In 2020, purchases made through social media jumped from 22% to 34%, representing one third of small businesses sales in e-commerce.

How to use social media to sell courses on the internet

When it comes to marketing on social networks, the first thing to do is a survey to find out which ones have the largest number of registered users at the moment. 

It is easy to conclude that networks such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are the most accessed and, therefore, where you need to be if you want to sell courses on the internet. However, before making that decision, analyze your target audience. Certain social networks tend to please one or another age group and user profile more, so determine who your audience is to find out on which channel to focus your efforts.

That done, the next step is to create a profile for you or a page for your company, and start producing relevant content to attract followers. This is where things start to get more difficult. 

Social networks, especially Facebook, have severely cut the organic reach of publications made by companies, forcing investment in paid ads. 

Therefore, you either set aside a value to invest every month, or you dedicate a lot of time, work and creativity to create consistent content, so that you can develop a relationship with your audience and publicize your brand in an organic way. 

– Content marketing to sell courses online

However, this can take time, so there is general consensus that you should apply both strategies. Investing in paid ads on Facebook and Instagram is an effective method of gaining visibility and, if you are a small business owner, or just a professional trying to sell courses on the internet, the amount to be invested at first will be low and can generate good results.

But in the meantime, there are other resources that have fallen in the public’s eyes and can be used in favor of those who want to attract and gain an audience. Check out some:

Live Streaming 

With the new coronavirus pandemic, the famous lives conquered once and for all their space.

Several social networks already had features that enable live streams, such as Facebook Live.

Many people believe that Facebook is losing space, but the truth is that it is still the great king of social networks, with more than 2 billion active users. This means that about 1 in 4 people in the world has an active account on the platform, making it highly attractive for all types of business.

Anyone who wants to sell courses on the Internet can take the opportunity to publicize their material by giving a few minutes of free class via Facebook Live or talking about the content with their audience, who can send messages during the broadcast. 

– 3 tips to improve your live classes

Doing this is quite simple. The API allows you to throw signal from a camera into Facebook, which yields a good quality image. But, if you don’t have access to that, you can record lives using your smartphone or tablet. Other similar alternatives are Live on YouTube and Live on Instagram. 

YouTube ranks second in terms of users with an active account, but their total viewership numbers are much higher. Every day, more than 1 billion hours of video are watched on the platform.

– How to use YouTube to promote your business

Another good solution to optimize marketing campaigns on Facebook is to use the Facebook Pixel, which allows you to monitor results and consumer behavior, tracking their interaction with your website and ads.

At Coursify.me you can add the Facebook Pixel to your account on Google Tag Manager and then register the Google Tag Manager container ID in the Resources -> Integrations -> Google Tag Manager menu and it will work. See how easy it is:

https://support.coursify.me/hc/en-us/articles/360016206819–How-do-I-add-the-Facebook-Pixel-javascript-on-Coursify-me-

Filters 

Many brands use the feature that allows you to create custom filters in applications famous for their short videos, such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. 

However, the resource that started as something exclusive to the platform and that could be developed by anyone who was willing to pay for it, can now be used by practically everyone.

Filters that alter the quality and beauty of the image become more and more in demand, with several celebrities developing their own and using them in their posts. But you don’t have to be famous to create your own. Instagram, for example, has released the creation of augmented reality filters through the tool Spark AR, which belongs to Facebook.

TikTok, a social network that has been successful with its music videos, also allows the application of visual and sound effects, a useful resource for creating videos different and striking.

– Tips for speaking well on video

Social selling

Social selling is when a company uses social media to sell its products directly. It is the latest way to develop meaningful relationships with potential customers by connecting with them.

67% of the customer’s purchase journey is digital. People often read five or more posts online before making a purchase. With that in mind, Facebook launched a tool focused in creating online stores, the Facebook Shops.

This new tool works as a virtual store integrated between Facebook, Instagram and, in the future, Messenger and Whatsapp. Through it, the shopkeeper can create a selection with his main products to exhibit in a personalized digital showcase, make sales and receive payments online, completely free of charge. This feature turned out to be especially promising on Instagram.

According to Instagram, the platform is accessed by 70% of fashion enthusiasts to discover new products. In addition, 87% of its users have already made purchases inspired by an influencer.

So, the success of Instagram Shopping is not surprising, considering it allows followers of a brand to view and buy products without leaving the platform.

WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp is by far the most used messaging app, and can also be considered a social network. 

According to the 6th edition of the NuvCommerce study, carried out by Nuvemshop, in terms of customer service, Whatsapp is already adopted by 95% of companies, consolidating itself as the main channel, followed by Instagram (83.5%), E-mail ( 51%), Facebook (49.5%), Telephone (42%), Online Chat (17%) and others (5.5%).

WhatsApp Business, the version of the app for companies, lets you interact directly with customers, classifying and responding quickly to messages. Here are some interesting features it offers:

• Company profile: Business profiles are listed as a “Business account”, which contain useful information for your customers, such as description, address, email address, website and opening hours.

• Bookmarks: You can “bookmark” your customers, which allows you to organize your contacts and easily find them again using filter functions.

• Greeting messages: This kind of message can be used to introduce your company to customers when they send you a message for the first time or after 14 days of no activity.

• Quick replies: Quick replies are frequently sent messages that you can create, save and reuse. 

Perfect for small businesses, WhatsApp Business is sure to help you improve your relationship with your customers and sell courses on the internet.

– 10 tips to improve your customer service

Stories 

Instagram has a very visual approach and is an excellent tool to increase your audience. In this application the focus should be on posting photos and videos related to your business, but maintaining a human side. You can post photos of yourself on a daily basis working, for example, giving classes, producing material or talking to your students.

A good tip is to bet on interaction. For this, nothing better than using Stories, an Instagram feature that allows you to share photos and videos of up to 15 seconds in length that “disappear” after 24 hours.

Easy to produce, all you have to do is turn the camera on what you want to record and pass on some quick information to your audience. There are hundreds of filters that can be applied to make captured images more beautiful and attractive.

Using stories, you appear more and can receive and respond to direct and private messages, such as questions about your product / service. All of this helps to create and strengthen the relationship with your audience, which increases your credibility and makes it easier to sell courses on the internet. But remember, viewers want publications that serve their real interests, in a genuine way.

How to make the most of Instagram to sell courses on the internet

App developed exclusively for smartphones, Instagram allows its users to take photos, record short videos, apply digital filters to images and share them on various social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.

The growing number of users has also raised the interest of companies, which started to show sponsored ads. However, the best way to gain attention and followers is to use it in a traditional way, by posting photos and videos with the most personal and authentic content possible.

Anyone interested in publicizing their business using Instagram should pay attention to the following tips:

• Download the application on your smartphone and create an Instagram account for your company / business / product.

• Fill in your profile: Include a photo of your brand, a brief description of what it is about and place a link to your website.

• Connect your Instagram to your Facebook page: Instagram was purchased by Facebook in 2012. It is possible to “link” the posts from the two social networks to boost your marketing strategies.

• Create a strategy: Content, frequency of posts, language used. Instagram is used to post photos and videos quickly, usually in real time. A good strategy to captivate followers can be to maintain that intimate character, taking photos of the team, work, coffee break and other relaxed moments or that show a little of your routine, news of the company / product, etc.

• Use hashtags (#): The use of hashtags on Instagram is essential. Through hashtags the user searches for topics of interest. There is no character limit. Include hashtags with your company name, with words or phrases related to your product / service and everything you find relevant and related to your content.

• Explore and use hashtags of the moment: Keep an eye on the hashtags that have been successful. If they have any relevance for your business, use it in your posts. This is an effective way to connect with users and promote your brand.

• Monitor your brand hashtags: Remember that your customers can use your hashtags to contact you. Make sure you are following your hashtags on Instagram and be sure to answer any comments or questions quickly. This attention is essential to build a good relationship with your customers.

• Use Stories: Stories are short videos that stay online for only 24 hours. Widely used to show common scenes, with the addition of features such as gifs and filters, this feature has been gaining more space than feed posts and ensuring public preference.

These are just a few tips on how to enjoy this social network increasingly popular to sell courses on the internet. Easy to use and effective, Instagram can bring numerous benefits to your business.

– How to advertise your business on Instagram

Sell ​​online courses with Coursify.me

By applying these five strategies, you increase your online visibility and begin to consolidate your brand. Digital marketing campaigns that involve social networks are efficient and can be developed with low investment cost.

By hosting an online course on Coursify.me you personalize the course page with your identity and create links to your social networks, facilitating its dissemination.

Complete and optimized eLearning platform for SEO, Coursify.me is the ideal solution for those who want to create and sell courses on the internet.

Serving businesses and professionals in more than 60 countries, Coursify.me is a dynamic and customizable Learning Management System (LMS).

– Learning Management System: What is it?

To learn more, visit our website, test the platform and understand why we are the best option for your online course.

The post 5 strategies to sell courses on the internet using social media appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

Webinar: what it is

A webinar is an online video seminar, which can be recorded or broadcast live. 

Currently, the main Webinar platforms are Youtube Live, Google Hangouts, WebinarJam and GoToWebinar.

Through one of these ready-made and easy-to-access platforms, instructors can teach classes in real time, with the possibility for viewers to interact through a chat.

If used correctly, the webinar can also act as a powerful marketing and lead generation tool.

– How to generate leads

This is because the resource facilitates direct communication with your target audience, through which you have the opportunity to demonstrate your authority on the subject and create a relationship with the customer.

Those who want to advertise and sell courses online can use webinars at different stages of the sales funnel, such as:

• Top of the funnel: addressing a general theme, related to your content, to attract and generate leads;
• Middle of the funnel: addressing a specific topic, related to your content, to advance your leads through the sales funnel;
• Bottom of the funnel: run a live demo of your product to convert advanced leads into customers.

– Understand how the sales funnel works

Another possibility is to use the webinar periodically to offer qualified and interesting content to your customers, for the purpose of relationship and retention. 

The step by step to organize and launch a Webinar is simple: 

• Create a Landing Page for subscription;
• Promote the Landing Page by email and social media;
• On the day scheduled for the Webinar to happen, create the event on Hangouts (or another platform of your choice);
• Email the event link to those who signed up.

The tool also brings several benefits for the audience, since it acts as a quick and practical means of learning and allows the exchange of experience with professionals.

Webinar: advantages for your online course

Webinars are a great idea for online course creators for two main reasons:

• It is a good way to engage and communicate with your audience when you have little time to blog and / or produce another type of content;
• It’s content that can be reused to make another rich materials, such as: eBooks, blog posts, infographics, presentations, podcasts etc.

– How to use your Blog as a marketing tool

– How to use podcast to sell online courses

For those who are starting to create online courses and need to build a strategy to attract customers and promote your product, the webinar can serve as a facilitator in several aspects:

Increase your mailing list

Creating an email list is essential to start your strategy of capturing and converting leads. 

The webinar is a good channel for getting contact information from potential customers, as people need to register to participate, using an email address. 

This guarantees the opportunity to contact your audience even before the broadcast, and the address is recorded regardless of whether the person is present at the time of the seminar or not.

– How to create an email marketing campaign

Attract qualified leads

If the user registered to watch your presentation, he is already a lead, that is, a potential customer. 

After all, only those who are interested in the content covered, which is directly related to the product you are offering, will perform this action. 

Take this opportunity to show authority on the subject and give a sample of what the customer will gain by registering for your online course. A good presentation is your best advertising.  

Create a relationship

Using a webinar to teach online classes or even to offer an explanation that complements what has already been taught, is an effective way to simulate the interaction that occurs in a classroom and develop a relationship with the student.

Through live broadcasts the student has the chance to view his instructor, which makes it easier for him to create a connection. 

Communication is possible due to a platform feature that allows you to answer questions sent by chat during or after your presentation.

Reach a wider audience

First, you don’t need to hire anyone to help you host a webinar. Most webinar hosting tools are easy to use, which means you can learn to use in no time. 

Second, the platform offers the main advantages of an online course: it can be accessed by anyone anywhere in the world, without the need for mobility.

Third, several webinars support 1,000 participations or more at the same time, which means that even if the price of the course is low, you still have the possibility to earn good money by reaching more people. 

We know that your goal is to sell courses online, but a good tip is to use the webinar to share (quality!) content for free with the public before publicizing your course and pricing it.

One of the best ways to sell a product or service is to offer support before asking whether the person wants to buy or not. 

When you deliver something for free, it attracts attention and increases the chances of someone being interested in purchasing your material.

– Free online courses as a strategy to attract students

5 tips for selling online courses with Webinar

Selling courses can be the most challenging part for those starting out in the e-Learning market.

Most professionals love to teach what they know and record their classes, but when it comes to advertising and talking about sales they feel nervous and lose confidence, which is perceived by the client.

– Learn how to sell online courses

A webinar is an excellent opportunity to present your material, talk a little about the content and, finally, sell the course.

So that the discomfort does not appear at that moment, remember that you are inviting the viewer to learn from your course and not imposing an obligation.

To improve your sales strategy during the webinar, check out some tips:

1. Offer a guarantee

After presenting the price of your online course, offer a satisfaction guarantee, such as the 15-day money-back offer if the customer doesn’t be satisfied with the material.

This guarantee represents a small risk, as some people can take advantage and ask for a refund after they have already taken the course, but it is quite common for more people to buy their course for having this security, which ends up yielding a positive balance.

2. Make it easy to access the sales page

After you finish your presentation and go to the Q&A session with your viewers, make sure to leave the slide that shows the link to your sales page shown on the screen.

Some people will decide to buy your course during this chat, so make sure they know exactly where to go and what to do.

– How to create a sales page

3. Offer a limited time bonus

An effective way to sell courses and still encourage people to attend your webinar is to offer a limited time available bonus to participants.

You can offer a private call to answer questions, discounts on course fees, support materials, among others. Whatever it is, it is important to honor this offer and make it available only to those who have fulfilled its conditions, otherwise you will lose credibility.

4. Provide varied payment options

In many cases, there will be people who attended the webinar, watched your sales presentation and want to buy your online course, but are unable to pay the full amount at once.

For this reason, it is important to provide plans with different payment methods, offering the customer a choice between paying for the entire course in advance or paying a monthly fee, for example.

– How to price online courses

5. Record your webinar

Considering that a significant portion of your course sales come from people who have watched your webinar, it is very important to remember to record it and make it available for others to attend when they can.

This increases your likelihood of selling courses and creates good material to send to your potential customers and attract new leads. That is, after your webinar is over, send the link by email to your contacts and publish on your social networks.

The Coursify.me is the perfect platform for those who want to create and sell courses with quality, allowing you to upload content from platforms like YouTube, Vimeo and Dropbox.

With all the functionality you need to provide the best online learning experience for your customers,  Coursify.me also provides integration with major payment platforms, enabling you to charge your students the way and in the currency you prefer.

Complete Elearning platform, Coursify.me is the ideal solution for anyone who wants to create, sell and promote courses on the internet without having to invest to start their own business.

Serving businesses and professionals in more than 60 countries, the platform is a dynamic and customizable Learning Management System.

– Whats is a Learning Management System

We have three choices of plans for you to decide which best suits your needs, and the good news is that the Beginner Plan is free!

Visit our website, test the platform and start selling online courses right now.

The post Webinar: How to use it to sell online courses  appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

Setting up a course can seem intimidating to anyone who has never been a teacher and planned a class in life, but with a little help you will see that it is easier than you think.

Step by step to plan your online course

To start, know that to plan your online course is essential, but do not worry so much.

We say this because it’s common for beginner instructors to have panic attacks and get stuck in the planning phase.

Self-questions like, “Who am I to teach this? I’ve never taught anyone anything!” are quite common. Take a deep breath, calm down and continue.

– 5 steps to keep your goal and start to create courses

You do not need to have experience in teaching, what you need is to master the subject you want to teach and be at least one step ahead of your audience.

Remember when you were a student yourself, what were your biggest doubts and problems, and most importantly, how you overcame those.

Start thinking about who your audience is, define what your problems are, and discuss how you can solve them.

Set a topic for the course

You probably already have a pretty solid idea of ​​what you want to teach, but before proceeding, you need to refine that idea.

It is tempting to want to create the larger, faster, and more comprehensive course on the chosen subject, but this is not exactly what most students want.

Most students have a very specific problem they want to solve, and to find out what it is, you can email them, poll them on social networks, join groups and forums on the subject, etc. Go to your public and find out what they need.

– How to validate my idea

To get the idea better, this is what you need to define when you start to plan your online course:

Problem: I do not know how to prepare sauces

• Good idea of ​​course: Sauces for beginners
• Bad idea of ​​course: Introduction to cooking

When making a research, you will probably realize that the same doubt appears again and again. Concentrate on it.

If you are committed to developing a complete course on a subject, consider creating a course package.

This means that you can craft five different courses on how to prepare sauces, for example, and combine them into one final package.

This gives your audience the freedom to choose what they want to learn based on what they already know.

Decide who your course is for

With a topic set, it’s time to decide at what level your audience is, or rather, at what level it needs to be to take your course.

If they already know the basics of the subject taught and you will help them advance their skills or apply them in a new way, you do not need to explain well the initial steps.

On the other hand, if they are completely new to this matter, you will have to put yourself back in their shoes and think of your own difficulties when you were just getting started.

This is something that you can also clarify when doing research and asking potential students about their problems.

Do they already know how to cook reasonably well and want to improve their knowledge of the preparation of sauces? Or are they complete beginners in the kitchen who just want to learn how to make a good sauce?

This is the time to set if your course will suit both audiences, or not, and start thinking about its organization.

Organize the content

Once you have defined your audience, you are ready to begin to plan your online course.  

The first thing you need to do is determine your differential.

– How to sell online courses

What exactly will your course teach that highlights you among others? Be specific and create a great slogan.

For example, “Learn how to make sauces” is not flashy enough. Instead, you could say, “Learn how to make amazing sauces in 5 quick lessons!”.

From there, in addition to attracting your audience, you already have the cue to organize and plan your online course in five lessons. For example:  

• Introduction to sauce preparation
• Sauces to accompany red meats
• Sauces to accompany fishes
• Sauces to Pasta
• Sweet Sauces

In addition to organizing your content, splitting your course in lessons makes it easier for your students to find exactly what they are looking for.  

Choose content types

Your online course can be produced in more than one format. Classes can be on video, but you can also have handouts, documents, slideshows, and so on.

Videos are usually the preference, but take into account that the diversity of forms of teaching available makes the course more interesting and dynamic.

Video

When planning your online course using video lessons, you give your course a “face”, someone your students can connect to.

This feature is very effective because it allows you to explain the content at the same time as you demonstrates.

In addition to recorded lessons, you can also use tools like Vimeo to make live broadcasts and have the chance to interact with your students.

It’s easy and free to create video content. All you need is your cell phone or webcam to record, a microphone and a free program like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker to edit.

– How to record videos at home

Slides

Although the video provides more engagement, there are times when text and image may be better, like when there is a lot of information that needs to be detailed.

To do this, slides are still one of the best options. Most people, for example, have used PowerPoint or Keynote at some time and have some familiarity with the program.

The good news is that this is all you need to create slides. Through these free software you can use text and images to create classes and professional presentations.

– How to create professional presentations

These programs also allow you to add video and audio to your slides, making it easier to explain your written content.  

Audio

If you are a fan of podcasts, you know how audio can be a powerful communication tool.

While we recommend using images for most topics, there are times when audio alone can be effective.

You can record audios with brief extra explanations, for example. And even create a podcast to talk about some class and answer common questions.

Presentations also combine perfectly with audio explanations and make the material richer.

PDFs, spreadsheets and other documents

To plan your online course means to think about everything that can make your student’s learning easier.

In addition to video lessons or slides, it is nice to prepare documents to support the study.

If the course has a workbook, an exercise sheet, or a handout that you want students to refer to easily, you may want to make it available for download in PDF format.

Offering these extra materials encourages learning and makes your students feel more valued.

Bonus Content

Now you probably have ideas for content types that do not fit into any of those categories we’ve listed. It’s all right!

Often, instructors offer “bonus content” to make their course more interesting and complete.

Some of these materials include:

• Ebooks
• Webinar
• Quizzes
• Checklists
• Chat online
• Screencasts

For those unfamiliar with the term, screencasting, or screen recording, are those videos recorded directly from the computer screen of whoever is teaching.

Usually this feature also allows you to add audio and you can talk while showing what you are doing.  

These simple videos are a great way to teach your students without having to appear in the recording and worry about the surrounding scenery.

Decide what to use

To plan your online course and decide about the types of content you will be using, remember that you do not have to do everything.

– How to make money

At Coursify.me we have amazing courses that use only one or two content formats. But, if in doubt, see some suggestions depending on the size of your course.

Minicourses

If your initial idea is to only create a mini-course, remember, first of all, that you can not charge hundreds of dollars for it, so do not worry too much about creating various types of content.

In our experience, the combination of text, images and audio is powerful for mini-courses.

A short course should focus on a very specific problem that can be taught in at most one or two lessons.

Use the types of content that best help explain, but do not overload the material.

Intermediate courses

Intermediate courses are a bit more advanced and complete, covering a more expansive topic.

Knowing that the course is more extensive and therefore more expensive, take time to create differentiated and advanced content types.

For example, each module may include two detailed slideshows with narrations and videos.

They consume time to create, but they are valuable and therefore worth the time invested.

Advanced courses

These are the creme de la creme of the online courses. Extensive and well complete, they have high added value.

As a result, here you will need to vary greatly between the types of content offered, in order to make learning as attractive and easy as possible.

You can still keep it simple by using a mix of videos, slides and text; or you can go further by providing bonus content, for example.

The important thing is to deliver a positive and well-crafted teaching experience to the student, showing that you care about his learning.

Test the result

When you finish to plan your online course, before you begin to produce all the material, ask someone you trust to analyze and evaluate your outline.

Ask that person (or people) what questions he or she might have, to get a sense of what gaps need to be filled.

This is important because as you are very familiar with the subject, it is easy to pass things that are simple and obvious to you, but not to those who are still starting their learning.

Write down: the more experience and knowledge you have, the more you need a new pair of eyes to know what is missing.

And the most important question you should ask is: would you take my course after reading this material?

– 5 tips to attract students

If the answer is no, ask the reason and work to fill in the blanks and improve.

Start!

The time to plan your online course is over. It’s time to start production.

– To-do list to create online courses

With patience and dedication your course will begin to take shape, or if you want to take less work and have the money to invest, you can outsource some production steps.

But, believe me, you can actually set up your own home studio without breaking the budget.

Course done, the next step is the easiest of all: go to the Coursify.me website and host your material.

With Coursify.me you just have to upload your content through your computer or other platforms like Dropbox and Vimeo and your classes are ready to be taken.

You give access password only to those that you want and still be entitled to several benefits, such as:

• 100% Web system in the cloud;
• Responsive system with support for desktop, tablets and mobile;
• Easy customization of the visual identity of the school and online courses;
• Creation of courses with video, audio, images, text and files;
• Integration with Dropbox, YouTube, Vimeo, Paypal and PagSeguro;
• Receiving payments via Paypal and PagSeguro;
• Discussion forum for students broaden their knowledge and networking;
• Management of students and enrollment in courses;
• Creation of courses organized in modules;
• School and courses optimized for SEO (Search Engine Optimization);
• Promote courses on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and others.

Complete eLearning platform (LMS), Coursify.me is used by more than 450 users in more than 60 countries.

Visit our website, test the platform and see how easy it is to create, sell and promote your online courses.

The post How to plan your online course appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

How to make money online: Bet on eLearning

If you want to know how to make money online working with what you like and, preferably, in the comfort of your home, we have a great suggestion: invest in online courses.

Why this solution is great? Well, we can list a few reasons:

1 – Market in broad expansion

According to a Docebo report, it is estimated that the online courses market will profit about 165 billion dollars next year and, by 2023, will likely grow about 5%, more than 240 billion dollars worldwide.

In Brazil the numbers also indicate continued growth, since the distance education is still most popular in countries undergoing political and economic crises, which access to traditional education is more difficult and costly.

– Elearning market in Brazil

– Elearning market worldwide

2 – Own business

There are two ways to use online courses as means of making money.

The first is devoting time to create and sell your course.

If you enjoy teaching, this is the perfect option to decide how to make money online.

– To-do list to create online courses

3 – Professional training

Another way to make money is by acquiring new knowledge and skills and become a more desired professional.

Online courses are the best option for those who want to learn with time flexibility and without spending with high fees.

There are several quality courses available on the internet that even deliver certification.

– What the market thinks about online courses in the curriculum

Today, the answer to the question “how to make money online?” is closely linked to the effort you are willing to employ because with the internet, all the possibilities are at your fingertips.

How to make money online: Can I turn my work into an online venture?

If you decide to create your online course, know that it is not necessary to abandon your regular job.

Depending on what your goals are, there are some options to consider:

• Working exclusively with a product/service online;
• Having an online and offline business at the same time;
• Slowly transitioning your work offline to online.

Before you decide, consider what you already have, what you want to do, and what would be the most solid and secure option at the time.

To give an example, in Coursify.me we have a success story about how to make money online leveraging the best of both worlds.

Case: Professor Felipe Oberg

Professor Felipe Oberg, a Portuguese teacher, decided to use Coursify.me to place online lessons and disposal support materials for his students while using it also as a dissemination channel for his regular classes. Check out:

http://professorfelipeoberg.coursify.me/

Absolute success, with hundreds of subscribers, his method can be described in a simple step by step:

• Record your lessons;
• Invite your classroom students to access the online classes;
• Provide extra material for those who are already students as means to study in home;
• Use the online course to sell subscriptions to regular classes;
• Put new content gradually on the eLearning platform.

Notice that he began using material that he already owned and disclosing for those who were already his clients.

Much of the current disclosure statement is made by the students themselves and the business continues to grow.

Getting Started

Take a few hours a day to develop a plan of what you will teach and how this will be done.

Remember that to teach something you need to know a lot about it, then choose a topic related to your field of work and study hard.

Then choose the format of your course (videos, handouts, tutorials, etc) and host it on a LMS (Learning Management System), as Coursify.me.

– Learning Management System: what it is and what it is for

Remember, decide your goal is the first step to give birth to your online business.

How to make money online: How to know if my course has a market

Before starting to invest and create your course, is indicated to do a market survey to assess whether there is demand and potential audience to consume your product.

The good news is that thanks to technology, there are several simple and free tools on the internet to help validate your idea.

The first step is research the existence of courses that address the same subject or similar, and if  there are a considerable number of people who show interest on it.

This is very important because despite competition seem daunting, their existence indicates that there is a market interested in what you have to offer.

So if you want to know how to make money online and if this will be possible with your business idea, see three search channels that can give you more confidence:

• Google: do a search for keywords and phrases related to the theme of your course. Notice how relevant your idea is for search engines, if there is competition, paid advertisements and other factors indicating that there is someone spending money on it.
• BuzzSumo: this is a powerful SEO tool that evaluates the shares on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest and Google+. These results provide a good idea of how popular a topic is, what commitment it has and how your competition is doing.
• Amazon: through the Amazon search engine you can find out if there are books on the subject you want to address and if they sell well. If you see several results related, and if any of them are on the Bestseller list, this is a good indication that you are on the right track.

Simple as it is, this market research is quite effective to help validate your idea before finally start creating your course.

How to make money online: Commercial strategies

Who wants to know how to make money online need to understand a little about business strategies.

There are several effective methods to attract leads, assist in the conversion process, relationship and customer loyalty.

It all starts with drawing a profile of your target audience, understanding their needs and desires.

This is necessary to know how to present your product and also to give you a clear idea of what solutions you can offer to solve their problems.

First, it is important to understand that your customers are different people that may have the most varied reasons to get your course.

This variation of profile and needs is the reason why many professionals offer more than one price option.

Keep in mind that some people will make your course just as a hobby, others to enhance their curriculum and companies may also be interested in your material as a way to empower employees.

Each one of this profiles have an idea of how much they want, can and think they should spend, so different prices are an effective option to close the deal.

The ideal solution is provide three price options, because by having two values available, the client usually opts for the cheaper one. But when included an intermediate value, this becomes much more attractive.

But here comes the question: What can I offer to justify the difference in values?

Here are some options:

Consulting

Many people do not mind paying a little more to get extra help. Offer an hour daily or weekly to give online support.

Set an appointment with your student and remember that the longer you are available to give these extra classes, more money you can make.

Content update

If you intend to publish new content regularly, you are on track to earn more.

You can provide access to all your contents for a month, a year or even indefinitely. This is the case of sell subscriptions, rather than the entire course at one time. A lucrative method of keeping customers always active.

Support material

All extra material that can assist learning, such as eBooks, videos, presentations, among others, can be sold for a price a part.

As we pointed out earlier, methods that generate better results for your client are the ideal way to profit more.

Use your creativity to capture the interest of your audience and create strategies that reflect positively to your pocket.

How to make money online: Selling models

Now that you know how to make money online by analyzing your audience and creating options that meet their different needs, you have to understand a little bit more about sales models and how to price and offer your course.

Currently, companies and professionals are opting for two format types: subscription or one time sale.

Sale by subscription

Ideal for those who will produce a lot of content on a specific niche, in this model you offer the student free access to all your stuff, allowing him to do all the classes he wants, as often he wants, on payment of tuition.

Adopted by large companies such as Netflix, Spotify and Apple, the big advantage is that you sell once and keep profiting recurrently.

In addition, this model is hardly shaken by an economic crisis, since the fee is usually low and the person acquires the habit of paying that monthly fee for the service.

One time sale

Suitable for those who want to create content on different subjects and that do not necessarily need to be consumed together.

This option allows the instructor to create different packages, letting the student to decide what best suits his needs.

If you are English teacher, for example, you can sell separately lessons on grammar, literature and text production. The student purchase only what is of his interest.

Thus, we conclude that the answer to “how to make money online?” it’s wide and depends only on you to make it happen.

To ensure the success of your online course, count on the Coursify.me to create, promote and sell your content.

Complete elearning platform (LMS), the Coursify.me is already used by over 450 users and serves businesses and professionals in more than 60 countries.

Visit our website, test and find out how to make money online easily with your course on the internet.

The post How to Make Money Online appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

Its premise is to deliver content and attract the public to the product, instead of focusing on promote it directly.

What says the largest research about Inbound Marketing

The Inbound Marketing is a direct result of the change in consumer habits caused by the internet.

Thanks to technology changes occur fast and how the consumer relates to brands and decide what to buy for sure is not the same as ten years ago.

This transformation in the behavior of the public impacts directly on how companies conduct the disclosure of your products and services, which gave rise to the Inbound Marketing.

To follow this trend, the HubSpot has developed the report State of Inbound. 

The research covers the key challenges for marketing and sales professionals today, as well as ideas on market trends and the channels that soon will affect the way we all do business.

State of Inbound 2017: highlights

According to the report, keeping the growth of contacts/leads and conversion is still the main concern of companies.

Check out what the biggest marketing difficulties cited by professionals:

• Generate traffic and leads: 66%
• Prove the ROI of marketing activities: 37%
• Identify the right technologies: 32%
• Ensuring sufficient budget: 29%
• Manage site: 28%

As for innovation and tools used, the marketing professionals interviewed are increasingly considering the visual content.

When questioned about which channels of content distribution would add over the next twelve months, these were the results:

• YouTube: 56%
• Facebook Video: 50%
• Instagram: 42%
• Messages Apps: 33%
• Snapchat: 18%
• Podcast: 15%

When it comes to sales, following the precepts of Inbound Marketing, the report points out  that salespeople must take note of customers who shop through social networks, live on their mobile device, and research products on their own.

Regarding what is more difficult to do in sales compared with two to three years ago, the responses were as follows:

• Closing the deal: 42%
• Receive response from prospects: 35%
• Identify good leads: 33%
• Involve multiple decision makers: 28%
• Avoid discounts: 23%

What has been observed is that consumer buying habits are quickly evolving, and it is necessary that professionals be aware of these changes to plan better marketing and sales strategies.

The big advantage of Inbound Marketing is that it allows the use of creativity to attract consumer attention.

Who creates online courses can develop content and use means to engage with your audience that cost little and have a good result.

SEO, Content Marketing and Social Media Strategy, are the three pillars of Inbound and make it clear that its focus is the delivery of content and creating a relationship with the customer.

To download and read the full report click the link: State of Inbound 2017 

Complete eLearning platform, the Coursify.me helps you create and promote your course on the internet.

Visit our website, test the platform and start your own business.

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4 reasons to create a mini course

To create a mini course, it is important to understand its definition so that it does not end up turning into a complete online course.

When we talk about creating a mini course, we refer to a short course, which takes two hours or less to talk about a specific subject and works as a teaser of your main course.

Very used as marketing strategy, a mini course can be developed from content that you have already published on your blog, for example, or it can be a class or a module that is part of your online course.

You can still create a quick video covering a specific topic, a tutorial, or even a presentation. Create a mini course is not a difficult task and if you are not yet convinced of its usefulness, check out some reasons to make one right now.

Build an online audience

Essential to any business, if you do not yet have an online audience, create a mini course is an excellent strategy to begin building yours. Especially if you offer it for free to attract leads or for those who prepay for the whole course.

In addition, a mini course helps the professional to gain credibility, appearing as an expert in a particular subject. Therefore, the tip is to approach any topic within specific, which shows that you have a profound knowledge in your area of expertise.

Define what will be the theme of your course

When you create a mini course and make it available to the public, you can have an idea of what it’s demand before investing the time and resources needed to create a complete course.

If you’re still not quite sure on what should be the subject of your online course, this prior testing will also help you to have a base on what your audience is more interested in knowing.

Start making a profit soon

Develop a complete online course, if you are starting from scratch, can take a long time until the course is ready to be released, promoted and finally begin to make a profit.

When you create a mini course and put it to sale, you greatly reduced the development time and begins to have financial returns to invest in the creation of the complete course, in addition to already ensure some enrollments.

Start with a simpler project

If this is your first online course and you feel a bit insecure about how to do, start with a small and more simple course is a good idea to test and sharp your skills before leaving for a larger project.

When you create a mini course you have the chance to learn about the tools and technical resources needed, organize a teaching method and analyze its acceptance with the public before investing more time and effort into a course of higher complexity.

These are just some of the reasons that show why create a mini course is a good idea for your online business.

You can host both your mini course as the complete course in Coursify.me for free, taking advantage of all the features of our platform to create, sell and promote your online course on the internet.

Complete eLearning platform (LMS), visit the Coursify.me website, check out all the features we offer for the success of your course and start right now to profit by doing what you like.

The post Why create a mini course and how it helps my business appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

Strategies to Sell Online Courses

There is no miracle to sell online courses. As any other product that you want to sell in a competitive market, it is necessary to invest in disclosure.

With the growth of the online market and e-commerce, the main marketing actions drawn up by companies currently have the internet as a focus.

Consumers in the digital age in which we live, search for a product or service first on the internet, and tends not to give credibility to a brand that does not have a solid online presence.

This reality is an advantage for those who want to sell online courses, since the communication and marketing through internet is much more cheaper. But, at the same time, makes competition fierce, and to stand out in the midst of thousands of search results, the seller must go to the customer.

To guide your strategy, check out three practical tips of how to promote and sell online courses.

1. Use the tools at your disposal

Yes, social networks are important channels of contact with the public and should be used to sell online courses. We talked about how to use social media in the best way here.

In addition, create and deliver content for your product or service is critical to improve its positioning in the search engines, attract and help you develop a relationship with your target audience.

All this can be done through the following channels:

• YouTube: Share videos about your course and even some lessons for free to increase the curiosity of the student and create credibility;
• Blog: create content that interests your target audience and attract visitors to your website;
• Email Marketing: develop a segmented strategy for e-mail marketing according to the sales funnel;
• Social Networks: work social networks in an integrated way and promote your online course on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Google+;
• Sponsored Links: Google Adwords and Facebook Ads are tools that bring results in little time.

A digital marketing planning well done works all these channels in an integrated manner, focusing only on selling online courses.

2. Customize your material

Even if you develop your online course alone, when it is ready you will need a place to host it, so your students can access it.

This place is called eLearning platform (LMS). An online platform for distance education courses as the Coursify.me offers space and all the resources that the user needs to sell online courses, such forms of conduct financial transactions and receive payments.

In addition, the Coursify.me allows each instructor to has his own domain and customize page, keeping your visual identity.

This is very important for the online school stand out among the others and the student has a strong reference image, gaining more confidence in the product that is being offered.

3. E-commerce to sell online courses

Have a well structured sales page is essential to sell online courses.

The e-commerce is a more viable option and has a better cost for professionals and companies market products, because the high investment needed to open and maintain a physical store it’s not necessary.

In addition, there are several types of integrations that are effective and of utmost importance for the student experience, and this makes the difference at the time of hire.

The Coursify.me offers integration with the main tools of online payment, such as PayPal and PagSeguro, allowing financial transactions over the internet be done safely, easily and efficiently.

Complete platform for those who want to create and sell online courses, the Coursify.me has everything you need to put your course on the market right now, and the best, it’s free!

Visit our site, learn about our platform and know why Coursify.me is the best option for your business.

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Many professionals are faced with problems such as lack of time to develop more modules and deepen the content, little knowledge on recording and editing tools, little time available to promote the course and so on. If this is your case, don’t give up, look for someone to help you, make a partnership.

Create online courses: tips to close good partnerships

Create online courses, with the goal of keeping a long term business, involves a lot of work. And this is only the beginning, still has the process of promote and sell it.

But before you panic and give up the idea, remember that it is normal to entrepreneurs who are launching their startups in the market seek for partnerships, both to assist in product development, as well as in the marketing process. 

The great X of the question is that look for partners is one thing, making the partnership work is another. The obligations and benefits of each party in this type of relationship should be well established from the beginning, to avoid that the agreement runs out in prejudice.

For that your partnership works and contributes to you create online courses with the quality you want, check out some tips:

Define the purpose of the partnership

Put on paper exactly why the partnership is being established, if it is to help you create online courses, produce content, format the course, meet students, disseminate the material, etc. 

Then it is important to make clear in the contract which the liability of each part in the project, the deadlines, the relationship with the customer and, most importantly, what will be done if the agreement does not work.

Know your partner

Trust and respect are very important in a partnership and for this reason it is important that you know well your partner and learn how he behaves professionally. Before closing any agreement, analyze materials that he has already produced, notice how he meets the customer and if the purpose of his company it is common to your business.  

Keep in mind that the fact of the person being your friend do not turn he or she into a good business partner. Stay tuned, because for the customer, if you’re working with someone bad, you are also bad.

Divide and delegate tasks

There is no sense in close partnership and continue centralizing all responsibilities on you. By making this agreement be prepared to divide tasks and delegate a part of the project.  

These settings need to be clear between the partners, so that each knows exactly what their obligations and goals. Remember that also in the partnerships, it is common to have side projects and that you may not always have control over what you partner is doing.

Relationship with Consumers

Many partnership contracts focus on the provision of services, as each party will assist the other to create online courses, produce and write the content and other aspects of development, but this type of agreement must also predict how will work the relationship with the customer in common.

Set in contract who will be responsible for meeting the student, since answer questions, promote online chats, servicing of SAC and what more is needed to your type of business.

Create online courses is hard work and join forces is always a good way to add greater efficiency to the process and give confidence to the entrepreneur.  

After you find the ideal partner to develop your course, the Coursify.me is the other partner you seek. Complete eLearning platform (LMS), the Coursify.me has all the resources you need to make your material available and start selling courses now, and the best, without paying anything for it!

Browse our site and learn why we are the best option for those who want to create and sell online courses.

The post Partnership to create online courses: does it work? appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

How to promote online courses

Learn how to promote online courses is an issue almost as important as knowing how to develop the content of the course itself. It is useless to have a quality material if people can’t get to it.

Therefore, we have prepared three strategies that we consider the most efficient to promote online courses. Check out!

Create an email campaign

When you go to launch a product, there are three different moments in which you can disclose this news: before, during and after the launch. With an email marketing campaign well prepared, you can explore the three.

Pre-launch

If your online course is not ready yet, now is the time to talk about it to your audience. Be sure to ask questions about what they are most interested in learning, what they expect regarding the content and other questions that can guide the production according to the needs of your audience.

As more information you get to develop a successful online course, at the same time is created an expectation around it and at the time of its release, your audience will be excited to know the product.

Launch

When your course is ready to be launched, don’t forget to send an e-mail stating the release date for your list of contacts and subscribers. With 91% of people checking their e-mail boxes daily and 74% stating that they prefer receive communications via electronic mail, you need to make sure that you will not leave aside this important strategy to promote online courses.

Make it clear in the e-mail message what the person will receive when accessing your online course. What will she learn, how and what are the benefits of the course. Motivate your audience and don’t forget to include call to action buttons and link to the course.

Post-launch

One week after the launch, check the performance of your launch e-mail to see how many people opened and how many clicked the button. Done this analysis, prepare a new e-mail for people who do not have opened the first and one for those who have opened but not clicked the link or button. And of course, don’t forget to send a thanks message to those who signed up, followed by a request for feedback, making it clear that you are available in case of any doubt or suggestion.

For those who have not opened up, consider how you can change the subject and message of the email, creating a more attractive call. The same goes for those who opened but did not perform any action. Consider differentiated strategies, like change the time of dispatch, the location of the button and, especially, the message.

Share on Social Networks and boost with paid ads

If you have a business, we assume that you have already created pages about your product in all social networks and is producing content to promote online courses, attract and communicate with your audience. If you have not already done so, start now!

Now, if you are preparing for the launch of your online course and have done all this, define the best way to communicate this event through each channel. For example:

• LinkedIn: give greater emphasis on the benefits of your product. LinkedIn allows for paid advertising, and also offers the Pulse, platform own blog that allows you to publish posts related to your business.
• Facebook: short text, good image and link to further information, in this case, the page of your course. Paid Advertising is necessary in this social network that cut drastically the organic reach of publications made by companies. The good news is that Facebook lets you segment the audience to which your ad will be displayed, allowing your investment to be more accurate.
• Instagram: image or video, short text and many hashtags related to the subject of the post. Acquired by Facebook, Instagram also began to control the organic reach of business publications, although still not as severe. One of the social networks most visited, it is worth investing in paid ads here too.
• Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram History, YouTube: and of course, videos! Everyone loves a video, so if you can prepare a brief video presentation of your material, guaranteed success! Even if it is just to say hello and show a little of your day to day and from production of the course, the social networks that rely on short videos grow in number of users every day.

Place advertisement on your website and blog

To promote online courses and gain an audience, having a web site (or a landing page) and a blog is essential. These are the first pages that you will be able to use to promote your product.

Create action buttons, registration forms, electronic banners of different shapes, and include in your blog and page. If you want you can use the same banners in Google Ads.

To ensure that your ad will not appear as spam, the place where you put them must have relation with the subject displayed. For example, if your course is about programming, instead of simply putting an advertisement on the sides of your website and blog you can create more relevance and attract more audience to promote your course at a post that explains about some programming language.

If writing is not your best talent, don’t worry, invest in short phrases and images and make a tutorial, for example. The important is working well the keywords related to your product and some SEO techniques.

If you need some writing tips, check out our post about it and start your first lines without fear!

Depending on your company and practice area, you can find other ways to promote online courses, and this is great! These three strategies are just a few suggestions among the numerous possibilities of disclosure of an online product. 

By hosting your course with the Coursify.me you have access to a complete eLearning platform, with all necessary resources to host and help you promote online courses. And the best, for free! Visit Coursify.me and find out why we are the best option for your business.

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