If you’re wondering how to create and sell your own online course, you’re in good company. Many people are trying their hand at creating courses as an additional revenue stream or even as an alternative to their current job. These days, it’s easier than ever before to get started with course marketing and selling. In this article, I’ll walk you through the process of creating your course from start to finish—from deciding what to teach all the way through setting a price and marketing your course effectively.
Decide what to teach
The first step in creating an online course is deciding what to teach. This is where you’ll want to think about the following questions:
- What do I know?
- What does the market want to learn?
- What can I teach others?
The answer to these questions will help set your course direction and make it more likely that people will buy it.
We’ve written a post about the profitable topics for online courses which might help you decide what course you will sell.
Choose a course-selling platform
When it comes to the course-selling platform you use, you want to make sure that it’s easy to use and has a good reputation. You also want to make sure it’s affordable, has a good support system, and has a good design. If you’re looking for an online course platform with these qualities, check out Wise!
We’ve also written about the parameters you need to check before choosing a course-selling platform, check out the blog here.
Research existing courses on the same topic
Research existing courses on the same topic. As you begin to think about what kind, of course, you want to create, it’s often a good idea to look at what is already being offered and see how they are constructed. If there are certain features you really like in an existing course, consider duplicating them on your own.
You can also use this information as inspiration for how to structure or present your own content. Look at the reviews that other courses have received and see if there is anything that you can improve on.
Plan your course
A course is a big project. Before you get started, it’s important to do some planning. You’ll want to:
- Create a detailed outline of what you plan on teaching and how you plan on teaching it. This will help you stay on track as your course progresses and keep the lessons organized for your students.
- Make sure that all the materials needed for each lesson are ready before moving forward with building the course itself (i.e. if there are any videos or images that need to be created). Find out what your audience wants to learn, so that these needs can be met within the content of your online course
There are many ways in which people learn best; some prefer hands-on experience while others prefer watching videos or reading books/articles/blogs about a particular topic first before trying anything themselves (or both!). Some may have pre-existing knowledge about certain topics but would like to learn more details related specifically to those subjects while others might not know much at all when they start taking an online class but want guidance every step along the way toward becoming experts themselves–so make sure this is taken into consideration when deciding what information should be included within each lesson plan!
Here is a nifty guide on how to outline your online course.
Build and test the course’s initial version
The first thing you need to do is build and test the course’s initial version. You can use a course-selling platform, such as Wise, to get started. You’ll also want to create your own sales page for the course so that you can promote it later on.
It’s important to build your online course in advance of releasing it on a course-selling platform so that you have time to test it and make any necessary changes before users buy it.
Set price and sales targets for your course.
The next important step is deciding on a price. This can be really tricky because you need to figure out how much money you want to make while still being fair to your audience and yourself. Here are some things to consider:
How much do you want to earn? If this is your first course, it’s likely that your goal will be more modest than if you’re an experienced online teacher who has taught hundreds of students through other platforms before creating their own course.
Consider the cost of the materials and any other expenses related to creating and selling this course—and then decide whether they’re worth more than what they’ll bring in. Set a target number of sales for each week or month, depending on how often people like yourself tend to purchase courses from similar platforms (e.g., Udemy).
We have written about the steps you can follow to price your courses.
Decide how to market your course.
Once you’ve created your course, it’s time to start marketing. You can use a variety of strategies to market an online course, including social media, email marketing, and podcasts.
Here are some ideas for how you could market your course:
- Create a blog or podcast where you teach other people how to do what you do in the course (and make sure they know where they can get the actual product). This will help those who are interested in what you have created but don’t buy immediately feel like there is more value in buying from you than from anyone else because they’ll have access to additional content.
- Offer webinars about general topics related to what’s covered in your online course as well as specific topics related specifically to your niche (if any). For example, if one of the modules in my own online coaching program was about attracting clients and then selling them services—I might have a webinar on how best practices for attracting clients apply across all niches instead of just focusing on my own specialty area; or I might also offer webinars on different types of businesses so that people who are interested but not yet ready for my product still get some value out of attending these events without having invested too much money upfront.
- Use social media like Linkedin, Instagram, or Facebook to build a personal brand around the subject of your course prior to the launch, and then sell the course to the audience that you have built.
We’ve also listed down some ideas around how to market your courses.
Start marketing the course before its release date
The first thing to do is start marketing the course before its release. This is important because it will help create interest in your course, which will give you more time to build an email list of potential buyers and drive traffic to your landing page.
Start by using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to build awareness about what you’re creating. The best way to do this is through video content— people are far more likely to watch video content than static images or text posts when it comes to it getting their attention on social media platforms. If you don’t want (or don’t know how) to create videos yourself then hire someone who does! Another great way for people who don’t have any experience making videos is by doing live interviews with other experts or entrepreneurs in their niche – these tend to be very popular because they’re something new that most people haven’t seen before!
Create a sales page for the course on your site or blog or on the course-selling platform you choose
You’ll need to put together a sales page for your course. A sales page is a marketing tool that encourages potential customers to buy your product. It should include an explanation of the product, information about its benefit and pricing, as well as clear calls-to-action (CTAs) urging people to buy now or click here to get more information.
A good sales page will help you sell more courses because it gives you an opportunity to show off what makes your course unique and why it’s worth buying. When building your sales page, think about following the rules written in this blog.
All in all, you can easily monetize your skills by selling them in the form of online courses. I hope this article has served as a toolbox for you to get started. So what are you waiting for? Start selling the course on Wise right away!
