Passion is Not Enough (although it helps)

You’ve got an idea for an online course. Maybe it’s something you’re wildly passionate about. Maybe it’s something people always say you should teach. Or maybe it’s something you’ve lived through and come out the other side wiser, tougher, and ready to help others.

Here’s the thing: passion is a great start, but it’s not enough.

Every week, I see brilliant women planning to build online courses around topics they know deeply and care about fiercely. And yet... when it’s time to explain the course to someone else? Things get a little murky.

The passion is there. The lived experience is real. The knowledge is deep. But the course idea? It’s still not quite ready.

This blog post will help you change that.

Today, we’re going to walk through the steps that will:

• Help you mine your experience for a solid course idea

• Run that idea through a reality-check filter

• And - most importantly - craft a transformation promise that gets people saying, “Yes please, where do I sign up?”

Let’s begin.

Step 1: What’s in Your Toolbox? (It’s Probably More Than You Think)

Before you decide what to teach, take a look at what you’re already carrying around with you. Your knowledge and experience toolbox is packed with potential.

Start here:

Lived Experience:

• What problems have you overcome?

• What situations have you navigated that others still struggle with?

• Have people ever come to you for advice on something personal because they know you’ve been through it?

Learned Knowledge & Professional Skills:

• What have you studied, trained in, or done for work over the years?

• What processes, systems, or frameworks do you use without even thinking?

• What’s something you’ve mastered that others find complicated?

Passions with a Purpose:

• What do you enjoy that could genuinely help others?

• What could you talk about for hours without getting bored?

Spoiler: You don’t have to be the top expert. You just need to be a few steps ahead of your learner.

Still not sure? Ask a friend what they think you’re brilliant at explaining - or look through old emails and DMs where people asked for your help.

Once you’ve identified a few ideas, it’s time to test them.

Step 2: The Reality Check - Will Your Course Idea Fly?

This is where a lot of great ideas quietly collapse under their own complexity. I often see course creators fall into a very well-meaning trap: they create a course based on something they know so well, they can no longer explain it clearly.

You know the type of description:

"This course will help you tap into your power and align with your inner wisdom so you can live an authentic life."

Lovely. Truly. But... what does that mean?

How will I know if it’s working? What exactly will I be doing in this course? Will I be journaling? Meditating? Starting a business? Donating all my stuff and moving to Bali?

I don’t know. And if I don’t know, I’m not going to buy.

Here’s the simple truth: if your course idea is so abstract that people can’t link it to their real-life problems, they won’t see its value.

And it’s not because your course isn’t valuable - it probably is. It’s because when we’re too close to our own expertise, we get blind to how much background knowledge we’re assuming our audience has.

We talk in shorthand. We skip the part where we explain the pain we’re solving. We forget what it’s like to be new to the thing we now do effortlessly.

To avoid this trap, run your course idea through these three filters:

1. Does it solve a real, specific problem? Not a vague sense of discomfort, but something tangible. (“You keep burning out from people-pleasing at work” is clearer than “You’re disconnected from your true self.”)

2. Would someone pay for this solution? Not just because it’s interesting, but because it’s useful. People buy solutions, not philosophies.

3. Can you explain it to a stranger in under 20 seconds—without losing them? If your idea needs a whole spiritual origin story to make sense, you’ve lost them.

If your course idea passes those filters, congrats. You’re on solid ground. Now it’s time to shape your transformation promise.

Step 3: Craft a Transformation Promise That Sells

Your transformation promise is the clearest, simplest way to say: “This is where I’ll take you, and this is why it matters.”

It’s not about making lofty claims. It’s about helping your potential learners see the journey.

Here’s a simple formula to get you started:

From [frustrating starting point] to [empowered end result], without [common struggle].

Let’s fix that earlier example using the formula:

“From feeling lost and constantly second-guessing your life decisions to confidently building a daily routine that reflects who you are - without needing to escape your life or book a retreat.”

Better, right? Still soulful, but now I know what’s in it for me.

Here are a few more examples:

• From ‘I have no idea how to create a course’ to launching your first online course in 90 days - without the tech headaches or overwhelm.

• From constantly chasing the next client to having a scalable offer that brings in recurring income - without burning out.

When you write a strong transformation promise, it becomes the backbone of your course. Every module, every lesson, every worksheet - should feed into getting your learners from that before to that after.

If you can’t describe the transformation in one or two sentences, your course idea needs tightening.

And again, this doesn’t mean your idea is bad. It just means you’re probably too close to it.

You Don’t Need to Start From Scratch - You Just Need to Get Clear

Most course ideas don’t fail because the topic is wrong. They fail because the transformation is fuzzy.

If you:

• Know your stuff

• Have lived through something that others are still figuring out

• Have a system, framework, or insight that gets people results…

Then you’re already on the path.

Your next step is clarity.

So take a moment to:

• Revisit your knowledge and experience toolbox

• Pressure-test your idea with the three filters

• Write a clear transformation promise

And if you want help refining it - or pressure-testing it with a fresh pair of eyes - email me: hello@monikakajtar.com

I’ll happily take a look.