Part 2: Building Courses That Age Well

This follow-up post took a little longer than I expected. But that feels kind of fitting, considering the takeaway is longevity. 🙃

If you haven’t read Part 1 yet (where I unpack why I moved course platforms… again), you can start there. This is Part 2—the recap you can actually take notes from!

After six years, five platforms, a few trademark lessons, two pregnancies, one agency scale-up and scale-down, and more backend migrations than I’d like to admit… here’s what I’ve learned about building courses that age well … both for you and your students.

My goal isn’t to be dramatic or directive — just to distill what I’ve learned so you can apply it as you see fit.

So here are the things I’d do differently (and the ones I’d do exactly the same) if I were starting again today.

Let’s start with the practical. As I shared in Part 1, after previously retiring all older courses/digital products, I moved my currently active course [The Essential Copy Course® (TECC)] to Thrivecart Learn.

Not because Circle was bad or because something broke, or because I was spiraling. But because I wanted fewer moving parts.

Thrivecart is a lifetime payment. There’s no recurring monthly platform fee. Which means I can keep a course alive without feeling pressure to sell it simply to justify the software bill. That alone changed my psychology and created quite the lightbulb moment.

It also integrates directly with Flodesk, so no Zapier patchwork required. AKA fewer things that can quietly fail or be forgotten about in the background.

It connects cleanly with our affiliate program, which already lives in Thrivecart.

And since Circle is really more of a membership platform, Thrivecart’s learning interface feels more “course-like” anyway. It’s not flashy or overly branded, but it’s solid and structured.

After all, I sunsetted The (Non) Copywriter’s Society® (the ‘membership’ add-on to our course) for now, so I didn’t need the community functionality. And as I consider and plan for a group/cohort-based program later this year, I’m thinking Slack will work better for those live conversations + support threads anyway.

Besides, the heart of TECC has always lived in the Coursebook. (And that was intentional from the beginning!) Not in the bells and whistles of the platform. So moving it didn’t dismantle anything foundational—it simplified it.

“Lifetime access” sounds generous. And it can be.

But it’s also a commitment.

You’re essentially saying, as long as this exists, I will maintain it.

That means updates. Platform migrations. Login support. Re-recordings. Compatibility changes. Hosting costs. Ongoing clarity about whether it still reflects your thinking.

If you love the idea of stewarding something long-term? Great, I love that for you.

If you’re someone who reinvents, evolves, refines every 18 months? You need to think that through.

If I were starting today, I would strongly consider options such as:

• 12-month access with renewal

• Cohort-based access with defined start and end dates

• Or lifetime access at a premium price that truly reflects the commitment

Not because lifetime is wrong, but it’s certainly not neutral. It’s a promise that comes with a responsibility you just want to be ready for!

This one is subtle but significant in terms of the time, money, and energy involved in bringing your product to life, messaging, and marketing it.

I created CU Edu as a separate umbrella. Built a separate sub-site. Gave it its own vibe, ecosystem, identity.

At the time, it made sense. We were scaling. The agency was the bigger silo. Education was expanding and it was serving our audience at a different stage of their journey.

But as I’ve descaled the agency and moved toward more hybrid, founder-forward offerings, that separation started to feel unnecessary.

It created friction and started to feel confusing for me to maintain. (And if it’s confusing for you as the business owner, it’s a pretty good indicator that it’s confusing for your people.)

So now I’m thinking about it a bit differently.

Unless your entire business model is education, your course probably doesn’t need its own universe. It can live inside your brand.

You can run themed campaigns when you launch. You can get creative with visuals. (Shannon of The Social Bungalow has always been incredible at this.) But it doesn’t need an alter ego.

As much as I loved the brand identities for each of my former courses (seriously, Kadie of Drop Cap Design crushed all the logos for them) and I do think it aided in their success at the time, it’s not currently where my focus is when developing a new product.

Maintaining one brand can be hard enough! So make sure your course can evolve with it.

I shared my personal experience in Part 1 in pretty good detail, so I’ll keep this section short & sweet.

If you have a name you love? Trademark it sooner.

If you have frameworks you’re building your reputation on? Protect them.

The internet moves fast. And once something gets traction, you don’t want to scramble to defend it, or ultimately risk losing it.

I did this eventually and I’m glad I did, but I’d do it earlier if I could rewind.

And if something like a sale of your business or an acquisition is on your future radar, it can only help your cause (and sale price) to truly own your assets.

This is a big one and I don’t say it to discourage anyone from building something robust.

I say this because I’ve watched so many creators — myself included — build the “final version” first.

But honestly? You don’t entirely know what needs to be in Version 1.

You don’t know what students will actually use. You don’t know which modules will become outdated. You don’t know how your own thinking will evolve or what new innovation will blow the current ways of doing things wiiiide open.

So start smaller. Let it breathe. Let the offer earn its depth. You can always add.

It’s much harder to overhaul or maintain. And going big from the beginning can keep you from ever even reaching that first launch finish line.

Side note: I’ve also way overthought the platform, the content type, the design, the format, the delivery, etc. And then I’d buy something from a bigger creator who wasn’t even using a platform at all. They were delivering it through something like Notion, Google Drive, Loom videos, email, etc.

I’m not necessarily advising you do that, as there 100% is something to be said for the student experience and providing a dedicated learning space, however, it just goes to show, you can be nimble. If the actual subject matter is good and your product is getting people results, sometimes the shinier stuff doesn’t matter (at least not right away).

The TECC Coursebook is still one of my favorite decisions.

It anchors the material, forces clarity, limits distractions, and makes progress tangible. It also aligns with me as the course creator - I’m not a huge video person and the subject matter is about writing, after all.

It feels very much like a traditional means of learning (a primary course textbook / workbook with supporting lectures + materials).

My goal has been to figure out a drop-ship option that somehow integrates with a course purchase and then ships the purchaser a printed copy (so you don’t have to worry about printing/binding it yourself).

It’s on my list to finally look into post-maternity leave but if anyone knows anything about something like this, I’m all ears!

I’m also looking forward to sitting down with it at some point this year to refresh it where needed and add any supporting AI aspects. I don’t know if I’d feel that way if I was looking up the mountain at needing to fully re-record a 10-module video course, though, but maybe that’s just me!

I never built TECC to game an algorithm, capitalize on a trending strategy, inflate numbers, or promise unrealistic outcomes.

It was always about helping people think simply, more methodically, and more sustainably about the words they use to communicate about their business. And giving them a tangible means of doing that.

And that integrity is why it still works. Even with all the explosive industry shifts over the past few years, clarity, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking still (and always will) matter.

For much of this year, I’ve been working on a new messaging product. It’s lean, founder-driven, and would rely — at least in part — on a custom GPT.

I’ve been forced to take pauses amidst the creation of it (hello pregnancy, client load, fully managing the business, having the bandwidth of a toddler mom), and honestly, I’m grateful for that timing. The space has forced me to think more clearly — not just about the mechanics of it, but also how I truly want to approach building and carrying it. (And yes, the AI landscape shifts weekly.)

Experimentation is part of building anything modern, so my goal has simply been too ask the right questions.

e.g. Not just, will this sell? But, do I want to carry this? How might the tech change? Do I want to update it when it does? Do I want to promote it consistently? Do I want to support it for some time into the future, not just launch it & forget it?

We don’t have crystal balls. We can’t predict what OpenAI will release next quarter or which platforms will still dominate two years from now. All we can do is make the best decision we can with the information we have — and be honest about the level of commitment we’re signing up for.

It’s less a matter of can I build this? But do I want to steward this?

All that to say, I’m excited to dig back into it once I get settled after baby and share what I’ve landed on then.

• Plan for platform changes before you need to.

• Think carefully about lifetime access.

• If the naming/IP is a vital part you’d hate to lose, protect it early.

• Start with the simplest viable version.

• Make sure you actually want to promote and support this thing long-term.

• Build something you’re willing to stand behind.

Not because everything has to last forever, but because creation isn’t just about launch energy. It’s about stewardship.

I hope you’ve found all of this helpful!

💬 Is education something you’ve offered or considered? I’d love to hear what stage you’re in, what parts may of this series have resonated, or what you’ve learned throughout your own journey.

• The Essential Copy Course® (TECC) — The ambitious entrepreneur’s field guide to high-converting brand messaging and website copywriting. Delivered through a robust, 3-part Coursebook with supporting instruction, and all the resources + templates you need to get your web copy written like the pro you didn’t need to hire.

• Join the Interest List for Custom Copy Projects This Spring — I'll be on maternity leave from ~mid-February to mid-April 2026. Prior to my return, this list will get first dibs on new offers and booking availability.

• Trust Yourself® Podcast — Honest conversations on listening to your own voice in business and life. We’re now 7 episodes in (and counting). I know I’ve learned a ton from each guest’s story and individual experiences. If you’ve enjoyed listening: Apply or Nominate a Guest | Leave a Review