Dare I presume and say you want to sell online courses but have no idea how to do it.
Given there is no shortage of information out there, and digging through it all can be overwhelming, to say the least. We have compiled a dummy-proof guide on how to start selling online courses in less than an hour, let us break it down in steps.
Step 1: Ideation
Before starting on developing a website, we recommend you ask yourself these questions. What’s the scope of the course you are offering? Is it for beginners or advanced learners? Will your website contain courses from other instructors? What makes your idea for this course so unique?
After having a well-defined course concept, its time to test it against the market and see whether anyone else is doing something similar.
Step 2: Market Research
Someone out there has probably had a similar thought or launched a similar course. No matter how prototypical your course is. Which is a good sign. Because now you can learn from your competition.
You can avoid things which don’t work well for them. Include modules or content which they haven’t thought of yet.
Remember competition indicates that there is a market for that kind of course. If your course is unlike any other, it means you are the first in the market or that there is no demand for this type of course.
Step 3: Research your Target Audience
Important to remember at this point is that creating a tailored message for a specific audience is more successful than a “one size fits all” course. What we mean is zeroing in on your audience, helps you in attracting your ideal learner.
You are unlikely to entice adult learners on weekday afternoons by offering singing lessons, but it might be just perfect for kids getting out of school.
Also Read: Best WooCommerce Apps For Your Online Store
Step 4: Essentials for Awesome online learning websites
Before building your website it is important to note down what you want your website to do.
Do you want to add different types of quizzes, custom message board, question banks? Do you want to drip-feed your lesson content according to a set schedule?
Have course, lesson, and quiz based prerequisites? A private or public course specific forum? A grading system and course completion rewards and points?
Award certificates on course completion or course activities?
After analyzing the best online course selling websites. We made a list of features that every online learning websites should have. Here it goes:
- It should have your very own branding.
- Different types of quizzes, quiz timer, performance-based custom messages.
- Drip feed content according to a schedule.
- Prerequisites for course, lesson, and quiz.
- Private or public course specific forums.
- A grading system. (both automatic and manual)
- Points, Certificates & Badges on the course or lesson completion.
Step 5: Setting up a Website for your course.
Fortunately, setting up a website on a platform such as WordPress is quick and efficient, and given the wide range of plugins available to course creators, doing so will save you a lot of headaches down the road.
There is a wide range of themes—both free and premium—available for WordPress sites. You can start with one of these, then upgrade to a custom site once your course becomes profitable
While you might think that this step will be the most time-consuming. We are here to tell you that all it takes is a few clicks to set up a live site demo of LearnMate LearnDash Theme and you are ready to go.
This theme has integrated support of LMS and Social network plugins. Bringing all the above-mentioned features and more are at your disposal.
Step 6: Begin your Marketing
Start marketing your course from the get-go. Make a blog, start a podcast, a video series- whatever it takes to get the word out there.
Growing interest takes time, so better begin growing your audience now, rather than putting all the hard work into launching the course only to have it go nowhere for months.
Also Read: Grow Your Business With Lead Generation Platforms
Step 7: Create Content and Set a price
This is the final and probably the only step which consumes an ample amount of time. You now have to create a course outline, assemble material, shoot videos, create quizzes, and a whole slew of other items, which should be creative and engaging.
We recommend you to take it slow. Don’t rush in with a lot of material. Remember scalability can come with time but quality should be there from the get-go.
Now all that’s left for you to do is putting a price tag. Your market and audience research will pay off here as well. Remember to price your course dynamically and competitively against the other market players. Needless to say, What pays off well is your content. Don’t forget to market it either.
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