I interviewed Matt Beards from Duke City Counseling about his journey in creating continuing education (CE) courses for LPC supervisors in Texas.

Matt shared his experience of initially creating a general CE course for LPCs, which did not generate much interest or sales. This is a common mistake that I see with colleagues who go the CEU course route mainly because it's really hard to stand out and make money with so many low-cost options out there.

That realization that it wasn’t working hit hard—but it changed everything.

The Truth About Selling General CEU Courses

Many of us—especially therapists—are wired to be helpers. So when we think about creating online courses, it makes sense we’d start broad: “How can I help as many colleagues as possible?”

But in Matt’s case, offering general continuing education (CE) courses turned out to be a losing battle. Bigger platforms had more content, better pricing, and national recognition. There was no clear reason someone would choose his offering.

Pivoting Toward Purpose and Profit

Instead of quitting, Matt asked a different question: “What if I created a course for a specific person… in a specific situation?”

That’s when things shifted. Matt stopped trying to compete with general CE platforms and zoomed in on a smaller—but high-need—audience: licensed professional counselor (LPC) supervisors in Texas.

Here’s what made it work:

• A focused course topic: CE refreshers for LPC supervisors.
• A clear audience: Therapists in Texas who needed these CEUs every 2 years.
• Built-in repeat buyers: Once someone took the course, they'd likely need it again later.

Building a Simple, Ethical, Repeatable Product

Matt didn’t use fancy video equipment or expensive platforms. In fact, his courses were simple downloadable PDFs with quizzes. That’s it. But because he solved a very specific need for a very specific audience—it worked.

The course was created with care, up-to-date with licensing board standards, and backed by real-world supervision experience. He wasn’t just a name on a website—he was someone who had walked the same path as his students.

The Real Secret? Trust and Relationship

What surprised Matt the most? It wasn’t fancy tech or ad campaigns that made the difference. It was word of mouth. This wasn’t mass marketing. It was slow, intentional, person-to-person connection. It was ethical business, built on trust.

Final Thoughts

If you're a therapist thinking about creating an online course, here’s what Matt’s journey teaches us:

• Start small. You don’t need perfect tech or a massive audience.
• Focus on real pain points. Make something that solves a problem you’ve experienced yourself.
• Be available. Let people see the person behind the product.
• Don’t quit just because your first idea doesn’t work. Instead, ask what is working… and build from there.

Sometimes your “failure” is really just the first step toward the thing that actually works.

You can find all of Matt’s LPC Supervisor CEU courses—plus his story and resources—at mattbierds.com

And if you’re thinking about creating your first course, check out these posts:

• How to Validate Your Online Course

• 5 Signs You’re Ready to Launch Your Online Course