If you’ve been wondering what exactly do I do within The Leveraged Practice Workshop and have questions about it, today’s episode is all about addressing the common questions I get, especially what we do in the workshop and who it’s for.

It’ll also help you understand a way of teaching online, even if you’re not quite ready yet to join our current session.

I go over the framework we use in The Leveraged Practice Workshop - along with our amazing community, tools, resources, step-by-step workbooks and personal access to me. 

By the end of the episode, you’ll know exactly what you get when you join, how to show up for it and how much time to put aside to get your online program out into the world!

Here’s what I covered:

• Our BIG business mission (and how it involves you, the health practitioner)
• A bit about my background in creating programs (I started quite young!)
• What’s unique about The Leveraged Practice Workshop (and why our community is amazing!)
• I answer the question, Why do I teach it live? (It wasn’t my plan at first...)
• Complete outline of The Leveraged Practice Workshop (you know what you’re getting both during AND after as an alumni)
• Who The Leveraged Practice Workshop is for (and who it’s not for)
• How much time should you set aside to go through The Leveraged Practice Workshop (you’ll know exactly what to work on today, tomorrow, next week)
• What's expected of those who join (like how to show up)
• The 4 sections of The Leveraged Practice Workshop (from building a foundation to actually launching it! - with my support)

By you listening, my goal is to help you visualize and picture what your online program might look like and the different pieces of creating it.

After listening to this, if you want to sign up, you can go to theleveragedpractice.com. If you're listening to this when enrollment is not open, you can join up for the waitlist for the next session that we'll offer.

If you enjoyed this podcast, you may enjoy these 3 other podcast episodes where I answer common questions that health practitioners have when thinking of creating an online program:

Ep. 15: Investing in Your Business

Ep. 21: Which platform do I use?

Ep. 25: The Next 5 Years

Prefer reading? Here’s the transcript below

Stephanie: I thought that in today's episode, I would go deeper with you on what The Leveraged Practice Workshop is. So, if you've been listening to the podcast for months and months, but you haven't signed up for our workshop, and you're kind of thinking, "What is this thing Stephanie does?", this is going to give you some insight into what the workshop actually is. Especially if you're someone who's thinking about joining and you have some questions about it. And it's also going to help you, if you're not quite ready to join the workshop, understand a way of teaching online.

So I'm going to go through today, what The Leveraged Practice is - as a company, our history and what the workshop is - the format and why I do it in the format that I do, and the framework. So what we teach in the workshop, what's expected of our clients and students, like how to show up, and what you get.

So this is helpful for you if you are planning an online workshop, or training, or professional training especially, or any kind of online program, because you're going to see the flow of how my company mission affects the workshop. Also, why we chose this particular way of delivering the content, along with what the framework looks like.

All this stuff that I'm going to tell you today that I just said, is going to help you visualize and picture what yours might look like. So that's one reason why I'm doing this.

And the second is because I have a lot of people who are interested in the workshop and end up having a lot of questions. So they want to know what we do in the workshop. And you know, how much time they need to save and stuff like that.

So, if you are listening to this, and you're considering joining me for a live workshop, I'm so honored and I would love for you to join our small group live workshop this next time around. This podcast is being released in September, when enrollment is open for our fall semester of The Leveraged Practice Workshop. So after listening to this, if you want to sign up, you can go to theleveragedpractice.com. If you're listening to this when enrollment is not open, you can join up for the waitlist for the next online program that we'll offer. And if you're listening to this far, far in the future, know that we offer these workshops quarterly, and they're small group so we can provide really intimate and customized feedback for our clients.

What is The Leveraged Practice Workshop?

 

So the starting place, my friend, what is The Leveraged Practice company all about? Well, the mission of The Leveraged Practice is to help as many health practitioners and clinicians as possible, so that you, the health practitioner and clinician can go out into the world and help as many people as you can. So our vision and our mission is really to change the landscape of how we deliver health information, how we can leverage technology in order to impact people in a more effective way, and impact more people.

We love the idea, and I say 'We' because I'm putting myself in the shoes of the company. The company, as a whole, has this mission and this love for the fact that online education can help reach more people with health education. With online programs, we can reduce pricing of what would be costly private health care. We can reduce pricing for companies and health units and the government as a whole by delivering a more leveraged way of helping people through their health. I'm such a big fan of group programs because they can be built to deliver effective results in a really efficient way that helps both the client and patient and the teacher, which is you.

So our mission really comes down to empowering as many health professionals, because we and I know that you will go out there and help hundreds, maybe thousands of people. And by doing our job, we can help impact so many more people. So that is our mission and that is why this company was formed. That is what we're doing with these workshops.

It's really about changing the health landscape and taking our position as experts in online health education, to lean in and help more people who don't really know how to create an online program to do it, and to make this health impact.

My Experience in Creating Online Programs

 

So that leads into the history. You may know a little bit of the history of myself and the company, because I talked about it a little bit in some of the earlier podcast episodes and sometimes I mentioned it in a podcast episode.

I myself am a registered dietitian. I became a registered dietitian in 2009 after graduating from the University of Toronto. However, what I realized is that my whole life, I've been creating programs. I was a lifeguard and a camp counselor as a young person. I ran a lot of cooking programs. I just loved programming. So I've been creating programs since I was like six years old and created a neighborhood book club. Oh my, I'm not even going to go into it. I was on Student Council in high school, like I just created program after program after program. And so when I became a dietitian, and I was honored and lucky to get into a master's program where I learned more about, you guessed it, program planning.

My very first job as a dietitian was first researching, developing, implementing and evaluating a program for kids in cooking to help reduce diabetes and obesity in the children population. I created that program and within 12 months had submitted it for an award. We won that program on a national award. So I am such a program planner at heart and it's taken me decades to actually realize that I've always loved creating programs. And then I myself in my career, besides what I shared with you working for other people, have created in my private practice, when I've been working for myself, 10 online programs and launched many, many times because that's what you do when you create a program. You launch over and over and over again.

So I've actually created a lot of online programs, and I started to coach dietitians several years before founding The Leveraged Practice. As I was coaching dietitians, I was helping them to create programs. Many of my client dietitians created online health programs, or online professional programs, and I just loved it. I could help my clients create their program, choose technology, launch it out in the world to get lots of people to sign up, and just understand how to transfer their incredible expertise in nutrition, or whatever their health area of expertise was, into this online teaching platform.

So, over the last few years before forming the company. I realized this was my real specialty. I was really good at it, just from that program planning mindset I've always had throughout my life, but then as actually implementing it in my practice.

This company and I, as a facilitator, I think comes from a very unique perspective that I've done it before. I've created five professional programs. I've created five clinical client based health programs. I've been in program planning. I have a master's in health science that has helped me to get the education I need to know more about program planning and know how to use the research to help you to create an online program. So as a facilitator, as a teacher, as you know, someone who coaches and encourages my students along, that's my story and that's what I think is a very interesting expertise to bring to the world of online education.

I see a lot of people out there teaching how to create a course or a program that don't really have this position. So when you join The Leveraged Practice, or listen to the podcast, or engage with me at all, that's who you're getting. That's who you have in front of you, is someone with that experience, both from the books at school, as well as personal experience creating the programs, and testing them, and tweaking them, and growing them, and in helping my students as well and my clients over the years.

I also have scaled a program. So I work personally with a company who sells my program to corporations. So we've put thousands of people through the program at this point, which I think is really rare. So that is what led me into founding The Leveraged Practice, and specifically and very clearly helping health practitioners to create an online program for their practice, just specializing in that.

How The Leveraged Practice Workshop Began

 

Now the workshop is really interesting, because when I started this company, I really wanted to do in-person, live two or three day workshops. Where it would be intensive, and you would come meet me in the city, work on creating all of your content, and then go back and launch your program. What I realized when I launched my first workshop was that was really tricky for people to take the time away from their business, their clinic, their work life, their kids and their family.

The cost was quite prohibitive to enroll in a live workshop that was costly, as well as to travel and to stay - all of it. Since my mission is to impact as many health practitioners as possible, the cost kind of stopped people from coming in person. So our very first workshop and ever since has been live, but online. So the online format, which is funny, because I'm teaching you how to teach online, the online format works best for my people as well. As you know, in hanging out with me, the people are the most important thing as you create your program and your product, and you want to grow your practice. So, that's what we do.

We created and have launched this online program. It's eight weeks long and it includes covering four main areas of work, where I work you through building a foundation and then launching an online program. So I just wanted to lean in and let you know, that's why it's an online format.

Why The Leveraged Practice Workshop is Live

 

The other question I get a lot is, "Why is it live?" Like, why am I teaching live? I know many of my clients, and maybe many of you are thinking, I want to have passive income. I want to work less, why am I teaching live? Listen, if you have 20 people in a live class, you're still leveraging your time - and you don't have to do live.

I love live. I think it's fun to teach and I enjoy showing up for my students in a live format so I can customize the workshop to everyone's unique practice and goals. So, that's really important to me, that when people join The Leveraged Practice Workshop, it's not just a DIY self study course, that you work through week by week on your own time, it actually is something where you show up and you follow a plan week by week. And you get instant feedback so you know that you're doing it right. You also get someone who's done it before that can help you feel a little better about the overwhelm.

I actually ran a course similar to this. The idea was to help people create online courses. I ran it several times in more of a self study fashion where there were pre-recorded videos and workbooks, and just live Q&A calls. I found that my clients that enrolled in that program didn't get success. Well, it's not that they didn't get success, it's that they didn't complete the program. That's what it was about. Some of those clients did complete the program and got great success in launching an online course or program or workshop. But many people in that format didn't complete the program and so that's not really what I want to do.

I don't want people to just give me money, and then never do what they want to do. I want people to get the result and I'm invested in you to get an online program out in the world. That's why I show up live every week for eight weeks.

I teach the content live and we actually use workbooks. Like I said, there's four main sections and so there's four workbooks. I teach straight from the workbook so that it's very easy to follow along and people are taking notes along the way. They're bringing their work from their workbook from the week before to get feedback and ask questions.

Everyone in the workshop has the opportunity to chat with me, to connect with me and to get feedback. If they're stuck, they can hop on a call with me or hop into email or in our community. The goal is to get results. So I show up very actively during our live workshop, and it's kept to being a small group.

I never see these workshops as having 200 people in them as our company grows. They will always be small group so that I can answer questions. I think this experience is rare. I think there's lots of $2000, $3000, $4,000 coaching experiences or online courses that don't give you this kind of intimate care.

The reason that I do it is because I want the results for my clients. That's the whole point and that's what I teach. That you actually create an online program that works for your clients or patients. It may not be live. It really may be pre-recorded, because that depends on your audience. So we're not going to go into that today. But that is why I've developed the workshop in this format for you, the health practitioner.

Now there are replays available within a very short time. So our clients who can't attend the live session can watch the replay. And they can access me via email and via our Facebook group to ask questions and to get follow up. They can pre-submit questions as well. And so there's still that support if people can't make each workshop live.

The Time Investment to Create an Online Program

 

Why is it eight weeks? Well, because if I let people procrastinate and do it over four months, they won't get it done. And so the eight weeks allows us to continue that momentum and work through the program.

If you're wondering about how long it takes, or how much time to block off, this is a great question. I highly recommend that when people enroll in the program, they block off three, two to three, it's up to you, but two to three, about three hour chunks of time. Because each week you'll be working on creating your program. You'll be working on doing market research, creating your program, creating that content, mapping out the delivery, putting the technology in place, and then building out your launch process. And so there's actual work to do each week.

I don't recommend that you sign up, if you don't have the space to do the work to actually create and launch an online program. This workshop is for people who are ready to create and build and then launch an online program. If that's what you want to do, you have to be here. This is where we make it happen for you.

There's accountability and there's resources. I make you pick a launch date, this is for you to do that. It's tricky but I support you every way with every tool I have. I give you resources and templates, and examples to save you as much time as possible. Like I said, lots of feedback to help you keep your momentum going forward. It's not for the people who maybe want to do an online program one day, and if that's you, that's okay, come and join me when you're ready.

So when you sign up for the workshop, really make sure that you look at your calendar. I know things come up so sometimes people fall behind, and that's okay. But see if you can map out two to three, three hour chunks of time. So maybe like the morning or the afternoon, two to three days a week, block it off of patient work and anything else that you have to do. Maybe it's the weekends, maybe it's the evening, it's totally up to you, but block off that time. So you can actually do the work as we work along. Because I really encourage people to do that, and not just join and not build an online program.

The Benefits of The Leveraged Practice Workshop Community

 

The community and the people that you're around in this workshop is like no other. You're not around a bunch of people who just signed up and aren't doing anything with the program. You're in a community of real health practitioners, real experts, who are actively creating and delivering and launching online programs, which I think is the most special part, beyond me being helpful and being your teacher. This community of health professionals doing this incredible thing. There's nothing like it anywhere.

We're a community to learn from and a community to ask questions from, and people that are actively invested in creating and launching their online programs. I've been in a lot of different courses on the internet and a lot of people are doing nothing with those courses. So this is a really cool place to do that.

The Framework to Create an Online Program

 

So I started to mention the framework. The first of the four sections is actually market research. So you do this part first with a workbook where I teach you how to do some market research on your audience. You get clear on the people you're serving, the problem you're going to solve and your vision for this online program.

I walk you through my techniques and ways to connect with people, interview people and chat with people to get this research down and to collect those real words from people - that we then can use for marketing to connect with them in the future - when we want to sell our program and encourage them to enroll. So that's the first unit, getting really clear on that work.

That work is the most important because we want to help you build a program that people want to enroll in, right? You can build a program. You can put it out on the internet any day you like. But if no one signs up, it's a waste of time. I don't want to waste your time, and so that's why we do that first part of it, where we're getting really clear on the people and the problems. So when you go to launch, people do sign up, right? That's the most important thing.

The second section that we spend a couple of weeks on is the transformation and outline in your programs. This is where we create the content, the lessons, the modules and we decide on the delivery of it. So will you teach live? Will you do pre-recorded? You know, what's the journey you're going to take people through online.

Then the third section is delivery. So this is a sticky section for a lot of people. We spend three weeks on it, where we are talking about how you're going to deliver this incredible content you have. I can't really, I don't want to say, can't help you with content. I don't know your content. I don't know your specialized interest, your expertise you bring - but I can help you outline your content, and decide on what goes where.

But more so where I'm the most helpful is in the delivery of it. So how to actually teach it online. What technology to use, the logistics, the timing, the different tools and how to support your clients. So there's some different pieces in delivery where there's the main content and how you're going to deliver that. If it's in print, audio, video, pre-recorded, live, all of that.

Then there's also how you're going to support people. So you might have a DIY program. But you're still going to need support, because people are going to have questions. So what are you going to do with questions? Are you going to do live Q&A calls? Are you going to have a forum? A community? Are you going to be on social channels? Are there going to be office hours with you? Are you going to provide Voxer? Email support? We go into a whole section on identifying the support pieces and your delivery, and then logistics of delivery and how to offer it, and give people feedback on their course outlines and delivery, and all that kind of thing.

What is also really fun is that other people are there too, sharing the outlines and delivery of their programs. So you get these great ideas that you can't get anywhere else, because you're learning in this group workshop environment and hearing these incredible questions from other people, and these incredible programs from other people and learning from them as we go as well.

I just think this workshop is so special because of the people that are in it. Not me. I mean, I'm very helpful. I think I'm good at what I do. But the people in the workshop, the community that you're a part of, it doesn't exist, if you work with a coach. It doesn't exist, if you're in another course, not like with the health professionals and practitioners that we enroll, and that we work with, and the questions they ask and what they deliver and put out in the world, gosh, it's just such a great place. So I'd love for you to be a part of it, if you feel like you're ready to create your online program.

And the fourth section is launching. So you've heard me say before, do not just put a post on Facebook, or send an email out to your list. When it's time to bring your online program out into the world, we need to plan a launch.

A launch has four phases, which I have recorded in a future podcast episode that is coming soon. So I teach that four phase launch process with my clients. We do that for a couple of weeks and we build out their launches. We build out their launch calendars. We build out the strategies that they're going to use. We build out what they're going to include in all four phases of the launch process, how they're going to encourage people to purchase now and not wait until later.

I give lots of examples of calendars and actually set dates with people. I give examples of emails, examples of landing pages, all kinds of stuff. Everything I can to help reduce the time and pain it is for you to do a launch, because I know it can be scary the first time around. And I do launch plan reviews. So that's the framework that I walk people through, my clients through, in The Leveraged Practice Workshop over those weeks. I mentioned a little bit about what's expected.

What You Get in The Leveraged Practice Workshop

 

What you get is lifetime access to the program content, the community, the resources, the workbooks, all of that. You are a part of this program, and you get all of that for life. When I say life, I mean the lifetime of our company, and as long as we deliver the program. And so you get that.

You also get like I said, access to the community. There are four workbooks that you just work through one at a time. I'm working you through it, it's not like you're just watching videos, and then you have to go off and do some work that you're unclear about. It's very clear on what you need to do, step by step. And you know what? It should be, because I'm teaching you how to create an online program. This should be the best damn online program you've ever done. And I think it is, because I've done a ton of online programs, and a lot of them are terrible. Let me tell you, I give them feedback.

A lot of people do not know how to create an online program. They want to make money, or they think they know something and they put a bunch of videos out and it's terrible. You're unclear of what to do next. There's missing pieces. It's awful. That's not what I do and it's not what I teach you. And so my online program, this workshop is done very well.

I'm collecting feedback the entire time, and I'm showing you how to do it. I use a lot of different tools in order to engage. Like I said, I like to do it live. The workbooks and the content works you step by steps. You know exactly what to work on today, tomorrow, next week. You know where you're going and there's a way for you to always get feedback and ask questions.

I show you how to do a great job at teaching online. If nothing else, people come into this program and they look at the way that I've built it. I've built each week, and each module, and each piece, and each feedback form, and all the things, and they're like, "Whoa, okay, I'm gonna do it like this."

So, that's what you get. You get that lifetime access. You get these four workbooks, working through this four sections of content. You get feedback, real life feedback, and customization of the content. If you're teaching a professional workshop, if you're teaching in the mental health field, if you're teaching physiotherapy, nutrition, medicine, whatever it is, you get customization of the content to your program, because it's live.

You get access to all the replays. If you can't make it, you get to pre-submit questions. You get to email me if you need help. You get access to our community, so other people. You get support as you launch. I write down your date and I support you during it. I hold you accountable but I also am there for you, if you need me. And those are the main pieces.

You also get to be a part of our alumni community. The thing is, for our alumni, they're always creating and launching online programs. So instead of just creating a workshop, and then letting them figure out their future, we offer online workshops. And so our students, our alumni need help as they continue to launch. So we do launch debrief workshops, where I help people understand what worked and what didn't work in their launch. I help my clients by bringing in experts with copywriting, website strategy, building funnels, branding, just whatever, legal. We have a lawyer on staff, as one of our advisors who helps our clients understand the legality and regulation part of it. Only by being a part of our alumni do you get access to those ongoing workshops.

So, then that is what The Leveraged Practice is. I've gone over, how you show up, how much time you're going to need to do it, that we have access to replays and there's lifetime access. You know who it's for and who it's not for. These are all important things that you need to do as you create an online program, advertise it and market it. Get clear on all these steps.

The Best Time to Launch an Online Program

 

If this is something that you're ready to do, if you're ready this fall to create an online program, and let me tell you, it's a great time to do it. Because my fall clients are going to launch at one of the best times of the year to launch, which this might sound crazy, but it's holidays. During the holidays or post holidays, is one of the best times to launch an online health program. Because the holidays stir up pain for people. If you want to lose weight, if you have digestive symptoms, if you're feeling sluggish and tired with all the food and all the parties, everyone falls off the plan. And so it's a great time for you to stand up and say, "Hey, I have a way for you to take control of whatever this health problem is. I'd love for you to join me." So for a lot of people, it's a great time to launch.

So my clients who are joining this workshop in the fall are going to launch either mid-to-end December or January. So New Year's, that's when they're going to plan their first launch for now. Of course, we'll customize it to you and your audience. But it is a great time of year for you to join this group. It's going to be a good one and get you all launched at an incredible time of the year.

If you have any questions, please find me at theleveragedpractice.com. If you're not already listening to this podcast on the site, come on over to theleveragedpractice.com, hit on Contact and book a time in my calendar. Let's chat on the phone or on zoom. or send me an email if you have questions. You can also find me on Instagram @theleveragedpractice, shoot me a DM over there. If you're more comfortable, we can shoot some voicemails back and forth if you have questions.

But this really gives you a good outline of what this workshop is. And if you have any other questions, of course, I'm here to answer. But the goal here is, are you ready to do this or not? Do you think I can help? I would love to be of service to you. I'd love to walk you through this and help along the way. We do offer small group. So I'm not sure if it will fill up or not. I'm not sure if we'll run out of seats. But I definitely recommend that if you want to do this, that you get on right away. And you save your seat and you sign up, and we can start getting to know you and what your goals are.

All right. I hope this was helpful if you are thinking about joining me for a workshop, but also I hope it's helpful if you're not ready to join me and you're just thinking things through, understanding what the offer looks like for your online program and the different pieces that it has. It's always my goal to help you no matter what you decide in working with me or not. But I do hope that you sign up for our workshop and work with me. I would love to work with you and help you do this. Again, hope this was helpful and I will see you back here next time.