how to sell a programming course

by Franco Legros 6 min read

Tips On How To Sell Online Courses
  1. Create valuable course content. Identify your audience. Get as detailed a vision as you can of who your target customers are. ...
  2. Differentiate your offer. Do one thing and do it well. ...
  3. Write compelling content. Make it clear why they need to learn this.
Jan 27, 2016

How do I Sell online courses?

If you want to sell online courses that are ready to go and properly formatted for Learning Management Systems, you can skip the parts about creating and formatting them (though there are some useful tips there as well) and go to the marketing and selling sections of this article. So let’s get to it. Create valuable course content.

How do companies buy courses?

Companies will be buying your course in bulk for their employees. You will be selling “seats” or “licenses” instead of a single course. This can skyrocket your sales, as those can range from a single digit to hundreds or thousands of premium pricing courses.

How do you sell a course to a new audience?

Plan a series of courses that have a straightforward progression and take them on a learning journey. Make the learning outcomes clear for each stage of the journey. That way you won’t only sell one course to them, but a series of courses. Keep them coming back for more. Write compelling content.

Should I create a blog to sell my course?

Creating a blog may seem like a prolonged approach to selling your course. We recommend creating one because it’s part of a long-term strategy to drive traffic and sales, and it’s a relatively cheap way to build a brand.

How to help prospects appreciate your course?

How to show what's included in a course?

How to use storytelling in sales?

Why are FAQs important for online courses?

What is sales page?

What is funnel in marketing?

Is it hard to set up an affiliate program?

See more

About this website

How much can you make selling a course?

It varies widely. Your online course could earn anywhere from a $0 – $50k+ per month. Many course creators will earn $1 – 5k/month and there are numerous examples of online course teachers earning $10k – $50k per month.. There are lots of factors that will determine how much you can earn by selling online courses.

Is selling a course profitable?

Are online courses profitable? Yes. They're actually one of the best business models you can adopt as a digital business because they're in demand and more and more people are willing to pay top dollar for them.

Can I resell a course I bought?

Yes. Selling courses is only legal if you obtain the rights to do so from the course content creator. If under Private Label Rights (PLR), the course creator must specify the conditions under which the course can be sold.

Is it profitable to sell online courses?

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 do you sell a course online?

In this article, you'll find an overview of the 10 major stages of online course creation:Pick 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.More items...•

How profitable is Udemy?

“I make between $1,500 and $3,000 per month with Udemy,” Brody said in 2018. “I use that extra money for things like travel or big purchases.” With Udemy, your earning potential is unlimited. You decide how much to charge for your course.

Is selling someone else's course illegal?

If you are doing so without the express/written permission of the content-owner, then it is not legal and you would be infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others.

Can I sell my Udemy courses?

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.

Can I sell course that I bought from Udemy?

Hello, My question is If I brought a Course from Udemy ,Then can I sell that to my friends or followers ? No, you cannot. Your friends or followers need to purchase it from Udemy.

How do you monetize online courses?

7 Ways To Monetize Your Online CourseMulti-vendor platforms. Multi-vendor e-learning platforms such as Skillshare and Udemy allow you to sell and market your online course. ... Courses as products. ... Selling course certificates. ... Subscriptions. ... Membership Sites. ... Payment Installations. ... Are you ready to sell your online course?

Can I make money on Coursera?

2:189:56How To Make Money With Coursera In 2022 (For Beginners) - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipBuild skills with courses certifications and degrees online from world-class universities. AndMoreBuild skills with courses certifications and degrees online from world-class universities. And companies and you can see you know they've collaborated with illinois duke google.

How much does it cost to build an online course?

It can cost anywhere from $200 to $10,000 to create an online course. The main source of expenses is the labor involved, followed by the equipment and software. If you are creating the online course yourself and not paying someone else to do it, this means that other than your time there are very few expenses involved.

How To Sell Courses Online In 2022 (And Earn $5000+ A Month)

But, singular online courses have their limitations and students are looking for more! Let me explain… Because each course you create is laser-focused on one topic, it’s usually finished within 4 to 12 weeks, and that means there’s a built-in churn rate.

How to Sell Online Courses: The Ultimate Guide for 2022

Why Create & Sell an Online Course? An online course can help you: – Enhance your online brand/presence: educating your audience can establish you as a thought leader and a source for new knowledge. This becomes possible in many ways. For example, perhaps you already have a YouTube channel, a blog, an author site, you are a keynote speaker, you are making podcasts, or you are offering ...

How many computer programmers are there in the US?

According to a 2016 report published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are close to 295,000 computer programmers presently employed in the United States. The report further claims that between 2016 and 2026, the number of jobs in this category will fall by seven percent. In comparison, over 28,000 computer science degrees were awarded in ...

What universities have MOOC courses?

A lot of universities, including the likes of Stanford and Harvard have MOOC courses for anybody to access. . As a skilled programmer, you could make a living by teaching eager learners how to code. There are several ways to do this.

Is it a good idea to sign a contract with a client?

It is a good idea to sign a contract with the client before you start a project. Doing so sets the right expectations for both parties and protects you from contractual violations from your client’s side. But signing a contract is only worth it if both parties are committed to abiding by it.

Can you compete on price if you are from the UK?

If you are from a country like the US or UK, you definitely cannot compete on price. In such cases, identify the value you bring to the table and sell this as your USP. For instance, a client in the US may prefer someone from their timezone who they can talk to over the phone.

Is there enough computer science jobs?

Clearly, there are not enough computer science jobs to accommodate all these new programmers. Such programmers may thus want to seek alternate income opportunities. Even among programmers with a steady job, the aspiration to quit and do your own thing is on the rise. A primary factor contributing to this is the freedom that comes ...

Is it profitable to use SaaS?

So while SaaS can seem extremely profitable, it is advisable to take on such projects only if you are fine with the time and effort required to build the product and support your customers.

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 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 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.

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.

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).

Is it hard to set up an affiliate program?

Affiliate programs aren't difficult to set up either. If your course is on a platform like Udemy, Teachable, or Kajabi, you have automatic access to an affiliate suite of tools These tools may include an affiliate dashboard for tracking sales, traffic, and payouts.

How to get people engaged in elearning?

Encourage people to comment and interact with you and build conversations. Do everything you can to get them engaged and keep them engaged.

What is the most widely used learning management system?

One of the most widely used of these is Moodle, which is a free open-source Learning Management System (eLearning platform). Moodle has a large community of users, so getting help is easy, and it has a very robust set of learning tools to draw from when creating new courses, too.

How to get good formatting?

Unless you are using one of the industry-standard authoring platforms, an easy way to achieve good formatting is by using PDF or PowerPoint. It’s possible to create quality courses using just these everyday tools.

What is a scrum?

Which brings us to SCORM. Short for Shareable Content Object reference Model, SCORM is a set of standards created for web-based educational technology. You need to make your course content SCORM-compatible to make it work on all applicable Learning Management Systems. That way, your courses will have a greater reach and be useful to a wider audience. There’s more about SCORM here.

How to make a lesson more memorable?

Get learners to do active tasks frequently, like checklists and worksheets. Prune your materials to get rid of any content that is not essential. This gives it more impact and makes it more memorable. Split it into chunks that are easily absorbed and roughly equal in length.

What is joule learning?

Then there’s Joule, which is a paid Learning Management System (with a free 15-day trial) that gives you a lot of added functionality, plus full support and an easy means to create compelling content for your learners .

Can you hire an instructional designer?

If your budget is substantial you can hire one of the many excellent Instructional Designers out there to make the courses for you. However when starting out it might be more prudent and affordable to make the courses yourself.

1. Know your audience

When it comes to creating a good online course, it’s important that you don’t try to cater to everyone. Figure out your target audience and cater specifically to them. Nail your niche.

2. Research your competitors

Look at what courses your competitors are running and then think about how your course will be different.

3. Smart marketing

On the topic of marketing, you need to get as many eyeballs on your course as cost-effective as possible in order to grow your business.

4. Price for profitability

We talk to hundreds of training providers every day, and one of the most common concerns we hear is that no one will buy their online course because there is so much free content available.

5. Invest in the right software

If you’re primarily looking to run your online course as an on-demand video, then the key piece of software you’ll need is a learning management system (LMS). This type of system allows you to create, manage and usually host your on-demand video.

What is the biggest advantage of creating and launching online courses on platforms for education?

The biggest advantage of creating and launching online courses on platforms for education is that students are already there, browsing.#N#Your course will land under the radar of your potential students but you have to give strong reasons why they should enroll in your course.

How Do You Write An Attention-Grabbing Headline For Your Online Courses?

First, your headline will be limited in characters. Online platforms have different requirements, for example, at Udemy you have 60 characters. Skillshare gives you more flexibility. At Udemy you will need a sub-title as well and you'll have 120 characters to craft something good. Skillshare's classes don't have subtitles.

Why sell courses to big companies?

And that’s because, sharing that you work with corporate clients can add to your profile instant credibility.

What if I Already Have Courses?

No matter what courses you possess, they may fit and be suitable for a company. Honestly, if you sell it the right way, you can customize the subject and content in a way that a corporation will be interested in offering it to their employees.

How to launch yourself as an authority?

Another effective way to launch yourself as an authority is by writing books and leadership blog posts on your website as well as on others.

Why do companies invest so much time and money in education?

Today, companies are looking to improve the performance of their employees as well as their wellbeing, health and safety. Therefore, they invest a lot of time and money in employees’ education.

When a company buys in bulk, do they have to offer training?

When a company buys in bulk, they either have a group of employees they want to take the training , or they wish to offer it as a perk to anyone who would take it .

Do you need thousands of transactions to reach your revenue goals?

Concerning your revenue goals, you might need thousands of individual transactions to reach them. But you don’t have to reach such a large volume of potential clients if you are marketing and selling courses as training for corporate teams.

Do companies do all their training in-house?

Contrary to popular belief, larger companies do not do all of their training in-house. More is outsourced and purchased than created and delivered by their own employees.

Choose a platform for your online course

Teachable and Udemy are two of my favorite platforms because they’re both intuitive and user-friendly. With Teachable, you have more control over your pricing and the look and feel of your course, but you don’t get a built-in audience, which is one of the most important things for the success of your course.

How to create an online course

Well, creating a course couldn't be easier these days. You can create one almost free of cost; all you need is an email address, time, knowledge, and the passion to do the teaching.

Further reading

Published at DZone with permission of Javin Paul, DZone MVB . See the original article here.

What are the technical aspects of creating and selling courses?

These are domain and web hosting, website designing, payment gateways, content details, video, and more. Online course platforms consist of such tools. Hence, all you have to do is create the courses which are helpful for students.

How much will e-courses make in 2025?

Due to social distancing, people are moving towards online portals. It is believed that earnings from e-courses can become $325 billion by 2025. Hence, running online course platforms is what one should think about. With good teaching experience and interest in sharing your knowledge, this is an opportunity for people to become Digital Teacher.

How long is Skillshare class?

Photographers, bloggers, and Many other creative people use Skillshare for teaching new skills. In Skillshare, all classes are around 10-25 minutes long, which partitioned into short videos and they are all pre-recorded and self-paced. You can create premium classes for free.

How do study platforms work?

The study platforms work as learning management systems (LMS). The students get trained through virtual classes. These are similar to offline classes. Here an independent instructor is educating the students through video, image, text, audio, and PDF files.

What are the factors to consider when choosing a study platform?

This would include your budget, technical abilities, time, followers, target audience, and revenue expectation.

What are the benefits of digital class world?

It can also save your time and you can take sessions from anywhere, at any preferred time. Another benefit of Digital Class world is that whether you are a youtuber, running an institute or having your own education website can use this platform for teaching different education categories.

Is Thinkfic a free trial?

What makes this platform different? It consists of ready to use templates. There is a one-month free trial wherein you can create unlimited courses.

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 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 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.

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.

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).

Is it hard to set up an affiliate program?

Affiliate programs aren't difficult to set up either. If your course is on a platform like Udemy, Teachable, or Kajabi, you have automatic access to an affiliate suite of tools These tools may include an affiliate dashboard for tracking sales, traffic, and payouts.

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Freelancing

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Offering your programming expertise as a freelancer is one of the most popular and profitable ways to make money on your own. From a legal standpoint, freelancingis similar to a contract job and you are paid either by the hour or on a per-project basis. One reason this route is so popular is because, as the service p…
See more on simpleprogrammer.com

Pay-For-Success Gigs

  • This is a slight variation of the freelance ecosystem. In a traditional freelance setup, clients post project requirements on platforms like Upwork or Freelancer. You bid on these projects and after negotiating the prices, you stand a chance to win the bid. Pay-For-Success projects work a bit differently. Here, the client is open to working with any number of programmers on a single proje…
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Packaged Services

  • Although freelancing can be a profitable ventureand let you choose your hours and rate, the truth is that it is not too different from any other computer programming job. If you are looking for a different lifestyle altogether, then you may consider packaging your programming skills into a product that you can sell. This is relatively more entrepreneurial than freelancing since your resp…
See more on simpleprogrammer.com

Massively Open Online Courses

  • There has been a paradigm shift in the way learners access knowledge. Today, millions of users worldwide access courses they are interested in through MOOC.These are courses that are made available to students over the internet, often without any fee. A lot of universities, including the likes of Stanford and Harvard have MOOC courses for anybody to access. . As a skilled program…
See more on simpleprogrammer.com

Paving A New Path as A Programmer

  • The various options presented here are by no means comprehensive. They are, however, among the most profitable ways for a programmer to make money by providing their expertise as a service. Not only that, these strategies can serve as a launchpad for a programmer who does not want to be tied down to a company and wants to dive into the world of entrepreneurship. Is ther…
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Creating Content

Formatting Courses

  • If your budget is substantial you can hire one of the many excellent Instructional Designers out there to make the courses for you. However when starting out it might be more prudent and affordable to make the courses yourself. If you are making them yourself, start by thinking of some of the great and memorable textbooks, classes, presentations, or eLearning courses you’v…
See more on elearningindustry.com

Offer Your Courses on The Right Platforms

  • With formats that conform to SCORM standards, there are a lot of choices for platforms to offer your courses on. One of the most widely used of these is Moodle, which is a free open-source Learning Management System (eLearning platform). Moodle has a large community of users, so getting help is easy, and it has a very robust set of learning tools to draw from when creating ne…
See more on elearningindustry.com

Marketing

  1. A dedicated website is a must. Even if your catalog and shopping cart are elsewhere, you’ll want a place that features information about you and your courses, as well as where to buy them. This giv...
  2. Blog about topics relevant to your field, making sure to use relevant keywords naturally. Share and curate relevant content.
  1. A dedicated website is a must. Even if your catalog and shopping cart are elsewhere, you’ll want a place that features information about you and your courses, as well as where to buy them. This giv...
  2. Blog about topics relevant to your field, making sure to use relevant keywords naturally. Share and curate relevant content.
  3. Build a social media presence for even better search engine rankings. Start a fan page on Facebook, and create dedicated LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram accounts for your online school. Post regula...
  4. Consider adding your courses to a course search engine. An example is Courseindex.com. These sites aggregate courses from around the web and offer affiliate marketing channels t…

Sell, Sell, Sell!

  • To actually take payments you’ll need a shopping cart or ecommerce platform. This connects your courses with payment gateways so that people can purchase them with a credit or debit card, PayPal etc. Basic ones are available, but if you need a full-featured eCommerce solution to sell online courses, check out Course Merchant. For more on shopping c...
See more on elearningindustry.com