Getting Started

A comprehensive guide to planning, creating, and launching your first online course that actually sells.

Learn the essential elements that keep students engaged and completing your courses.

Concrete exercises for overcoming the 4 mindset blocks — perfectionism, imposter syndrome, fear of judgment, and overwhelm — plus the 3 bedrock principles every course creator needs.

The 3-part student persona framework with 5 interview questions that reveal what your audience actually needs — plus the Curse of Knowledge trap to avoid.

The 6-question sales page exercise that clarifies your course before you outline a single lesson. Why content-first design fails and how to fix it.

The first step in creating a successful course: understanding what makes content brilliant and irresistible to your audience.

Avoid the common mistakes that doom most online courses. Learn what separates successful courses from ones that never sell.

Stop spinning your wheels. These four steps will help you move from idea to action with your online course.

A day-by-day guide to launching your first course in just one month. Stop planning and start creating.

Two members of the Ruzuku team put the 30 Day Course Creation Challenge to the test. Here's what happened.

A 4-step process to break the idea-stage cycle: validate with conversations, pre-sell before you build, teach as you create, and shrink every step until it's doable.

Three pilot course formats with a worked example (Jenny, personal trainer, 7 students) — plus the email time formula most creators miss and a clear guide to choosing the right structure.

How fiber artist Andrea Mielke Schroer launched her first online course — including the promotion surprise that nearly half of registrations came on the last day.

How to gather feedback, improve content, build revenue paths, and launch marketing after your pilot course ends.

A step-by-step execution guide covering welcome sequences, session structure, feedback collection, and handling dropoffs.

How a textile artist in rural Ireland replaced international workshop income with online courses that sold out in 36 hours.

The Why/What/How/If/Tools framework for designing courses that engage every type of learner.

Practical framework for part-time course creators with realistic timelines, conversion benchmarks, and energy management strategies.

A deep audience research methodology using empathy mapping, direct conversations, competitor analysis, and 7 more proven methods.

Dr. Sara Wickham launched a beta course to 23 students in hours by combining niche expertise with an engaged newsletter audience.

Practical time management strategies for course creators who feel too busy to start. Creative time blocks, priority audits, and the "time investment" framework.

The power of saying no to the wrong opportunities so you can say yes to your course. Five situations where "no" accelerates your progress.

How to bring your unique voice and genuine presence to online teaching — moving beyond information delivery to real connection with students.

The five most common mistakes new course creators make — from scoping too big to ignoring marketing — and how to avoid each one.

Four proven frameworks from course creation experts for narrowing a broad course idea into a focused, compelling topic.