Everyone has that moment.

The moment where they realize that they know something that other people will pay to learn.

It could be related to your profession or a hobby. You don’t need a formal degree as your experience is often more than enough.

It is an exciting time to create an online course. People love to consume information and online courses makes it possible for us to do this at nearly any time. We can access content from home, on a smartphone, tablet – you name it!

It is true you will have a great sense of satisfaction after you complete your course, but you will also face trials and tribulations during the creation process.

The most deadly of these is distraction from “shiny objects”.

With so many “super tools” and “tips” out there it is easy to become distracted. Before you know it you are signed up to dozens of “online business guru” email lists and have more free-trial accounts than you can keep track of.

If you are developing your course on WordPress (you should be) then there are other distractions. Specifically in the form of WordPress plugins.

The plugin market in WordPress is amazing. So many cool features and functionality right at your finger-tips.

But I’m telling you that this is a time-suck. You will be pulled off-course (pun intended).

The more time you spend learning the ins-and-outs of various plugins the less time you will be spending actually building your course. Creating an online course with WordPress takes time. Do yourself a favor and focus primarily on the content. Heck, you don’t even need a WordPress site until the content is done!

In short, don’t worry about installing shopping cart plugins, badge functionality, contact forms, and similar plugins until the core of your offering is complete. Then, add to your core (the course content) and configure the learner experience. You will get to market so much quicker.