5 Ideas From Tiago Forte Every Course Creator Should Know

Tiago is the creator of Building a Second Brain, one of my favorite online courses, which is now in its 14th (!!) cohort.

So he knows a thing or two about creating transformational learning experiences and a sustainable course business.

Tiago shared his insights on Disco’s Live Learning Empire series, and I captured 5 ideas that stood out:

1. People need time to warm up to you

It’s rare that someone discovers you online and immediately buys your course (especially when it’s high-ticket).

Often, it’s a months or even year-long journey of following the creator before someone is in the right place to join the course.

So, don’t get discouraged. Keep showing up for your audience through multiple touchpoints (e.g., blog, newsletter, YouTube).

2. The first thing you think you’ll teach is wrong

Building a Second Brain didn’t have a pre-recorded curriculum until Cohort 9.

By teaching everything live, you’ll find the 20% of your material that produces 80% of the value for your students.

Keep zooming in on the 20% until you find the true bottleneck that people need to unlock. Then you can start speaking to it right away without wasting time on “fluff.”

3. Your course isn’t going to be measured by quantity anymore

Self-paced courses used to be advertised and sold like commodities. (For example, “Get 45 videos, 1500 hours of content, 68 modules”).

But people don’t want more content to consume. They want better content.

The new measure is time-to-value. How many seconds pass before your students get to something relevant to them that they can use immediately?

4. Your job as an instructor is more than teaching the subject

Even though students have signed up for your course, they’re often still not fully committed to learning and implementing. Their big question is: Can and will this work for me?

You have to understand and speak to their psychology. For example, by helping them see that what they’re feeling and going through is normal, that they’re not flawed.

This can be your true differentiator!

5. Designing a quality community requires a “call to greatness”

Contrary to most things on the internet, a transformational course shouldn’t be quick and easy. The hard stuff is what we’re ultimately proud of and where we grow the most.

Ask your students to put themselves in an environment where they will be challenged, where they get the opportunity to do the best work of their lives, and where they get a shot at something that can turn into one of their proudest achievements.

Going through something difficult together bonds people like nothing else. That also means giving refunds freely to anyone who doesn’t want to be there.