Launch an online course first based on your expertise.
Why?
There are many reasons for that.
I am listing a few here.
- You can’t change a book as frequently as a course.
- Making a short course is much easier than writing a good book.
- There is less production involved in making a book.
- A course is more engaging than a book.
- Selling a book isn’t a lot easier than selling a course.
- You can sell a course for a 100x price or even higher.
- Those who invest more in a course are more likely to implement what you recommend. Those who get a book don’t have a lot of skin in the game and it’s not a huge investment for them, so you may not see social proof or client results from them as much as you see from those who invest in a course.
- Those who buy your course can give you real-time feedback, not so much for the book. Even when readers give you feedback, you can’t implement it until a new edition is launched.
- By launching the book, you may kill the monetization potential of your ideas because, with a book, readers may think they already have all that they need.
There is more to it.
A course can help you make more money quickly. A book is more often than not about branding.
So, if you already have more money that you need then it is ok to go with a book first strategy.
You’ll write a good book with a course first strategy. Because by teaching a live online course over 6 to 8 weeks you can get feedback and improve it multiple times to come to content that just works and then convert it into books.
Go for a book if you have deep faith in what you are teaching or recommending in the book. Even then it makes sense to put your writing and ideas online to get feedback and improve it.
