Even those who do not teach as their main activity see the option of recording educational videos and making them available on virtual platforms as an opportunity for extra income. However, creating a course is one thing, selling it is another.

To help those entering this market, we have put together five marketing tips for beginners that are simple to understand and apply. 

5 marketing tips for selling online courses

The potential for gains in scale and the low-cost advertising opportunities go hand in hand in online business. These are advantages that are too good to ignore, that’s the appeal of selling online courses.

However, it is easy to get lost in advertising actions when you are a beginner. Knowing how to persuade consumers requires method and strategy.

With the 5 marketing tips we’ve put together, you can take the first steps towards selling online courses with a pragmatic vision.

1. Offer a free sample

Offering a free sample is a great strategy for those who are just starting out and need to attract an audience and prove authority. 

To promote and sell online courses, free samples can be offered in different ways, as we will see below.

Simple samples

The advantage of offering simpler samples is precisely that less work is required to prepare something.

In these cases, it is recommended to use some material you already have, such as a written work or recorded class, and transform this material into smaller content, such as a presentation, short videos, etc.

Write articles, for example, tends to be the least expensive way to offer course previews for free.

Lessons can be structured briefly in text to expound ideas and prove authority.

This type of content can be published on your own blog, on specialized websites, used as a lead magnet and even posted in parts on social media to attract an audience.

Short videos are another alternative, although this option, depending on the expected result, may be a little more expensive.

 Depending on your familiarity with technology, there may or may not be a need to hire professionals to edit the content or even a studio and equipment. However, nothing stops you from turning your smartphone towards you and starting filming. We only advise you to invest in a microphone to ensure audio quality.

After all, no matter how simple your promotional content is, for selling online courses people need to hear what you have to say.

– Creating videos: how to get good results while spending little

Complex samples

The most complex and labor-intensive samples to formulate have the advantage of greater depth in the content, which can be useful to attract the most demanding customers. 

Writing and making available an eBook on a topic is one of these types of samples. No matter how brief the volume, in this case, the effort will not be just to write it. The layout and visual identity are also essential details for a good result.

Distribution can be facilitated with self-publishing tools such as Amazon and other companies, but it can also be done through your own website or social networks.

Another idea is to format lessons from a course module into an email sequence, which invites you to watch the complete (paid) course at the end.

The effort to create this type of material is greater because, firstly, it requires a lot of organization. E-mails are generally brief, so the content must be offered in small pieces in each message.

The text must be appealing and generate curiosity. The good news is that you can count on artificial intelligence tools for this.

– 8 Best AI Tools for Writing Emails

The advantage of emails is having direct access to the inbox of potential consumers, where attention tends to be greater than in the increasingly impersonal feeds of social networks. Furthermore, the email can integrate other types of content into the message, such as updates about your courses, periodic news, videos, links to a free eBook, etc.

Finally, another idea is to create a free online mini-course. It can be delivered in real time, promoted via live streaming tools, or recorded once and made available on an LMS platform or on your own website.

The important thing is to be thought-provoking and offer a call to action to promote your major course.

– Step by step to create an online mini-course

2. Create shorter “gateway” courses

An interesting alternative to the free sample for promoting and selling online courses could be to provide a shorter version of the course at a lower price.

Many people are after very specific knowledge and skills. Your course may be too comprehensive, long and expensive for this audience.

Breaking it down into smaller parts with objective approaches can yield parallel sales for people with varied interests.

So, consider thinking about how to recontextualize the course you already have recorded or simply shorten it.

Perhaps some modules can be reorganized, divided or re-recorded without much effort to meet more specific demands.

In these shorter courses, you can also advertise the opportunity for further development with your full course, which is your main product.

3. Know your competition

More as a guide for planning marketing actions than as a one-off measure, knowing the competition is a necessity that first-time virtual entrepreneurs cannot ignore.

To get started, you can check what the competition is offering on platforms focused on selling online courses, social media, Google search results, etc.

However, the interesting thing is to go beyond national borders to expand your notions regarding both the creation of the course and the sales and advertising strategies.

Researching what people working in the same area are doing in different countries presents barriers of different natures, but which can be overcome.

Automatic translators and subtitles are increasingly powerful for deciphering content. At the same time, VPN tools are an excellent measure of mask IP and overcome geolocation blocking impositions, both for viewing content and payment conditions.

Structuring and selling online courses has varied nuances that go far beyond the presentation of the content.

This kind of prospecting on platforms in other countries can be especially useful to see more possibilities from an operational and commercial point of view.

– 3 ways to validate your idea before creating online courses

4. Establish partnerships 

Getting traction on word-of-mouth advertising starting from scratch is not simple. Therefore, establishing partnerships is an excellent way to build bridges and gain space with new audiences. 

Nowadays, podcasts and vodcasts spread quickly. Many fields of activity offer programs for interested listeners and contacting them to participate can generate good opportunities.

To create guest posts on specialized websites it is also a relatively simple type of partnership to achieve.

List publications that interest you and contact them directly, demonstrating what you have to offer.

Finally, personal contact in social circles you frequent (associations, clubs, educational institutions, virtual groups) and attendance at conferences in your sector cannot be ignored as opportunities to create connections and structure joint actions.

– Everything you need to know about Guest Post

5. Create a community

A relevant fact about selling online courses is that the content is not the only criterion for choosing consumers: customer support and indication of who attends the course are also key selling points.

The totality of people interested in either the content, support or interaction forms a community. To create and maintain a community in a decent way, it is essential to have a virtual presence. 

This is a work of patience and consistency, and can vary depending on the course and professional.

It is recommended to regularly create content on at least one social network that best serves the course’s theme and audience, and one messaging channel.

Daily posts on social media are useful for attracting the attention of new audiences and generating interaction.

The messaging channel (Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord) is useful for maintaining direct dialogue, preferably daily, with those who already know your proposal and want to delve deeper into it.

Such tools also allow for eventual automated triggering, which helps to maintain the communication in busy times.

Consistent and quality work is essential both to captivate people who are not familiar with your course and those who are already customers and want to get more out of the experience.

In this sense, the expansion of the community may imply the hiring of assistants to maintain the support and interaction efficiency.  

Periodic events, such as webinars and live broadcasts on social networks are also useful for new audiences to discover interest in what you have to offer.

However, care must be taken to assess the real demand for these events to adjust the frequency. After all, you don’t want to invest an hour to entertain a rotating audience of half a dozen people every week.

– Facebook groups: advantages for your business

Time to start selling online courses

From a large universe of strategies for selling online courses, these five are the ones that we consider the easiest to start applying to get results. However, they all require effort and planning to make this happen.

Invest the necessary time in each of them, without trying to do everything at the same time. Thus, it will be possible quantify the efficiency of each, learn how to perform them properly and understand what works best for your strategy for selling online courses.

Complete eLearning platform, Coursify.me it’s 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, Coursify.me is a dynamic and customizable Learning Management System (LMS).

– Learning Management System: What is it?

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

The post Selling online courses: 5 marketing tips for beginners appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

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. 

– How to sell online courses

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 generate leads

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 price 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.

The post Know how much you can profit from selling online courses appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.