Summary
Course market fit is making sure you're the right person teaching the right topic to the right audience at the right price
Use the "outside-in, inside-out" framework to define your topic
“If you build it they will come."
This is a popular catchall, meaning if you invest in building an amazing product, the customers will follow. But this is a myth in course-building.
Most people think they should start by building a comprehensive curriculum with thoughtfully designed projects, create beautiful decks, post it on LinkedIn—et voilà, students will buy your course and you'll make heaps of money.
Instead, what you'll likely get is crickets and tumbleweed because you haven't validated whether there's market demand for the topic and whether the target audience is willing to pay for it.
Course market fit is making sure you're the right person teaching the right topic to the right audience at the right price.
You don’t want to build out your whole course curriculum and then find out it’s a course no one wants. But you also don’t want to make yourself miserable slogging through building something you personally are not passionate about–even if it’s a topic the market is asking for.
Avoid these problems with a positioning framework called outside-in, inside-out.
Outside-in is looking at the market. You should choose a topic that’s overwhelmingly obvious based on your background and career track record. A course is not the time to explore something that you are just dabbling in yourself. You want to lean into where you already have existing credibility, a topic where you might already get a lot of questions or do a lot of mentoring. Most importantly, your course should solve a challenge you know exists for your target students.
Inside-out is looking inward to what topics you feel passionate about. You can also consider what topic you make the most existing content on.
When picking a topic, market demand matters more. That's why the outside-in circle is slightly larger. As you get started, you might think: "I can choose anything under the sun that I have some knowledge about." This is actually not true. If it were true, then you'd have analysis paralysis trying to boil the ocean. Creating a course is not about exploring new interests; instead, it's about leaning into your credibility and years of experience.
✍️ Action: Outside-in/Inside-out Exercise
This exercise will help you find course topic alignment in the overlapping space of (a) what students want to learn from you and (b) what you would enjoy teaching.
For outside-in, ask yourself:
What are the questions that people ask you all the time?
Who are the people asking you these questions, and do you already have access to them (e.g., on social media, via communities, networks)?
If a stranger looked up your track record, what topic would they think you’d teach on?
What’s a challenge you know exists for students that you can help them solve?
For inside-out, ask yourself:
Within your area of expertise, what’s a topic that you feel passionate about?
What topic do you enjoy explaining to others?
Where do you have a ton of content that you've already written about? Or, what topic do you already have access to ample resources on?
What topic overlaps in both your outside-in and inside-out circles? That’s a strong clue as to what you should teach. Here's a template to write your high-level course topic:
“How to [achieve outcome] for [ideal student]”
Examples:
How to beat decision paralysis and master a repeatable process for making better decisions in business/life for entrepreneurs & execs (Annie Duke)
How to make better decisions by mastering budgeting, forecasting, analysis, and storytelling for founders and COOs (Chris Wattig and Taylor Davidson)
How to succeed in your next PM interview by practicing in a live setting for aspiring product managers and recent grads (Marily Nika)
How to communicate with influence for new managers, startup leaders, and managers of new teams (Jess Goldberg)
How to break into the C-suite using strategic influence, scaling culture, developing talent, and building executive presence for directors, senior directors, and VPs (Ethan Evans and Sue Bethanis)
How do I pick between two topics?
If you’re stuck between two topics, ask yourself these questions one by one:
Which topic do you have more existing assets for and confidence in teaching?
Which target student is easier for you to reach?
Which topic solves a more urgent challenge for your target students? For example, your target students’ performance evaluation or career growth depends on knowing this skill.
You will eventually find a tipping point where one topic is the clear winner. It might help to discuss it with a friend or peer to find what's practical for your first course and to learn more about what resonates. Remember, responses to your course interest survey will even further illuminate your final course topic.
Additional resources
Watch Wes Kao explain the outside-in/inside-out framework, and how to narrow your target student & topic
Wes Kao explaining how to pick a course topic that solves a hairy, urgent problem (starts at 28:52)