Roooar Magazine Issue 20

important. However, what I did know was that I
wanted to spend as little money as possible, in case
no-one bought my course. Great attitude, right?
In hindsight it is clear that I didn’t consider that
the course would bring me an income and that I
could re-invest the income into the running of the
course. And I also didn’t factor in that in order to
save money I would have to spend more of my own
time on learning new skills that, frankly, I have
little interest in.
I constantly see others asking the question ‘I
want to do XYZ but don’t know which piece of
software to use’. My answer these days is ‘just pick
something’! The thing is, I remember being that
person looking for tech advice in online forums.
And I also remember other people saying to me
‘just pick something’. But I couldn’t heed that
advice at the time because, as it turned out, I was
worried about other things: scared that no-one
would buy my course (I had no list at the time),
scared that those who bought it wouldn’t like
So, instead of making a decision, I spent a lot of
time worrying about which software to choose.
About spending too much, not spending enough,
how professional it would look, how easy it would
be use, how easy it would be to change later, how
much support was provided ... I think you get the
picture, and I suspect you can relate to at least
some of these feelings.
it, scared about having to market it, scared that
people would think it was too expensive, scared
that people would wonder what I would know
about such a topic (aka imposter syndrome). I still
have those fears – most business owners do. But
now I know that these fears will always be there,
no matter what tech solution I choose.
If you can relate to any of this, here are my tips for
avoiding tech overwhelm in your online business:
In the end, I was lucky. I had a deadline imposed
upon me because a local organisation wanted to
give 10 people access to my course. And I always
work well with a deadline! This situation forced
me to choose a platform for my course. So how
Make a list of what you need the software to do.
Having a list of essentials will help you compare
options and will stop you from getting distracted
with unnecessary bells and whistles.
did I choose? Well, by coincidence, one day soon
after, I happened to be listening to a podcast and
heard about a new company that had launched a
new platform for online courses. The price was
reasonable because they were just starting out,
and it was a drag-and-drop interface that meant I
didn’t have to worry about tech issues. So, I signed
Be realistic about your budget and what you feel
comfortable in spending. There is usually so much
choice that you should be able to find something
in your price range. However, remember that
whether you are spending time or money, it all
comes at a cost.
up straight away (before the price went up) before
I started overanalysing it. Is it perfect? No – some
new features have been added in the past year, but
they are not always things that I need, and it still
doesn’t have some of the functionality that I would
like. But does it deliver the content to my clients so
that they can do the work? Yes!
Ask for opinions from others but don’t put out a
call in a large online group. You will only end up
hearing all sorts of view of every potential type
of software, which may not be helpful. Instead,
narrow down your choice to 1–2 options and then
try to find a couple of people who actually use that
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ROOOAR MAGAZINE - ISSUE 20