The Most Common Mistakes Course Creators Make And How To Avoid Them

I’ve made many on my journey to money, impact, and freedom. And have seen even more working with thousands of students.

No one can ever anticipate and avoid ALL mistakes. 

But one can shield from those that occur most often. To unearth such mistakes, my team and I went straight to the jugular:

We asked my current coaching students about their #1 mistake. 

And what they shared hit the mark perfectly — I couldn’t have better highlighted the most common mistakes myself.

Today, I will share said mistakes with you in my student’s words…

And give you my best advice on how to avoid making them on your journey.

Let’s dive into it.

The Most Common Mistakes Course Creators Are Making Today With Advice On How To Not Repeat Them

Below, you will find the mistakes course creators from my coaching groups shared, listed in no particular order…

With a comment from me after each one containing some advice on avoiding the mistake.

Let’s start with this oh-so-widespread mistake:

“Not focusing enough on the most important thing and focusing on activities are not income-generating. Follow the process and listen to Jacques.

Work on your traffic and focus on doing the MVP. My first year I was still earning freelance money while managing and recruiting so I neglected activities like building my course and webinar and they took much too long. I should have launched everything about 6 months sooner.

And then, I’d say delegate and automate all that you can. I’m still shedding work to my VAs and it’s been a godsend. That also took me too long but you just have to start somewhere!”

Jacques’ advice on avoiding this mistake:

It might not be as easy for you as to just listen to Jacques 😊

On a more serious note, my student gave you all the advice you need in the post itself:

Focus on one needle-moving thing at a time until results start coming in. Then, you can figure out the little things that can get you even more success.

And whenever you have the means to do so, delegate and automate.

Just make sure not to make the following mistake in the process:

“I made emotional decisions instead of logical ones that set me back. To be more specific, from a point of desperation for help, I once hired a team that promised big results from a new site and email sequence, etc. I went with them because I didn't know what I didn't know, and it cost me money and time. However, I definitely learned a lot from the experience!”

Jacques’ advice on avoiding this mistake:

As I’ve said many times before — hiring experts to help you get better results and have more free time is the right way to think as a business owner.

But to do this right, you have to devote serious time to finding people who can actually deliver. Sure, such a mistake is possible even if you do the best research possible…

Yet the chances of it happening are significantly reduced.

So, the next time you’re on the lookout for expert help, first understand what’s actually possible. Then, figure out a vetting process for testing possible applicants.

Having a reliable referral network helps. Which is something I focus on a lot in my coaching groups.

As far as making emotional decisions — one thing almost always helps:

Don’t make any hasty calls. Step back, sleep on it, and think again. 

Your new take might surprise you.

I can express my biggest mistake by way of a Chinese idiom (闭门造车 - lit. to build a cart behind closed doors; to be overly subjective and disregard the outside world).

My first video course project was so long ago I can't remember... 2018 maybe? But basically I 'built the cart behind closed doors'. Problem was I had created a brilliant course (IMO), did engaging content marketing on 抖音 （Tiktok in China, before the Western Tiktok was released) and got about 40k followers, created a website with payment handlers, etc. but failed to create a funnel and failed to really do the audience survey to find out what people wanted (or were willing to pay for). LESSON: First learn your audience and their pain/desires before creating the product.

Also, I felt like I had the full weight of the Chinese government working against my little project (it felt impossible to get people off the Tiktok platform and onto my website, for example). Plus, all my research and social posts involved trawling through Chinese websites, translating stuff as I went. It took AGES. LESSON: keep it simple stupid!

I eagerly anticipate doing lots more stupid stuff in the future (and hopefully learning).

Jacques’ advice on avoiding this mistake:

Simply put:

Figure out if there’s demand for what you want to make…

And only then proceed to make it.

Being passionate about something is an amazing differentiator. But it can also lead you astray because you assume there are people who share it.

I’m guilty of this too. And I admit it’s hard to resist making a course you love despite what the market says.

But if what it echoes is a resounding and proven “not interested” vibe — it’s time to try something else for money-making purposes.

So, do your research first. And when you create an offer, make sure to have a mapped-out funnel for it.

Finally, that last line is golden. You will make mistakes — so why not turn them into a fun learning experience. It won’t always be possible…

But you lose nothing by trying.

I hope you won’t have the entire Chinese government against you while following my advice, though 😊

As a newbie to the course creation world my feeling is that I am making this all a bit harder than it needs to be by overthinking things! I do draw the engineer card as I feel Jacques will relate, we are schooled to think things through with all the pluses and minuses! Good for bridges and buildings, not as good for course creation! Working on trying to recognize this and catch myself before it goes too far!

Jacques’ comment:

Yes, working on observing when you do this and stopping yourself can lead to great results.

If you share this tendency, also think about finding an accountability partner. This will make it easier to make good calls about when the thinking is justified, especially at the beginning.

My biggest mistake is taking too long to take action. I think I'm spending way too much time looking at what others are doing and second guessing myself.

The first step to avoiding this mistake is noting your tendency to do this. Then, you can do 2 things:

Set rock-solid goals for action with clear penalties for inaction…

And finding a way to learn from others without comparing it with your situation.

The latter is easy to say and difficult to do, I know. But if you try for a while and stick to only comparing with yourself…

It will eventually become second nature.

Finally, let’s wrap up with a mistake made even before you start creating your course:

My biggest mistake is/was not having a complete vision when I got started. I have odd social handles and titles that don't make sense but then people know them. At the same time, I wouldn't have started this business if I hadn't had success under those weird names. I took a course on writing once that said you are either an archeologist (digging around to figure out what you want to build) or an architect (you know what you want to build and you build it)... I guess I WANT to be an architect but I've been an archeologist so far. Hoping to make the transition but I second guess all the time!

Vision is a crucial element way too many entrepreneurs overlook. Here’s an article I wrote that will help ensure you don’t do the same.

Conclusion

Simply knowing what to look out for can immensely speed up and ease your path to success. But this article gave you something more on top:

Concrete advice on how to avoid making them.

Here’s to using said advice and charting the most frictionless possible course to money, impact, and freedom.

I’m rooting for you.

-Jacques