Selling online courses is an international market/job in expansion.
Just to give you an idea, in 2015, the e-learning market was worth $107 billion, in 2018, $190 billion, and by 2025 it is expected to exceed $300 billion.
Democratization of education
Investment in lifelong education is an emerging trend. There are no more age limits for those who want to learn, since distance education has democratized teaching once and for all, putting an end to physical and geographic barriers.
Many people who previously did not have time or access to schools and universities can count on flexible schedules and attend classes from their own homes, avoiding the difficulties of commuting.
Perfect setting for the growing e-learning industry, it attracts more and more professionals and companies interested in entering this market.
– Elearning market: data and forecasts
But the question remains: how much money can you make by selling online courses?
Are online courses profitable?
Selling online courses is one of the best business models for digital entrepreneurs.
Demand is increasing and people are investing more than ever in distance learning courses as a way to acquire new skills and grow professionally and personally.
Do a brief internet search and you will soon discover that selling info products, with online courses on leadership, is one of the most effective ways to make money in the digital market today.
However, no one is saying that achieving high sums in revenue is easy. First of all you will need to develop an excellent course, and then put all your energy and resources into launching, promoting and selling this material.
The good news is that when it comes to creating content for your course, you have many options to choose from. One of them is to reuse old materials of your authorship, such as:
- Blog posts
- Video / audio recordings (webinars, speeches, interviews, etc.)
- Books / e-books or other material related to your business
Reducing the time involved in content production and reusing what you already have can increase the return on investment (ROI) of your online course and your own revenue.
Advantages of selling online courses
Launching an online school can generate extra income or a new source of significant revenue, but can also bring several other benefits for your brand as a whole.
You can use an online course to:
- Improve your brand and online presence.
- Establish yourself as a leader and a trusted source of knowledge in your area of expertise.
- Gain loyal followers who, in addition to becoming loyal customers, can bring new leads to you through referral marketing.
- Generate more opportunities for profitable new ventures and expand your sources of income.
As you would expect in a society where information is power, monetizing your experience by selling online courses is a revolutionary way to make money.
In addition, it can open up a wide variety of opportunities for your organization, as well as benefit your community by educating your members.
– How to Launch an Online Course
How to profit from selling online courses
There are many factors at play when creating your own online course and the profits you make from sales can vary enormously.
For example, as an online instructor, you can earn anywhere from a few hundred dollars a year to a six- or seven-figure income.
Creating the course is just part of the process. The job of marketing and sales, including your personal brand is what makes a difference in profits you can achieve.
How much revenue to expect from selling online courses?
This varies greatly from one course creator to another. You will have to consider many factors that affect your revenue potential, such as:
- Course price: Are you selling a course of $ 50 or $ 500? This makes a big difference in how many sales you need to make to reach your revenue goals.
- Your Audience: Do you have an email list? A good number of followers on social media? A YouTube channel with subscribers? Good networking? The larger and more engaged your audience, the more customers you can expect to get. If you are starting now, generating an email list should be your first goal with a focus on selling online courses.
- Marketing and sales experience: Have you done this before? If you already have an online business and have experience selling products/services, you have an advantage and can get a good conversion rate faster.
Even if you’re just starting out, everything we’ve listed above can be learned, but you should expect a slower start than a seasoned entrepreneur.
How to calculate your potential revenue
To determine your potential revenue from selling online courses, you will need to calculate the following:
Revenue = Audience number x Conversion rate x Course price
If you don’t have an audience yet, you can make some assumptions based on how many people you hope to reach. Do you predict 100, 200 or 1,000 subscribers to your email list, for example?
Rates conversion for online courses depend on the chosen topic, the price and its ability to attract and sell to the right people. You can think of conversions as:
- Low conversions: 0.1% to 1%
- Medium conversions: 2 – 5%
- High conversions: 6 – 10%
To see different scenarios and set goals based on them, you can run the calculation at all three conversion rates: 1%, 5% and 10%.
How to calculate your potential profit
To determine if you are profiting from selling online courses, you must subtract the expenses you have with your business.
Fortunately, online courses don’t cost anything per additional client, but they can incur production or marketing expenses. Here’s how to think about it:
Profit = Revenue – Production costs (fixed) – Marketing expenses – Other related costs
With this simple formula you can calculate how much you need to invest and earn to make a profit from selling online courses.
How to increase the value of your online course
Want to make more money? You can increase the value of your courses in a number of ways.
Before setting the price of your first course, check the following factors that could affect the value of your material:
- Recognition of your personal brand: How good is your reputation and image online? Do you have good ratings? Is anyone talking about your work? We suggest you Google your name to find out where you are and what the internet says about you. The better your reputation, the more people will be willing to pay for your course.
- Level of specialization: How’s your resume? What can you say about yourself? The more knowledge you have about the subject, the more unique and high quality content you will be producing, which attracts people interested in your field. It will also be easier for you to establish an expert reputation.
- Content offered: The amount and variety of course content that you offer certainly made an impact on the amount to be charged. Want to earn more? Deliver more (without dropping the quality).
- Audience size: Having a well established audience is a great advantage for selling online courses. A large following on social media, an extensive email list of leads, or a series of business contacts interested in your specialty is what you need to start promoting and selling your business. Branding recognition helps drive sales.
- Market size: By identifying your target audience, their needs and desires, you will have a good idea of the potential size of your market, that is, how many people are in need of your courses.
- Competition: Analyzing the competition is another great way to evaluate your own course, see what you can improve and what you already have of extra that you could overcharge for. Market research even helps to find out if there is a real market for what you are proposing to sell and how you can stand out from the competition.
– 3 ways to validate your idea before creating online courses
By improving these factors, you add more value to your course, get more exposure and, consequently, optimize the sale of online courses.
Study digital marketing strategies and build your business little by little, testing the best way to reach your audience and get results.
If you’re starting out in this market, creating and selling online courses in parallel with your regular job can be a good way to generate income until you can devote yourself full time.
Earn money by selling online courses!
Every person who specializes in something has a chance to earn money by selling online courses. The question is, are you ready to become an entrepreneur and start your own online learning business?
If the answer is yes, start by taking advantage of the resources you already have.
Monetize your existing content from training workshops, YouTube videos, podcasts, blogs and teach people how to improve their skills.
Complete eLearning platform, Coursify.me is the ideal solution for those who want to create, sell and promote courses on the internet.
Serving companies and professionals in more than 60 countries, the platform is a dynamic and customizable Learning Management System (LMS).
– Whats is a Learning Management System
This means that you don’t even need to invest in building your own website. The Coursify.me is ready for you to enter your course and create a sales page completely customized for your business.
We have three plan options for you to decide which best suits your needs.
Visit our website, test the platform and start selling online courses right now.