This comprehensive step-by-step guide is tailored to guide you through every step of creating an online course, from initial concept to market launch, ensuring your course serves as a valuable digital asset for establishing you as authority in your field, and generating a steady stream of passive income.
Is selling courses profitable?
Why an online course may be your key to passive income
The digital product market is thriving, with online courses emerging as one of its most lucrative segments. As businesses and individuals continue to favor flexible learning options, the demand for diverse online educational content has skyrocketed (especially during and post the Covid pandemic). Creating an online course offers distinct financial benefits due to its low overhead costs—there’s no need for physical materials or a brick and mortar location, and once developed, evergreen courses can be sold an unlimited number of times without any additional, ongoing expenses.
Additionally, besides generating passive income, developing an online course provides a platform for thought leaders, educators and experts to build brand credibility and deepen customer relationships by offering valuable knowledge that consumers can apply in their everyday lives (and in their business!)
The 10 steps to create an online course:
Picking a topic: your passion VS. your skills
Choosing the right topic for your online course is probably the most crucial decision you’ll make in the process of creating digital educational content. The topic you select should ideally be a balance between your personal passions (interests, hobbies, pursuits) AND your professional skills (project management, team leadership, effective writing and editing etc.), ensuring that you are both motivated AND qualified enough to teach the topic effectively online.
Why Passion Matters: The genuine excitement and enthusiasm you bring to a specific subject and topic can profoundly influence how learners perceive and enjoy the course, making it more engaging and enjoyable for learners. When you’re passionate about a topic, it comes through in your teaching methods, how you show up on video, and how you interact with your students. Your enthusiasm for the topic can greatly improve the learning experience, making it more likely that students will stay engaged, complete the course, and recommend it to others (helping you to increase passive income!)
Aligning with Your Skills: While having passion about your online course topic is very important, it must be supported by solid expertise and knowledge in the subject matter. Your role as an educator relies on your ability to clearly and accurately explain complex concepts to your students. Additionally, your authority and credibility are built on a foundation of deep knowledge. Students are more likely to trust and respect a teacher who confidently understands and can navigate the subject matter and this trust is essential for maintaining student engagement and participation.
With your topic firmly rooted in both Passion and Skill, you’re well-prepared to proceed with the next step of course creation. Next, we’ll delve into comprehensive market research to ensure your course meets real-world demand and stands out in a crowded e-learning marketplace.
Research, Research, Research
The next crucial step in creating your online course is conducting thorough market and industry research. This step is vital for ensuring there’s a strong market for your online course and also for understanding the specific needs, challenges and desires of your potential students. Begin this process by researching and identifying your target audience: who are they, what are their learning goals, and what challenges are they looking to overcome? You can utilize tools like online surveys, social media polls, and keyword research to gather your insights. Use your trusty friend google and research other existing courses on similar topics to assess what’s already being offered and identify gaps that your course could fill. This competitive analysis will help you pinpoint unique selling points that can make your course stand out.
Also, your research should extend to understanding the latest trends and technologies in online education. What learning management systems (LMS) are most popular with your specific target audience? (Kajabi, GHL, Teachable, Learn Worlds) What content delivery methods (video tutorials, interactive quizzes, downloadable resources) resonate most with them? Understanding these preferences will guide you in structuring your course effectively.
Now that you’ve got a comprehensive understanding of your target market and technologies you want to use, you are ready to advance to the next phase of your course creation. Let’s begin gathering raw materials and outlining your course structure.
Collect raw material and outline your course
As you continue on your path to developing your online course, it’s essential to gather a wide array of raw materials. These foundational elements serve as the building blocks for creating your course outline and curriculum, ensuring that it is valuable in content and engaging for your students. Here’s a breakdown of the types of raw materials you should collect:
- Informational Content: Write and collect a diverse range of notes, articles, research papers, and books. These should provide comprehensive knowledge and valuable insights related to your course topic.
- Media Assets: Source high-quality images, videos, audio clips, and infographics. These media assets are crucial for creating a dynamic learning environment that caters to various learning styles.
- Expert Input: Include colleague interviews and thought leader quotes from recognized experts in the field. This expert input adds credibility and depth, enhancing the educational value of your course.
- Case Studies: Gather real-world examples and case studies that effectively illustrate the course’s key points and concepts. These practical applications help students understand complex theories in a real-world context.
Once you have collected these materials, the next step is to organize them into a comprehensive, organized structure. Start by developing a detailed course outline that organizes topics in a logical order by modules. This outline should ensure that all necessary subjects are covered thoroughly and that the course flows smoothly from one module to the next.
With your materials collected and a detailed outline in place, you are now ready to determine the format of your course. In the next section, we’ll explore various course formats.
Choose a course format
When selecting the format for your online course, consider the distinct advantages of both live and evergreen courses. Live courses are conducted online in real-time, often through platforms like Zoom, facilitating immediate interaction, engagement, feedback, and dynamic discussions. This real-time student-instructor interaction is particularly valuable for creating a more personalized and responsive learning environment.
In contrast, evergreen courses are pre-recorded and accessible at any time which allows students to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule. This format enables course creators to maximize the course’s impact and profitability without ongoing additional effort (or cost to you), providing a scalable solution for delivering educational content.
Each format has its strengths and can be highly effective depending on the course content and your specific audience. As you consider these options, your next crucial step is to select an appropriate online course platform, often called a Learning Management System or LMS – that complements your chosen format.
Online LMS course platforms: how to choose the best one
Choosing the right Learning Management System (LMS) for your online course is crucial for delivering effective and engaging content.
Win Consulting has successfully planned, marketed, and launched over 40 live and evergreen online courses since 2016, leveraging our preferred platform, Kajabi. As an all-in-one solution, Kajabi excels by integrating course creation with powerful sales and marketing tools. Its extensive course creation options support a variety of media types and interactive content, while robust marketing features include advanced email marketing capabilities, automation tools, and sales funnel creation. Kajabi’s user-friendly interface simplifies the management of online courses, even for those without technical skills, and it offers substantial customization options for branding alignment, alongside seamless integration with major payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal.
If you’re looking to launch or optimize your online courses, consider partnering with Win Consulting.
=> Learn more and read client testimonials about our course development services <=
Crafting Compelling Content – Bringing Your Course to Life
Creating compelling content is pivotal in transforming your knowledge and expertise into an engaging online course that resonates with your target market. Here are some practical tips to ensure your content not only captivates but also educates your students:
- Tell Stories: People resonate with stories as they make abstract concepts tangible and relatable. Incorporate real-life examples, case studies, and anecdotes that illustrate key points and keep students intrigued.
- Be Conversational: Write as if you’re speaking directly to the student. A friendly and approachable tone can make students feel more connected and engaged with the material.
- Focus on Benefits: Always tie your content back to how it benefits the student. Clearly outline what they will learn and how they can apply it in their real-life or professional scenarios.
- Be Clear and Concise: Communicate your ideas clearly and avoid unnecessary jargon that might confuse your students. Use concise language and break complex ideas down into digestible chunks to facilitate easier understanding and retention.
- Provide Actionable Insights: Ensure that each module of your course includes practical, actionable steps that students can implement. This not only enriches the learning experience but also empowers students to apply what they’ve learned immediately, enhancing the real-world value of the course.
Remember, the key to successful course content is its relevance and ability to engage learners on both an intellectual and practical level.
Create the course
After you’ve laid out your course outline, chose the format and decided on a reputable LMS, and finished writing the course content, the next step is sourcing images and setting up technical components like tags and segmentation for a seamless and automated student experience.
- Uploading Photos and Media: Incorporating free stock photos (use Pexels, Canva and Unsplash) for each module and recording video lectures will help explain complex ideas more clearly.
- Creating Tags and Segments: Utilizing tags to organize course content efficiently and segments for targeted email marketing based on student behavior and course progress.
- Setting Up Registration and Automation: Automating the enrollment process, course communication (welcome emails, progress updates), and issuing completion certificates to streamline operations and maintain consistent student engagement.
Now, how do I market and promote my course?
After you have nailed down your course content and finished setting up and automating the registration process and confirmation email, the next crucial step is creating a robust marketing campaign to promote your course effectively. This step is pivotal in attracting the right audience – at the right time!
Marketing Your Online Course
- Email Marketing: Leverage your existing mailing list by sending targeted emails that introduce your course and outline its benefits. Utilize those audience segments that you created earlier on to personalize messages based on user behavior and past sales or interests. Make sure to create a campaign that regularly updates your subscribers with teasers, course content previews, and special offers – (even coupons and discounts) to keep the momentum going from the pre-launch phase through to the course launch.
- Google and Meta Advertising: Invest in PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns across Google and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, where you can use precise targeting options to reach potential students who have shown interest in similar subjects. You can also upload your email list and create a “lookalike audience” to target people similar to the one’s on your email list! These platforms offer powerful tools to target by demographics, interests, and even behaviors – ensuring your ads reach those that would be most interested in enrolling.
- Partnerships and Influencer Collaborations: Collaborate with influencers or thought leaders in your field to tap into their audiences. This could involve joint webinars, guest blogging, podcast guest collaborations or social media mentions.
- Social Media and Community Engagement: Use social media platforms like Facebook to create a group/community around your course topic. Make sure to be consistent – regular posting, engaging with followers through comments and messages, and hosting Facebook live sessions can build a strong rapport with your audience (and potential students!) Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are excellent for fostering discussions and networking with industry professionals.
By integrating these strategies into a cohesive marketing plan, you will broaden the exposure and impact of your course, helping to facilitate a strong launch and ongoing engagement with your biggest fans.
Customer feedback is key
Once your course is live and you’re marketing it to the world, focus on getting course feedback and first impressions during this initial launch phase. This includes monitoring sign-ups, participant engagement, and gathering information on what is working great – and what you can improve on. Use surveys or direct email communication to collect feedback from early participants. This data is crucial for identifying any immediate areas for improvement, whether in the course curriculum itself, registration process or in the logistical aspects of course delivery.
Keep tweaking the course and earn passive income!
We recommend regularly updating your course content which is essential to maintain its relevance and value in a rapidly changing e-learning market. These updates can involve revising existing content, adding new modules or swapping out photos with the goal to improve the overall learning experience. Consistently refreshing your course not only helps in attracting NEW students, but also keeps your existing audience happy and engaged. This ongoing “tweaking” is crucial for building a loyal learning community and can lead to increased referrals and higher course completion rates.
Congratulations on navigating through the ten crucial steps to create your own online course! Now, with this comprehensive roadmap in hand, you are on the path to sharing your knowledge with the world and enjoying the advantages of passive income!