entrepreneurship, being willing to put yourself out there, it potentially not working you learning from it and then adjusting and tweaking. That's the kind of attitude you need. You really need that kind of mindset. Like the first time you put out your offer. It might not be like an sold out thing. You might have missed the messaging you might need to tweak things and learn about it. So you need to have that willingness to fall along the way and Don't make it mean anything about you or that you're not good enough. It's just part of the process of getting good at doing at launching after course, creation and delivery of courses as well. Yeah, you also just need to have, I think that entrepreneurial desire in you somewhere, just that desire for you to expand, grow. And very important, you have to be open to upskilling and learning new skills, skills that will typically make you quite uncomfortable in the beginning. So getting into that discomfort, space, learning how to sell learning how to like launch mark, like marketing, speaking on video, just being open to that experience, because you've to me, i it's imperative, like you need to be open to upskilling. And, yeah, that's what it takes upskilling and also up leveling your your perspective and your mindset and how you sort of view the whole thing as well.

  Sara Whittaker 10:58

  Yeah, I think that's great advice. I think so many people, when they think about launching an online course, it's like that passive income is in their head. And I think sometimes we're sold this story that we just have to create this course one time, and you launch it once, and then it's just like, everybody will just buy it over and over again. And you'll never have to work another day in your life. And that's just so far from the truth.

  Michelle Smit 11:22

  That is literally what people think, like, I get that a lot like I get people telling me like, how do I create this passive income stream? Like, how can I make it as passive as possible? Like, they just think that you create it, and someone's gonna buy it, and then it's done. It's really not like that. It's something you want to actually you also want to enjoy the process, you must enjoy the process of it, because it's not going to just be like a quick thing. You need to enjoy delivery of courses and enjoy the process of selling it as well.

  Sara Whittaker 11:52

  Yeah, absolutely. There's so many things that go into it so much skill, like you mentioned, that's really new for most of us when we go to launch our first online course. And when you were talking about how you know the first time you launch, it's probably not going to be your best time. And that doesn't mean that you should stop, it just means that you need to kind of look at everything and decide how you want to refine it. And it's the same thing that I say about launching a podcast, like your first few episodes are probably not going to be your best episodes that you're ever going to create. But it's a new skill. It's something that you're doing for the first time, and you just gotta get out there, do it. And you can refine things along the way. So that's perfect. Now what kind of if somebody's kind of like, okay, why I'm thinking about maybe launching an online course. But I don't know if it's the right move for me. What kind of educator? Do you think that courses are best suited for it? Like, do you think it's a good fit for everybody? Or not so much?

  Michelle Smit 12:46

  No, I don't think it's a good fit for everyone. I would say it's ideal for the educator who is already interested in building a business or who already already has some sort of business, you know, and whether that's a TBT business, tutoring business, freelance teaching gigs, or maybe they're just like smashing it on outschool. But they maybe they've just reached a plateau in their life, especially where you start getting a bit bored. If there's like a little bit of boredom, or like, you're getting a bit monotonous, and you're craving more, and you're creative craving a challenge, expansion, it's definitely for those because that's how I can really when I was a teacher at ESL teacher, the signs for me were that like, lack of energy, and just uninspired and little bit bored, a little bit like, this is just easy, I can literally teach blindfold, I wouldn't have even used my brain, I was like a robot, I was just, you know, got too easy. So that is a, if you're in that space, like I think cost creation can be an online business is an amazing potential option. It's also for the educator who desires to teach in a group capacity, who really wants to move away from the one on one model, like not completely, but at least to lessen it. So not their entire income relies on one on one teaching or some sort of like small class teaching. They're getting really tired of that monotonous repetition as well. And they're, they're desiring to sort of deliver their teaching in more of a group, bigger group capacity. Because launching courses is quite different to, you know, one on one students and the way you teach is quite different and things like that.

  Sara Whittaker 14:32

  Yeah, absolutely. And I know that this is a huge, huge question and we could be here all day talking about this, but what like what does it look like to launch a course what is kind of like the condensed version of that process?

  Michelle Smit 14:47

  So what it doesn't look like and I think what this is what people think it looks like is spending like six months creating a course in your house like not speaking to anyone and just creating this course and me Think like the most beautiful workbooks and like graphics ever on Canva. Yeah, and then just say putting it out there into the world. And being like, here's my course, buy it. And that's not a course launch. But that's what most people do, they just spend a lot of time creating the product. And then they don't spend any time marketing and selling it, they put it out there. And like, after a week, they've still got crickets, no one's bought, they then go into like a spiral, think they're not good enough and give up. So that happens a lot. Launching is actually quite a process, it's quite a thing. It's a lot of moving parts to launching a course. But the way that I teach it in, like DBA, my program and the students that I work with is we have five phases. So I'll just run through the five phases. And the launch is like a runway, I want you to think of a launch like a long runway in the lead up to the day you open your course. So the launch is not just opening your course, it's actually everything you do before you open your course that's, that's a launch. And that's what makes a big difference is the runway. So phase one is lead generation or list building. This is just where your goal is essentially just to grow an audience and an email list. That is your focus office one growing audience and email list. This takes time. Don't underestimate that, how long it takes to do this. And then phase two, I would say is the connection phase. So this is where you deeply connect with your audience and the people on your email list. And you start to like sort of drop breadcrumbs that you're creating this thing, you you foreshadow your program, you can send out a survey, learn a bit about what they want, like connect, really connect with these people and learn what they want. Like that's key in the connection phase. And then phase three is the excitement phase. And this is where you start hyping your audience up for your program and your free event that you're going to run free, some free thing that you're going to run them through, you start getting loud about it, you start getting people amped for it. And then phase four is the education phase. And this is essentially where you are giving your audience an awesome experience online, where you it's almost like an appetizer or taster of your teaching methods, how you can help people all of that jazz. So you want to show your students or their audience your results, you want to show them the transformation that you can help them achieve. This is like either a webinar or or a bootcamp or a challenge. Whatever this experience looks like, you just want to run them through some sort of experience. This is typically free, it can be paid as well. So there's both options. But yeah, it's like a little mini appetizer, so they can see what you're about, see how you can help them right. And then at the end of this event, you then open the doors to your program. And then Phase Five is open cart. And this is just essentially, I would say seven days is a good OpenCart period. But some people do up to 14 days, five to 14 days. Essentially, this phase is all about promoting your offer, selling your offer the squeezing emails you get on social media, you do a bunch of you just get visible and you sell your offer, the goal is just to sell. And that's it. That is the five phases of a launch in a very condensed way. It's how I launch, it's how I've always kind of launched. Obviously, there's very different ways of doing each phase. There's so many different ways of doing each phase. But those are the goals of each phase. And if you hit those goals, if you focus on those things, and you do them pretty as well as you can, you're gonna set yourself up for a much more successful open cart. So when you open the doors to your program, you're not going to have crickets, you will have you know, people ready to buy.

  Sara Whittaker 18:57

  Yeah, I love how you lay all of those phases out, do you have a recommended time span that you typically like encourage people to kind of set aside for all of those phases from like, start to finish.

  Michelle Smit 19:12

  So the lead generation and list building, it takes time for that phase. So I would say like you should be from as long as you can in advance just building an email list. So yeah, don't ever start, like just start when you can just build some sort of email list as soon as you can. Because that does take time. But say you're running a webinar and you want to like get people signing up for this webinar or or bootcamp or challenge. I think the max that you can really push it to is like four weeks in advance of the event. Because if you do it any longer people just aren't going to show up and four weeks is really Max like, yeah, it's actually best to do it two weeks before, like when you're actively promoting this webinar or challenge or whatever. So lead generation varies based on what you're doing and the strategy, but typically the next phases that are I, that you do, which is connection, excitement, education. OpenCart, I typically would say seven days for each. That's how I do it, I just do seven days of okay, the goal of this week now is to connect with my audience, I'm going to serve them, I'm going to get on calls, whatever it is to connect the next phase excitement, I'm going to do this to excite them for the seven days. The next phase is the event. If it's a challenge, it's about a week, or if it's a video series, you can run it over a week. So it's like a week experience with people where you have lots of touchpoints with them, and you connect with them, and you help them and then the next phase is open cart. And that I also would say, five to seven days. Because if you've done all the previous phases, well, when you open cart, you don't actually need to have your cart open for super long. There's no need people are already ready to buy the day when you open people are buying, right? Yeah,

  Sara Whittaker 20:55

  they're primed and ready. Yeah, they're excited for those doors. So

  Michelle Smit 20:59

  you don't want like a long open cop period, because you actually need energy. You need mad energy in that time to show up. And if it's too long, like 14 days, it's hard to keep up.

  Sara Whittaker 21:10

  Yeah, that's like a that's a lot that you have to put out. If you're if you're really like getting on socials every single day and sending emails for like two weeks. That's a lot. Yeah, it's a lot of work a lot of work. Now, and I I always love to just like think about the role that your podcast can play in this like launch runway that you're talking about. And I feel like those early phases like, especially the connection phase, I feel like your podcast is such a valuable tool there in terms of being able to build that connection with people in anticipation and in the lead up to your course launch.

  Michelle Smit 21:48

  The podcast is incredible for that. Like I've only just created a podcast, I think, like three or four months ago. And with the help of your podcast, it's been amazing, actually, yeah, for your podcast has been for me and creating my podcast. Yeah. But yeah, it's it's really powerful. The way that people, the relationships deepen, and for lead generation and for Yeah, audience growth, it is slow. It's not like a fast. It's not a fast solution, right. But it's a deep and very, very quality solution to that. And you know, you can speak about your offices and all this stuff in advance. It makes a huge difference.

  Sara Whittaker 22:30

  Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I totally agree. And I'm so glad to hear that the podcast has helped you with yours. Now, do you? I feel like this is a big battle in the online space of like, whether you believe in ever putting your corpse on evergreen versus doing like a couple of live launches a year? Do you have an opinion on that?

  Michelle Smit 22:50

  I've done both. I think both strategies are awesome in their own way. Both strategies also have their challenges in their own way. So it really depends on what you're willing to put up with and what challenge you want to go with. What problems you want to deal with. What I can say is doing both is actually ideal. So for example, I have my signature program, which is did you teach us was Academy, that's my main program. I live launch it three times a year, okay. It's only open for enrollment three times a year with these very particular bonuses, very particular things. But in between those launches, I sell it as an evergreen offer, I have a version of it, that's evergreen, meaning it doesn't need to be live, someone can just buy the program and just do the training in their own time. There's no like live component to it. So for me, I found that works best is having as live launching because it injects big amounts of revenue in more so than evergreen word. But the Evergreen is there for more consistent stability and your income. So if you can sort of have both have a version of evergreen and have a live version, where there's special bonuses, there's special live stuff, it's probably going to be a bit more potentially more expensive. That I think is a winning option. I think that polarity in the marketing space where people are like, this is the wrong strategy. This is the right strategy. And evergreen is bad, but launching is good. And if everyone's like, you know that polarizing kind of content, you know, as well as people do it, but really, both of them are great. You just need to feel into which one suits you more, I think using both is winning because then you get bit of both.

  Sara Whittaker 24:35

  Yeah. Yeah, I love that solution. Because here's the thing, like if you have that option to have it on evergreen, then you're not turning people away. Because in my perspective, I feel like if somebody were to reach out to you and say, Hey, I'd really want to join your course. Don't you want to be able to say Oh, well, here it is. You can join it versus saying Oh, you have to wait like three more months but then you still do those live launches and you You can build that excitement, and have those big bursts of revenue during certain times of the year. So I love that solution. That's so smart.

  Michelle Smit 25:09

  Yeah, I used to just do live launching, and then I did evergreen for a while. And like last year, I just realized, why don't I just do both of these things? Like you're allowed to sell your course? Whenever you want to sell your course? Yeah, you do whatever you want. It's your business. And I must say, having both has been winning, like it's been great for me. So I definitely recommend if you can do both, like do both.

  Sara Whittaker 25:33

  So if somebody is listening, and they've they've heard the five steps of this launch process, and it's sounding really intriguing, maybe right now they're doing some like, one on one maybe in like, well, maybe in like a smaller group. Or maybe they do like me, I'm also a service provider. So I offer one on one services, how could they go about shifting from that one to one to selling courses and bigger group programs.

  Michelle Smit 26:01

  So my recommendation is first to start identifying patterns in the work that you're doing now, start observing the process that you take your students through from A to B, where they are now to their end results dot identifying the repetition. And the process, once you can identify your process, you can then systemize it, you can create a methodology on it that you can then take many students through, you can create a curriculum on it. So yeah, identify your own process method, create your own unique framework. And then essentially, that becomes your program that becomes your course, whether it's modules that you pre record, or live stuff that you deliver week by week, you now know, in a one on one capacity, I help someone from a to b like this, this is repeated over and over again, just one on one, let's make this my system, let's make it a method and start seeing it like that. And then what I would recommend is, when you are doing your first course or group program, even the first couple of times, I recommend that you do it live. So literally just delivered live with with them week by week, the first time don't make the entire product ahead of time. That's also one of the biggest tips I can give, just don't make the entire course ahead of time. Rather fill it up. And once you have buyers, deliver it week by week with them drip feed the content or just go live with them every week do training with them every week. That is something I really recommend, because a lot of people think I must create the entire project product first and then only can I mark it and sell it. But that is a really big mistake. Because often you miss the messaging, you create something people don't want, and then you spend all this time doing it. And people don't buy and it's very, very light disheartening and discouraging. So rather focus your energy on building an audience and finding your system, your process and then selling your offer focus your energy on selling it, launching it, when people buy delivered live for the first time or the first couple of times and then adjust your method and process a bit based on student feedback and stuff just to make an even better product. And then once you fine tuned it a few times, you can then pre record it or build the training out, build the modules out. And then all you need to do is sell it and then the students do it in their own time. So that's what I would say on that. And the key is to really stop thinking along the lines of how can I trade my time for money, which is just how we think because that's what we're used to, you know, we work one hour we get this amount out, you know, that's how teachers work. That's how most people work. Actually, the thinking needs to shift from that. And it needs to shift into how can I start trading value for money? How can I shift away from trading time to trading value? So how can I innovate and create resources, training guides, digital products, tools, or things like that, that I can sell that can solve problems for my students that helps them reach a certain result, without me having to be there to do it all the time with them without me having to be there to deliver it. How can I think out the box like that. And when you do start creating courses and group programs, the way you think about education and like how you deliver it sort of must change. And once you do make that switch into like trading value and seeing how you can solve problems and get your students results without you actively having to be there to teach them. Once you can make that shift. It's really exciting. Because you can then make more money you can then impact more students there isn't that glass ceiling. It's like innovation and it's it's a revelation like you Very rarely we'll go back after that, if you make that switch. Yeah, really?

  Sara Whittaker 30:05

  Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's key. And that's part of I feel like, that's why it's so important to go in with that experimental mindset of this is going to take some time and some experimentation to see what works and what doesn't to really nail down what that transformation is and what your messaging is. And then once you can do that, that's really when you can reach the most people. So I love that now, can I ask for anybody who might be listening who maybe doesn't do one on one services right now? Maybe they their income is purely from their TBT resources, in terms of pulling out a good topic for their course? Would it be good for them to look at maybe like some of their most popular TBT resources? Or do you have any other suggestions on how they can really nail down like, Oh, this is definitely what people need?

  Michelle Smit 30:59

  Yeah, I think that's something they can look into. I think when you're looking into your course, you need to see that there is a market for it. So if you're getting any kind of like, a little sign for you is if you're getting people asking you a lot of questions on something. So say you've got a TPT store, and you're getting lots of questions on how to do something from people, that's a little bit of a sign that that might be a little course that you can create, because that's how I started my ESL courses. I just everyone was asking me how to teach online. Yeah, that is the only reason I started the course. Because I was getting tired of repeat telling people how to do it. I was like, let me just create a course and buy it. And then I didn't have to repeat myself. Yes. So if you're looking for a topic and where to create your course on that's a good way to look at is, what are you repeating yourself over and over again, helping people do already? Yeah, like even just for free? Like you haven't charged for it, you're just helping people do it. I mean, it could be like, how to sell resources on TPT. Maybe you're like an exceptional, like you are crushing it on TPT. And you're just thinking or how to make amazing resources for TPT. So just draw from the experience you have, whilst also looking for demand, like there is a need for that thing. And that should point you in the direction of like a topic that you should create a course on?

  Sara Whittaker 32:17

  Yeah, great advice. Okay, well, I feel like we've covered a lot here. Do you have anything else that you feel like? Are there any gaps in this conversation? Do you do you want to add anything before we start to wrap this up?

  Michelle Smit 32:32

  I wouldn't say any gaps, I just feel like, you know, this online business. And course creation is certainly not for every educator. And it's also not to discount the work that classroom teachers are doing and online teachers are doing, there is so much value in the work that they are doing. And it is so needed. We need them, we need teachers to do that work. But there is also a percentage of educators out there who just aren't fulfilled in that work. So they're wanting more, they're craving more, they're, they're not feeling challenged, they are desiring something else, you know, something that looks quite different to the traditional. This is the non traditional way of educating, and I really do believe that this is the future, and it is going to get wild, like things are gonna get crazy. Like, before we know it, everyone's gonna have an online business, and everyone's gonna have a personal brand, and everyone's gonna be selling their own stuff. Yeah, I do think it's gonna go like quite intensely in that direction. And I think if you are an educator who is desiring more, just go for it. Like, just go for it like trust the nudges that you have inside those little nudges inside, they're just guiding you the whole way, even if it doesn't make any sense. And you're like, What the hell am I doing? Which is most of the time? Yep. Just trust the internal nudges. Go with it. Take the lead. There's only growth that can come from it. There's only good stuff that can come from it. Yeah, that's what I would really say.

  Sara Whittaker 34:07

  Yeah, I love that. Yeah. And you have so much potential to help so many people through something like an online course. And it's something that you can build. While you're if you are in the classroom. It's something you could build while you're teaching. Yeah,

  Michelle Smit 34:21

  definitely recommend that. Doing it on the side. Yes.

  Sara Whittaker 34:25

  Yeah. Don't quit your job yet. Yes. Okay. So I know you've got all kinds of great resources for people if they want to learn more from you. So can you tell us just where people can find you and your resources?

  Michelle Smit 34:40

  Yes, so I am on Instagram. I hang out mostly on Instagram. So you can find me at Digi teach on Instagram. I also have Facebook, which is also just did you teach? My website also did you teach DOP is and I think the main thing that is most helpful for people in terms of what I can offer is my educators income boot camp, which really is the best place to start, you know, just to start this process of shifting from one to one or in a classroom to group programs and courses, and especially if you're stuck on where to start, because it's like super overwhelming. So this is my $37. It's a 10 day course almost, it's $37. It's live. And it's where I help you take your knowledge or experience your passions, whatever's in in you, and I help you map out an offer from start to finish. And I also help you make sure that it's positioned to sell that there's demand for it and all of that stuff, because one of the biggest things in selling your course is actually your offer and how you create your offer, how you position it, and things like that. And I think a lot of people miss that. And so this is what I do in my educators income booster boot camp. Once you have clarity on that offer, you can then move forward a lot more easily with all the next steps. So yeah, that bootcamp runs live every couple of times a year, it is open. Now, I don't know when this podcast is coming out. It's open from enrollment. Now you can join it or just join the waitlist for it. If you do join the waitlist. It's just there, you'll see it on my website or my Instagram, you'll get free training immediately. And you'll get some bonuses when the doors open as well. So that's also worth getting on involved in. Awesome. COMM has come say hi to me on Instagram, because I always like like it when you do that.

  Sara Whittaker 36:28

  Yes, that's how that's how we connected was on Instagram. So I will include all of those links in the show notes. So whether the boot camps open or not, you can always jump on the waitlist for it and get in there. The next time that she runs it. Well, this has been really, really helpful. Thank you so much for being here.

  Michelle Smit 36:46

  Thank you so much for having me. And thank you for creating your very immensely helpful podcast as well. I really appreciate how much it's helped me. Here's my podcast. You're so welcome.

  Sara Whittaker 36:57

  I always love hearing that kind of feedback. And it is my favorite thing that I do in my business. So I am very glad that it's becoming my

  Michelle Smit 37:05

  favorite thing too. Yeah, I wish I started seeing

  Sara Whittaker 37:09

  whatever. That's what everybody says. So if you're listening, start the podcast start the course. Yeah, just do it.

  Michelle Smit 37:16

  So much fun.

  Sara Whittaker 37:20

  Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.

More about Podcasting for Educators:

Podcasting for Educators is the podcast for TpT authors and other online educators. It's a show that will help you get your podcast in front of those who need it most - teachers, counselors, literacy specialists, SLPs, parents, and more! Each week, Sara Whittaker and her guests will share top tips and actionable strategies that you will need in order to launch, manage, and grow your podcast. You’ll learn how to leverage your show to build long-lasting relationships with your audience and promote your TpT resources, courses, and memberships, all while providing valuable and accessible content!

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