How To Launch Your Own Online Course

Launching an online course is a great way to boost your business, attract raving fans, and provide you with additional revenue. If you are an entrepreneur who is thinking of creating an online course but is hesitant to do so because there seems to be too much of this already, think again!

While it is true that there are thousands of online courses out there, the number of online learners are also growing immensely every year. So if you are planning to create an online course to share your skills, now is the right time to get started. Here are some pointers on how you can effectively launch your online course so you stand out from other similar options:

Identify Your Target Audience

Know whom you want to be teaching to. If you want to attract learners into purchasing your online course, you’ll have to decide which of the millions of people looking for an online course you want to target and convince to sign up. Ask yourself what type of students you want to cater to – beginners or advanced students? Will your course be open only to those with prior exposure to the subject matter or can anybody start? Being clear with your target audience gives you a better idea on what you would want to teach and how to effectively develop your course.

Develop a Distinct Topic

Choosing a topic is not just about deciding which skills you want to teach. If you want people to start signing up and recommending your online course, make sure that aside from choosing skills or information to teach, you also identify a strong sense of purpose for your learners, the creative process that will be involved in the course, and the finished product that will leave your learners equipped with what they need for their craft or profession.

Start Designing

Once you have the topic sorted out, it’s time to start designing your online course. Decide how long the course will run, what content will be shared to your students, what activities will be required of your students, and how often you will be updating your course content. At this point, you will want to outline weekly activities for the course, specifying what you want your students to be accomplishing per week.

Keep It Simple

It’s your first online course, so take it easy. You don’t want to create a highly sophisticated course right away. Instead, keep your online course simple so you don’t get too overwhelmed. While there should be a mix of media to engage different types of learners, you don’t have to invest too much on technology for these. For example, Vimeo Basic allows you to embed videos on your course site for free. For basic communications, you can use Mailchimp’s free mailing software. And of course, don’t forget that social media channels, such as Facebook is also another great way to post announcements and chat with your learners for free.

Launch Your Course

Now that you have the course outline and the basic technologies figured out, you can open your course for registration, even if you have not yet completed your content. This will help ensure that you have students lined up for the course. All you need is something as simple as a PayPal ‘Buy Now’ button on your site, a start and end date, and highlights of the course. A good time would be one to three months before the course starts. This gives interested students enough time to save up for the course.

Create the Course Content

Now that you have launched your first online course, you now need to start creating the content. Keep in mind that certain content might need more time than others, such as interviews or video demos) so you might want to make sure that these are done in advance. Don’t forget to share your passion in the content. Remember – people have signed up for your online course because they believe in you and they want to learn from you. So put a lot of yourself into the content!

With these helpful tips, you will be ready to create amazing online courses that many students will be raving about. Have a great time teaching and sharing your skills!

Michelle Rubio has been writing for SMEs across the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK for the last five years. She is a highly-experienced blogger and SEO copywriter, writing business blogs for various industries such as marketing, law, health and wellness, beauty, and education, particularly on creating online courses such as those offered by CourseMinded.com.

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