Course Lab: Lessons from Successful Online Course Creators

Transitioning from software engineering to dreamwork, Michael Sheridan had an unexpected business journey. Despite financial challenges, his strategic pivots and focus on business coaching drove significant growth. His story highlights the importance of passion, resilience, and continuous learning.

Michael Sheridan is “Ireland’s favorite dream expert,” author of two books, and a radio host.

In this episode, Ari, Abe, and Michael discuss:
  • His transition from software engineering to dreamwork and initial income expectations
  • Facing challenges in business, leading to strategic changes
  • Michael’s realization of business coaching’s importance and its impact on growth and marketing strategies
  • His mindset shift regarding financial success and making a significant impact
  • Advice for course creators to seek guidance and embrace the learning curve
  • Personal development through launching a membership program and refining skills
  • Development of new event strategies to engage audiences
  • Insights into customer interactions and scaling challenges including team elevation and hiring practices
  • The impact of automation and streamlining on business processes 
  • The financial implications, growth trajectory, and the necessity of patience in business scaling


“If you really feel what you're doing is so important, make the biggest splash you can.” – Michael Sheridan


Guest Bio:

Michael Sheridan is Ireland’s favorite dream expert. He was a regular on the #1 TV talk show in Ireland — Ireland AM — as well as a regular on Ireland’s most popular radio shows, including “The Inbox” on 98FM, sharing the stage with both metaphysical and movie stars such as Paddy McMahon and Frank Vincent. He’s appeared on the BBC and countless other premier media outlets, interpreting dreams for his wide audience.

He’s the author of two books as well as a radio host with his own show on KKNW. His passion is to see people become all they came here to be and to live their life to its fullest potential. He does this by interpreting dreams. From reading your dreams, he can give clear direction on your life purpose, reveal the gifts that you brought with you to help achieve that purpose, and uncover the blocks you need to overcome to step into alignment.

With a focus on helping clients heal childhood trauma, Michael launched his first course in 1992. In 2012, he added online courses to his offerings and by 2015, after much experimentation, he switched entirely to an online hybrid model using the Ruzuku LMS. The hybrid model greatly increased course reach, course efficiency, and course effectiveness — and laid the framework for many later courses.


Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

Mirasee
Ruzuku
Michael’s website: Aisling Dream Interpretation
Michael’s previous episode: Hybrid Courses Are a Dream Come True (Michael Sheridan)

Credits:

Hosts: Ari Iny and Abe Crystal
Producer: Michi Lantz
Executive Producer: Danny Iny
Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario
Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

To catch the great episodes that are coming up on Course Lab, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channel or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.

Music credits:

Track Title: Bossa BB
Artist Name: Marie
Writer Name: Chelsea McGough
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: Coo Coos
Artist Name: Dresden, The Flamingo
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: Grace
Artist Name: Shimmer
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Track Title: Carousel Lights
Artist Name: Chelsea McGough
Writer Name: Chelsea McGough
Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION
Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

Special effects credits:
24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market.

Episode transcript: How to Boost Course Revenue with Savvy Event Strategies (Michael Sheridan).

Creators & Guests

Host
Abe Crystal
Host
Ari Iny
Editor
Marvin Del Rosario
Guest
Michael Sheridan
Producer
Michi Lantz

What is Course Lab: Lessons from Successful Online Course Creators?

Want to create a hugely successful online course, one that has a major impact on the lives of your students? If you want to learn how to create online courses from the best, you turn to Mirasee; and if you want to host that course, you can’t go wrong using the powerful platform, Ruzuku.

Ruzuku co-founder Abe Crystal and Mirasee founder and CEO Danny Iny know what it takes to stand out and be successful in the online courses industry. And now they’re teaming up to share this intel with you in their new Course Lab podcast.

In every episode, Course Lab showcases an entrepreneur/course creator who is nailing it with their online course -- and not because they’re teaching people how to make more money. In fact, most of these creators occupy unusual or overlooked niches, like music, writing for video games, overcoming inherent bias, and finding your life purpose.

Turns out, the key to their success all comes down to their online course design. In this podcast, Danny and Abe reveal the most important design tactics that are making all the difference for these online course creators -- and how you can implement them in your own online course. So if you want to create a successful online course that changes the lives of your students, this is your big chance to learn how it’s done from the best in the industry!