In today's fluctuating economy, many mental health professionals are seeking additional income streams to supplement their client work. Creating and selling continuing education (CE) courses offers a promising opportunity, especially during traditionally slow periods like summer when client numbers often dwindle. However, the difference between courses that generate significant income and those that remain passion projects often comes down to strategic topic selection.
Badass Therapists Building Practices That Thrive #149 Creating Profitable CE Courses: What Topics Actually Sell?
Successful CE Courses Start With Demand, Not Passion
The fundamental principle behind successful course creation mirrors basic economics: supply and demand. Rather than starting with your passion and hoping there's an audience, successful course creators identify existing demand and develop content to meet it. This approach significantly increases your chances of creating a profitable educational product rather than investing countless hours in a course that few will purchase. As noted during our recent Tuesday coaching session, even the most beautifully edited, content-rich course won't sell if there's no established market for the topic.
Prioritize CE Topics That Fulfill Licensing or Legal Requirements
When considering potential CE topics, prioritize those that fulfill compliance requirements. Courses addressing ethics, human trafficking, supervision, or other mandatory continuing education topics consistently perform well because they serve a captive audience. Mental health professionals must complete these courses to maintain licensure, creating a built-in market regardless of personal interest. Similarly, courses that help therapists fulfill court-mandated requirements, such as anger management programs or parenting classes, can build a steady customer base, especially if you've established relationships with local judges or court systems.
Focus on Practical Tools and Problem-Solving Courses
The second tier of high-selling topics includes practical tools therapists can immediately implement in their practice. Documentation systems, private practice essentials, and technology implementation courses perform well because they solve tangible problems. Courses on clinical skills like trauma-informed care or couples counseling techniques can also be successful, but they require additional value-adds—such as downloadable resources, templates, or certification—to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Remember that continuing education isn't just about knowledge transfer; it's about equipping professionals with resources that improve their practice efficiency, clinical outcomes, or business success.
Use AI to Structure and Streamline Your Course Creation Process
Content creation doesn't need to start from scratch. Tools like ChatGPT can help outline your course structure and content once you've identified a marketable topic. Start by asking the AI to create bullet points or outline a course framework, treating it like a “Wharton MBA graduate” that can help structure your ideas. This isn't plagiarism—it's using available tools to organize information in a framework that works for educational delivery. Just as musicians all use the same 12-bar blues structure while creating unique compositions, you'll add your expertise, clinical examples, and unique perspective to this framework.
Design With Standards in Mind: CE Credit Hours and Delivery Formats
For asynchronous courses, remember that delivery format matters. Video-based courses should contain approximately one hour of content per CE credit, while text-based courses generally require around 6,000 words per credit hour (based on NBCC standards). Including interactive elements like quizzes enhances the learning experience and provides measurable assessment points. Most importantly, ensure your course delivery system can automatically generate CE certificates upon completion to streamline the process for learners.
Align Passion With Profit by Meeting Market Needs
While passion projects certainly have their place, approaching CE course creation with a business mindset will significantly increase your chances of success. By focusing on required topics, practical tools, and professional development needs, you'll create educational products that not only generate income but genuinely serve your professional community. Remember, the most successful courses sit at the intersection of market demand and your unique expertise—that sweet spot where what you know meets what your colleagues need.
Action Items:
- What's an area of your practice that you could turn into a course? Spend some time writing out your thoughts on what you, specifically, have to offer.
- If you are checking out side hustles for your practice, check to see if you are eligible for the supervisor designation in Texas!
Blog post by Kate Walker, Ph.D., LPC-S, LMFT-S Creator of Texas’s first fully online 40-Hour LPC/LMFT Supervisor Training Course.