Working with online sales is one of the fastest growing niche markets today.
With eLearning courses being one of the most profitable options for those who want to make money on the internet, whether as a producer or affiliate, learn about some tips to start selling.
To start selling online, you need to identify the type of product you want to sell, how you plan to market it and how it will be delivered to your consumers.
If you’ve done your research and realized that the most profitable way to increase your revenue is by producing and/or selling online courses, the first thing you need to ask yourself is who you’re going to sell to and how.
Understanding why someone might be interested in buying your product is crucial to developing your marketing and sales strategy. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- People buy benefits, not products. They want to know what changes in their lives if they buy what you’re offering.
- People like to buy from someone they trust, so how you communicate with and treat your customer is critical to how they perceive your product.
- People are afraid of missing out on a good deal. This is why brands launch offers or campaigns with an expiration date. Creating a sense of urgency is a great way to make your product more attractive.
Understanding the motivations that lead consumers to make a purchase decision will help you design a more assertive online sales strategy.
– Learn How to Sell Online Courses
Create a Sales Funnel
The journey that turns a prospect into a buyer is often called a sales journey, and how you move them from one stage to another is called a sales funnel.
The image below shows how the sales funnel guides your potential buyers down a specific path that ends with them making the decision to buy your course.
Among all the ways you can bring traffic to your sales funnel, the most common and best performing are:
- Organic Search
- Paid Ad
- Social Media
- Email Marketing
- Referral Marketing (affiliates, referral influencers, student reviews, etc)
Using the sales funnel the right way can help you automate your process and, as a result, make your efforts more successful.
For example, LinkedIn sales automation tools can help you minimize the time you spend prospecting, giving you more time to connect with new users.
– How to create a sales funnel
5 ways to start selling online
Now that we’ve seen the main strategies to attract visitors and move them forward in your sales funnel, let’s better understand how each one works.
Organic Traffic
Organic traffic is so called “free”, that is, traffic that does not come from the display of paid ads, such as Google Ads.
It is achieved by producing content relevant to your audience and publishing it periodically.
This can be done through a blog, a YouTube channel, podcasts, etc.
Organic traffic and SEO is a long term strategy and it will take you months to start reaping its benefits. However, it is a sustainable strategy, which little by little bears fruit without you having to invest more than time to produce content.
Advertising only through paid ads can be quite expensive, it’s hard to see a brand that doesn’t work with content marketing and SEO.
Something that has been helping many companies and beginning entrepreneurs with the production of these materials is the PLR products, which is nothing more than buying ready-made content with a license for use and resale.
Paid Ads
An online sales strategy focused on quick results, ads are an excellent way to get your brand in front of the audience without having to wait for organic traffic to start showing up.
The main platform to create and display these ads is Google Ads, but be aware, messing with ads requires some study, especially if you don’t want to throw money away with advertisements that don’t convert or end up having your account blocked for having done something that goes against platform policies.
To create an ad with good conversion potential, you need to work with keywords and copywriting.
Also be aware that Pay-Per-Click ads can get expensive, it all depends on the level of competition your keywords face.
There are more cost-effective options for online ads displayed through social media platforms such as Facebook.
These types of ads are highly targeted, cost less per impression, and you have direct access to data on who has engaged with your ads.
However, before choosing the network you will advertise on, make sure your target audience is used to it. If you have a very young audience, chances are they are on other channels like Instagram and TikTok.
– How to reduce costs with Google Ads
Social Media
Anyone who sells online cannot neglect social media, even if they personally don’t have a very active profile.
It’s one of the digital marketing channels that work well for almost any business, in part because there are so many different social platforms to consider, and a multitude of tools to help out.
Study your target audience, see which networks they prefer and start building your presence to get followers.
To attract attention, use the resources that the platform offers that allow you to create differentiated content, such as stories and reels on Instagram.
Build a solid presence by publishing content daily. Get your audience used to you in such a way that you become part of their routine.
An effective way to attract followers is to launch exclusive offers on social media.
You can offer:
- discount coupons
- course packages
- special bonus
- giveaways
Take advantage of this strategy and insert the famous sense of urgency, such as, for example, 50% discounts for those who purchase the course within the next 5 hours. Another idea is to hold a course giveaway for those who refer friends in the comments.
Despite reducing your profit margin, for beginner entrepreneurs this is a very valid strategy because:
- Increases short-term sales
- Rewards loyal customers
- Promotes referral marketing
- Increases the number of followers faster
– How to use social media to sell online courses
Email Marketing
Marketing through email is the most effective way to increase online sales.
With four times the return on investment (ROI) compared to any other channel, more than 4 billion people worldwide still use email daily.
Using email marketing can yield amazing results, but first and foremost, you need an email list.
To build one, you can use all the tactics we’ve already mentioned, especially creating content with a focus on lead magnets.
Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are the “gifts” (free content) that you give your visitors in exchange for their email addresses.
In essence, a lead magnet is useful information that offers real value to your audience and delivers something they really want to know.
Among the many lead magnets you can use are:
- Online minicourse
- Ebooks
- Checklists
- Access to a webinar
- Planner
- Handout
We know that creating any of these materials takes work. If you don’t have the time and can’t hire someone to help you with this, we once again recommend a PLR.
But be careful about the quality of the content delivered, a lead magnet needs to solve a problem, provide valuable information and demonstrate your expertise.
If this material is bad, it will damage your reputation and therefore your chances of selling.
Once your email list is ready, start crafting your messages and sending them out periodically.
One thing you should know about email marketing is that success depends on the quality of the messages you send, not the quantity. Your marketing tactics need to be carefully chosen and developed.
– How to create a successful email marketing campaign
Referral Marketing
Referral marketing is a tactic that makes use of recommendations to increase a company’s customer base .
It can take many forms, but at its core, it’s a way to get your biggest fans to help spread the word about your brand.
An effective way for beginner entrepreneurs to use this strategy is to get in touch with people close to them (family, friends, co-workers, business contacts/partners, affiliates, etc.) and ask them for referrals, product reviews, invites to participate in podcasts, etc.
Recommendations and references are not only helpful, but crucial if you want to stand out from the crowd.
As we said at the beginning of this text, consumers prefer to buy from someone they trust, which is why referrals from friends and acquaintances are so valuable for online sales.
It is for this reason that the number of influencers has grown so much in recent years. Their value to brands is immense, as most of their followers are willing to buy products from their referral.
This is also why the reviews and testimonials of satisfied customers are so important. Even if you don’t know who wrote it, a person is more likely to trust a product rated by a real person than one that doesn’t have a review yet.
Finally, we have affiliates, which are nothing more than people earning a percentage to sell your product or service. Affiliates themselves take care of the dissemination, whether through reviews, youtube videos, blog articles and even paid ads.
The interesting thing about referral marketing is that it usually brings benefits to all parties, since you can reward your loyal customers who help you publicize your course.
– How to use Affiliate Marketing
Use the right eLearning platform and increase your online sales
Creating and selling online courses is a very profitable business for thousands of people all over the world.
With the right strategy, you can achieve high sums by selling this type of infoproduct.
Complete eLearning platform, Coursify.me is the ideal solution for anyone who wants to create, sell and promote courses on the internet.
Serving businesses and professionals in more than 60 countries, the platform is a dynamic and customizable Learning Management System (LMS).
– Whats is a Learning Management System
To learn more, visit our website, test the platform and start earning money with online sales right now.