From the perfect provider to the best pricing – there are a few aspects to consider when creating an online course. These are the seven best tips for starting.
Probably online biggest revolution in our education system: online courses. Whether for students or adults, there is now a vast range that serves a variety of topics. Many marketers also rely on an online course to build up a profitable additional income. But not every item is suitable, and there is a lot to consider. Do you also want to create your online course? Then these seven tips will make your start easier.
Tip 1: Create a business plan for the online course
Even though some related videos and articles set creation and success overnight, a business plan is essential. First, you should be clear about what the goal of your online course should be and what benefits your target audience will benefit from. A detailed analysis of potential customers is indispensable. You also determine how you want to reach your customer base. That does not happen by itself, and already many marketers had to realize that a course does not sell itself by good contents. That’s why you need a marketing strategy. Last but not least, your business plan should also be about economic calculation. Because you will need a budget to produce the courses and to take care of the first marketing.
Tip 2: First, gain experience offline
It’s not about selling your know-how. An online course ideally solves the problems of your target group. To find out, it is advisable to test offline the most critical processes first. How do I win customers and convince them of my offer? Maybe you are already in 1: 1 coaching or you regularly advise your customers via Zoom or Skype. Then you will notice what arrives and what does not. So you can take valuable experiences that will be useful for online course creation. The better you know your audience and learn how to get the most out of your content, the lower you can keep the cancellation rate later.
Tip 3: Expand your network and position it as an expert
If nobody knows you, marketing the course will be difficult. It is essential to build a sound system in the relevant industry and to gain contacts. If you position yourself as an expert in your field, you will more likely raise the trust of your target audience. The trust factor plays a significant role in the purchase decision. If your name sounds familiar and you’re showing proper credentials, customers will be more likely to buy your online course. Of course, it can also be that you do not want to be in the foreground, but rather stay the thread-puller in the background. Then it is essential to select the right experts for your target industry and keep them present in the marketing of the course. Pay attention to this when choosing that your experts have a good network and can communicate content well. This makes a start a lot easier.
Tip 4: Use different types of learning
You should always have a thought in mind when you want to create an online course: not only do you have to enjoy the content, but also to serve different types of learners. It does not do much to set you 10 hours of video footage, but your target group prefers to work with short webinars and practice tasks. That’s why you should also deal with the needs of your target audience in advance. An excellent online course lives on high-quality content. You can use different formats to convey your knowledge appealingly. But pay attention to the cost, because depending on the size, production can be costly.
Inspiration for different formats:
- Videos, for example, explanatory videos about powtoon or mysimpleshow
- Tests for knowledge retrieval
- Reading recommendations for matching books, blog posts and more
- Leaflets as PDF for download
- Exercises to deepen knowledge
- Webinars for example about zoom
If possible, a personal telephone call can be offered as an extra. The personal note mustn’t be lost in all content. Copying from competitors makes little sense.
Tip 5: Find the perfect online course provider
Probably one of the most important questions when creating an online course: Which provider would I like to use? There is now a wide range of international providers. The following core questions make it easier to differentiate:
- What about the legal certainty of each provider?
- Is the provider free? What is the percentage I have to surrender per sale?
- What features can I get?
- Newsletter service
- Customer Service
- accounting
- Possibilities of individual adaptation for example own design in the sales form
- Do I want to do Affiliate Marketing?
- Is a connected marketplace available?
- Where should the course contents be integrated? With the provider or on your website?
Once these questions have been clarified, the individual providers can be differentiated well. Udemy enjoys an excellent reputation as a platform. Courses are advertised on a large scale, and new participants are more comfortable to win. However, one should note that regular discount campaigns are part of the marketing concept of Udemy. This form of third party marketing could potentially adversely affect personal net income. If you want to advertise the courses yourself providers such as Elopage are recommended. The individual functions are easy to understand. Also, the eloping Builder provides simple customization of the individual course pages, the member’s area and the sales pages. HTML knowledge is not necessary. Another popular provider is Digistore24. Here the user gets the service of sale and payment processing. The own sales page, including member area and course pages, can be built, for example, via WordPress. Digimember is the best WordPress plugin for this to simplify the administration enormously. Other providers are Moodle, Lecturio, Teachable or Articulate. However, if you want to market your webinars, it is best to use platforms such as Zoom.
Tip 6: Try different prices
At first, it can not be easy to calculate the perfect price. Using split tests, different rates can be tested and compared first. The question is also whether one should acquire the online course for the subscription price or once. For orientation, the average cost for a popular video course with up to five hours of material certainly helps. This is at 29.90 euros.
Tip 7: Do not just increase the customer base with one platform
Another important aspect: lead generation. If you want to improve your customer base, you should not just rely on a single platform. Which channels are eligible depends on the target group. In any case, you should think about this in advance. The first customers can also be obtained through referrals, but soon you should automate this process as much as possible to get regular sales.
