211: Why Nobody Finishes Online Courses Anymore and How to Fix It
Have you noticed how many online courses sit untouched after purchase? In this week's episode, I'm tackling the uncomfortable truth about why traditional online courses aren't working anymore in 2025 – and exactly what you need to do about it.
I recently gave my own programs a complete makeover after realizing that people weren't looking for more information – they needed better support and implementation help. I share the specific changes I made to the Digital Product Growth Lab and Newsletter Profit Club that dramatically improved student results, including private podcast Q&As (goodbye, never-ending group calls!), targeted workshops, and personalized growth plans.
Whether you're offering courses, memberships, or group coaching, this episode will help you understand what modern learners actually want and how to deliver it efficiently (with some AI assistance to make your life easier). Your students will thank you, and you'll wonder why you ever did things the old way!
Key Moments:
00:01:00] The "outdated course problem" - why traditional online courses aren't meeting today's needs for personalized support
[00:02:00] My solution: private podcast feeds for questions, curated live workshops, and personalized growth plans
[00:04:00] Why those massive PDF workbooks aren't working anymore and what to use instead
[00:05:00] Rethinking community support models and content delivery timelines
[00:07:00] Five ways to leverage AI to create more personalized, responsive course experiences
Why Your Online Course Needs a Makeover for 2025 (And How to Do It)
The online education landscape is shifting dramatically, and what worked just a couple of years ago simply isn't cutting it anymore. As someone who's recently gone through a complete overhaul of my own digital programs, I wanted to share why this transformation was necessary and how it's revolutionized the results my students are getting.
The "Outdated Course Problem" We're All Facing
Let's be honest – how many online courses have you purchased only to let them gather digital dust in your inbox? You're not alone. The traditional online course model is showing its age, and it's not because the content isn't valuable. The problem lies in how that content is delivered and supported.
Today's learners don't want another passive learning experience where they're left to figure things out on their own. They're craving personalized support and guidance. They want someone walking alongside them, helping them take action and implement what they're learning. At the same time, they're rebelling against those dreaded two-hour group coaching calls where they wait endlessly just to ask one specific question.
The transformation people seek isn't just about information – it's about implementation with the right support at the right time.
How My Programs Got a Complete Makeover
When I noticed these shifts happening, I knew I needed to make significant changes to both my Digital Product Growth Lab and Newsletter Profit Club. Here's what the transformation looked like:
Private Podcast Feed for Questions: Instead of forcing everyone to attend live calls at inconvenient times, I created a private podcast feed where members can submit questions whenever they want. I answer these questions via podcast episodes that they can listen to during their commute, workout, or whenever works best for them.
Curated Live Workshops: Rather than covering the same content repeatedly, I now offer live workshops based specifically on the questions and challenges my members are currently facing. This ensures the content stays relevant and addresses real-time needs.
Personalized Growth Plans: For yearly members, I've added personalized growth plans because I noticed many people weren't sure what to focus on next. This prevents them from wasting time on activities that don't move the needle for their business.
The results speak for themselves. Members are asking better questions, implementing more consistently, and achieving better outcomes – all because they're not wasting time waiting for help or guessing what they should do next.
What You Need to Change in Your Course Structure
If you're sensing your course might need an update, here are the key elements to reconsider:
1. Ditch Those Massive PDF Workbooks
Let's face it – most people download those giant PDF workbooks and never open them again. Instead, consider creating AI prompts that guide your students through the implementation process. Some course creators are even developing AI chatbots with their knowledge base uploaded to help students work through issues as they arise.
2. Rethink Your Community Support Model
Facebook groups can be wonderful, but in many cases, questions get lost in the feed, and people feel uncomfortable asking what they perceive as "basic" questions in front of the entire group. Consider offering more private ways for people to get help without feeling judged by their peers.
While community models work exceptionally well for some programs, they're not universally needed. Assess whether yours is truly serving your students or just creating additional management work for you.
3. Offer Flexible Content Delivery
If your course keeps everyone moving at the same pace, you might be limiting both your sprinters and your slower processors. Some students want to race ahead, while others need more time to implement thoroughly. Building flexibility into your content delivery allows everyone to learn at their optimal pace.
In my own programs, I have members at vastly different stages – from Newsletter Profit Club members with 70,000 subscribers to those just starting with 15. A one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn't work with such diversity.
4. Move Beyond One-Way Communication
The days of simply delivering content without getting feedback are over. Today's students want to ask questions and receive confirmation that they're implementing correctly. They're looking for a dialogue, not a monologue.
Creating channels for two-way communication makes your students feel heard and supported, dramatically increasing their chances of success.
Leveraging AI to Make It All Easier
The good news is that you don't have to do all of this manually. AI can be a game-changer in modernizing your course delivery:
Create personalized learning pathways based on questionnaires your students complete
Draft personalized feedback on assignments that you can review and tweak before sending
Generate summaries of common questions and answers to share with all students
Update examples and case studies with current data and trends
Set up AI-powered chatbots to handle basic questions, freeing you up for more complex support
The Future of Online Education Is Personalized and Interactive
The programs thriving in 2025 are those that have adapted to how people actually want to learn and how they'll get results. Once you make these changes to your course structure, you'll wonder why you ever did it the old way.
The benefits are clear: your students will be happier, you'll experience less stress, and everyone will achieve better results. That makes the effort of updating your approach absolutely worthwhile.
Are you sensing your course might need a refresh? What changes are you considering to modernize your approach and better serve your students? I'd love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions about implementing these strategies in your specific program.
Remember, this isn't just about keeping up with trends – it's about genuinely improving the transformation you provide to your students. And isn't that why we got into this business in the first place?
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Transcript:
Welcome to the Creator's MBA podcast, your go-to resource for mastering the art and science of digital product entrepreneurship. My name is Dr. Destini Copp and I help business owners generate consistent revenue from their digital product business without the need to be glued to their desk. Constantly live, launching or worrying about the social media algorithms.
I hope you enjoy our episode today.
Hi there, Destini here, and today I want to talk about why my program's got a complete makeover and why yours might need one, too. So I've been thinking a lot about our online courses lately, especially how so many of them feel stuck in the past, even though your content is great. might be solid. And a lot
[00:01:00] of times it really comes down to the support people are looking for to get the transformation.
So let's talk about this whole quote unquote outdated course problem. So what I realized was that people were looking for more support. They needed more handholding. What they didn't want was another course that would, they would just, you know, sign up for, but never do anything with. They wanted. somebody alongside of them, helping them take action.
The other thing that they did not want were those painful two hour group coaching calls where you will just sit there and wait forever just to ask One specific question. So that is something that people do not want in 2025. So here's what I did in my programs and here's how I set them up. So in both of them in the digital product growth lab and in the newsletter profit club,
[00:02:00] I added a private podcast feed where people can submit questions whenever they want and then I answer them on the private podcasts so they can listen in when it works for them, when it's convenient for them during their commute while working out or whenever they wanted to.
The other thing I did, I added live workshops with Q and A and these live workshops are very, curated type workshops based on the questions that I'm getting from the members in the program. So I wanted to make sure that I was addressing challenges that they are seeing right today, right in their business.
And it's not some outdated course content that's not going to help them at all. The other thing I did in both of these programs, For our yearly members is I added personalized growth
[00:03:00] plans because what I noticed is that a lot of people really weren't sure on what to focus on next. So then they would waste a ton of time really on stuff that wasn't moving the needle for the business.
So people are wanting that more of that personalized support and, You know, basically going back and forth. They want to be able to ask questions. That's very pertinent to their business. And I would say that this is working so much better. People are getting results. ~I ~And this new format is working really, really good.
So let's talk about why this is working so much better. So here's the best part of all of this. people are actually getting results. They're asking better questions and they're getting much better results because they're not wasting time waiting around for help or guessing what they [00:04:00] need to do next. So here's what you might need to change in your course. So let's first talk about those massive PDF workbooks that nobody fills out. So let's be real. Most people are downloading them and they're never opening them up again.
So what you might want to do instead is to create AI prompts that will help them and go back and forth. You could even do some AI chat bots with your knowledge base uploaded in there to kind of help them work through issues. That's working very, very well.
The other thing you might want to look at is the Facebook group support model. So these are where questions get lost and feed people feel awkward asking questions. You might want to consider a more private way for people to get help without feeling judged.
Now there are some programs out there
[00:05:00] where these communities work very, very well. And some programs out there that they've just you know, you probably don't need that extra headache there. The other thing is, your content delivery timeline. If you have a course that keeps everybody moving along at the same time, that might work for, but for some type of programs, Some people might want to sprint ahead. Others need more time. So in that case, you might want to build some flexibility in there.
I know for me in my newsletter, profit club and my digital product growth lab, I have people that are at all different stages. I have people in the newsletter profit club that have close to 70, 000 subscribers on their email list and I have people who are just starting out like literally probably 15 Subscribers if that
[00:06:00] so depending on kind of where they are.
The other thing you might want to reconsider is a one way communication style where you're just delivering the content without getting feedback from folks. People want to be able to ask questions and want to know that they're doing it right.
The other thing you can consider doing is using AI to make it all easier for you. So you don't have to do all of this stuff manually. I have started using AI to help with a bunch of stuff in my memberships. One of them is using AI to create Personalized learning pathways based on simple questionnaires that the students fill out still working on this and refining this,
The other thing you can have AI do is help you draft personalized feedback on forms and assignments so that you can review and just
[00:07:00] tweak it.
And that'll help you deliver responses. faster back to your clients. You can also use AI to create summaries of common questions and answers that you get. So you can send it out to everyone or put it in a place in your course platform. You can also use AI to help you update examples and case studies with current data and trends.
The other thing you can do is set up a I power chat box that can handle basic questions, which will free you up for the more complex stuff. The point of all of this is to meet your customers where they are and give them what they need so they can keep moving forward to get results.
The programs that are doing well in 2025 are the ones that have adopted to how people actually want to learn and how they're going to get results. I know that once you make these [00:08:00] changes and look at your entire career, You're going to wonder why you ever did it the old way because I can tell you using AI and having that interaction with your clients is actually been a game changer for me.
So your students are going to be happier. You're going to be less stress and everybody's going to get better results. So it's absolutely worth the effort to update things. Thanks so much for joining me today. If you have any questions about all of this or, you know, questions about should I do this for my online course or my membership or my group coaching program, let me know.
I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. Bye for now.
Thanks for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed this episode today. If you love the show, I'd appreciate a review on Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast platform. Have a great rest of your day and bye for now.