Nine reasons why you should create an online course (and an easy way to get started today)
Toying with the idea of creating your first online course? Here are nine reasons why you should do it – and an easy way to get started today.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a rise in the number of people looking to launch their own online course. And this interest has snowballed in 2020.
With lockdown changing the way many people work – and effectively closing many businesses – people have been seeking new ways to monetise their skills and experience. online.
If you’re considering creating your first online course but are unsure or nervous, here are nine reasons why you should bit the bullet and get started now – plus an easy way to do it!
Nine reasons why you should create your own online course now
Before we show you how easy it can be to create – and sell – your own online course, here are nine reasons why you should get started now.
1) Your competitors are stealing your customers
Whether you are aware of it or not, there are people out there right now looking to learn skills you are a master at, or have problems you know how to solve. And if you don’t have an online offering to sell to them, you can bet one of your competitors will.
By not creating your own online course, your competitors are, in effect, stealing customers who would otherwise have been yours right from under your nose – and you’re letting them!
These customers could be people who would have bought your course, had you created one. Or they can be people who have bought from you in the past and who are now looking for something you don’t currently offer.
So are you willing to hand customers to your competitors on a silver platter? If not, then now is the time to get started on planning out your own online course.
2) You’re reading an asset you can sell again, and again, and again…
The great thing about online courses is that once you’ve finished it, you’ve got something you can sell many times over. You can enrol one student on it, or sell to one million people – other than any live support you may choose to offer, there’s no extra effort required on your part.
Your course will also very likely be evergreen, which means that you can simply roll it out and sell it over and over again in future if you wish. And the only extra time involvement it will require is any tweaks to keep the content fresh, if needed, and marketing and sales.
Some people run their courses in cohorts, opening and closing it at set times. Others keep their courses open for people when they need them. Either way, once you have created your course it’s yours to sell whenever you want or need.
3) It will help you to scale your business
Too many businesses’ earning potential is limited by what is called the ‘time for money trap’. This means that the financial exchange is your time for your customer’s money. And the only way you can earn MORE money is by exchanging MORE of your time.
But as we’ve already explained, once you have created your online course, it requires very little of your time. You can also sell the course you have created to large number of people, at no increase in your time investment.
So if you’re looking for a way to scale your business, and escape the time for money trap, creating and selling an online course could be the perfect solution.
4) It positions you as an authority in your sector or niche
Much like writing a book, creating and selling an online course helps to position you as an authority on your subject. It elevates you from practitioner to teacher, and indicates that you have enough expertise in your niche that you can teach a course on it.
This authority makes it easier for you to promote other areas of your business, and opens up doors as a thought leader, such as interviews, podcasts and guest expert opportunities.
5) It helps build your product ladder
Many successful businesses have what is known as a ‘product ladder’ – a range of offerings that cover most price points.
The point of a product ladder is to have a product for new customers who might just want to test the water with you, or only have a basic, non-urgent need right now.
But as these customers consume more of your products they become familiar with you and the quality of your offering. They trust that you deliver on your word, and like what you do.
As they do, they often rise up your ‘product ladder’, and invest more time and money in your bigger, more expensive offerings.
Shorter, lower cost and lower commitment online courses can make an excellent low rung on your product ladder. They’re less of a risk for people who don’t know you, and a convenient purchase for those who don’t want to spend more.
Longer, more expensive online programmes can also help to build out your product ladder, giving you higher rungs for people who want or need to invest more in getting more help or furthering their knowledge and skills.
6) It makes your time more valuable
Bu creating more rungs on your product ladder, you make your time more valuable, effectively increasing the cost of working 1:2:1 with you.
Because people can access your expertise and teaching online at lower investment levels, it means that you can protect your time and energy. You need to work directly with people less, and when you do, you can charge more as an expert in your field.
7) It can be a valuable upsell
Many companies make a significant amount of money on upsells – products or services they sell that complement other sales.
For example, if you buy a tent from a camping shop, they may ask if you’re interested in a sleeping bag, camping stove or cool too. That’s an upsell – they’re selling something additional or more expensive to to complement your initial purchase.
Another good example of upsells is being asked if you “want fries with that?” or want to “go large” when you buy a burger from a fast food outlet.
So, for example, if someone buys a violin from your music shop, you can offer them your online course ‘How to start playing the violin’, ‘How to play your first tune on a violin’ or ‘How to get to grade one on the violin in two months’.
To make the upsell more enticing you can offer a discount if they buy straight away or within a certain time frame.
8) It can also be a good downsell
Online courses can also make good downsells – an offer you make to someone hesitant or not ready to buy a bigger investment.
The most popular place for downsells is a car dealership. Sometimes dealers will show a customer the top of the range model to anchor the price. Then they’ll introduce them to a downsell, a lower price model that, in comparison looks a much better deal.
Downsells also happen online – when you start getting ads for a product you looked at but didn’t buy for a discounted price.
If you offer your services to people directly – maybe you’re a coach or offer a service like CV writing or fashion styling – an online course is a great downsell to people who enquire about your main offering but aren’t ready to commit or can’t afford it.
So rather than working with you 1:2:1 you can offer them a more affordable way to access your expertise with self-study.
If you like you can even provide a hybrid package (for an extra fee) whereby they use your online course to do the work yourself and then you review it to give them peace of mind they’ve got it right.
9) It gives you an important new income stream
Following the COVID-19 lockdown, one the most popular words we saw businesses use was ‘pivot’.
Overnight, freelancers and entrepreneurs lost income streams, if not their entire business revenue. And employees lost their jobs or were furloughed, ending any sense of job security.
In a post-pandemic world, we don’t believe that many businesses can afford to rely on one income source, especially if that income sources depends on physical interaction with customers.
Instead, diversification is key. By diversifying your sources of income you decrease the chance of your business being unable to trade if lockdown measures tighten again.
And online courses are an excellent, pandemic-proof income source. If you have skills or expertise that is valuable to other people, or you know how to solve problems they need to fix, you can sell to them via an online training course.
And if things do settle down, and the core of your business is back running full speed again, you’ve always got your online course to fall back on as extra income if you want it.
Why it’s much easier than you think to create your first online course
While many people and businesses quite like the idea of running their own online course, they’re put off by the idea that it’s too difficult for them.
How do you even come up with a course idea? How do you structure all your knowledge into a cohesive course? And how do you sell your course if you don’t have a large online following?
But it’s surprisingly easy to create your first online course with the right guidance.
Online learning platforms like Thinkific make it very simple to build an impressive-looking online course, even if you have few tech skills. (If you can use a Word document then you can use Thinkific’s back end.)
It doesn’t even have to cost you a fortune – Thinkific have a free option to help you get started.
Coming up with an idea, creating and structuring the perfect content and marketing and selling your online course are also much simpler than you realise when you have a proven plan to follow.
And that’s exactly what we can help you to do.
How we can help you to create your first online course – starting right now!
Over the past six years we’ve sold hundreds of places on courses, memberships and mastermind classes. We know what works, what doesn’t work, and how to plan, build and sell online products people love.
And we take you through our proven course creation process in Create and Sell Your First Course.
Our four-week programme takes you from course newbie to confident course creator – and even gives you a 14-day marketing template to sell your new course. Here’s what you’ll cover:
- In module one – we show you how to come up with an idea for a course people will love (and buy!) and test and name it.
- In module two – we show you how to structure your course and the lessons within it, making it REALLY easy to build, even if you’re a complete beginner.
- In module three – we show you how to create and build your online course using easy, free technology – and even show you exactly how to use it.
- In module four – we show you how to sell your brilliant new course. We give you our 14-day marketing plan to make it wonderfully simple.
- In our bonus module – we guide you through setting up and writing Facebook ads to sell your course if you wish to run them (our sales campaign works without them).
“The best investment I’ve made in my business to date”
We first ran this course earlier this year, and had an amazing response from the first cohort. Here’s just some of the feedback we received:
- “This course is by far the best investment I’ve made in my business to date.” Frances Cushway
- “Create and Sell Your First Course offers exceptional value.” Rachel Bunger
- “Hannah has made the whole end-to-end process for creating and selling a course achievable and uncomplicated.” Caroline Would
- “The amount of detail is perfect – you learn everything you need without feeling overwhelmed.” Laura Harmsworth
- “Hannah is excellent at just cutting through the noise and finding you a solution straight away.” Susie Kwok
- “This course literally holds you by the hand through all the steps you need to take.” Aileen Edgar
You could make your investment back in your first cohort
We’ve also heard from students who made their investment back in their first cohort.
Fashion Stylist Sally Smy made her investment in the programme back more than 10x over in the very first launch of her course.
And while she didn’t build her course using our programme, the sales advice we gave Dr Kayleigh Fawcett Williams enabled her to turn around her struggling course, and earn over £10,600 in a single launch:
The advice we have Kayleigh is identical to the sales and marketing lessons and tools you get inside Create and Sell Your First Course.
Start creating your first course today
So if you’re ready to stay one step ahead of your competitors and earn money from your own online course, come and join us right now inside Create And Sell Your First Course.
Just think: in four weeks’ time you too could be selling your first course and, like Caroline Would, have he joy of selling places on it in your sleep!
Click here to learn more about the course and get started on coming up with your course idea today.
