How To Validate Your Online Course Idea Before You Build It (So You Don’t Waste Months Creating Something Nobody Buys)

Launching an online course can feel exciting… and completely overwhelming. If you’re a therapist with an idea for a course but unsure if people will actually buy it, you’re not alone. When I created my first course back in 2015, I had too many ideas to count—podcasting, private practice marketing, productivity for introverts… even an ACL recovery course.

I kept a running list. But I had no idea which course to start with. Over the past decade, I’ve learned something really important…

The best course ideas aren’t invented. They’re discovered.

They show up in the real questions your clients, peers, and audience are already asking you.

In today’s post, I want to walk you through three ways to validate your online course before you spend months creating slides and videos no one ends up watching.

1. Your Audience Is Already Dropping Clues

Pay attention to what your therapy clients, peers, and coaching consults keep asking. That repeated question? It’s not random. It’s a clue.

🧠 Pro tip: Use tools like ChatGPT or Claude to surface themes. Dictate what you’re hearing and ask the AI what patterns you might be missing.

You’d be surprised what bubbles up when you zoom out.

2. Validate Before You Build

Please don’t start building your course in a vacuum. Before you record a single lesson, make sure there’s demand for what you’re creating

Here are a few easy ways to do this:

• Create a simple Google Form to collect interest

• Use Zoom or Fathom.video to host short 1:1 chats (just be sure to ask permission to record!)

• Use Instagram or LinkedIn polls to see what people really want

Even 3 to 5 honest conversations can help you see if your course idea has legs. Inside our STC Elite online course mastermind for therapists, this is one of the first things we help folks do. Why? Because it gives you clarity before you invest your time and energy.

3. Don’t Chase What’s Trending. Choose What’s Enduring.

Ask yourself: “Will this course idea still be useful in 10 to 15 years?”

Therapists do best when they teach from their own lived experience—not just what’s hot right now.

Your story becomes your curriculum. That’s what makes your course truly unique and unique.

🎁 Want to take this further?

Download the free 7-day Course Creator Starter Kit. It walks you through how to validate your online course idea using the exact framework I teach in my mastermind.
➡️ sellingthecouch.com/coursekit