The Market Research Phase
Most failed courses don’t fail because of poor content. They fail because no one wanted them in the first place.
Market research isn’t a phase you rush through - it’s the foundation that decides whether your course deserves to exist at all. Below is a practical, repeatable process you can follow before you build anything.
Step 1: Clearly define who the course is for (one sentence)
Before research, you need focus.
Write one sentence:
“This course is for [specific person] who wants to [specific outcome].”
Examples:
“Junior marketers who want to run their first paid ad campaign”
“Freelance designers who want consistent inbound leads”
“New managers struggling with difficult conversations”
If your sentence includes “anyone”, it’s too broad. Narrow beats clever every time.
Step 2: Identify where your audience already talks
Do not invent demand. Go where it already exists.
Pick two or three of the following:
LinkedIn posts and comments
Reddit threads or niche forums
YouTube comments under popular videos
Slack or Discord communities
Email replies from your own audience
You’re not looking for ideas — you’re looking for patterns.
Step 3: Collect real questions (not opinions)
Spend 30–60 minutes gathering exact language people use.
Write down:
Questions people repeat
Frustrations they describe
Objections they raise
Words like “stuck”, “confused”, “overwhelmed”, “not sure”
Do not rephrase them. These phrases will later become:
Your course positioning
Your sales page copy
Your lesson titles
This step alone can outperform weeks of guessing.
Step 4: Study what people are already buying
Search for existing courses, coaching offers, or paid communities in your niche.
Look at:
What’s included
How it’s positioned
The promise it makes
Then read:
Reviews
Testimonials
Refund complaints
Negative comments
Ask:
What’s missing?
What do buyers wish they’d gotten?
Where does the offer overpromise or underdeliver?
This is where opportunity usually hides.
Step 5: Validate willingness to pay (small test)
Validation doesn’t require a full launch.
Simple options:
Offer a paid 1:1 session related to the topic
Sell a short workshop or live session
Ask people to join a paid waitlist
Pre-sell the course outline at a reduced price
If people won’t pay anything, they won’t pay later either. This step saves months of wasted effort.
Step 6: Define the narrow outcome your course delivers
Your first course should solve one problem, not ten.
Finish this sentence:
“By the end of this course, the learner will be able to ______.”
If that sentence becomes complicated, you’re trying to do too much.
Strong courses are specific. Broad courses are forgettable.
Step 7: Write your differentiation in plain language
Finally, answer this honestly:
Why this course, from you, right now?
Good differentiation sounds like:
“Built for beginners who don’t want theory”
“Focused on execution, not concepts”
“Designed for people with limited time”
“Based on real-world experience, not frameworks”
If you can’t explain this in two sentences, neither can your buyer.
Final thought
Market research isn’t about being certain. It’s about reducing risk.
When you understand:
Who you’re building for
What they’re already asking
What they’re willing to pay for
The course itself becomes much easier to design, sell, and improve.
