If you’ve been daydreaming about creating an online course, let’s talk about what could happen if you made that dream real.

Well-designed online courses help people get results that impact their lives for the better.

As Pam Slim has said: “That is what our work is about: it’s about the impact of your gifts on people that you care about that’s solving problems you want solved in the world.”

It’s a powerful mission, that could give you 3 massive levels to improve your business and your impact:

1. You could grow a close-knit tribe.

Your course participants can be far more engaged than blog readers or email subscribers.

They can become the initial leaders of a passionate tribe that supports your work.

Sonia Simone, co-founder of Copyblogger, said in an interview: “If you let people know you care about them, they will have loyalty to you and that loyalty will help them get moving.”

The key to nurturing a strong tribe is to have clear values and a strong point-of-view. Sonia Simone noted in her own courses that “people sign up because they resonate with your values — your point of view — and that gives everyone something in common and makes everything go more smoothly.”

Your tribe will grow stronger as participants connect, help each other, and learn.

Here’s an example. “It’s not been an uncommon phenomenon for people to come out of our courses and start a mastermind group or continue to have significant contact with some of their buddies from the courses one, two, three years later,” said Mark Silver, from Heart of Business, has said. “Building those relationships, and really being able to trust and get support from your peers, are some of the most important parts of the learning experience.”

Start growing a close-knit tribe by creating your own online program to engage and connect.

2. You could make more money by serving more people.

The fastest way to get started with almost any small business is offering services: consulting, coaching, writing, design… whatever professional services your market or niche values.

You’re probably already doing that 🙂

So what’s next?

This is where courses come in.

You can create an online program that can help more people, in a more affordable way, than a service package.

A great way to get started is to “pre-sell” your course, before you have even created it.

Get some revenue upfront, so you are “paying yourself” to build the whole program.

Learn more about this powerful approach here: Roadmap to $5K in Course Revenue.

3. You could inspire your community to action.

We’ve entered a time in which information is abundant… and in many cases, it’s free.

But while it’s easier than ever to access raw information, it’s harder than ever to find inspiration and take action.

And that’s your opportunity!

According to Pam Slim, author of Body of Work and Escape from Cubicle Nation, you should focus on helping your participants take action, and get results.

She says: “