Everybody has a skill that they are an expert in, something valuable that is worth sharing. Plus, out of the eight billion people on earth, many people would like to learn a new skill. Be it the looming threat of AI stealing jobs, the need to get better at your current job, to seek promotions, or to just learn a new skill. And, some people would be willing to pay you for sharing your knowledge.
With the rise of online learning technology methods, it has become ever so easy to launch your very own online course platform and make money management on the side, and for a lot of people, that side income has even become the main business. Case in point, Lisa Irby. She made her first dollar online in ‘98 and has been hooked to online course selling since then. Her most selling course: How to print T-shirts and sell online! Has already made hundreds of thousands in revenue.
Another great example: is a completely outdoor activity. However, now you can even learn Cycling from the comfort of your home and become an instructor too! Cycling
And it can be done!
Almost every online course business starts as a side project. Very few people, almost none, actually leave their day jobs to pursue the creation of an online course full-fledged. This means that even you can do this by devoting a few hours to the site every day and slowly but steadily building your empire.
The New York Times bestseller — Four Hour work week by Tim Ferriss discusses just that. He talks about the many aspects of building a side business, irrespective of location or time. It’s a must-read if you have been itching to learn how to create a side business to help you rake in the moolah.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, truly it is…
While not every online business course will be a million-dollar course, it can get you something to start with. Still, slowly and steadily, with the help of the proper sales and marketing strategies, you can begin building an income that is not just complementary to your main income, it may become your primary income source. The trick is to know what to sell.
The key is finding the right audience and high-value online course creation content that has actionable instructional material for the audience. Getting the right content creation is critical. But getting the Course topic right is even more critical.
Choosing the right niche
While there may not be a doubt in your expertise on a particular topic, if you are still looking for the audience for it, then there is no point in creating the course. While we can’t think of any topic wherein an online course is impossible, the question is how much it will sell. Would it be in tens, hundreds, or thousands? But don’t give up on any idea so quickly. Any online course creator can sell their online course. The question is how much and at what price?
Consider this diagram:
Do you see where the three circles overlap, this is the sweet spot where the success of your online course lies. And that’s what you aim for when selecting which of your ideas is the most profitable course idea.
Here are a few tips that can help you narrow down your search:
Here are a few tips that can help you narrow down your search:
A quick Google search Searching is the easiest way to validate the topic of your course.
Take a look at the Google search results for cycling online courses. You have video results, a successful online course topic, and hundreds of possible links like that.
Youtube:
Many people in the early days launched online courses like web series. You learn something new today; wait a week for the next lesson. This is one great way of checking if your course type is being viewed online and by how much. It gives you an immediate sense of the popularity of content marketing. Due to YouTube’s 1.5 billion users, initial online courses helped people make much money from views, likes, and Ads. However, over time this revenue stream has reduced quite a bit and needs to give the returns it used to. Plus, you can’t charge the viewer per view or for your course. But as we said earlier, it’s an excellent tool for sizing up your audience.
Recommended Article:- How To Increase Website Traffic And Course Sales With YouTube Videos?
Keyword Planner:
Keyword Planner is another great tool for narrowing search patterns. After all, you should know how many people are looking for a search term related to your online course. This gives you a fair idea of your audience size. You could also narrow the search based on demographics, should the course be specific to age or location, etc. And the best part is: that Google Planner is a free tool.
Quora, Reddit:
Read into what the people in your audience are saying. Reddit & Quora are great ways to find out, so you could check for questions about your topic and see what people say. It’s a great feeding ground for deciding on content for the course and even the strategies of Quora/Reddit:
Recommended Read:- How to use Quora to sell online courses Faster?
Social media:
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are great places to check the buzz the topic creates. Enough businesses, ads, messages, tweets, or blog posts are being shared on social media, which can give you a fair sense of popularity. Otherwise, you could create a poll on FB and ask people what courses they would be willing to pay for. That gives you a direct response to your choices and helps you decide better.
- Google Trends/BuzzSumo: These help you target the most trending topics specific to your niche. You can learn what’s going viral and the clues these give you about what your target audience is interested in.
After you find out what’s trending, you can focus on a specific niche. For example, if your topic is “personality development”, you will find many courses and books out there on this topic. The key is to keep the niche very specific. Only then will you be able to offer unique content that addresses what the audience wants to learn directly now; when you combine the particular niche with the target audience, that’s when you have the perfect idea for a successful course.
Always remember launching a profitable online course topic takes a lot more than expertise. If there’s a demand for your expertise that was previously ignored, you’ll have a lot of customers interested in buying from you. Additionally, know that competition is great for you! It will show you what worked and did not work for others which you can avoid yourself.
On the flip side, the lack of any competition is a sign that there is no audience for it or that it is not big enough worth the effort. At that point, you need to look at the cost of time and effort, pricing of the course, and overall profitability of the course based on the small audience size. Some people happily sell a niche course for $200 to 10 students a year.
That’s a $2,000 per year side income. Some creators price their courses at $19.99 per student, hoping they hit thousands of learners with the pricing. So it all depends on what and how much you want to achieve.
This article will give you enough pointers to look at how to finalize the topic of your choice to create an online course. Over the next few weeks, we shall share various aspects of selling online courses
That’s a $2,000 per year side income. Some creators price their courses at $19.99 per student, hoping they hit thousands of learners with the pricing. So it all depends on what and how much you want to achieve.
We hope this article will give you enough pointers to look at how to finalise the topic of your choice to create an online course. Over the next few weeks, we shall share with you various aspects of selling online courses that will help you create, launch, and sell your online courses to thousands of learners out there.
