eLearning is Not The Future it is The NOW!

This skyrocketing growth is fuelled by people’s desire for information – to help them improve their quality of life, learn new skills to become more employable, further pursue a passion… the list is endless.

Now you can claim your own piece of this very large cake by producing and selling your very own online training courses. eLearning is here to stay and it’s only going to get bigger. It’s time you were on board.

Here’s a quick cheatsheet to help you get started:

1. Your Idea

Which category are you in:

• I don’t know what my course subject will be.
• My subject is clear to me, but I need help refining and publishing it.
• I have many different ideas but need help deciding on the best one.

You need to ask yourself the following questions:

• What am I good at doing and what am I passionate about?
• What qualifications do I have that others could benefit from?
• Do people ever ask me for help or advice?
• What training courses have I been on?
• Do I already run a business or website that could benefit from an online course?
• Have I ever written or posted something that’s been very well received, i.e., lots of comments, engagement, and social interaction?

2. Identify Demand

How can you be sure people will want to learn what you want to write about?

The market is always King. You can’t sell a product nobody wants, no matter how good you think it is.

Use the Google Keyword Planner tool on your prospective course subject.

Do you have an existing client base? If so, ask them for their opinions.

Do the same with your Facebook fans or friends. Use Facebook’s own poll app as well just to make it more appealing to them.

Go deeper into this with a market research survey. This will help you find out what your potential clients would expect to get from your course and how much they’d be prepared to pay.

Look at the competition. Is anyone else out there offering a course on the same subject? Don’t despair if they are as that most likely means there’s a demand and this company has done much of your market research for you.

Take a look at the following on the course that they’re offering:

• Pricing
• Structure
• Feedback and comments they’ve received on social media.

How could you improve on what they’re offering? Extra modules? More videos?

3. Price

Don’t price your course too low. Perceived value is very important. Who buys (or wants to receive) a £1.99 bottle of perfume as a gift? Clients need to value what they’re paying for.

What will your pricing and access structure be?

• One fixed price, limited/unlimited access
• Unlimited access with a subscription charge

Study another course carefully. Can you use their model in your own business?

How are you going to deliver your course?

• Use a course delivery platform
• Use a self-hosting solution

How many sales will you need to break even?

Are there any ongoing costs?

If you’re intending to offer extras like a moderated support forum or a private Facebook group, be sure to factor the amount of time required to run either.

4. Plan

The most important thing to consider about your course is:

• How will your student be transformed upon completion?
• Will they be able to get a better job? Earn extra money? Create something that they couldn’t create before?

Decide on a name for your course.

Create an outline and syllabus.

Decide on the number of modules and name them.

How will your presentation slides look for each module and particular points within each module? Don’t overdo animations – you want to put across your subject material not show off your PowerPoint skills.

Which resources are you going to use for each module?

• Video
• Audio
• PDF’s

What else are you going to give your students?

• Will there be an exam with certification?
• Are there any bonuses you want to offer?
• Will they get direct access to you for support?

5. Create

Having lots of shorter videos rather than just a few really long ones increases the perceived value of your course. Shorter videos will also hold your students’ attention more easily.

Make sure you have the necessary equipment to record your videos. There must be no annoying background noises as this looks very unprofessional. Ensure you have the necessary software to edit your videos and the skills to use it. Outsource if necessary.

Acquire resources to “liven up” your presentations.

Acquire “extras” and bonuses for your course.

Produce presentation slides for each module.

Produce audio, video and PDF assets for each module.

6. Test

Test everything before you upload it to the course delivery platform or your webserver. Better still, get someone else to test it.

Double-check all spelling and grammar and ensure that any links you’ve put into your slides or documentation are still valid.

Once you upload your files test again, looking at everything from a student’s perspective. All downloads should work, and all videos should play properly.

7. Launch

Decide on a launch period (if promoting to an existing list):

• 0-7 days – send 4 emails
• 8-10 – send 5 emails
• 11-14 – send 6 emails

Write the required email sequence mixing the below as required:

• teaser
• explanatory
• available
• answering questions
• surprise bonus
• gratitude
• course closing

Promote your course on social media, booking ads where necessary:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

Send all traffic to a landing page where you can collect their details and start them off with your email sequence.

Be sure to personally welcome anyone who signs up for your course and ALWAYS over-deliver with brilliant customer service.

Nearly everyone has a skill that they could teach others to do. We’re right in the middle of the information age. People crave information and they’re happy to pay to acquire it.

I hope my eLearning is Not The Future it is The NOW! post gave you lots of valuable information to help you if you’re considering creating your own course.

To Your Success!