Online courses help others grow and progress in their chosen areas of expertise. But, to create truly engaging, transformational and profitable online courses, it’s important that online course creators realise that they too have a little professional development to do if they want to stay on top of their game.
The online learning industry is now a billion-dollar industry worldwide and according to Forbes magazine, it’s actually set to double over the coming years. And with Covid-19 sending most of the world’s workforce online, that looks set to increase even further.
This means that if you’re not tapping into this market, you are missing out not only on potentially great passive income, a fantastic opportunity to expose your business and your credibility to your market but also on the opportunity to make a positive impact to those you reach.
Creating online courses is by far the most effective way of marketing your business and to get your audience to pay you and to thank you for it in the process.
As a specialist curriculum developer (aka course creator), my clients often come to me asking, “Hey, we want to create profitable courses. How do you do it?”
The people asking this question are the people who have realised that sharing their knowledge and expertise is one of the most profitable forms of marketing, authority building and lead generating activity a business can do right now.
What if I’m not a natural ‘educator’?
It’s important to know that you don’t have to be a training provider or have training as your primary products and services to really benefit from the online learning marketplace.
It doesn’t matter whether you sell lawnmowers, consulting services or build websites for a living—so long as you have some expertise in your own area, you can grow your business profitably using the platform of education.
But, before you start teaching others what you know, first you may have a little learning to do yourself.
Although you are an expert in your own field of expertise, remember that curriculum design is a qualified profession in it’s own right, and therefore you should make sure that you have taken the time to learn the fundamentals before you dive in and waste your precious time making course creation mistakes.
Here are 18 critical things you need to add to your own professional development list and learn before you start creating your online course:
- How to choose the right online learning platform—the differences between the major platforms, their various pro’s and con’s and what the essential features are of a good online course platform.
- The principles of ‘Edupreneurship‘ and how and why educating your market has many benefits to your business, exposure, authority positioning, industry credibility, reputation, industry contribution and your income.
- What different types of information and educational products you can create.
- How to determine if your course idea will be profitable.
- The fundamental principles of adult learning so that you can ensure your course is engaging and transformational for the adult learner.
- How to ensure your course meets different learning styles, modes and preferences so that everyone enjoys your course.
- What your online or offline course sales funnel will look like,
- How to package your educational products and services from a pricing point of view, to offer greater value and make more sales by having a wider range of options.
- How to price your courses.
- How to design courses that transform your students’ lives.
- What the essential pre-assessment and research steps are before you start developing your course.
- Where and how to conduct your market research to ensure you build the perfect course.
- How to structure, organise and lay out your course framework.
- How to create compelling and magnetic learning outcomes that reflect the true value of your course and attract all your perfect students.
- The 8 steps for creating and ordering the perfect course content that will have the greatest positive impact on your students’ learning experience.
- What equipment, filming gear and editing software you need to create professional looking online courses yourself.
- Teaching, training and presentation delivery skills
- How to market, promote and sell your online courses
Yep, it’s a lot to take in! As I said, it really is a profession in its own right, so if you’re going to learn it, make sure you are doing so from a qualified professional, and not some internet marketer who is jumping on the bandwagon of the booming learning industry.
You wouldn’t get your teeth done by an unqualified dentist, so don’t get your course creation education from an unqualified curriculum developer.
