How to Make Money Selling Online Courses

The center of all progress is technology. And one among the most economically booming industries is education. The concoction of these two would be the winning recipe. It’s never too late or too early to start one’s own business. In fact with the advancement of technology in these present times you are empowered to build any kind of business through the internet. The main aim of people getting into business is to make good monetary gains. And this article basically deals with various methods of how to sell online courses.

The technology has made the whole world stay connected. Even though the people might be at the opposite sides on the globe they are able to get live feeds of what’s happening where. And technology is what is going to help us spread our business step by step.

To get the right visibility and attract the right audience you will need to earn yourself good ranking on the search engine result page (SERP). Your main objective should be-

a. Increase awareness of your brand
b. Generating quality leads
c. Increasing customer value

For selling your courses you need to have solid marketing strategies. Here are a few popular methods that the majority of the people use to promote their businesses.

a. Social media marketing- Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc.
b. Media advertising- paid ads, product listing and display listing etc.
c. Influencer marketing
d. Content marketing- emails, blogs, newsletter etc.
e. SEO Optimization

So, this is how you basically market your business across any platform that you might choose to use for selling your online courses.

There are basically three platforms through which you can sell your online courses.

1. Developing your own online platform:

One of the best ways to own your business and grow it. It gives you complete freedom to design, plan and execute your online business. However, this is a lot of responsibility. You are not only responsible to build a really efficient online education platform, but from the very beginning of laying out the business plans and selecting the revenue models. However, due to the consistent advancement in the technology field, though being the owner of your own online business you need not have to worry much about the technical aspects of it. All you need to know is how you need to build your virtual platform and what are the procedures in doing so.

a. Knowing your customers and competitors
b. Drafting a business plan and choosing a revenue model
c. Developing an online platform and securing it
d. Collate an effective course curriculum
e. Promoting your online platform

Developing the platform is not all. You are also responsible for scheduling classes, drafting course work and materials, maintaining the course library, keeping track of the attendance, student’s assessment and tracking their progress, and the list goes on. Hence integrating an effective course management system (CMS) plays a very crucial role here as they are designed and developed in such a way that they take care of all the above processes. And the best way to monetize your E-business is by choosing the right revenue model. Here are the most popularly used revenue models that you can consider for your virtual platform as well.

a. Commission model
b. Subscription model
c. Membership model
d. You can also charge on one-on-one basis
e. Charges for provision of course materials and certification in the chosen field
And many more.

2. Through an already established platform:

This is one of the best ways to get your business started. For your business to take off, you need to gain the trust of the audience and grow a sizable customer base. Given the present world, people do not trust a new online platform unless they are backed by a well-known brand or have a successful history attached to the brand name itself. By enrolling into another platform proves to be more advantageous for you than being on your own. This is why-

a. A ready-to-connect user base
b. Time and cost saving
c. Credibility
d. 24*7 technical support
e. Security and brand protection
f. A community to rely on
And others.

Launching yourself through another online platform will also teach you-
a. How to handle customer and their queries
b. How the operation works
c. How revenue is generated etc.

3. Youtube:

As per Statista, “The online video platform’s audience will amount to 210 million viewers in 2022, up from 192 million in 2018”. You can clearly see the influence that YouTube can have over its audience. The customer base is increasing like wildfire. Given the global reach it has this should be one of your pivotal online platforms to sell your virtual courses. No other video streaming application is not even close to you tube’s popularity.

Being like a google version of exclusive video streaming SEO plays a very important role on this platform as well. So in order for you to be seen on YouTube you need to keep the below pointers in mind-

a. SEO rich title
b. Keyword-rich description
c. Attractive thumbnail
d. Be consistent in uploading your videos

There are over 37 million YouTube channels out there with billions of users and hundreds of hours of videos getting uploaded every minute. And hence in order to be recognized amongst this humongous crowd, you need to be really mindful of the decisions you make and steps you take. Here are a few ways in which you can sell your online courses on YouTube-

a. By advertising
b. Getting sponsorships
c. Channel memberships
d. Selling products etc.

Now that you are aware of the platforms through which you can sell your online course, here are a few tips that will help you in effective sales-

1. Your chosen content should be on demand and must be drafted efficiently
2. Develop an effective sales funnel
3. Build a simple yet attractive conversion-driven sales page
4. Build a social footprint
5. Start active blogging pertaining to your field
6. Drive webinars and participate in speaking events
7. Attract your audience through offers and discounts etc.

Hope your doubts and questions were cleared. This is just a brief regarding the options and processes you have that needs good planning and execution in order to sell your course virtually with a profitable margin.

If you have any other queries or need assistance in sales and marketing, do feel free to reach out to us.