In recent years, online courses have gained huge popularity. People around the globe are signing up for courses, and the eLearning market is expected to reach $315 billion by 2025. This post is for those who want to create courses. Here you will learn how to create an online course to sell.
The internet has made life easier for people who want to develop new skills. Courses are available in every field imaginable. That, in turn, poses a challenge for people who want to create online courses and sell them. Read on to learn everything you need to learn about it.
The Purposes of Creating An Online Course
If you have a business, developing an online course is one of the best things you can do. It can become a source of income and a tool for lead generation. If you can provide attractive and informative content, you can help people during their buying journey. To attract customers, you can use the content as a lead magnet.
Your business has a certain expertise. If you create a course on that topic, your business can emerge as a leader in the field. When it comes to encouraging your customers and increasing retention rates, online courses can be really helpful.
Identifying a Course Topic
If you are sure that you should make an online course, you have to decide on the topic of your course. But choosing a topic is harder than it sounds. If you are wondering how to create an online course to sell, you have to come up with a suitable topic. The following steps may help you identify your topic.
Evaluate your expertise
If you want to provide unique and insightful information, you make your course on a topic you really understand. Rely on your experiences. The audience will pay attention if they know that you are talking about something you really know. They want to make sure that you are not a charlatan.
It is good to talk about a part of your business your customers are interested in. And how do you know what they are interested in? Notice what questions they ask. What are their pain points? What problems do they want to solve?
Do your research
Once you have found a topic or idea, make sure it is possible to make a full-fledged course on that topic. Learn as much as possible about this topic, and see whether there are courses on this topic.
If you know how other people have made courses on this very topic, it will be easier for you to find your own voice. Remember, if you are going to focus on a topic nobody has ever discussed, you may find the process really hard. So, find a new way to discuss a topic others have already discussed.
Narrow down your ideas
Try to be specific as much as possible about your topic. Your success largely depends on getting a niche. Don’t be afraid of being specific. Finding your course online will be very easy if you can narrow down your topic. And when you do so, try to prioritize specific parts of the course.
Try to find what problems your customers are struggling to solve, and then provide solutions to those problems. Make sure you always stay on track.
Testing the Waters
Before you make the course, think deeply about what you are actually going to do. If you want to learn how to create an online course to sell, you will have to think about different aspects of the course. Will your ideas stand out? Is creating a course worthwhile for your particular business? Here are some ways to know:
1. Surveys
Survey your website visitors to learn how they show interest in the course. It will help you learn more about your topic, and whether you need to rethink some aspects of the topic. In order to learn what your audience thinks, try asking some open-ended questions.
In those questions, ask your audience about their experience with the topic. Ask them what challenges they have to face when they want to learn more about the topic. Ask them about their strategy for dealing with the challenges.
Are you wondering how to create an online course to sell? Learn how to use the tools used to conduct online surveys. To conduct surveys, you can use tools such as Google Forms, Facebook Surveys, or SurveyMonkey.
Google Forms
Google Forms is probably the cheapest option. Anyone can use Google Forms, and the procedure does not take a long time. On top of that, Google Forms are free. That means, no matter how many surveys you want, you can create them. Another great thing about Google Forms is that they are automatically saved via Google Suite.
But there is a downside. The number of survey templates is only 15. There are not many design options. However, although Google picks colors automatically, the colors are usually visually appealing
Facebook Surveys
There is a great advantage of using Facebook surveys. You might not know that the surveys can be hosted on your website even if they are created on Facebook. But how do you do it? Here is the process:
Go to the Facebook search bar and enter “survey”. Click ‘Apps” to filter the results. The first option will be “survey”. Click it. Then give a name to your survey. The survey will need to use the information on your profile and for this, it will ask for permissions. Give it permission. Then customize the survey questions. Once you are done, publish your survey.
SurveyMonkey
In terms of functionality, SurveyMonkey is a better survey creator. It offers more than 150 templates to choose from, and the responses are collected in as many as 9 different ways. If you need to do surveys regularly, SurveyMonkey is a handy survey platform. Depending on your requirements, you can use either the free or the paid plan.
If you are using the free plan, you are allowed to put 3 questions per survey. If you are not expecting more than a hundred responses, the free plan can be a good choice for you. But if you are expecting many more responses, the paid plan is probably a better option for you. On a paid plan, you are allowed to put as many questions as you wish
2. Landing Page
You can create a landing page to know whether your customers are interested in the course. Creating a course is not necessary before you make a landing page. If you notice that people are showing interest in the course, you may carry on your endeavor. Measure analytics and know whether you have the big picture.
Using a website tracking service can be helpful. You do not have to pay for using a website tracking service. Use a free service such as Hotjar, which allows you to gather information about your visitors.
3. Taster course
There is another way to encourage your audience to take a look at your course. A free taster course is not hard to create. But don’t get me wrong. It will not be as easy as creating a landing page or a survey. But if you are wondering how to create an online course to sell, creating a taster course is one of the best things you can do.
Create some mini-courses. Make sure you do not provide too much information in these courses. Do not give your best content for free. Keep this mini-course simple, but try to make it interesting. Sending the course via email is one of the best ways to get it done.
Creating Your Course
At first, the task of designing a course may seem a bit scary. You might have the impression that there is an overwhelming amount of information to gather. You might also have to deal with procrastination and boredom. Now we are going to show you a step-by-step way to do it.
1. Specify learning objectives
When you are going to design your course, take the needs of your customers seriously. If you are not serious about that, you may end up providing solutions that will fail to solve the problems of your customers. If you really want to learn how to create an online course to sell, be specific about your learning objectives.
What will be the end result of your course? What points are you going to include in the course? Make a list of your learning objectives and let your audience know what you want to do for them.
2. Break down the content into digestible modules
Once you have clarified your learning objectives, break down the content into modules that are digestible. Do not try to teach your audience everything at a time. If you can do it, your audience will be comfortable with the course, because they will find the course manageable and approachable.
As a rule of thumb, you should not include more than 12 modules. If there are too many modules, your customers will feel overwhelmed. So, make sure your course does not look scary!
3. Choose formats for your content
Once you have figured out what information you are going to include in the modules, you will have to choose the format you are going to use to provide the content. For online courses, common formats include videos, e-books, webinars, interviews, worksheets, checklists, and quizzes.
Video is a very popular format for course content but it does not mean that you must choose video. It depends on what type of content you would like to disseminate. Depending on your needs, you may choose e-books or webinars.
4. Develop your tone of voice
No matter what format you are using, you have to make sure that you have a distinct tone of voice. This tone of voice will make you stand out from the crowd. It will also help you spread your message in a consistent way. If you want to learn how to create an online course to sell, finding your own voice is of utmost importance.
Try to make your course conversational. You will be able to engage your audience if the course is easy to approach. Do not use heavy jargon. Be direct when addressing your audience. Your audience will come back if there is a reason to come back.
5. Back up your claims with stats
No matter what type of educational content you are making, statistics can make it better. Your opinions will come from your personal experience, and that is great. But at the same time, you have to make sure that your claims are supported by statistics.
Please remember that throwing numbers randomly is one of the worst things you can do. Make sure that the numbers mean something. Your audience will know that you are reliable when you can successfully combine data with storytelling. Never use dodgy stats. Double-check your stats before you use them.
Final Thoughts
If you are wondering how to create an online course to sell, the first thing you have to know is that the task is not easy. In order to succeed, you will have to stick to your plan. We have tried to provide you with a general guideline, and hopefully, it will help you with your endeavor. We hope you will create a successful online course.