Legally Protecting Your Courses with Chandler Holsapple
Mar 08, 2021
In this episode of The Dreamer’s Lounge, I’m excited to have a special guest, Chandler Holsapple! Chandler J., Esq. is a lawyer, entrepreneur, educator, and business builder. Chandler educates online entrepreneurs on how to implement a strong legal foundation for their business so they can scale stress-free! By making the legal stuff approachable and fun, she helps you step into CEO mode so you can stay in your zone of genius— confident AF and worry-free. I am in Chandler’s membership as well, and she has been such an incredible resource to me. As any business owner knows- legal shit comes up with you least expect it! She’s here to talk about legally protecting courses and content.
But before we dive right in, welcome! You’ve now entered into The Dreamer’s Lounge! I’m Ariel Schiffer, and I have made it my mission to take out the digital trash one bad course at a time. I am the creator of The Course Alchemist, Industrial Organizational Psychologist, and Curriculum and course design expert.
This podcast is for entrepreneurs who are looking to elevate their digital product suite so their offers speak for themselves. Nothing is worse than being oversold into something that under delivers just like an overpriced bottle of wine. So, if you’re ready to develop high quality offers, bring in consistent revenue, and have a business with long-term results for you AND your clients, grab your drink and join us inside…
And today we are talking all about legal protection for online entrepreneurs! For all the details, be sure to listen to the ENTIRE episode on your favorite streaming platform!
Chandler’s background and how she decided to become a lawyer in the online world.
Like most online entrepreneurs, Chandler could not see herself sitting in an office, wearing a suit, and working a traditional 9 to 5 job, and she didn’t want to work with clients who do either. She saw a gap in the online space. There weren’t a lot of lawyers offering legal protection to online businesses. And so that’s what she decided she wanted to do.
Chandler says that even though your business may be digital, it’s still as real and legit as a brick-and-mortar business. You can run into legal trouble when you least expect it, and your intellectual property deserves to be protected. It’s a good idea to form a relationship with a lawyer right off the bat instead of waiting until legal issues come up. They can be a resource for you every step of the way.
Common legal mistakes online entrepreneurs make.
Chandler says the first big thing online entrepreneurs need to do is use contracts. For everything. You need to have clients agree to the terms and use of whatever service you are providing, whether that’s a course, coaching, or another service.
The other huge piece is to protect your intellectual property. Like a realtor can help you get land rights, lawyers like Chandler help you get the rights to the contents of your mind. Just because it’s not physical doesn’t mean it’s any less valuable! It’s important to protect your intellectual property with trademarks and copyrights. Trademarks protect brand names (logos, symbols, etc.). Copyright protects brand content (social media posts, website copy, etc.). It’s crucial to protect your content because unfortunately, it’s not a matter of IF someone will steal from you. It’s a matter of WHEN.
Copyrighting might feel overwhelming, but it’s less difficult and expensive than you think. A lawyer can help guide you through the process. Chandler recommends starting with your higher-value content like courses or guides. It’s very difficult to deal with someone copying your content if there is not registered copyright. So talk to a lawyer about this process to see what you can do.
Good and bad courses from a lawyer’s perspective.
I asked Chandler about the qualities in the best and worst courses she’s seen. She said bad courses have a lack of innovation. She can tell when someone is just regurgitating the information they got from another instructor. The best courses are ones that are highly client-focused, really looking at what the client needs to know and what would be the most helpful for them. And they offer a totally unique perspective.
Sometimes people get tripped up over the fact that other people have similar courses and ideas. They think they shouldn’t bother creating a course if there’s other perspectives out there. It’s true that if you’re going to copy someone else's content, don’t bother. But you have your own unique spin and perspective. You can deliver the content in a way that someone else can’t. So if you can provide your own unique value, it’s worth it to create a course.
Why Chandler created her membership.
Chandler created a membership called Law Boss Collective. She wanted to build a way for online entrepreneurs to connect with a lawyer in an accessible, less expensive way. And she wanted to educate people about legal issues too. One of her favorite things about it is the “text a lawyer feature.” She had so many people asking her “quick questions” in her DMs that it was overwhelming. As part of the membership, her clients get that access to her to ask her those quick questions. They are her priority, and she commits to getting back to them.
She wanted to change the relationship entrepreneurs have with their lawyers. She knows that a lot of business owners have a lawyer on retainer. And they pay a lot for them. But when they need to contact them, they are hard to reach. They have to deal with an assistant or receptionist first, and it’s really frustrating. Chandler wanted to change that. She gives her clients direct access to her. It’s really her that they’re messaging. Chandler tried to take a broken thing, how many people can’t afford legal services in the online space, and bridge that gap. That’s innovation.
Legally Protecting Your Courses with Chandler Holsapple: The Bottomline
Remember that you deserve legal protection! Your ideas MATTER. People will, unfortunately, try to steal them. And other legal issues can and will come up for you as a business owner. Working with a lawyer is game-changing, and it can be less expensive and challenging than you think! Hopefully, this episode helps you see that.
Thanks so much for stopping by The Dreamer’s Lounge! I hope that this episode helped you learn more about legal protection for yourself as an online entrepreneur. If you enjoyed the episode please take a second to rate & review. Each review helps me fulfill my mission of improving the quality of learning in the online business industry. Don’t forget to take a screenshot, share it in your Instagram stories and tag me @dreampro_. See you next week!
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