9 Empowering Questions to Ask Before You Buy an Online Course
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE a good sales page. (A good sales page, with non-icky sales tactics, for the record!) They can take a product/course/service that I have absolutely no need for and hadn’t even heard of until 1.3 seconds ago, and BAM I want to buy it. Seriously. They could be selling a course about how to handle inventory and supplies for people selling felted song-birds and I’d seriously consider buying it.
Whether it’s shiny-object syndrome, the dopamine rush of hitting the “buy now” button, a bit of “will this be the magic bullet that saves everything?” optimism, or honest-to-goodness “I have a specific need and this course will 100% fill that need”, it’s always good to pause before jumping into an online course. You know, to determine (as best we can!) which of the above it is. (Or possibly something else entirely!)
So, here are 9 questions to ask yourself before making a decision. Some are business-specific, some are personal. All are worth your consideration.
(One last thing, before we start. I use the word “course” in this post, but you can substitute membership, mastermind, coaching package and the questions are still applicable.)
Practical, Business Types of Questions:
1 Does this course fill an actual, specific problem in my business?
A lot of times, we (myself included!) get swept away by amazing courses that solve really important problems. The question is, is it a problem your business truly has? Really good follow-up questions to help determine this are:
Was I aware of this problem before I saw the sales page?
Was I actively looking for a solution to this problem before I saw the sales page?
Because just in course of being online, we see LOTS of learning opportunities. Just because one presents itself to you doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for where you are right now in your business.
Pro tip: Do a business assessment to see what the weak links are in your business, and in what order you want to address them. Does this course address a problem that’s relatively high on the list?
Bonus questions:
Have I previously purchased a course for this same problem? (Hey, we all purchase courses and then promptly forget about them!)
If so, what makes this one different? (This can help you catch shiny object/I hit a block/got overwhelmed/had to do something hard in the previous course I purchased so I bailed. And no judgment if it’s the last one - I’ve done this for sure!)
2 Does the course cost fit into my budget?
And by budget, I don’t (necessarily) mean a formal budget that you keep on top of! (Though I encourage you to try that!) What I mean is this: can you pay for the course up front, or if there are payment plans, do you know that barring extenuating circumstances, you won’t have to dip into savings or put the balance on a credit card? And be honest here! We’re talking about if course fits into your budget in an average month, not a “all the stars aligned and I hit my all-time highest revenue goal” month.
To be sure: it’s okay if the answer to the above question is “No”. That’s NOT an automatic “don’t buy the course” indicator. Definitely go on to answer the rest of the questions. What it DOES mean is that if you’re going to put the course on a credit card (that you don’t pay off right away) you probably want to have a plan for paying off that debt. Like, an actual plan. Not just “I’ll get a few more clients”.
3 What are my realistic expectations for the outcome of this course?
Sales page hype aside (and we all know sales pages are GREAT at creating hype!), what REALISTIC outcomes can I expect from this course? Because I’ve definitely gone into a course with wildly outsized expectations, then been disappointed when they didn’t all come true.
So instead of getting swept away with promises, really check in with yourself. Ask yourself what can you realistically expect from the course, and if that lines up with what your business needs, the price, time commitment, etc.
In my experience, simply putting the word “realistic” into my field helps cut down on the fluff and focuses me on substantive outcomes.
4 Does the course structure and format match my learning style?
This one is pretty straightforward. Does the course have:
Self-paced modules
Live lectures
Pre-recorded Videos
Audio/podcast feed
Text-based PDFs
and do those align with how I learn best?
If the course is entirely video-based with absolutely no accompanying PDFs or workbooks, and you know you learn best by being able to read and mark up a PDF? Well, you know as well as I do that that course probably isn’t a good fit for you.
5 Do I have a plan for completing the course?
Just because a course is suited to your learning style doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to follow through and complete it! (Oh, if only that were so…)
If you can’t go through and schedule times on your calendar for going through the course material, now might not be the right time to invest in a course. Could you purchase the course now and plan on going through the materials “later”? Yes, of course you can. But the chances of that actually happening are probably slim to none. (And I say that with ALL the love and empathy in the world!)
6 Do I have a plan for implementing what you learned in the course?
Following on the heels of number 5, do you have a plan for implementing what you learned in the course? Because learning the material is one thing. DOING the things is a different story. To whit: I purchased a course on using Pinterest for marketing. I worked my way through the course. It was lovely. AND. Pinterest marketing is an ongoing group of tasks that has be performed over and over and over (and over!). If my schedule doesn’t allow for said tasks, even though I completed the course, I’m no closer to my goals than I was before. (I now have a standing appointment with myself every Monday morning to create and post my pins for the week.)
7 Do I trust the creator?
Anyone can come up with fabulous testimonials. Anyone can create buzz around a course/mastermind/program. (Well, anyone with a head for marketing/PR or the funds to hire a marketing team.) But not anyone can create a really well-crafted course that delivers on its promises. So do a gut check. Do you really trust that the course creator can deliver? If you’re not sure:
Are their emails and blog posts truly helpful?
Do they have a low-cost product you can purchase to get a sense of the value of their offerings?
Bottom line: Do your due diligence to ensure you’re not getting sucked into the hype of an offering, when there might not be much below said hype.
More “personal” questions to ask.
All the above are relatively practical, run-of-them mill questions. (Just because they are run-of-the-mill doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable!!) The following questions are more person-based, and in my mind, probably more important!
8 What is my state of mind right now?
Said another way: From what emotional state am I making this purchase? Am making it from a grounded, calm, and purposeful place? A panicked, “I gotta make some forking money and this course is my hail-mary attempt at not going into the poor house” place? Somewhere in between?
Ideally, (obviously!) we want to make decisions from the former place, not the latter. Is that always possible? No. But at the very least, we DO want to be cognizant of where we are when we’re making these decisions. After all, the more information, the better. (I mean, to a point, but that’s another post for another time.)
9 (My FAVORITE QUESTION TO ASK!): If I decide to NOT invest in the course, how can I meet the need that I was hoping purchasing the course would meet?
I know, it’s a bit of a convoluted question, but it’s a good one! When we’re considering purchasing a course, we’re trying to meet a need. It might be a purely practical business need (ie: I need to learn best practices for marketing on Pinterest), or it might be more emotional (ie: I’m feeling anxious about my revenue, I want to feel less anxious, and I’m hoping buying a course will help me feel like I’m being proactive around marketing.) Either way, we’re trying to meet a need.
And if we (for whatever reason), decide to not purchase the course we’ve been considering, that need still needs to be met.
So how are we going to do that? Because if we don’t meet that need, well, needs just don’t go away! So let’s make a plan to get that need filled. If it’s practical knowledge we need, there’s probably a free resource out there, even if it means spending more of our own time researching. If it’s an emotional need, how can we meet it? How can we comfort ourselves (if we’re anxious), celebrate a success (if we’re a “purchase things when we’re excited type of person), or something else entirely? How you end up doing that is entirely a personal thing, but may I suggest: a warm bath, a hearty meal, a nap, and some friend time if you’re anxious, or a dance party, fancy cocktail, and a “less expensive than a course, but still full” present to yourself?
Lastly, (and perhaps most importantly, from a human emotions point of view):
It’s okay to purchase the course even if the answer to most of the above questions is “No”!
If it fits into your budget and you just really want to buy it (for whatever reason, including “I’m in a panic and I want the panic to stop” or “I want the dopamine rush of buying a new shiny object) that’s okay. Really and truly.
We’re allowed to make emotional decisions. We’re allowed to temporarily soothe ourselves by buying things. It’s really and truly okay. You don’t need my permission (or anyone else’s!), but if it helps to have it: You have my permission to buy the course/membership/mastermind/program!
All the love and (consensual) money hugs to you, my friend.
