10 Steps To Creating a Successful Online Course

Napoleon

Aug 5, 2024 — 20 min read

Over the years, the internet has become a resource for anyone looking to find information and learn new skills globally. As a result, traditional education methods are slowly losing relevance as technology replaces them in this technology-driven world.

With more people looking for quality content online, you can package your knowledge and share it with those who need it. One way to meet this rising demand for readers is through E-learning. It is great to teach people a new skill by writing books online and earning revenue; that’s how e-learning becomes effective.

You can write and sell an online course on different topics, impart knowledge to someone in need, and smile at the bank. Besides, you can also create an online course as an expert and be an authority in your field. By selling books online, you position yourself as an authority in your field and feed knowledge to like-minded individuals to expand your reach.

Online courses offer vast opportunities for people to learn and get better in different fields from anywhere in the world. The e-learning market is growing and is still expected to grow as people get targeted solutions to customers online.

If you want to share knowledge online and need help with how to go about it, Foundeck in this guide will take you through 10 steps to creating a successful online course and selling it to a targeted audience.

Steps to Create a Successful Online Course

With the right approach to writing an online course, you can provide people with the information or answers they seek and make money online. For instance, if you’re an entrepreneur, you can help people understand how to invest by sharing knowledge with people who need it and earn a passive income. We’ll walk you through 10 steps to guide you in creating a successful online course.

What is an online course? An online course is an organized learning program offered to clients online. It consists of pre-recorded or live lectures that discuss specific topics, assignments, and assessments. Online courses are flexible, convenient, and accessible to anyone willing to learn at their pace. Anyone willing to learn online only needs a laptop and stable internet to access an online course from anywhere, anytime.

1. Choose a Topic

The truth is the topic you choose to cover in your online course is what determines how successful it will be. Regardless of how good the course is, there will be no progress if your audience isn’t interested. WHY? Your well-written topic remains as such if no one is willing to pay for it. However, if you align your online course with customer needs, you’ll sell uncountable copies.

You can reach your target audience by identifying a problem that needs a solution or adds value to your customers. You can use the data from your social media accounts, blog, and website analytics to determine the ideal topic that resonates with your audience.

It’s essential to understand what you can offer and to whom to create a successful online course. Here is an understanding of what you can offer by considering your:

Target audience
Experience
Passion, and
Skills
Market demand

When choosing a topic for your online course, settle for something you’re passionate about and would be of interest to your target audience. Let’s discuss each of these factors:

1a) Passion

Although the topic you choose shouldn’t be something you’re head over heels about, ensure you’re passionate about it. What do we mean by PASSIONATE? You need to select a topic you love to think about, talk about, or read about for a long time without getting tired.

If you’re passionate about your online course topic, creating content on the same will be a walk in the park. You’ll be able to write captivating content that inspires your readers because it’s authentic and relatable.

As a result, your customers will keep coming back and even referring others to purchase it. Writing about something you’re not passionate about means you may get tired before delivering the message, and in the end, no one will be interested in your online course.

1b) Skills

Besides your passion for a topic, you should also have the skills to help others learn and understand the subject. In other words, the topic you’re covering should be something you’ve learned to do, and you’re confident you can teach someone else, and they’ll benefit from doing it. By teaching others about something you’ve tried and gotten results for, you can help solve problems, become an authority in the field, and also become a leader, not to mention earn an income.

1c) experience

You perfect a craft through experience or by doing something repeatedly. A unique experience will summarize your understanding of a topic and help you create a successful online course. Your experience can be from:

Volunteering
Education
Work
Hobby
Workshops
Personal life

An experience that shaped you personally or professionally can be worth sharing with others. Find a unique perspective from these experiences and capitalize on the lesson in your online course to stand out.

1d) Target Audience

Do you have any idea who you’re creating the online course for?

When creating your online course, who comes to mind? That person you’re focussed on, or the person you’re making the course for, is your target audience.

So, how do you determine your target audience? Who will benefit from your course? Some pointers to assist you in finding your target audience include:

Demographic group - Who will benefit from your skills and experience?
Mentality - What is your ideal target thinking about, what do they value, and what is their attitude?
What problem are you solving? - Are you aware of your audience's needs? The challenges and frustrations they’re facing.
What don’t they know? Are you introducing something new or want to add value to what they know or need help?
Will your online course help them solve a problem or answer their questions?

People purchase online courses because they need help understanding something or learning a new skill to help them get to the next level. With a target audience in mind, you can design an online course that meets their needs.

1e) Market Demand

While your Experience, Passion, and skills are essential to creating your online course, what is the market demand for it? You need to create a course with high market demand to sell and succeed. So, how do you know your course is in high market demand?

Choose a topic from a growing industry instead of an almost done or shrinking industry.
A high search volume on search engines is an indicator that your topic is worth some salt.
Competitors have developed similar courses.
The skill you’re teaching in the course is in high demand.
You’re writing to an audience that no one takes much notice of, thus filling a market gap.

Although the list above isn’t exhaustive, it also doesn’t have to cover every item, but it must have some level of credibility, expertise, and industry insight. Combining these aspects will significantly impact your online course, making it unique and valuable to prospective students.

2. Conduct a Market Research

Conducting market research is crucial to help you understand your target audience before you get into content creation. User market research will reveal the following as you begin to create an online course:

Think as a beginner. As an expert in a certain field, it’s possible to succumb to the curse of knowledge or cognitive bias. These two aspects assume you deal with people at your knowledge level or background. However, when you think like a novice, you know what they want to hear and tailor the course to suit them.
Understand customer pain points to know the problems your target audience seeks to find answers or solutions to. Therefore, your course should address these problems and support your target audience in gaining knowledge they haven’t seen elsewhere. The course should also help potential customers learn something new or acquire the knowledge they’ve struggled to find elsewhere, even from other available alternatives.
Know what your student intends to achieve. Understanding what your students intend to achieve from your course will help you create comprehensive content. Your course must transform your reader upon completion. How do you know this? Talk to prospective students to understand their expectations, and then you can tailor the course to meet those expectations.
Know how to sell the course. Are you familiar with the saying, “selling to everyone is akin to selling to no one?” Don’t allow yourself to fall in this category. Build a customer profile to ensure your course speaks directly to a deserving group of people in content and marketing strategies. Learning these tactics will help you create precise messages for the ideal customer.

2a) Defining Your Ideal Customer

Go beyond casual conversations and assumptions to define your ideal customer. So, how do you describe your perfect customer? Here’s how to carry out a user research:

Google Trends. Search for Google Trends to see how your topic behaves; is the interest increasing or decreasing? Filter your search by country and timeframe.
Browse Reddit and Quora. Reddit is rich with questions relevant to subreddits; you can browse threads to help with your content. As for Quora, you ask questions related to your topic and read through all the answers.
Scavenge social media. Follow famous people in your industry on social platforms like Instagram, IG, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Pay attention to the conversations related to your course topic and take notes where necessary.
Set up phone interviews. Try to get in touch with prospective customers and ask questions on the subject topic. Work with them at their convenience to get the information you seek in short interviews. You can incentivize interviewees by offering the course free in exchange for their time and insight or half-price once the course is out.

3. Outline a Clear Course Format

What makes an online course successful? Overwhelming signups? 5-star reviews? Although these outcomes count, they don’t determine success. Then what does?

The learning outcome of your course is the value it contains. Give your potential customers a large picture of what they’ll get from the course.

Give your learners a feel of what they can do upon completing your course. Hence, every reader knows what they’re getting into before signing up. From the learning outcome, it should be easy for people to hit “get course.”

The success of your online course is measured by what the customer gets and the value it offers at the end. If your customers don’t see or find value in your course content, why would they sign up or pay for it? Don’t keep your audience guessing by clearly defining what they’ll get in the course, with the learning outcomes being driven by focus, value, and results.

Repeat this exercise to determine the skills, knowledge, and emotions your learners have gained. By the time you’re done, ensure you can measure over nine learning outcomes for your learners to gain and move to the next level.

How you display your learning outcomes is a choice you make by yourself. It can be in a sentence form or bullet points depending on how your sales page and website are designed.

4. Select a Course Format

How you structure your online course depends on your target audience, marketing strategies, costs, and how much content it contains. These are three main types your online course can fall under:

The mini-course is brief and only takes a few hours to complete. A mini-course can be in different mediums, like successive emails or a playlist of 10 videos covering the entire topic. Mini-courses are affordable and cost below $100. You can also offer a mini-course for free as a marketing tactic for a more detailed course. People love free things, and if they find value in a free course, it’s almost certain they’ll pay for the next course. Test the market you’re targeting with a free course for a start, and as a new course creator, learn how to structure the next course to make a kill in the future.
A multi-day course takes several days to complete, and it comprises digital products, such as pre-recorded videos, written modules, and daily tasks on checklists. You can also include quizzes to test students as they study. These courses are mostly charged between $250 to $2,000. If you’ve validated the multi-day course through a mini course, you’ll have an easy time selling it.
A Masterclass can be covered in days, weeks, or months to give students a detailed formula for success. These courses are created for professionals priced between $300 and $5,000. As a novice, don’t start with a masterclass course. But you can build your way up to meet these standards.
- Create a detailed course covering 40 to 60 hours with over 40 modules, 50 videos, and 45+ technical sheets. You can also include any other relevant material you believe will benefit the reader and price it at $1,997. The package should consist of a downloadable syllabus outline for the customers to determine what the entire course covers.

5. Validate Your Course

In any business, it’s always good to test the waters before going into deep waters. Thus, it’s important to have a test run before delivering all you got.

Creating a successful online course will take much hard work and effort. Creating something that won’t sell or pay itself down the line would be such a waste of resources. Running a course test will help you determine the market demand, and if it’s ready, you can create the main course.

You can build a landing page to introduce your soon-to-come online course and watch the responses from potential students. Although you haven’t created the course yet, you know what it’s all about, and you should explain it using catchy images and a brief concept of the upcoming course.

Promote the landing page on different social media channels or newsletters in the streets your customers frequent and watch the excitement. Another way to pre sell your online course is by creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), like a free webinar or mini-free course, to help validate your idea.

6. Choose an Effective Delivery Method

Now, you’re one foot into creating an online course your students will love. Because your students have varying learning needs, you should deliver the course so everyone feels included. How do you get creative juices flowing?

Mix videos, activities, reading, and audio content
Use high-quality visuals
Provide social learning opportunities
Make your course fun and engaging
Provide different learning styles for your students

You can design effective learning content covering the above by following the three steps below:

6a) Blend in Different Teaching Techniques

Traditional classroom settings aren’t appealing to everyone. To get the attention of every prospective student, you should use different teaching techniques to make the experience unique and engaging. Find ways to make your online course engaging, fun, easy to understand, and interesting. How to make your course catchy and engaging:

Use the storytelling technique
Build a learning community
Use synchronous (live streaming) and asynchronous (learning at their convenience) learning
Host live lessons to answer questions
Breakdown large topics into consumable chunk bites for better understanding
Use games to motivate your students
Make your course accessible
Include quizzes to make your course interactive

These tactics will make your course engaging while creating an unforgettable learning experience for your audience.

6b) Don’t Make the Course Too Long

The length of time your online course takes is important. Your students should be able to move from one level to another in the shortest time. So, the shorter and precise your course is, the better. The one-size-fits approach isn’t applicable here, so creating bite-sized learning packages will break down a lengthy course into sizable learning pieces. Here are some aspects that contribute to your course length:

Topic complexity. The topic you choose for your course topic will determine its length and content needs. For example, creating a course on rocket science must be longer than a course on teaching how to change a tire.
You are fulfilling continuing education requirements. If you intend to certify your course as a continuing education, your students must engage in the course for several hours. The engagement depends on the course length and topic complexity.
Pricing structure. Your online course will vary depending on the range of courses you create. A detailed online course is longer and will cost more than an introductory course covering basics.

As a first-time course creator, you may fall into the trap of wanting to include everything in the course. However, knowing what to publish and what not to do will help you give your students value. In reality, your course might be more successful when broken into smaller courses to give your students a choice to only sign up for what they need.

6c) Add Social Elements

Human beings are social animals. Thus, creating an engaging course that keeps the student engaged and a more social learning experience can be challenging. Build an online learning community to help you connect with your customers.

Learning communities work well with online courses as they offer students an opportunity for social learning for peer groups and a connection between learner-to-educator. Online communities help learners with accountability; they’re paired in groups to work as a team and be accountable to each other with a goal to achieve their learning objectives.

7. Create an Outline for Your Course Content

Your course content needs an outline covering the start to finish. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes based on the expected result, and then work backward. Here’s how to create your outline:

7a) Modules and Lessons

The type of course you’re creating will determine the lessons it will contain, the time needed to complete it, and the cost. After establishing the three aspects, it’s time to break down the course into modules and lessons to cover all course topics.

Modules are like chapters you break down into lessons covering the subject matter in detail that will prepare your students for success. With a clear online course outline, you now have a clear direction to follow and create a course from one lesson to another. Ensure that each topic has detailed steps and information that usher them to the next level. In every lesson, ensure a clear focus and learning objectives for the student to achieve in every learning stage.

7b) Course Formats Lessons

Your online course can take many formats depending on the type of course you’re creating. For a mini-course, you can use an email format to deliver text and some illustrative images or screenshots for better understanding. However, more intensive courses need more formats to engage your students throughout the course. These are some popular course formats you can use and their advantages:

Video content is great for simply painting ideas and is time-effective.
Screencasts and walkthroughs perfectly demonstrate a process where students must see the exact steps.
Text content explains concepts in detail, providing a step-by-step guide linking them to other resources on the web.
Learners need to succeed in using downloadable content on templates, cheat sheets, and other tools.
Workbooks are valuable as they aid learners to internalize concepts.

Keep the videos in your online course detailed but brief, about 10 minutes, to ensure your students get focused and actionable content. When researching, check the formats your competitors are using and ask potential students what kind of course medium they’d prefer.

8. Produce Your Course Content

If you’re creating a professional course, you must have some notes on the topic stashed somewhere. You can also get some material from a blog post or webinar you hosted in the past. Whichever way you might have covered the subject, look for the material and gather relative content for your online course.

Repurpose the existing content to boost the creation of your online course. With the research you have gathered, it’s now time for the main action: course production. If this is your first course creating an online course, these steps will guide you:

Filming. You only need simple equipment since you’ll create your online course from home. You also don’t need to be a video production pro to create a high-quality course. All you need is a good camera (a phone camera will do) to record your screen while you explain the course in the background. You can also show yourself. Although your video doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s good to understand a few video-making tips to create professional content.
Editing. Once you’re done with recording, editing the raw video is the next step. The internet has many free video editing softwares, like iMovie, Lightworks, Eleven Labs, Capcut, and Veed. Watch your raw video, break it into digestible bites, and add mellow music in the background.
- The editing aims to cut unnecessary pauses to remain with a series of short but focused and clear clips. Add titles to your video (course and lesson name) and relevant captions that will make your course easy and accessible to follow.
Class assignments. Add class assignments to gauge your students’ understanding levels at the end of every lesson or module. You can create PDF files for learners to print and read at their convenience, including surveys or related quizzes and follow-ups to understand each learner.
Course certificates. Find a way to incentivize your course participants with professional certificates or badges. You can offer badges for small accomplishments in every step of the course or design custom certificates for participants you email after completing the program.

8b) Price Your Course

You’re almost at the climax of your online course, but not quite. Even after putting in so much work, you still have two major steps remaining to make your course a reality: marketing and the actual sale.

The success of any business venture highly relies on marketing to drive traffic and sales conversions. You have to decide how many learners you’re targeting, the amount of revenue you hope to generate, and the success picture you have in mind. But how do you price your online course? When pricing your course, consider these factors:

Production costs include all expenses related to making the course, from filming to designing certificates or badges and anything in between.
Target audience. Because you know your target audience, set a price they can afford.
Competition. Compare prices with similar courses to align your course price with the market and avoid overpricing or underpricing.
Value provided. Consider the value you’re offering in your course and set the price accordingly. If you feel the course is more resourceful and of higher value, justify your pricing and sell it to whomever finds it worthwhile.
Sales goals. Do you have set goals for revenue? If so, consider setting your prices to meet these goals while culminating all these other factors when setting prices.

9. Choose a Platform to Host Your Course

Now that your online course is ready, you need a platform to host it. You’ll find various online platforms to host your course, all with unique features. The three main types of online course platforms are:

Standalone platforms allow users to have much control over their content and data. They include:

teachable
Thinkific
Treachery
LearnWorlds

All in One are solutions that combine your marketing tools and content delivery platform in one place. Generally, these course platforms are the most expensive because you can use different tools to help accomplish your objectives. Some all-in-one online course platforms include:

Podia
Kajabi
Kartra

Online course marketplace platforms come with a built-in audience that can help market your course more easily and effectively than working alone. However, on online course marketplaces, you have less control over the pricing of your course and the data. Some online course marketplaces include:

Skillshare
Udemy

Don’t be a victim of analysis paralysis when it comes to deciding where to host your online course. The value of your course is more important than where you host it. Therefore, choose a platform you feel is ideal for your course, and if you discover it has fewer features to support your course, you can always switch to a more suitable platform.

10. Market and Sell Your Course

Your course is ready to hit the market. However, you need to spread the word about your online course on any social media platform where potential customers hang out. Promote your course effectively to get people signing up for the course through free promotions or paid ads to get the word out.

Your marketing tactics will significantly drive traffic and possible conversions, such as designing a logo to make the course look more professional. Here are some of the most popular and effective marketing methods:

Email marketing is about running marketing campaigns through emails. You can offer incentives like early-bird promotions and discounts on a first-come, first-served basis.
Social media marketing can boost your marketing campaigns significantly. A platform like LinkedIn is ideal if your course is targeting professionals.
Emails allow you to talk to an individual through their mailbox. You can begin with existing contacts, then create room for new visitors to drop their email and continue marketing your course 101.
Paid ads on Google Search and Banner ads will expand your reach to people who have never heard about you.
YouTube and promo videos. Create a YouTube channel and run promotion ads for your course.
Referrals and reviews. Your past students can use word of mouth with their peers if they get value from your course. Reviews, referrals, and positive feedback will go a long way in marketing your course.
Website pop-up. Promote your course on your website by adding a lightbox pop-up. You can also partner with third-party course websites and continuous studies organizations.
Blog posts. Launch a free blog where you share useful nuggets about your online course and the use of SEO as you showcase your knowledge.
Influencers. Look for influencers in your industry to help you reach your target audience.
Affiliate programs are where you work with ambassadors to help promote your course and increase traffic.
Webinar. Hosting a webinar lets people hear from the horse’s mouth about what to expect from the course.
Collaborate with instructors to share each other’s networks; if possible, you can co-teach a lesson.
Go multilingual. Remember, the internet is an international playground. So, translating your course into different languages will help reach a wider global audience and even break into new markets.

10b) Build Your Online Community

Building an online community is an obsession for any business owner. WHY? Building an online community allows people to share opinions on the same subject, and it’s easy to turn community members into loyal customers.

The same people in your online community also act as brand ambassadors for your business. So, while you concentrate on marketing your online course on various platforms, your community will also be drumming for the same.

From your online community, you foster direct relationships with previous, current, and new learners. You can engage them at specific times for sessions like Q and A to offer them a unique experience and win over those who haven’t registered for your course.

Your online community will also be able to give you direct feedback on the course and add to what might be missing. The information you gather from your online community can also help you create a better course for the right audience. Always give your online community more than you ask; share your knowledge and expertise extensively, and they’ll always return eagerly for more.

Why Creating an Online Course is Important

Selling online courses comes with many benefits, making it worth considering as a business idea you can venture into. The benefits of online courses include:

High scalability: You create a single digital product and sell it hundreds of times to millions of people globally. Once the course starts to sell, the process is automated to become accessible to anyone worldwide.
Low production costs: Producing your online cost may only require a few resources accessible online for free. Production costs include software subscriptions and internet costs.
High profit margins: The production costs are unmatched by the gains of selling your online course.
Generate passive income: Once your online course is published and you have marketing strategies in place, you don’t have to keep showing up for it to sell. When people sign up, you’ll enjoy your passive income for a long time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the key to success in my online course?

The key to success in your online course is managing the environment to provide much-needed knowledge to people who need it. Work on your online course with your target audience to ensure you offer what they need: an opportunity to learn a new skill or advance their knowledge.

How can I organize my online course?

Structure your online course so that your students can have an overview of the entire course to help them decide whether to board. Also, you should ensure that under each module are several lessons, all of which leave your students with a new understanding of the subject topic.

How do I format my online course to reach learners effectively?

Your online course can be formatted properly: mini-course, multi-day course, and masterclass. All three formats vary in detail and price. Plus, you can use the mini-course as a marketing strategy or magnet to hook learners to the main course. Besides creating a well-researched online course, targeted marketing on different platforms will reach a wider audience.

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In Summary

The 10 steps to creating a successful online course will guide you through the entire process. While it may sound daunting at first, it doesn’t have to be, even when you’re a beginner.

The initial step is to decide on a topic you’re interested in, one that interests your target audience, or a problem that needs solving. Once you know the topic you want to cover, identify your target audience, understand their needs, and provide solutions. Throughout the process, your course will provide insight and knowledge that others need, and you’ll generate revenue from something you’re passionate about.

You can create and deliver a valuable online course to potential learners with proper planning, exhaustive groundwork, and organization. Among the factors that drive you are passion, skills, experience or expertise, and professional knowledge.

When done right, an online course can be hugely rewarding if you provide genuine, valuable, life-changing solutions to your target audience. How do you achieve all these? Combining these factors allows you to create an engaging and successful online course packaged as a digital product to help others in need.

Once your online course is complete, market it on different platforms like social media, ads, email marketing, or publishing blog posts on your course’s topic.