223: Online Music Education in 2022

There’s a first time for everything! I recorded this episode live during the Expand Online Summit yesterday. If you’re not currently attending the summit, click here to join us now! This sessions also coincides with the upcoming webinar I’m doing with Brocha Kahan where you will Learn the 3 Steps To Creating and Selling an Online Music Course, click here to sign up for the free webinar. Let’s get one thing clear, there are not currently enough high quality online music courses. There is plenty of opportunity for you to lay claim to your specific domain. I do however believe that beginner or basic courses are not going to bring about the income and impact goals you’re probably seeking from your online course… so let’s get a bit more specific, shall we? Just because you've always learned it one way or you've always taught it one way, it doesn't mean that there is a course out there that does the exact same thing. Online courses are really different from interactive lessons, because online courses are designed to be self-motivating and self-paced. Essentially they operate in a vacuum where there is no external factor helping students move along. We have to build some things into our courses that we may not have thought about when it comes to lessons. I always say that an online course is far less about your content and it's more about the experience that you create. And I think that's the biggest difference between the courses that were out there before and courses that are out there and being created now and in the near future, is that they are experiential! It's not just sitting down to watch something and hope we learn what is being taught. I want to have the opportunity for students to really feel connected to you as their music teacher. We don't want them to say “oh that was nice, next!” we want them to say “that was amazing! What else do you have?” Another thing that I think is different now than it was before, because there was less opportunity to find courses that were teaching the thing that you wanted to learn, you just took whatever course it was. Now, as better, more proficient music teachers learn the fine art of online courses, we are now creating the course as another connection point between you and your online students. Online courses in 2022 no longer need to be marketed to everybody, the niche can be super narrow. When it comes to thinking about creating an online course, think about not necessarily what a gap in the marketplace is, because there's lots of places and that's often the concept that people give. But I like to help you find a place where you find extreme joy or a place that you find that your students always need assistance or support with. These are often things that you find repetitive! Things that you tend to do with a lot of your students. Or something that you are so extremely passionate about and you haven't had time to work on consistently. Thinking about your students is a great starting point for your online course. What would make their music journey richer, stronger, more powerful?  What would tie them into that more? Those are the kinds of things that we want to be adding into the online music education space and there is room for you to do it. A reason I don’t recommend creating beginner courses is because those are the courses that are filling up Outschool and Udemy. Those teachers are “a dime a dozen” and you’re far better than that. And also people who are just starting out don't know the difference between a great teacher and a good teacher and an average teacher and a poor teacher. You're a great teacher, you are looking to really create an evolution of your business, a new foundation of your business online. If we create a course that is even one step or two steps beyond beginner or even intermediate advanced ~ that next level or the level after that you are opening up an opportunity for people to work with you in a way that improves their musicality. It improves everything that they are striving for. When we create our courses, we are creating them with the students' results in mind. Nobody that I know is creating a course for the masses (quantity of students or money!) Every single music teacher that I work with and that I am motivated by and that I have the opportunity to connect with, they are creating their courses to create an impact. Yes income is important, but we are really motivated on the student's success and the student journey!. The most valuable aspect of online courses is that we are in a position where we can create a course that allows your student to connect with you… even though it's asynchronous learning. They get to learn on their own time, but they feel connected to you and you care about their journey. There are a lot of ways for us to make sure and to support our students moving forward into and through the course. According to Thinkific, on average, only 5 - 15% of students complete an online course. Check out this article. You can separate yourself from the market by having a course that is singularly focused. Check out next week’s webinar where I discuss the bounded rule. Essentially it’s all about thinking more about the student and what they're trying to accomplish. When you move into creating courses, you have to extrapolate what is most valuable from your 1-1 lessons and what will make the biggest impact. What will help that student progress without you right there in the room with them (or live on the screen.) It is important for your online course students to be able to assess that they are successful, that they are going to be where they want to be every single step of the way. We want them to feel confident in the course and feel excited to come back and come back and come back. I would say that the best courses are ones that are created entirely around the student. Where are they at? Where are they trying to go? How can we get them one step closer through every video, every handout, every audio, every quiz, every piece of material that we provide inside the course. How does that move them forward? And how does that allow them to feel confident that they are ready to move to the next level? S o that is our podcast episode for today. I don't see any comments, but that's okay. I have had so much fun recording this episode with a live audience. So definitely if you enjoyed this, I am recording it and I am throwing it up on the feed with no editing, that feels so good. If you want me to do these again, please just reach out to me, let me know, Let me know that you enjoyed this. If you are listening to this in the feed and not signed up for the Expand Online Summit? What are you waiting for? Go to expandonlinesummit.com and you can jump on right in! Quick links: https://callwithjaime.com https://www.instagram.com/jaimeslutzky/ https://m.me/jaimeslutzky/ https://onlinemusicccourseaccelerator.com It's time! Round 3 of the Online Music Course Accelerator is open for application. Click here for details.