If you want to build a successful online course as a Sleep Consultant, you need to find a real problem that people are willing to pay for to solve this. This means that before deciding on your course topic, it’s very important that you identify your target audience. By understanding your target learners, you can address their challenges, keep them engaged, and provide real value. This increases the chances of your course being successful.
Are you targeting new parents struggling with infant sleep? Is your course for single moms who just got out of a divorce, or do you want to be known for supporting families where both parents are working fulltime?
Too often, I see sleep consultants create a course before really understanding their audience, which leads to content that doesn’t resonate and it also fails to attract the right clients. Think of it like this, do you think a mom who is working full time has the time to sit down for a 20-hour course to get their baby to fall asleep? Or do you think an anxious mom could do with just a 1-page cheatsheet about a sleep training method?
To be able to create a successful course, it’s important to get a good understanding of the ideal client you want to serve. Let me take you through the structured process I follow with my 1:1 clients:
Step 1: Who is your ideal client?
The first question who do you want to help. And no, ‘tired moms’ is not enough. Go a couple of levels deeper. Think about your favourite client (or if you didn’t have a client yet – visualize your dream client).
What are their demographics? Think in terms of age, relationship status, location, financial situation. But also think of their psychographics, such as their values, desires, goals, fears, life choices, and parenting approach.
Get really clear on who you want to help. If you feel stuck, or you find it challenging to get more specific, you can drop the following prompt in ChatGPT.
Note: if you’ve never heard of ChatGPT click here for a free tutorial, specifically for Sleep Consultants.
ChatGPT prompt:
I am a certified pediatric sleep consultant and the founder of Sleep Wise Consulting. I help parents get the rest they need, by sleep training their children. My ideal client is 35 years old, loves her full-time job, and highly values the independence of her children. I want to be known for my open-minded and compassionate approach, based on attachment parenting. Based on my company information, summarize 5 potential customer avatars that may fit with my offerings and what I want to be known for. Name each avatar.
Step 2: What are their biggest problems, frustrations or unmet needs related to sleep?
Think about your ideal client, what are their biggest problems, frustrations or unmet needs related to the sleep of their kids. Are they single parents and they don’t have the luxury of support from their partner? Or maybe they are full-time working moms and can’t read 10 books about child sleep to figure it out. Get very clear on their pain points, so that you can create a course that will address their specific needs and can really help them solve (a narrow part) of their problem.
ChatGPT prompt:
Based on the avatar of … what are her biggest problems, frustrations or unmet needs related to the sleep of her children?
Step 3: How do they prefer to consume new information?
Remember the mom in my example that felt very anxious? The better you can understand your ideal client, their pain points and ways of solving their problems, the better you can adapt your course in a way that will set them up for success.
If you have no clue how your ideal client would prefer to consume new information, go reach out to them. Really, send them a message, hop on a call and ask what would work best for them. Or continue your conversation with ChatGPT and see what (s)he comes up with:
ChatGPT prompt:
I want to create an online course for Sarah, a single mom with 2 children, living in New York City who is struggling with getting her children to sleep through the night. She would love to go visit her family in Los Angeles, but feels insecure about traveling due to the sleep challenges with both of her children. Sarah finds it very important that her children have a saying in how their days look like and encourages their independence. She is still recovering from postpartum depression with her youngest and feels anxious quite often. Please give me insights on how Sarah is consuming information so I can create a course that is of high value to her.
Finishing Touch
Once you have all of that figured out, I want you to create an “I help… statement”, in the following format:
I help ____ <clients> who are _____ <current state> to ____ <result>, so they can ____ <future state>.
Let’s take a look at what that could look like in the case of a single parent:
“I help single moms who are working 2 jobs to create a sleep plan and approach that fits their lifestyle, so they can both enjoy restful nights and wake up refreshed, to be their best selves.”
At first try to come up with an ‘I help… statement’ yourself, and then see how ChatGPT can inspire you.
ChatGPT prompt:
Based on all the above information, please create an I help statement with the following structure: I help ____ <clients> who are _____ <current state> to ____ <result>, so they can ____ <future state>.
Once you’ve got your ‘I help… statement’ write it down or print it out and stick it on the wall, hang it on your fridge or create it as the background of your desktop. This ‘I help…statement’ is your constant reminder of your ideal client, and making sure it’s visible will help you stay focused and motivated to identity and fix their specific problems.
My name is Rianna Hijlkema, I’m a certified pediatric sleep consultant, postpartum doula, and founder of Sleep Consultant Design. Over the past few years I’ve helped hundreds of sleep consultants to start, launch and grow their business. And now I’m here to help you.
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