how to build an online course that sells

^{How to Create an Online Course That Actually Sells (& Gets Results)}

1. Find Your Winning Course Idea. Start with the big picture. What will your course be about? ...
2. Discover The Achievable Result. Remember what I said about getting your student results? ...
3. Conduct Market Research For Your Course. Once you have a pretty good idea of your topic and the result students can get from your course, it’s time to ...
4. Outline Your Course Content. You have a winning topic idea, know your course concept is profitable, and know what results your target audience wants – awesome!
5. Choose A Course Hosting Platform. A course platform is where you will actually be hosting your course content. ...
Create & Develop Course Content. Using your completed course outline, it’s time to get started and actually create the content. ...
Use a Beta Group For Your Online Course. Once your course content is created, uploaded, and ready to go – it’s time to do a trial run. ...
Market, Launch & SELL! Your Online Course. You have a successful course. Now it’s time to launch it to the world, and impact lives. ...

Full Answer

How do I make an online course?

How to Create and Sell Profitable Online Courses: Step-by-Step Guide

1. Think Positive and Avoid Mental Blocks. “I don’t have enough money to start online courses.” “I am not a subject matter expert.” “What if this doesn’t work?”
2. Come up with a Profitable Course Subject. If you have an idea, a skill, a passion, an audience, or some content you want other people to see, then ...
3. Choose the Type of Course you Want to Sell. ...

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What are the best online courses?

“You’ll start this course with an introduction to the Scratch programming language and the fundamentals of working with sprites, costumes, and backdrops. As you progress, you’ll build your knowledge of core programming concepts and how best to use ...

How do I create an online training course?

Put simply, this is how to create an outline for your online course:

• Identify the primary learning outcome
• List the skills necessary for achieving the primary learning outcome
• Use the skill checklist to create course modules
• Set learning goals for your course modules

How to design an online course?

So you want to create an online course, or maybe you have a course, but it's not selling the way you thought it would and it's not as easy as you thought it would be. Well, by the end of this, you're going to have a clear game plan of how to create a ...

Is selling an online course profitable?

Are Online Courses Profitable? Yes, they are. Online courses offer one of the best business models to digital entrepreneurs. The demand is rising and people are more than willing to pay for them, and they are one of the top ways to make money online.

How much money can you make creating an online course?

You can make anywhere from $500 to $50,000 and more by teaching online courses. To determine how much money you can make from online courses, all you need to know are the size of your audience, how well you can convert those people into buyers, and the price of your program.

How do you build and market an online course?

Let's recap the nine essential steps for selling your online course:Choose a subject that sells. ... Create your online course. ... Choose where to host and sell your course. ... Decide how much you will charge. ... Increase the value (and price) of your course. ... Seed launch your online course. ... Market and sell your online course.More items...

Which online course sells the most?

One of the most essential features of running an online business is selling online courses. Many people are now getting introduced to the world of eLearning....1. Computers and TechnologyRobotics.Software programming.Cyber security.Adobe Premiere.Digital video editing.Photoshop learning.Podcast production.Web designing.More items...•

How do I create a course to sell?

Share this articlePick the perfect course topic.Ensure your course idea has high market demand.Create Magnetic and Compelling Learning Outcomes.Select and Gather your Course Content.Structure Your Modules and Course Plan.Determine the most engaging and effective delivery methods for each lesson.More items...•

How do I become a course creator?

Here are the multiple steps involved in starting a career as an online course creator:Step 1 - Market research.Step 2 - Understand your student.Step 3 - Create free content.Step 4 - Understand SEO.Step 5 - Create a sales funnel.Step 6 - Build a brand.Step 7 - Build a community.Step 8 - Validate your course ideas.

How do online classes attract students?

5 tips to attract students for your online courseBe clear about your course. Nothing is most annoying than visit a site and didn't immediately find the information you seek. ... Provide infoproducts. ... Learn from your competitors. ... Take advantage of those who are already your student. ... Give something of value for free.

Can I sell my course on udemy?

Udemy makes money from selling online courses, so it's in their best interest to sell as many courses as they can, and this means they actively promote your courses for you. There is no other website like it in existence. It's the easiest way to make money online in 2016, and it's just the beginning.

Do online courses sell well?

Creating and selling online courses is a booming market internationally. The eLearning market is expected to exceed $325Billion by 2025, with a yearly growth of 5% (Global Market Insights)! Becoming an online instructor means you could be earning from a few hundred dollars per year to a six-figure income.

What online course is in demand?

Top Trending Online CoursesData Science. ... Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. ... Big Data. ... Business Intelligence. ... Cloud Computing. ... Project Management. ... Software Development. ... Full-stack development.More items...•

What kinds of online courses sell?

With that said, let's dive in to the profitable niches list...Computers and Technology. ... Business & Entrepreneurship. ... Arts & Crafts. ... Health. ... Fitness. ... Education. ... Writing and Content Creation. ... Personal Development.More items...•

1. Find a profitable course idea and validate it

Before you get into the creation mode, make sure your idea is actually profitable and people would pay you for it. Most course creators skip this very crucial step because they are really excited about their idea — and they should be excited. However, they should not ignore data and actual market trends.

2. Create a rough course outline

You have a feel for the topic, you've done your research, and you know people may be interested in taking your course. Now it's time to create the course outline. Don't create the entire course yet. Just start with the transformation in mind and work backward from there.

3. Sell your course before you create it

This is the second biggest mistake most course creators make. After (hopefully) validating their idea, they jump right in and create video lesson after video lesson without having sold a single copy of their course. They work really hard for a few weeks or even months only to find out that they have created a product nobody wants to buy.

4. Run your beta round, create content as you go and refine it immediately

Once you have sold a few copies, it is time to create your online course. You can either teach your lesson live to your new beta students or you can create it week by week.

5. Create one core piece of content

The next step after you have found your profitable idea, validated it, sold your course, ran your first beta round and created your course content is to decide on one core piece of content to which you keep driving traffic.

6. Decide on your evergreen, long-term traffic strategy

You should also produce evergreen content that keeps driving traffic to those opt-in pages. This will be a long-term game, so work smarter, not harder. That automatically excludes social media platforms. Think about podcasting, blogging, maybe creating YouTube videos.

Written By

Tina Dahmen helps entrepreneurs gain more influence in their space and scale their businesses and online presences. She teaches them how to build digital products including online courses, masterminds, membership sites, coaching programs and more.

Why do people invest in online courses?

Investing in education and lifelong learning is an emerging trend among both old and young, and online courses come to fill the gaps of knowledge. People tend to prefer the comfort and flexibility of their own homes, avoiding the complexities of commuting to physical classes.

Why is offering a free course important?

Offering a free course can work for your benefit as it can generate leads for expensive courses or a way to showcase your expertise. Don’t forget, it is the first point of contact to create rapport. We all love good communication, creating relationships and this sense of familiarity is what will help you sell more courses.

How to get your audience's opinion?

You can also: Get your audience’s opinion through email: if you have an email list, come up with an email advertising your course. Alternatively, send your list of ideas for online courses to your audience and encourage them to pick on a course subject through a survey.

What is needed to create a sales page?

A sales page requires two things, the copy and the design . To write the perfect copy, you will need to understand your audience, what they are looking for and how to convince them. We will be going through that below.

What does a good title mean for a course?

Ultimately, the title of your course reflects the name of your brand, your work or training, and can potentially describe you as the best-selling trainer in your field.

How much will the elearning market be in 2025?

The elearning market is expected to exceed $325Billion by 2025 (see above), with a yearly growth of 5% (Global Market Insights)! Becoming an online instructor means you could be earning from a few hundred dollars per year to a six-figure income.

What is the difference between learning goals and learning outcomes?

Whereas, ‘learning objectives’ or ‘learning outcomes’ tend to be more specific and more measurable in terms of what you expect your students to learn and be able to do once they complete the course.

How to create a course and teach someone something?

To create a course and teach someone something, you only need to be one step ahead of them. If they’re on level four and you’re on level five, you have something to offer. Think about it for a second. If you want to create a course teaching people how to become a freelancer; you'd only require one credential.

How to create a sales funnel on ysteme.io?

On ysteme.io you can go to your dashboard and click the menu. Under the menu, you’ll find funnels, and from there you’ll create your first funnel. Creating a sale's page on systeme.io. You can add a sales page to a standard two-step funnel and start putting in some content.

Can you teach someone anything?

You can teach people anything, and you’ll always be able to find someone willing to learn the information you have to offer. Creating an online course is a rewarding experience. It allows you to display your expertise while making a ton of money if you play your cards right.

Do you have to make 100k a year to be a freelancer?

That you’re a freelancer. It doesn’t mean you have to make 100k a year or have a Lamborghini to teach people how to accomplish something. You only need to have accomplished the goal yourself. Now you can take what you’ve learned and show people how to reach your level.

How to Start and Validate Building Your Courses

There can be different situations when it makes sense to build your own online course website. Perhaps, you have succeeded in something and now want to share your knowledge and experience with others, or you have a specific skill (e.g. you’re doing illustrations) and think that you can teach others as well.

Own Platform VS Online Marketplaces

There are many different online marketplaces ( Udemy is probably the most popular one) that offer a ready-made solution for setting up your online courses.

Choosing Your Business Model

Basically, you have two options here: one-time purchase and subscription. You can either provide full access to your content for a one-time fee or can offer a recurring model with monthly/yearly subscriptions. The latter is more relevant when your content is regularly updated and you always have something new to offer to your customers.

Creating a Sales Landing Page

So, apart from the courses themselves, you need a nice landing page to convert your visitors into buyers. There, you need to explain what value the course provides and why people should sign up for it (the Hero and Feature / Feature Grid blocks can be used for this).

Building Your Courses Area

The process of setting up your courses page is really straightforward. You just need to configure a gated area with your courses (e.g. video tutorials) and provide a checkout for your users to purchase. The quickest way to get started is to use the online courses template we have.

Setting Up Gated Content

Now let’s see how you can create a gated area for your courses so that only registered users can access them. Softr has all the necessary functionality for that, and you don’t have to connect any additional membership service or something like that.

Selling Online Courses

As soon as you’ve set up your gated area, you can start configuring payment options to start selling your content. Let's see how that's done. You just need to connect your Stripe account and add a checkout block through which the users can make payments.

Why are FAQs important for online courses?

FAQs are a staple for online course sales pages because they work. Having them neutralizes fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

How to show what's included in a course?

Show what’s included in your course by covering what each section offers and how learners will benefit from them. And that’s the key. Identifying benefits derived from learning outcomes will help prospects quickly appreciate the value of your course. Use bullets with benefits for each part of your course. Also, include images of your course content to give prospects an idea of what they are getting.

How to help prospects appreciate your course?

Identifying benefits derived from learning outcomes will help prospects quickly appreciate the value of your course. Use bullets with benefits for each part of your course. Also, include images of your course content to give prospects an idea of what they are getting.

How to use storytelling in sales?

Effective sales pages use storytelling to draw audiences in. They touch on pain points and then present a solution. Your sales page must do the same. With the help of your customer persona document, draw on the challenges, pain points, needs, and desires of your ideal customer and incorporate them into a well-structured message.

What is the best news about most platforms?

The great news about most platforms is that they offer insights on audiences. For example, on Facebook, you can tell where your audience is located, what interests they have, and more. Leverage this information to create strong ads that attract prospects.

What is sales page?

Sales pages are meant to be highly effective tools for converting visitors into paying customers. To generate sales, your sales page has to be able to sell ideas, do away with fear, uncertainty, and doubt, and have a call to action that closes the sale.

What is funnel in marketing?

A funnel is a mechanism for attracting, educating, and converting strangers into customers. Funnels include various components such as traffic sources, sales or landing pages, order-taking tools (payment gateways), and communication devices (email for nurturing).