Last Updated on September 26, 2022 by Kel Ashley
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Starting an online course business requires a significant amount of effort, dedication, and, most importantly, passion.
If you’re wondering how to create online courses, this article will teach you everything you need to know.
Steps To Creating A Profitable Online Course
1. Choose the Best Course Topic
Your course topic must be something you are passionate about. If you are not passionate about your topic, it will be obvious, and your training will be about as engaging as a cardboard sandwich.
Consider the skills, talents, and life experiences you’ve gained. Don’t feel obligated to teach a university-level profession to make money selling courses.
If you enjoy your topic, are good at it, have experience (formal or informal) in it, and it fills a need for someone, you have a topic and expertise that you can monetize.
2. Make Certain That Your Course Concept Has a High Market Demand
Once you’ve decided on an online course topic, the next step is to conduct a series of market research tests to determine whether or not there is a market demand for it.
Here are a few things to look out for:
a. Are people looking for it and asking questions about it?
b. Is there a void in the competition’s offering?
c. Will someone pay to have your course solve a problem?
If you answered ‘yes’ to the above three questions and your idea is similar but distinct from what is already available, you have a course idea that has a chance of becoming a best-seller.
You can use Google Trends to tell you how popular a topic is. It’s the quickest way to check if anyone is searching it in Google and how popular the topic is over time.
3. Make Attractive and Engaging Learning Outcomes
Having interesting course content for your online course is important, but having excellent learning outcomes is even better. To attract the right audience and have a profitable course, you must have a perfect blend of course content and learning outcomes. Students are more willing to pay for a course if they are confident in their value and how much better they will become at the end of the learning period.
Learning outcomes clearly explain what the learner will be able to do, know, and feel by the end of your course using measurable verbs.
a. What abilities will they be able to display?
b. What new information will they have gained?
c. What emotions will they have shifted away from or toward?
4. Choose and Collect Your Course Content
This is where the research you conducted during the market testing phase, and your learning outcomes will come in handy again. Throw out anything that does not directly relate to achieving a learning outcome as you sort through your piles of content.
Second, ensure that each learning outcome is accompanied by content relevant to it.
Include only content that answers your audience’s burning questions or fills gaps that your competitors aren’t filling.
Suppose you already have content and an audience, such as from a Facebook group, blog, or YouTube channel. In that case, this should be simple – figure out what your most popular content is and package it into a more structured learning journey.
5. Create Modules and a Course Plan
This is the stage where you look at all of your content, begin grouping similar themes, tips, and ideas into modules, and then order the lectures within those modules most progressively and logically to form a flowing sequence of lessons.
Begin outlining your course with your course learning outcomes in mind. Make a list of the lessons you want to teach.
Group your modules into groups that flow naturally with one another. Consider which parts of the material students must learn first to understand subsequent lessons.
Then, break it down for each lesson, outlining each step and idea involved. Consider the most effective ways to present the information.
6. Determine the Most Engaging and Effective Methods of Delivery for Each Lesson
To ensure that your training is as engaging as possible, you must be aware of the various principles of adult learning, learning preferences, and the different ways you can deliver it.
a. Will there be videos, reading material, activities, or audio content?
b. What kind of visuals are you planning?
c. Will there be community learning centers?
d. How will you make your course interesting and entertaining?
e. How will you assist students with varying learning styles?
You must ensure that you have a balance of visual, audio, and practical methodologies so that everyone is engaged and has the best learning experience possible.
7. Making Videos, Recordings, and Editing for Your Online Course
Now comes the exciting part: getting on camera. Of course, how you deliver your training is entirely dependent on what your audience prefers to engage with and what method most effectively delivers your learning outcomes.
As you teach your material, keep your target audience in mind. How can you present the information to them engagingly and effectively?
The quality and process of shooting the video will be determined by the materials you have available for creating your course. Just keep in mind that a more professional-looking product is frequently perceived as more valuable by your target audience. Invest in yourself if you can.
8. Creating Your Online School
Once you have your course outline and your course material ready, you can upload your quality content and start selling.
In the e-learning market, you have three major options:
Option 1: Online course marketplaces
Option 2: Learning management systems
Option 3: Plugins or software on your website
There is a significant distinction between online course marketplaces and self-hosted LMSs. Online course marketplaces serve primarily as a marketing and awareness tool.
Because marketplaces give you very little control over branding and user experience, and they frequently discount your courses without notice, they should not be your primary selling channel.
A learning management system (LMS) is your own Academy that you can link to your website and completely brand as your own platform. It simplifies the creation of online courses and makes it simple to sell your learning products. Examples of this are Teachable, Kajabi, and Podia.
9. Pricing Your Course and Contributing to a Larger Education-based Business Model
Make a plan for how and where your online course will fit into your overall online course business model.
a. Is it just going to be a free lead magnet for your main product and service?
b. Is it going to be a source of income in and of itself?
c. Is it going to be your primary source of income?
d. Are you selling memberships or community access?
Each of these will require a slightly different course design, a different volume of value, different marketing methodologies, and placing your followers and students in very different types of funnels.
This will also have a significant impact on the pricing you need to apply to your online course for it to be appropriate for the position it’s given within your business.
There is no such thing as right or wrong or even a guideline price for an online course because it depends entirely on what you are delivering.
Analyze and benchmark your idea against competing products in the marketplace as a starting point – look at what your competitors are charging and for what, then figure out how yours can be different and better. When you’ve improved yours, price it slightly higher.
Never underprice yours because it will appear to have less value than your competitors.
10. Launch and Promote
Too many course creators make the mistake of believing that they will automatically have an income stream once their course is created. You’ll need a launch strategy and an ongoing marketing strategy to sell your course and generate leads.
a. Will you offer early bird discounts?
b. Do you have a content marketing strategy to sell your online courses?
c. Will you run advertisements?
d. Do you have a list of people to market to?
e. Can you collaborate with influencers?
f. Do you intend to run an affiliate program?
g. How will you make use of social media?
Make sure you have at least an 18-month marketing plan in place for your online course and remember that the moment you stop marketing, you stop selling.
Pros and Cons of Starting an Online Course Business
Pros
1. Flexibility
You can devote as much time as you want to the business. If you enjoy your work and have some prior experience, you can begin small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.
2. Ability to start your business from home
You don’t need to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business off the ground. Everything can be done from the comfort of your own home!
3. Little startup costs required
The cost of starting an online courses business is significantly lower than the cost of starting most businesses.
4. Rewarding work
Starting a business selling online courses can be extremely rewarding. After all, you’re solving a pressing problem for your customer and working on something you genuinely care about.
5. No overhead costs
There are no costs associated with starting your online courses business, such as overhead, storage, packaging, etc. This will save you a significant amount of time and money!
6. Unlimited income potential
There is no limit to how much money you can make by starting an online courses business. The more business skills you have and the more energy/time you put into your career, you will make more money.
If you’re eager to break free by starting your own profitable business but don’t know how, our plan will show you – get it here now!
Cons
1. Crowded Space
When it comes to your online courses business, competition is fierce, so you must analyze the market and determine where the demand is.
2. Constant maintenance of the course
You may find that you must constantly update your online courses business to remain relevant to your audience.
3. Lack of benefits
You are typically self-employed with an online courses business and are responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be costly and time-consuming.
4. No safety net
As an online courses business owner, you typically do not receive a consistent paycheck and instead earn money based on your monthly transactions. You typically take away less during slow periods. It is critical to plan ahead of time for slow periods.
5. Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone!
While this may be exciting for some entrepreneurs, it can be a significant challenge for others! You may find yourself in awkward social and business situations, jumping into tasks and responsibilities you are unfamiliar with, and pushing yourself to the limit!
6. Easy target for criticism
Because your online course business has the potential to reach a large audience, you must be able to deal with criticism. The internet can be a cruel place, and no matter what your intentions are, many people will disagree with you and even go too far in their criticism. You’ll need tough skin to survive in this industry (or at least learn this along the way).
Final Thoughts
It is now time to begin your own course.
Most people cannot afford the massive amounts of debt required to return to college. Many older people are also unable to take time away from their day jobs and families.
That is why online courses are becoming increasingly popular. They’re the ideal combination of convenience and affordability.
That means people are already out there, looking day and night for your expertise. They need your help and skills to solve issues in their life or learn how to do something better & more effectively.
If you’re ready to start your an online business in a super simple way (seriously, if you can order a pizza, you can follow this system!) check it out here.
Hey! If you liked this article you might also be interested in these other popular related posts:
• 10 Benefits Of Starting An Online Business
• 10 Reasons Why You Need An Online Side Hustle (Right Now)
• 12 Minute Affiliate