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Creating and selling courses online is now not only affordable but also an extremely effective way to position yourself as an expert in your niche. The Internet has long opened unlimited opportunities for us.
So, why not use it to share your knowledge and skills with the global community?
However, success in this endeavour increasingly requires not only high-quality material but also a strategic approach to its creation and course marketing.
That is why it is important to know and be guided in what is needed to create your own online course successfully and market it.
Course Concept Creation
The first thing you need to do when you create a digital course is to clearly define its concept and the ultimate goals that the user will achieve. Therefore, you need to:
- clearly define your target audience,
- research your TA thoroughly.
This will help determine their needs and expectations from the course. According to the data obtained, determine:
- the topic of the course,
- what subtopics it will consist of,
- the format of the workshop,
- the level of complexity of the course,
- perhaps it will have several variations in terms of difficulty levels.
Course Content Creation and Technical Considerations
1. How to Make a Course to Sell
Develop a detailed course plan, including all the necessary subtopics and materials. It is vital to keep in mind the variety of content formats. It can be both video lessons and text materials. As well as tests, assignments for independent work, etc.
Regardless of the format, it is essential to organize all this in a way that is not overloaded with information and at the same time provides comprehensive material on the key topic. To
do this, divide the course into blocks and sub-blocks. If possible, add relevant visualizations and graphic elements to highlight key points. It is crucial that they are relevant to the topic and do not overload it. Likewise, they should not draw attention to themselves, but rather be a logical complement to the main material and help it to be understood more easily.
It is not uncommon to find yourself needing to record the screen when you are explaining something to your audience. You may also want to insert certain moments from the current online recording into a future course. To do this, you will need to choose the best screen recording software.
This is often a key element in creating high-quality content for your online course. For Mac users, apps to screen record on Mac, like QuickTime Player, Camtasia, and ScreenFlow, offer excellent opportunities to create professional video tutorials. Other screen recorders for Mac include OBS Studio, Screencast-O-Matic, and others. They will help you create video tutorials that will be of high quality. It will also emphasize your professional approach to the business.
2. Platforms for Hosting
Choosing a platform to host a workshop is an equally important step after course creation. The most trusted course platforms are those that have already proven themselves and continue to be very popular. These include Udemy, Coursera, and WordPress-based LMSs.
Whichever platform you choose, take your choice seriously, considering your capabilities. Before choosing, pay attention to the commissions, marketing opportunities, and functionality of a particular platform.
Marketing and Promotion of the Course
Creating a course is only the first step. Next, you place it on a certain platform. However, selling courses online requires effective marketing and promotion if you want to make your training programs popular.
This is equally critical for attracting an audience. Use social media and advertising. Don’t forget to collaborate with influencers to promote your content.
1. Advertising
Online advertising is a super effective way to attract new participants to your course. You can use a variety of platforms to run ads. These include Google Ads and Facebook Ads. It can also be LinkedIn Ads. It is essential to set up your ad campaigns correctly.
To do this, consider:
- your target audience,
- your budget,
- the goal of the campaign.
2. Using social media
Social media has proven to be a powerful tool for promoting businesses regardless of their size. The same can be true for your course. Create a course page on popular social networks. Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. Post engaging content that will attract the attention of your future audience.
It can be:
- short videos,
- quotes from the course,
- announcements of upcoming webinars or promotions, etc.
3. Collaboration with influencers
Collaborating with bloggers and other influencers can help bring additional, needed attention to your learning program. That is why you should try to look for personalities who have a large audience in your niche and are ready to recommend your course to their subscribers. This can be through promotional posts or joint projects.
4. Analysis and Improvement
Never forget to analyse the results of your marketing strategy. Otherwise, you can’t improve it. Use analytical tools and determine the effectiveness of each promotion channel. This way, you can adjust your actions in time to achieve the best results.
Closing Thoughts
Creating and selling online courses is a promising trend in modern society and, accordingly, in the contemporary educational process. Given the vast possibilities of the Internet and the growing demand for quality education, a successful course can become not only a source of profit but also a tool. A tool for development and influence. For that, we sincerely wish you success in this field and inspiration to create high-quality material.
Blogger and Educator by Passion | Senior Online Media & PR Strategist at ClickDo Ltd. | Contributor to many Education, Business & Lifestyle Blogs in the United Kingdom & Germany | Summer Course Student at the London School of Journalism and Course Instructor at the SeekaHost University.