How to Pick a Topic for Your E-mail Workshop or E-course

By Shery Ma Belle Arrieta
Posted Tuesday, November 23, 2004

The most frequently asked question I receive from people who want to create and develop their own e-mail workshops, e-courses or tutorials is how to pick the most suitable topic to develop.

Julie D. Raque is a business and personal coach who runs Matrix Coaching Services (http://www.matrixcoachingservices.com) and she once asked:

"...In day 1 of creating a workshop, you instruct us to pick a topic and then develop an outline. I have brainstormed several topics that I know in the long run all will be workshops. What I need help is in deciding which one to pick.

"Here's my dilemma -- My first thought is to pick a topic that will be somewhat easy for me to do. It being my first workshop, I didn't want to choose a difficult topic. Is this the right thinking? If so, it narrows it down to 2 topics. Following that decision is another one to make...how long to make the workshop. Do certain lengths of workshops work better than others Meaning, does a 3-week workshop (one lesson per week) work better than a 12-week workshop?"

When you're only starting out in developing your first e-mail workshop, picking which topic to work on is the first of the many decisions you will make along the way.

If you came up with a long list of possible workshop topics during your brainstorming session, you might end up confused and undecided of just what you want to develop first.

It's always best to ask yourself:

~ Which topic are you most comfortable with?

~ Which topic can you develop quickly?

~ Which topic do you have contents or resources available already?

~ Which topic do you think will be in demand and will generate immediate interest?

It's not wrong to pick the easy topic and develop it first the same way that it's not wrong to pick the hardest topic either. Instead, ask yourself which of the topics you came up with will create the highest level of interest or response in your niche.

You can also do a quick survey on your site visitors or e-zine subscribers. Give them a list of topic and ask them to cast votes. Give them an incentive to vote. Offer a gift after they respond to your survey. Do a random drawing at the end of the survey and award a prize -- an e-book, a freebie, a special report, special access, etc. -- to the winning respondent. Based on their votes, you'll have an idea of what e-mail workshop topics will be useful for them and profitable for you to develop.

However, if you decide to create the easy topic first, you can use it to your advantage: use that easy topic to generate interest for the more difficult topics you will develop into e-mail workshops later.

What about workshop length or duration?

Generally, it's best to conduct e-mail workshops no more than 4 or 5 weeks. You have to take into consideration how many workshop participants you can take in one run and how much time you will be able to devote to guiding and being available to them.

The length of your e-mail workshop will depend on your topic and outline. Unless you want to offer an intensive and in-depth course that could stretch for 12 weeks, it would be better (and easier on you and your participants) to offer shorter workshops that you can conduct anywhere between 3 to 5 weeks. Break down a big workshop into smaller workshops, or make your workshops progressive (e.g., beginner, intermediate and advanced e-mail
workshops on the same topic). Your participants can take the succeeding workshops if they're interested to learn more.

About the Author
Shery helps you create profitable e-mail workshops, e-courses and tutorials. Her e-book provides a blueprint on how you can set up e-mail courses and increase your subscribers from 0 to 200+ in 48 hours! Visit (http://EmailWorkshopsHowTo.com)