The e-learning market has been flooded with tremendous growth, especially during the pandemic. However, some people are still struggling to understand how to get their courses online. If you fall into that category then you are at the right place. This blog will take you through the entire journey to make and sell online courses.
So while preparing for your online course journey, you must have encountered the following thought:
- Where and how to start?
- How to create an online course?
- How to sell courses online globally?
- How to sell online courses on social media?
- Marketing strategies for selling online course
- How to deliver courses to your learner?
- How to make an online course attractive and engaging?
So, in this blog, you will be learning everything about making and selling online courses. Hopefully, by the end of this blog, you will receive a clear understanding of all aspects of the online course.
So, let’s get started with it.
Related: Best online course platform
Why make and sell online courses?
E-learning and online courses have seen a new vision during the pandemic. Since everything is almost digitized, e-learning has also benefited from it. Here are the following reasons as to why to make and sell online courses:
- There are people out there who want to learn from you and who want your expertise.
- You can make money out of online content.
- By 2026 globally, the e-learning market is nearly expected to be worth $457.8 billion.
- Digital learning is and will become a pool of opportunities.
- You can uplift your online brand presence
- You can create your client base.
Look, everybody can make and sell online content but how you stand out from those is the question.
Table of Contents
How To Make And Sell Online Courses
Whether you are teaching yoga, coaching people, or providing professional certificate training, just do this step-by-step!
Conduct a market research
Before choosing your course it is important to know the market. You have to know the sustainability of your content. Whether your content is sellable in the market or not. You should include the following points while conducting the research:
- Are people willing to gain knowledge about your content or expertise?
- Will the course enhance their career growth and opportunities?
- Will people buy the course content just to learn new skills?
- As an online coach what will be your stability?
- What is the demand for your course in the market?
You know almost 42% of entrepreneurs fail in the market because their product was not in demand. If you are launching something which people don’t want then for whom you will be launching?
The logic is simple: if you conduct the market research you will get to know which topic to choose. If there is a lot of competition around your product then it’s right to say that your product holds a lot of demand in the market.
Pick up a niche that is sellable and high in demand. Once you have chosen your course line the next step would be to create it.
Let’s move to the next step.
Related: How To Validate Your Course Idea
Create an online course
For creating an online course you need to keep two things in mind:
- Concentrate on a single topic
- Once decided on the topic start preparing the model
Concentrate on a single topic
Focus on a specific niche topic. Do not divert yourself to a broad topic. Remember broader the topic higher the competition. Be an expert in your topic, know your target audience, identify their problems, and solve those problems through your expertise.
Once decided on the topic start preparing the model
By now you must have decided on your content. It’s time for you to start making it. Before making a roadmap of your course remember that you will be making money out of it. So you can not compromise on your quality.
Following are the steps to how to start making your content:
- You need a good HD quality camera.
- You need to have a good quality of light.
- You have to have editing software.
- A green screen. You can change the background of the green screen to whatever image you choose. It makes adding photos, graphics, and b-roll material much easier.
- Script. You need a script to read it in front of the camera. Until and unless you have become a pro and you know what exactly you have to speak.
It is ok if you don’t have the professional step up. Try to utilize the available pieces of equipment. But just keep in mind that a professional appearance is usually considered valuable content.
Related: How to make money as a creator
Now that you have a set up just remember the following things:
- Keep your content engaging and interesting.
- List the objective of your learners.
- Break down your course content into modules/chapters.
- Be interactive. Let your audience drive your online class.
- Make your course content educational and inspirational.
- Make your course entertaining.
- If you are using video in your course, make sure to make a mini clip. Long-form videos always distract the learner’s concentration.
- Choose the format of your online course and can make use of multiple options, like E-books, Webinars, Videos, Quizzes, PowerPoint presentation, Animated videos, Worksheets etc.
- Have a consistent tone of voice
- Have short lessons and keep simple graphics.
Related: Step by Step guide to building the audience from zero.
Decide where to host and sell your course online
Your online course must have a home on the internet. If you want your course to look professional and be easy to use, you’ll need a hosting system.
There are three places where you can host and sell your online course
- Self-hosting: As the name implies, you can host the videos by yourself. You can rent a server, set up a website and payment gateway, and so on.
There are software for online teaching for website construction, like WordPress, and plug-ins for the rest. However, it will require a lot of technical knowledge and time to set up. Not to forget the fact that if anything goes wrong, you have to fix it by yourself.
- Online course marketplace: You just upload the video on the third-party platform and they will do the rest.
Sounds great! Isn’t it?
But here is the catch. You will give the entire control to the third party. They will market your course in their database. They will collect the payments.
You have to function on their terms and conditions. You will have to label the course price according to them. You will have to share your revenue cut with them.
- Learning management system (LMS): Online teaching platforms or the LMS is the best way to make and sell online courses. You will have entire control over everything and it’s easy to set up.
Graphy is one example. To sell your course online on Graphy, all you need to do is sign up and upload your content. Graphy has got all the features you need to sell your content.
The payment setup is already available, you just need to price your course. You can even change the brand and design of your site with just a few clicks. You can construct a sales page with our drag and drop functionality.
Related: The best platform to sell your online courses
Pricing scheme
How much should you charge for the question?
It is the most common question that pops up when you have to decide the course price. It’s a bit of a guessing game when it comes to pricing. Finding the ideal price will need some trial and error.
However, consider the following factors when choosing the price:
- How much did you spend on developing, hosting, and marketing the course?
- Pricing of the competitors
- The income level of your target audience. What do you think they’ll be willing to spend?
When selling online courses, there are three fundamental payment structures to consider. There are some of them:
- For a one-time payment, you’ll get lifelong access to the course
- Recurring memberships cost at a lower cost ( monthly payments)
- A learner can pay multiple times over several months, rather than paying a one-time fee.
Seed launch your course
It’s time to determine if your online course is fit for the audience now that it’s been created. Test your course to see if any bugs need fixing before it goes live.
You’ll be able to do the following with the seed launch:
- Consult and fine-tune your target audience.
- Find out what the most important questions and requirements are.
- Determine what the market truly requires, desires, and is ready to pay for.
A seed launch has the advantage of not necessitating the creation of an entire marketing sequence. It can be accomplished by delivering a free trial offer to a select group of students from:
- Your email address book
- Social media followers
- Family and friends
- Networking gatherings
Whatever you learn from seed launch, consider all these. Implement those into your marketing strategy
Related: How to monetize your audience in 2022
Marketing strategies for selling online course
Marketing is the method of bridging the gap between you and your audience. People need to know about your course and content. If you have to make money, then you have to reach your audience rather than for them to come to you.
Here are a few ways to promote and sell courses online:
- Construct and improve your website. There should be a sales page for your online course so that your customers can learn about it and decide if they would like to enroll.
- Construct marketing content. You can create your blogs, videos or can participate in Facebook groups.
- Have an email list. It is a powerful marketing tool. You can have email information by creating forms on your website. You can use social media as well for constructing the lists. Moreover, Graphy allows you to integrate third-party Mailchimp into your course. MailChimp has been carefully crafted to meet your email marketing requirements. It aids in the management of a huge audience, as well as the creation of automatic emails and other features.
- Collaborate with others. You can promote your course partnering with other entrepreneurs. Look for those who admire you and are mutually ready to work.
- Discount codes. To attract students you can offer discounts on your courses. You can roll out the coupons for a specific number of students. This way you instigate them to opt for your course at a discounted rate.
By now you know that Graphy offers several in-built marketing features. Once you have created a course on the platform, you can even generate discount codes.
For your course promotion, you can also run paid ads on different platforms. SEO and affiliate marketing can also be good marketing tactics.
With solutions like Graphy, you can control your online course promotion. We’ve in-built marketing tools to assist you in getting recognition in the market.
Related: How to market your online course
For your online course, create a customer journey
The set of decisions your target audience makes when investigating a purchase is the buyer’s journey. It has three important stages:
- Awareness. Your target audience is aware that there is an issue. They’ve begun to explore alternatives.
Example: Create an informative video that addresses your audience’s most pressing concerns. For exposure, you can publish and promote it on social media.
- Consideration: Your market begins to seek answers to that issue.
Example: Create referral videos where your past learners portray their journey. Also can talk about how the course has changed/helped them.
- Decision. People have made a purchase.
Example: Post a FAQ video about your online course to make the purchasing process go smoothly. So that people get to know your skills, ability, and strengths.
Prospective clients should lead through the customer journey by your marketing tactics. Each step will necessitate a distinct content approach.
Encourage individuals to buy and recommend your course in future
Great job! You’ve created an online course, promoted it, and made a ton of copies. So, what’s next?
It’s now up to you to ensure that your learners have the best chance of succeeding. If your learners have learned something and they have liked it, then they will come back and purchase your further courses.
Moreover, if your students are well satisfied they are more likely to recommend you and your course. Mouth-to-mouth recommendations promote your reliability, credibility, and authoritativeness. It’s the kind of marketing that costs next to nothing.
From the following tips you can ensure your learner’s happiness:
- Concentrate on the client’s experience
- Map out your learners’ journey
- Develop or create a community
- Motivate your learners to watch your content again
- Seek and apply the feedback
- Keep updating your course content
- Add FAQ content
- Maintain a record of your learner’s progress.
If you follow the above guidelines, your learners will feel valued, and important. Make them feel that their money was worth investing in your course. A satisfied learner will always provide long-term commitment and sales.
Related: 5 ways to engage students in online learning
Final words
Online courses may appear to be a large undertaking. It often undoubtedly consumes a significant amount of time and effort. However, when done correctly, the benefits are abundant.
We all know that it is difficult to manage everything all alone. That’s why Graphy made it easy by being an all-in-one platform. Graphy is a platform where you can build your branded website and mobile apps. The good part is that the entire control lies in your hand. We provide you with the advanced marketing tools and features that you only drive completely.
Related: How to conduct online classes
