Are you passionate about a topic and have the industry expertise to back it up? Then, you have almost everything you need to be a successful online course creator.
Online courses are one of the best ways to monetize your knowledge. With the e-learning market value predicted to reach $400 billion, there's no better time to join the party.
In this article, you'll learn how to sell courses online and course content creation.
How to Create a Course
Follow these steps to create courses that sell fast.
Choose niche based on market demand and expertise
The first step is to find where the money and your passion intersect. This sweet spot is called a niche.
To choose a niche, consider the topics you love and know. It could be anything from pet care to tattoo designs and programming. Next, use platforms like Reddit to find relevant and trending topics.
Set clear goals, choose format, and make course plan
People buy online courses because they’re looking to address a pain or reach a goal. Be clear and specific with your course takeaways.
Once you've defined course objectives, develop a course plan.
This is where you create a suitable outline and decide the course format such as video content, ebooks, or audio files. Also, determine if it's a one-off course, mini-course, or a masterclass. Are the classes self-paced or live sessions?
To develop the course outline, you’ll want to use your expertise and compare it to other courses available on the market. Additionally, you can use AI tools to suggest an outline for you. You can achieve this with ChatGPT or platforms like GetResponse, which offer an all-in-one solution for building, marketing, and selling your courses.
AI-generated outline for a course – How to become a digital nomad. Source: GetResponse
Create engaging content with an attractive title
Creating valuable content requires breaking complex info into easily digestible pieces for students. You mustn't rely on residual knowledge. Instead, conduct extensive research to broaden your perspective on the topic.
Once you have enough material, create your course. Choose a captivating title that will spark people’s interest and drive sales.
Choose a reputable marketplace or online course platform
There are two main ways to sell online courses. You can either sell them through your own website via an LMS solution or a marketplace platform, like Udemy or Skillshare. The choice of a platform is crucial to the success of your online course. If you're unsure about selecting the right platform, engaging an LMS consultancy can help you evaluate your options and make an informed decision tailored to your nee
Marketplaces are often a better choice if you don’t yet have an audience or a marketing budget to promote your course. Because they attract a lot of traffic and have an active user base, they can help you generate sales without much extra work on your side. However, they’ll also keep a significantly higher share of the profits and often discount courses, limiting your profit margin.
Selling a course through your own website or course page requires more work but also lets you keep most of the profits. Plus, when visiting your page, prospects won’t see competing courses, which is the case on marketplace platforms.
How your course would be presented in a marketplace, like Udemy.
Prospects won’t see competing courses if you sell them via your own course page. Source: GetResponse
Pro tip: Consider a hybrid approach, where you’d offer a free or a limited version of your course through a marketplace platform and the full course via your own website. This way you’ll benefit from the traffic and engagement marketplaces attract, and keep a higher share of the profits with an external course platform.
Top Tips to Sell Your Online Course Effectively
Creating a course is only the first step. You need to get it in front of your target audience to generate revenues. Below are tips on how to sell courses online.
Create a landing page
A course landing page is a web page designed specifically to sell or promote your online course through an LMS solution. An effective landing page provides information about your course. It tells potential students what to expect and contains testimonials, price, among others.
Here’s a sample course landing page:
You can create something similar or even better using a dedicated landing page creator like GetResponse.
Create lead magnets
Lead magnets are free tools or resources offered to potential customers in exchange for contact details. You can offer an ebook like this one as an incentive for people to join your email lists.
You may even offer free mini-courses, downloadable guides, or templates. You can use a PDF maker to create downloadable PDF resources as lead magnets for your course. The key is to provide something prospective customers will find valuable.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Optimizing your content for SEO is an easy way to drive traffic to your online course.
Create high-quality content such as blog posts and infographics to complement your online course content on your website. Add relevant keywords and follow other SEO best practices to improve your search ranking.
Online search is the most common way Millenials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers discover online courses. Source: GetResponse E-Learning Revolution
Paid ads
Paid ads are the fastest way to reach a wider audience for sales. Google and social media ads are effective because they allow you to target your ideal customers directly. You can track your marketing campaign performance and optimize as necessary.
Email marketing
Email marketing helps you stay in touch with students and prospective learners. Use emails to create mini-courses that promote your main course. You may also share updates or offer special discounts.
The first step in email marketing is to build quality email lists. Then, use an all-in-one email newsletter platform like GetResponse to create effective email campaigns.
Podcasting
As a new creator, podcasting is one of the more modern content marketing strategies you can use to create buzz around your course. Create engaging content about your course topic and emphasize the course benefits. Pitch yourself to podcasters in your niche, explaining how your expertise could benefit their listeners.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing multiplies your marketing efforts. It involves paying people a commission to market your digital products. This works because you only pay for the result i.e. sales made.
Additional Pro Tips
Here are more tips to consider in your online course creation journey.
Pre-sell your course to test the waters
Test whether there’s a market demand before going full throttle with your online course idea. You can give out a free course or ask students to sign up for a pre-sale to see the general reaction.
At the end of your course, don’t forget to add a feedback QR code. Creating one is super easy with a QR code generator! To encourage your students to fill it out, consider offering an incentive, like a discount on their next purchase. It’s a win-win!
Price your course correctly
Price your course correctly to maximize ROI. You can use a one-time payment method like these:
Or use pricing tiers or a periodic subscription model to sell your online courses.
The key is to use a pricing model that benefits you and is affordable for potential students. Factors to consider when setting a price include the course’s duration, production costs, and competitor pricing.
Make course easily accessible
Make your course easily accessible. Some marketplaces cover payment processing for you. However, if you sell the courses on your website, you’ll need to connect to a payment gateway such as PayPal to make it accessible. Clearly explain the checkout process.
Keep adding value to your course
Use feedback to improve aspects of your course. Also, update your course regularly with your niche's latest research findings to improve students' learning experience.
Conclusion
Selling courses online is a great way to earn extra income.
But more importantly, it allows you to provide value to people around the world and make an impact on their journeys.
Now that you know how to sell courses online, we wish you good luck on your creator journey!
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