How to Create an Online Course?
Online education has been an inspiration for many individuals and is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the educational industry. Online courses help people gain knowledge and skills in different fields, with their wide range of topics, instructors, and other learning options.
With this meteoric rise, educational institutions worldwide have acknowledged the importance of online courses. It is no longer the sole property of private institutions or budding entrepreneurs. Even top-ranking universities such as Harvard and Oxford have come forward to offer online studies in various popular fields. The concept is taking its hold on thought leaders and decision-makers within the various elite faculties.
9 Steps to Create a Successful Online Course
You’re about to create a one-time offer that can help you make millions of dollars. If this sounds too good to be true, just bear with me for a few minutes, and I’ll tell you why I’m so confident in this statement. What if creating an online course is easier than you think? Why is the information age the best time to launch an online course? How can creating your own online course help you live a life of adventure and travel? And finally, how do you get started creating your online Course? I’ve got all the answers!
- Pick the Niche that Sells
Are you struggling to start your very own online Course? If you have no idea where to start, start by choosing the right niche. Picking a niche is extremely important, especially when you are making an online course that you can profit from. By choosing the right niche, you can easily create an online course that is informative and useful at the same time.
Before you start creating courses, it is better to think about which niche suits best for your skills. Certain niches will be too complicated for you, and a good idea might be to have some experience and expertise in that area. It will help a lot when creating your Course because you will be able to target more people with your content rather than choose the unique niches like the “select picker” plugin.
The list of online course topics is endless; However, here are some examples of hot selling online courses.
- Computers and Technology
- Microsoft excel
- Business & Entrepreneurship
- Arts & Crafts
- Health
- Fitness
- Education
- Writing and Content Creation
- Personal Development
- Create Compelling and Strong Learning Outcomes
You need to create learning outcomes when you develop eLearning. Learning objectives give the participants a specific and measurable skill or knowledge to learn and master.
When planning, designing and developing an online course or program, it’s important to set out clear learning outcomes. Why? Because in order to successfully achieve your learning outcomes, you need a strategic approach that incorporates a variety of learning theories and design principles.
“The best way to design and develop an effective course is to learn outcomes and work backward rather than starting with a predetermined scope.”
Learning outcomes provide a list of skills and knowledge that the student or learner will be able to accomplish at the end of each module. What skills will they be able to demonstrate? And What new knowledge will they have obtained?. So, when planning your Course, start with the intended learning outcome instead of giving specific instructions.
- Understand your Audience
Understanding your audience is the first step in creating great content for your online Course. You need to know who you are writing for so that you can put what you want them to learn directly into your Course.
If you’re thinking about creating an online course, the most important decision you’ll make is finding your target audience. You want to teach your audience something, but you don’t know if they will connect with it. You may have a powerful message that could positively impact the world but don’t know if your intended audience will receive it. Maybe you’re just looking to start a business for fun and profit.
- Create / Brainstorm Your Course Content
If you are considering creating an online course, it is important to incorporate lessons that are engaging and effective. The best way to accomplish this balance is to create stories and examples that capture your reader’s attention and foster interest in the course material. Good content needs to provoke thought and inspire action, and great content also needs to provoke change.
- Determine your Course Goals
You should establish your main online course objectives at the beginning of an online teaching career. A well-established goal is a solid pillar that will improve and condition an online teaching career in many aspects.
- Develop Course Outline
The course outline is a list of topics to be included and discussed in a particular course. It includes subtopics and learning objectives of individual subjects that are to be taught to students in the course curriculum
- Plan your content type
Planning is essential when you’re putting together content for an online course, but it’s also always a good idea to have a consistent outline of your goals as well.
- Determine how you will evaluate student learning
Course assignments are meant for evaluation; courses and certification exam papers are intended to test students’ knowledge and allow them to prove their abilities to universities or any other educational institutions.
- Find the Right Medium For your Course Material
Are you creating an online course and have no idea which medium to choose? You’re not alone! When I was first starting out, I had the same problem. This can be a very daunting task. There are tons of options out there. Even if you narrow it down to one channel, like Udemy, you’ll still be left with a giant list of mediums within the channel. Many individuals are using different mediums ranging from word processing documents to downloadable PDFs, emails, and interactive software.
Below are perfect options for your online course material, such as,
- You can host a live webinars
- Record a podcast
- Create a video or image tutorial
- You can share text-based content with your audience
- Choose the Right Online Course Platform
When you’re starting out as an online course creator, it’s important to ensure that you get the best online course platform for your needs. For example – which online course platform offers built-in video hosting capabilities? Which one has a modern user interface with a responsive design? What are the differences between those platforms?.
There are many online course platforms, but you have to choose the one which is best for your needs and requirements. The top recommendations are ;
- Thinkific: Best Overall Online Course Platform
- Learnworlds: Best for Interactive Learning
- Teachable: Best for Beginners
- Kajabi: Best for High-End Information Businesses
- Set the Best Price
What does your Course really worth? It’s a common dilemma to set the best price for your online Course. There are two solutions to help you with this: 1) Set the price manually per Course, and 2) Automatically maximize revenue for your Course. Pricing is very important in this line of work, so it’s important to make sure you get it right.
By keeping your course prices competitive, you will attract students who are interested in the value and benefit it offers them. Similarly, a high pricing strategy might seem counterintuitive. An economical price level can lead to higher revenue, more students, and more significant revenue per customer over time.
Knowing how to price your online course is just as important as knowing how to build it. If you set the price too high for your ideal customer (which is often the case), then they will not buy it. The cost of an online course might vary greatly, but $99 is a fair starting point. On the other hand, increasing your rates may result in a comparable rise in involvement.
- Market Your Online Course
You should market your online Course before you launch it in order to get yourself and it in front of as many potential customers as possible. The more customers you reach out to, the better chance you can make sales.
How to market your Course?
- Email- Marketing
The email marketing campaign is considered one of the best ways to market your online Course. It is used more as it has been proven as an inexpensive and effective way of reaching a vast majority of people.
- Paid-adds
Paid adds help in marketing your online Course. Adds advertise your Online Courses and attract new students who might be interested in your skills and course content.
- Blog posts
Blog posting helps in marketing your online Course. You can post a blog about your online Course, link back to it, and target your primary keyword. You try to lead the customers to the sales page of your Online Course.
- Webinar
Webinars are a great tool to market your online Course and teach people what they will learn, and give a behind-the-scenes view of your company.
- Collaborating with Influencers
Influencer marketing is a powerful promotional tool. Working with influencers in your niche gives you access to a large number of engaged followers who trust these influencers’ opinions.
- Gather Feedback
Gathering feedback is one of the best ways to improve your online Course. It’s an easy way to check if you are providing what your learners want. Seeing as you do want them to gain the most from your Course, then it makes sense to take some time to gather their feedback.
Good interaction with students is an important pillar for success in an online course. It will help them improve their skills, progress faster, and enjoy being in the Course.
