I want you to take a moment to consider the last online course you bought.
- What moved you to buy that course?
- Why did you pick that course over other courses?
Some typical answers I hear to these questions are:
- The cost of the course which means that price matters
- The subject
- Reviews and recommendations
I will give a great review when I think an online program is effective. To me, it is all about course transformation. The main question for me is:
“Will this program help me achieve the outcome I am looking for?”
The thing is that as course creators, we are in the life transformation business.
With an online course, we are providing shortcuts for people to get from point A which is their current reality, to point B, their desired future and outcome, better and faster.
If your audience could do it themselves, they wouldn’t need you or your course!
As an industry expert, you have walked the path before them. And because you have real-life practical experience from your own transformation, you can guide them to their desired future, similar to what you have already achieved.
3 things we can learn from the best course creators
We don’t have to reinvent the wheel!
We might as well learn from the experience of the most successful course creators and what they do. Here are three things we can learn.
Lesson #1: Think of your course in context with other offers.
You can sell memberships, individual and group coaching, books, and other products in addition to your courses. Here, you can see a list of products and services that top creators consider for your inspiration.
Lesson #2: Grow your social media traffic and list of leads
The primary traffic to online courses comes from social media traffic. The next biggest source is your list of leads, like an email list. Word of mouth comes from people who like your services. You can grow your exposure with networking. I have added the list below with the percentage of how top creators attach students to their courses.
The list shows how you can attract students to your courses, and social media traffic is your program’s number one source of students.
The second source is the list of lists, and that’s really where the email list comes into play. What I do that’s helped me enormously is that whenever I have a conversation with my connections on LinkedIn or through networking referral partners, I get to grow my email list.
Paid advertising is strategy number 4. Based on my own experience, paid advertising can be an expensive affair that doesn’t convert all that great into selling courses. So, I would focus on the top three strategies to attract students to your class once you have created it.
Lesson #3: SHARE, SHARE, SHARE your value!
To get noticed and gain traffic from social media, you must consistently put your content on social media. Posting will help you get seen as an expert that has something valuable to share.
I know the task of social media content may seem overwhelming. There are people you can hire to do the heavy lifting for you. If you want to start yourself, here is a tip to make content creation easier.
You can repurpose your content!
When you create videos for your course, you can turn your videos into articles, blog posts, and memes. You can extract small videos that will help you grow your presence on YouTube. The point is that wherever you put your content out there, it will help you create awareness about the quality and value of your products and services and lead people to your online course.
There are other tactics to consider. One of those is creating free lead magnets like webinars and workshops to help people taste the value of what you offer. Once they know, they want to learn from you. You can lead them through your customer experience funnel to sign up for your course.
The bottom line is that for a course to be profitable; it has to be meaningful to your audience. It is all about the value you provide and the help you give your audience to get what they want better and faster.
If you are interested in how you can get started creating your online course creation, you can join my free webinar here.
Our online program is designed for anyone who wants to take their business to the next level. Turn your business into an online powerhouse with these 3 things you can do to get it done.
Read more:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-things-you-can-do-make-your-online-program-higgins-ma-mba-mbc
