Creating an online course needn't be complicated. Here is a simple 3 step process that you can use to create an online course your customers will love.
Step 1: Do Your Audience Research
The first thing you need to do is figure out what your audience really wants. A good way to do this is to find out what they’re already buying. You can check:
- Udemy.com to see what sort of video courses they’re already buying.
- Take a look at marketplaces like Amazon and ClickBank to see what sort of infoproducts are selling well
- Websites in your niche to see what they’re selling.
- Facebook ads will give you an idea what you are being targeted for. What catches your eye? What has a lot of likes and comments?
Look for bestsellers and multiple vendors selling similar topics – these are both signs that a particular topic is “hot” for your audience right now.
Select a topic that looks like it will sell well, and then…
Step 2: Decide What to Include
Now, you need to decide what to include in your course and start creating your outline. To do this, take two steps:
- Think up all the sub-topics, steps, tips, examples, mistakes, etc. you’d like to include in your course.
- Find out what similar infoproducts. Use this information for inspiration – do NOT copy.
NOTE: While you may choose a topic that others have done before, and you may even look to similar products for inspiration, your goal is to create something fresh. This means:
- Sharing novel tips.
- Sharing unique information such as case studies, personal stories and personal examples.
- Sharing information in a new way, such as turning a step-by-step formula into an acronym/formula. (E.G., “AIDA” (attention, interest, desire, action) is an acronym that describes a copywriting formula – you can create your own acronym-based formula around a step by step process.)
Next step…
Step 3: Develop Your Course
Once you know what all information you want to include, then organize it into a step-by-step format. If you’re delivering the course in parts, then create equal-sized modules. (E.G., you might create a 12-module course and deliver one lesson/module per week for three months.)
Keep these tips in mind:
- Use a light, conversational tone. Lectures are boring. Conversational tones will keep the attention of your student.
- Add relevant stories to captivate students attention. For example, what problems did you have when you first started with this? What mistakes did you make? How did you feel? What you did to make a change
- Add value to your course. Offer worksheets, checklists, templates, swipes, planners and cheat sheets to help people take action on what they just learned.
- Proof and polish. If you have errors in your course, people will judge the information as a whole to be low-quality. If needed, hire someone to proof and fact-check your course.
- Add additional offers. Promote related products and services inside your course so that your students know that you're looking to help them achieve their goals.
Resources for Online Courses
- Ready-Made Online course kits – all the hard work is done for you. Just add your brand, personality and stories and you're good to go
- Launching and Marketing Your Online Course
- A great online course platform (drag and drop- easy!)
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