Don't let it take months or years to get your CE course up and running.

Most people are so worried about getting it "right" or giving enough "value" that they either create and create, hoping to make a masterpiece OR they feel stuck in procrastination and can't move forward in a meaningful way.

The problem with that is: You might not be creating the right course for your audience at this moment in time.

This is the danger of creating a course in your head: You have no validation that people want it enough to pay for it.

Unfortunately, this is the way most people have been taught to create courses: Lock yourself away, create the perfect thing, and then release it to the market and make money while you sleep. That approach worked for some people 10-15 years ago, but it doesn't work now.

There's a much safer, easier and more fun way: Talk with nurses, find out exactly what they want, then give it to them. Sounds crazy, I know, but so many people skip this step and I count myself as one (in the past).

If you are not almost finished creating your course yet, then get ready to be inspired because completing might be much faster and easier than you think.

Here's my current strategy for creating a relevant, engaging CE course, in your spare time, in less than 60 days (3-4 CE contact hours is a perfect size to start with):

1. First 2 weeks: Talk by phone, Zoom or social media with at least 10-15 nurses who are interested in what you'd like to teach.

• Ask them what are the most troubling parts of the problems you'd like to help them solve. Problems you solve might be things like how to handle stress better; how to communicate better; how to use a specific approach to improve a health challenge, etc. This is the RESEARCH part that your CE course approver will ask for.
  • Ask about WHERE they've looked for help or information to solve their problem so far. Listen for their SITUATION, their desired OUTCOME, and the GAP between those. TAKE NOTES ON WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ALL OF THIS.
• Propose a solution that could help them close their GAP and that you could deliver in 3-4 live Zoom calls. Ask if they'd be interested in buying your solution.
• Rinse and repeat until you have something that the person you're talking with confirms is valuable or it becomes clear that this person is not interested in what you have to offer.
  • If they're interested, ask if you can have their email address to let them know when your course is ready.
• Whether the person is interested in your solution or not, ask them if they know someone who might be interested and ask if they would share your contact info with their friend.
• Repeat this process until you have an outline of something that you can deliver in 3-4 hours and has solid appeal.
• When you do this, you're guaranteed to create something that people actually want RIGHT NOW -- not what you think they want -- or worse, a course you built for another moment in time.

2. The 3rd week: Write an outline of your course based on one Zoom call/week for 3-4 weeks. In each call, plan to do 40-45 minutes of live training on your topic plus Q&A for 20-15 minutes.

• You don't need a website for the first time you teach the course. Just make a simple enrollment invoice in PayPal that you can send to the people who want to enroll. Wait and make your website/sales page after several nurses have completed your course and you've incorporated their feedback.

3. The 4th week: Get back on the phone, social media and/or Zoom and talk to nurses about the course. Answer their questions and note on any new ideas you get about what they need.

• This should be pretty easy because you've created something that nurses want. When nurses say they're interested, simply send them your PayPal invoice. They'll enroll in your course by paying from that.

4. The end of 4th week: Deliver the 1st Zoom call portion of your course.

• Record the Zoom call, then upload the recording as the 1st part of your 3-4 hour online course.
• While you should have an outline of what you want to cover in each session, be sure to listen to your students during the call. They will TELL YOU what they want you to focus on in each session, and you might discover that they need your course to go in a totally different direction than you anticipated. That's FINE. That's the art of co-creation! It involves the nurses in their learning process, which deepens their engagement and commitment to applying what they're learning.

5. The 5th, 6th and optional 7th weeks: Deliver the other 2-3 Zoom calls the same way you did the first one.

• The course evaluations will let you know if you need to make any adjustments in your teaching.
• More likely, the live Zoom calls you did, plus the course evaluations you receive, will give you new ideas about what you can create next.

I hope this process is inspiring to you. Feel free to write me if you have questions: Sharon@NewDirectionsforNurses.org Here's to your success!