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As mental health professionals, it’s not uncommon to be asked to create a course for others based on your specialties, interests, or populations you serve. It could be a health company wanting a training on suicide assessment, or an HR firm looking for a workshop on burnout prevention. It may be a school wanting strategies for addressing self-harm in teens, or a church community looking for grief and loss resources from a professional within their community. Or perhaps you’ve been outreached by a continued education company that is looking for fresh faces to create quality trainings they can add to their subscription library for current members. Regardless of the audience, here are a couple things to explore before embarking on the journey of creating courses for others.
1. Have a Contract
Any company or organization serious about working with you to provide a course should have a formal contract outlining the parameters. It’s not enough to have a verbal or email exchange, it’s about having something in writing that gives expectations on things like:
a. Length of the final training
b. Deadline for training materials
c. Format of training being webinar, modules, video, audio, etc.
d. CE components like learning objectives, references, and quiz questions if required
e. Intellectual property clarification including that they aren’t hindering you from making similar content for others if you desire to do so
2. Know the Numbers
In addition to a contract outlining various expectations of you as the creator, it should also house some very important numbers for you to consider before saying yes to the project.
a. Proposed payment for the completed training (lump sum vs. hourly)
b. Royalties for the completed training if applicable (percentage earned on the course purchase price)
c. Affiliate link if applicable and percentage earned off each sale
d. Timeframe (in months, quarters, or years) for royalties to be earned, and how often they are paid out
3. Check Boundaries on Your Time
Based on the contract and numbers above, the next step is to compare the creation opportunity to the value of your time. Although most organizations are going to offer a lump sum for course creation over your hourly rate, how do the numbers break down? For example, if they are asking for a 2 hour course for $300, how does that compare to your private pay rate? Does that factor in additional hours of preparation, recording, formatting, and editing content if applicable? Just because the finished product is two hours doesn’t mean it’s going to take you two hours to create it, so sitting in that possibility is important before agreeing to start the course.
So now that you’ve explored the details of your course collaboration, are you ready to sign the contract? Are you feeling overwhelmed or like the timing is off? It’s important to be honest with yourself on all aspects of this endeavor. If you find yourself interested in the project but are not feeling quite confident, maybe there is something that needs to be ironed out before you can give an enthusiastic ‘yes!’ If the company has a restricted budget where they can’t increase your payment, try to negotiate. Here are some ideas of what to ask for:
A. A longer payout for royalties, such as 3-5 years instead of 2 years
B. A copy of the recording(s) to use in your own practice or consultation business
C. Your contact information listed on their site(s) with a backlink to your website to increase your SEO
D. A copy of their logo to use in your own marketing as a course creator
Each of these suggestions can increase the value of course creation to a busy professional. The process of creating something that expands reach to more people can be exhilarating and rewarding, not to mention it adds credibility to your professional brand. It can also serve as a lead magnet where folks may want to continue to work with you in some capacity, so I hope you’ll take this opportunity to explore course creation as a secondary income stream in your growing private practice!