Creating online courses: how to validate my course idea
The eLearning market is expected to exceed US $ 241 billion by 2022, so there are a ton of opportunities for anyone looking to start creating online courses.
But, if you want to get a slice of this pie, you need to find a niche that people are looking for. In other words, it is necessary to find out if there is a market for your course.
What you need to define before start creating online courses
You have an excellent idea for creating online courses, you’re ready to start developing the content, but the question arises: is there a market for this product?
How do you know if your idea will be a huge success or a big failure?
The answer is simple: do market research.
Researching whether there is an audience interested in your online course before creating it is very important.
Unfortunately, most people find this part too complicated and end up “going blind”, which tends to go wrong. Write it down: planning is the first step to success.
– Simple guide to create and sell online courses
The good news is that it is quite simple to validate your idea for an online course. There are several online tools that facilitate market research.
But first of all, start by answering the following questions:
1. Is there a demand for your course topic?
Naturally, you want to invest your money, time and effort in something that is in high demand. Otherwise, creating online courses and building a distance education business will be a complete waste of time.
To find out if a topic is in demand, here are some tips:
Ask people
Ask friends, family and people who fit your target audience, that is, have a relationship with the area and theme you intend to teach. Find out what their difficulties are and what they would like to learn.
You can use social media, email, join groups and discussion forums, among other channels, to get as many responses as possible.
Check the competition
This survey can give you an idea if the topic you intend to address has a demand and if enough people are already trying to solve it. Search Google, Amazon, popular podcasts and other online education-related platforms. Take the opportunity to use your competitors as inspiration to create successful online courses.
But be aware, if there is little or no competition, this is a bad sign. It probably means that there is little or no demand for your idea.
Do a keyword research
Google is a powerful tool that you can use to analyze the demand of their course. Use the keyword planner to find out what people are searching for and what topics are most searched for.
Another great keyword tool is Answer The Public. Just select keywords related to the course topic and see how many questions arise. The more questions there are, the greater the interest in the subject.
– How to define and search for keywords
2. Do you have a specific target audience?
Many people who start creating online courses make the mistake of assuming that their course is perfect for everyone. However, those who do not focus on a specific group, end up reaching anyone.
It may seem counterintuitive to restrict your course audience, but it is proven that courses have sold best when created with a specific target audience in mind.
To define who your client is, answer the following questions:
- Do you know someone who would be interested in taking your course? If so, what do you know about this or these people?
- What is the age group of your target audience? Genre? Economic status? Profession? You must have specific demographics in mind.
- What are the problems of this audience?
- What do they want to achieve? What would be the ideal outcome that your course could offer?
- How much are they willing to pay to get the desired result?
The answers to these questions will help you define your buyer persona, that is, your ideal customer.
– How to create a buyer persona
Keeping that persona in mind is essential to learn how to create online courses that meet the expectations of the audience you intend to reach.
3. Do you have a powerful goal?
Of course, one of your goals when creating online courses is to make money, but that should not be your only reason to dive into this endeavor. In addition to increasing your income, you need to have a greater motivation when it comes to teaching.
Without a real passion for your topic, you will not be as enthusiastic as your competitors, and your potential students are sure to notice, which will result in less sales.
Many professionals create a course just for the purpose of winning and forget that the most important thing is to serve your audience.
The result? Low sales rate.
So, be sincere and answer yourself what your goal is. What is your motivation to teach on this topic?
Perhaps you have had an experience that has taught you some valuable lesson, and now you are inspired to share what you have learned.
Perhaps you love your profession or some other subject with all your heart, and the idea of passing on your knowledge is wonderful.
Or maybe a friend or loved one has inspired you to share something you know, that has made all the difference in his life.
Doing an internal search is just as important as external search. If you have no motivation other than money, you may need to rethink your idea of creating online courses.
3 ways to validate your idea before creating online courses
Thanks to technology, you have several simple and free tools online to validate your course idea.
Conducting a survey is important to assess whether there is a market for your course and to give you more security before you start.
There are different channels for making this query and Coursify.me has listed three that you can test before creating online courses.
Go to Google and start with the obvious, do a search for keywords and phrases related to the topic of your course.
Think about how your potential audience could search for that topic on the internet and don’t necessarily include the word “online course”. Pay attention to these results:
- How relevant is your idea of an online course to searchers? In what position does it appear?
- Videos appear on the first page?
- Are there any paid ads related to the topic?
- Are courses on the same topic already available?
If these items appear in your search, contrary to what may look, this is a good sign. It means that there are other professionals or companies that agree that it is possible to profit from this idea.
When creating online courses, you want to address a niche where people are spending money.
– 10 profitable niches for online courses
If no competition appears, you need to think about why no one is investing in it.
BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a powerful SEO tool that evaluates shares on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest and Instagram.
Just type a topic or keyword in the search field and the program will show you which sites are gaining the most likes, shares and links related to the subject.
These results provide a good sense of how popular a topic is and on which channel it attracted the most attention.
This not only helps to validate your idea before you start creating online courses, but it also shows you where it’s most interesting to start promoting it.
It is also possible to know what engagement it has and how your competition is doing.
Amazon
You may be wondering what Amazon has to do with creating online courses, and the answer is: nothing. But don’t forget that the focus here is market research.
Website where we can find everything today, let’s remember that this is only possible thanks to a powerful search engine.
The Amazon Kindle Store area is particularly valuable for course creators. It contains a large number of eBooks on various subjects.
Through Amazon’s search engine you can find out if there are books on the topic you want to address and if they sell well.
Enter your search terms in the search bar and select “Kindle Store” from the side menu.
If you see several results related to your course topic, and if any of them are on Amazon’s Best Sellers list, this is a good indication that you are on the right track.
As simple as it may be, this market research is very effective in helping to validate your idea before finally starting to create your course.
Create and sell online courses with Coursify.me
Determining whether there is a market for your course is as important as creating and selling it.
Remember that you don’t have to have tons of experience or qualifications to teach on your chosen topic.
What you need is a passion for the subject, a willingness to teach and a determination to create well-made and effective online courses that stand out from the competition.
And, most importantly, you must strive to create a course that meets the needs of your target audience. Do this and the money will follow.
In addition, all you need is a Learning Management System (LMS) where you can host your courses and that is easy and interesting for your students to access.
– Whats is a Learning Management System
Elearning platform, Coursify.me has integration with other content platforms, such as YouTube and Vimeo. In addition, the user can upload videos, texts, images, audios and any other material that is hosted on Dropbox or on his own computer.
Attending schools, companies and professionals in more than 60 countries, Coursify.me is a dynamic Learning Management System, ready to serve you.
To learn more, visit our website, test the platform and start creating online courses right now.
