You've been thinking about it forever, it's finally time to create an online course in 2023. Learn how to create, sell, and market, your first online course the easy way. This is your year to buy back your freedom and build your dream business as an online course creator.
It's no secret that online learning is becoming more and more popular. Online course platforms like Thinkific have made it so much easier to design, build, and sell online courses that it's virtually a no-brainer.
In fact, it's estimated that by 2025, 50% of all course content will be delivered online. Online courses are expected to be a trillion-dollar industry by 2028. So, if you're thinking about creating an online course, you're certainly not alone. But where do you start?
Here are a few tips to get you started that will engage and educate your students.
Why should you launch an online course in 2023?
This upcoming year is sure to see some interesting things, the economy is struggling, and the costs of everything are incredibly high, being able to launch a course in 2023 will give you a real opportunity to leverage your knowledge and develop a digital product that is 100% percent scalable.
According to this article in Forbes, 91% of students said online courses led to their personal betterment and improved their professional life.
In short, there are a ton of reasons to create a course in 2023, it's scalable and profitable, and if you have any skills in marketing, you can turn it into a business that truly serves.
Here are three main reasons why you might want to launch a successful online course:
- You'll have the freedom to easily create your own schedule.
- You can scale your business by teaching online courses
- You'll be able to create a digital product that can be sold over and over again.
Creating an online course can help you achieve financial freedom, reach more people with your message, and build a passive income stream. So what are you waiting for?
What do you need to get started with your course?
You’ve probably seen a million and one ads for online courses that guarantee to make you an expert in X,Y, or Z. But have you ever wondered what goes into making one of those courses?
Here's a hint, you'll need to create more than just a sales page.
If you’ve got an idea for your first course, but don’t know where to start, this article is for you.
Creating an online course takes more than just recording a few videos and calling it a day. In order to create a successful course, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to teach and how you want to teach it.
You also need to invest in the right gear to make sure your videos are high-quality and engaging.
The good news is that once you have your idea and outline mapped out, the process of creating an online course is so much easier as you move forward. No more doing things the hard way!
Why should you launch an online course?
There are many reasons why you should launch an online course. In short, It can help you reach a wider audience, generate additional income, allow you to share your knowledge with others, and you can generate a ton of visibility.
An online course can be a great way to promote your business or brand. It can help you reach new customers and grow your business. Additionally, an online course can be a great way to generate additional income. If you have expertise in a particular area, you can share your knowledge with others through an online course.
Launching an online course can also be a great way to give back to the #community. In fact, there are some pretty awesome solutions for running communities for the students who enroll in your course.
You could always do a simple Facebook group, but if you really want to give a unique experience, Circle offers one of the best online community offerings I've seen so far.
We used this solution in the past to run virtual summits, and it seriously is the best solution on the market. It's clean, it's clear, and it's super user-friendly. It even has an app for your students to access via mobile.
This software is an absolute gem.
If you have knowledge that can help others, an online course can be a great way to share your expertise. Additionally, launching an online course can help you build credibility and increase your visibility.
Outline Your Online Course
One of the first things you'll need to do is outline your course from start to finish. Once you figure this out then you'll be ready to create your online school.
This will help you determine your course material details, and exactly what steps you need to make your course truly impactful to your online students. Online education is rapidly transforming how we interact in business, and if you haven't noticed yet, it's a big deal.
If you want to build the best online course, doing a proper outline is going to be your friend, all successful online courses leave clues, and a great course outline is going to make things much easier to navigate when it comes to production.
Once you know what you need to create, you can begin grouping them into lessons. However, you don't want to make the mistake of thinking more stuff increases the value of your course. Often it's more valuable to help someone get a result quickly vs sharing everything plus the kitchen sink.
Okay, now that you have a basic outline of your entire course, you'll want to make sure you are refining it as needed.
Every course idea requires a certain degree of structure, but you'll discover that as your flush out the details of your outline. The main thing to keep in mind is the question, how can I support my students in a way that's truly going to deliver the desired result, and what can you do to increase the quality of your course?
According to Dr. Carrie Rose, Online Course Expert, Best Selling Author of The Completed Course
" Every decision in your course creation process needs to center around three factors, you, your students, and the content. If you focus on doing your best by all three, you will not fail."
Next, you'll be ready to choose your online learning platform.
Which Course Platforms Are Best For New Course Creators
When it comes to hosting your online course, there are many different platforms to choose from.
Which one is best? That's really hard to say. However, there are three popular options that always end up in the discussion, which are Thinkific, Kajabi, and Teachable.
I've personally used all 3 software options for various different programs, and my vote leans toward #Thinkific, with Kajabi coming in a close second. The platform is fairly priced, naturally intuitive, and has tons of options to get started even if you're a beginner.
Also, I had several different conversations with their support team over the years, and I've always had a memorable experience.
Side note: There are over 40 million different courses on their platform and support everyone from solo entrepreneurs to enterprise-level companies.
As I mentioned #Kajabi is another popular option that offers a drag-and-drop course builder and beautiful templates. And last but not least, it has premium features and is fairly popular among #digitalmarketing communities.
Teachable seems to be more aligned with the youtube crowd, but it's definitely a solid solution if you're focused on getting your course up and running fast.
So which platform is right for you? It really depends on your specific needs and preferences. But all three of these platforms are great options for hosting your online course.
Create Your Course Content
If you're looking to create your own course content, there are a few things you'll need to keep in mind. First and foremost, you'll need to make sure that your content is well-organized and easy to follow.
Secondly, you'll want to ensure that your content is engaging and informative. This is significantly easier to do if you've done the right kind of market research. If you take this step everything you produce will be in alignment with what your audience says they need help with.
Next, you'll need to make sure that your content is relevant to your audience. If you do step #2 the right way, this will be super easy and your course will be way more impactful, and as a result, you'll make a lot more money. Cha-ching!
I know I shouldn't have to say this but, make a real effort to create something of quality.
I can't tell you how many courses I've seen where people are just slapping videos together overnight, ramming into some course software program, and then hoping they get sales. It doesn't quite work like that, people are smart and they're not trying to just throw their money away.
Sometimes it takes months or even years to develop a good relationship with your customers, if they buy from you, they're saying they believe you can help. There is a ton of trust involved with making these programs, don't disappoint them.
Lastly, create a customer journey for your course. As I mentioned earlier, an online course is usually an early step for someone to invest with you, but have you considered other options for how they can go deeper with you? Do you have multiple programs? A coaching Offer? Maybe a consulting solution?
How Do I Make An Online Course Profitable?
There are a few key things you can do to make sure your online course is profitable.
First, you have to provide something of value to the right market, so targeting the right audience is critical. If you can determine the needs of the market, then you have an unfair advantage so you'll definitely be able to sell your course.
I know you want to create your course, you're super brilliant and everyone asks why you don't have an online program. If you're anything like most people you might be ready to jump right in, however, there are definitely a few things you want to consider before taking a leap.
How are you going to deliver the training? Which platform should you use? Does it have audio, video, and text? Are there any specific assets that would be native to your training?
These are all things you want to consider, and if they're not done correctly it can have a negative impact on how profitable your course can be.
Lastly, be sure to market your course effectively so that people know it exists and it appeals to them. By following these steps, you can ensure that your online course is both successful and profitable.
How To Price Your Course, What Makes A Successful Course, & How To Sell Your Courses Online
As an entrepreneur, it is critical that you learn to price your course properly. Course design is always a factor, but it's equally important to understand the strategy behind what creates a successful course, it's not always simply about the content.
This is actually a very nuanced subject. I have heard so many schools of thought about what the right strategy is, but it really comes down to these key things.
You want to be able to ask yourself, who is this course made for? What is the problem you're going to help them solve? What would solving this problem cost them to figure out on their own? How much time would it take them to do so? Lastly, what is the value of solving this problem?
If you can clearly answer these questions, you know you're ready.
If your target is to make a course for a high-level expert or C-suite individuals with the idea that you can sell it for a higher price point, they're likely too busy to even spend the time to take your course.
That's a fail.
On the other side, if your course is designed to help someone learn how to make a sweet casserole recipe, that is significantly different than showing a real estate expert how to make their next million dollars.
The good news is, if you can prove your course is valuable enough to high-level entrepreneurs or organizations, you may have an opportunity to sell your online course in bulk or have a chance to do some kind of joint venture, which is a huge win, this is actually pretty common in the digital marketing industry with affiliate networks like Clickbank.
My point is that your price should be in alignment with the problem you solve and who you solve it for.
If you charge too little, you may not be able to cover your costs of production, or your ideal audience may perceive it as being of low value. If you charge too much, you're going to have an uphill battle with getting lots of sales, unless you're experienced in selling high-ticket digital products, which in that case, get that money!
By the way, if you're thinking you want to offer a free course so you can build up an email list, you might want to reconsider this idea. I know this is a popular strategy with is comes with some severe downsides.
The big challenge is you end up building a list of people who are looking for free stuff, not necessarily buyers. So, if the overall goal is to build a successful business online, this is probably going to work against your efforts.
In Conclusion
If you're thinking about publishing your first online course, go for it! It's a great way to share your knowledge and expertise with the world, plus you can make some extra income in the process.
Just be sure to do your research, create quality content, and promote your course effectively.
You'd probably hate to make all of the effort to build a transformational online course and then be met with crickets on launch day, unfortunately, this happens quite often. It's totally avoidable and definitely worth thinking about before you get started.
Creating courses isn't a fix for all things business but it definitely has some benefits.
I've invested in tons of courses, and there are a few things that I've noticed that truly make a difference.
1) Keep a solid focus on serving the people in your community. You never know how you're impacting someone, for you it might be simply a course, but for them, it could be the thing that transforms their finances, health, or relationships.
You could be the access point to someone getting the life they always dreamed of, and you may not even know it.
2) An online course is usually an early-stage offer and is often the beginning of the relationship you're building with the customer, don't be too transactional with them, focus on helping, and you'll be surprised what opportunities present themselves to you.
3) Create a product or service chain as a back-end offer. Your course may help them solve one particular problem, but who's to say you don't have a variety of ways that you can be helpful to them going forward? Buyers that finish your online course are 60-70% more likely to invest more in your business.
Chances are, you have a ton of other ways that you can be helpful, and if you take the time to consider how to package it up as well, you can make your digital products and online courses significantly more profitable over time.
For more inspiration, visit online course expert Dr. Carrie Rose and her lively #TikTok channel. Or check out her book The Completed Course on how to get higher course completion rates, it's an insider's view on how to absolutely crush it with online courses. It's jammed packed with case studies and includes interviews from some of the most notable marketers of our time. If you want to build an online course, you will not be disappointed!
