6 Easy Steps to Create and Sell Online Courses

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One of our favorite ways to make passive income is to create and sell online courses. If you are looking for another income stream, creating and selling online courses is easier than you might think!

The great thing about creating an online course is you only have to create it once, and then you can sell it over and over again. Also, you can reach a wider audience because your course is online. This means you can have students from all around the world and in any time zone all taking your course when it’s convenient for them.

In this article, we are going to break down how to create and sell your online course in six simple steps. Plus we’ve included a free printable with over 150 profitable online course ideas to help you get started.

Here are six simple steps that will help you create and sell online courses in no time:

1. Choose a profitable topic for your online course.

2. Find a platform to host your course.

3. Create your course outline.

4. Fill in the course with value and content.

5. Set a price for your course.

6. Market and sell your course and start making money!

Let’s dive into each of these steps in more detail.

1. How to come up with a topic for a profitable online course

There are many easy ways to get ideas for profitable online courses. One way is to Google the topics you are considering and see if there is a demand for that information. Don’t worry if you notice other people have already created courses on your topic. That’s actually a good sign! It means there are successful courses on the market already, and you can add your own unique flair and guidance. This is the fun thing about education… we are all expanding and growing, and there is always something new to add to the mix.

Decide what your online course will be about by choosing a topic you are passionate about or have mastered yourself. It’s much easier to talk about and teach a subject that you love, rather than forcing yourself to teach something that feels completely new to you.

What is a skill you can teach? Some popular areas for creating online courses include parenting, business, marketing, photography, hobby, personal finance, fitness, coding, and web design. Click here to access our free list of 100 Passive Income Course Ideas!

Start by thinking in terms of your own transformation. Some of the best online courses help people overcome something they struggle with or that keeps them up at night. The reason you want to think of the transformation is you want to provide detailed steps, value, and achievable goals, so the person is willing to pay for the course.

Also, think in terms of high value… a life-altering transformation is something people will be willing to sign up for now AND they will be willing to pay now.

You probably have been through a few life shifts that you can help others through. You don’t have to be an expert or be certified to share what you know. Often, the best teachers are the ones who just went through the experience themselves. You just need to be a few steps ahead in order to be qualified to teach what you know through your online course.

2. Find a platform to host your online course

If you want to create and sell online courses, you’ll need to choose a course hosting platform. This is where your course content will live and where students will access it. There are many platforms to choose from to host your online course. Some popular platforms include Udemy, Thinkific, Kajabi, Skillshare and Teachable. We prefer Teachable because it allows you to easily outline your course and then create a sales page. With our link you can get started and test out Teachable for free. They also provide tons of support and education to help you get your online course created and launched.

You could also use Facebook Business pages set to private to host courses for free. This is a great way to connect through a social media platform AND also host a course where members can come together and meet. Just know that Facebook could decide to ban you at any time and then your courses and materials could be difficult to access. We recommend saving all your content onto your computer or an external hard drive as a backup if you choose to use Facebook.

Another way to go is to host your course right on your own website. You can use a plugin like Wishlist Member or Memberful on a WordPress Site and have your course available for access via a login on your homepage. You can easily set up a WordPress Site with a host provider like Bluehost. With our link to Bluehost, you can get set up for as low as $2.95 a month. This is a great way to go if you want to have your audience stay on your website and also see new things you might be offering.

3. Create an Outline for Your Online Course

Next, you need to create a detailed outline of the steps you took to get from where you were (a beginner) to where you are now (a master at your craft). It can even be helpful to share your story about how you felt when you started, how awkward you felt, and what you had to do mentally to stick to your goal. Go back in time and remember how it felt to be a beginner and think of what inspired you, what motivated you, and what tricks you discovered along the way.

Oftentimes, during this phase, you will discover that you came up with your own process or system to get through your transformation. Highlighting this process can be what sets you and your course apart from others.

Also, try to think of real-life examples of how you have helped others move through this process if you have been teaching it in person already. If you haven’t taught it to others yet, write down how you moved through the process. How did learning this new skill change your life? What was your life before and after your transformation? If you hadn’t learned this, what would life be like? What benefits do you experience now that you have this new skill in your life?

List out the materials your students will need. Make a list of any worksheets, tipsheets, or videos that you will need to create and include in your course. List out and include everything from specific lesson topics to any assignments or quizzes that you want your students to complete.

Once you have a solid outline, it’s time to start creating your course content. This can be in the form of written articles, videos, audio recordings, or even a combination of all three. If you’re not sure how to get started, there are plenty of online course creation tools and resources that can help.

4. Fill In Your Outline and Expand on Your Topic

When sitting down to fill in the outline of a new course, I often start by thinking about the tools and practices I needed to master in order to achieve my transformation. Tools are the physical or digital items that you might use or work with to achieve a skill or goal. And practices are the systems, methods, and approaches that you pick up and learn while you are going through a change or mastering something new.

What tools did you use, and what practices did you master during your transformation? Specifically, list out HOW you used the tools and HOW you practiced. Describe what you had to master in order to achieve your goal or make your shift or change? List out what helped you along the way. Did you practice daily? Was there a specific skill you started with and then added layers? Did you have to remove or add anything to your life? What were there tools, apps, products, or materials you invested in and now recommend? And what practices come to mind that you need to break down into steps?

5. Set a Price and Market Your Course

Finally, you need to set a price for your course. This will depend on a number of factors, including the length and quality of your content, the demand for the topic you’re teaching, whether you are providing private coaching, and what other similar courses are charging related to your topic.

A course with a few simple written modules could be priced at $47 to $97. If you are providing more details along with step-by-step videos, you could price your course between $297 and $497. When you provide ongoing coaching, Zoom calls, and texting support for a month or two, you can increase the price to between $597 and $2500. If you are providing a transformation over say 6 months and you are providing a proven method for a highly sought after transformation, then you would want to increase the price even more. Some coaches are charging between $5000 and $10,000+ for online courses that provide private coaching on the side.

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6. Market and Sell Your Course

Once you’ve finalized setting a price, you’re ready to start marketing and selling your online course! This can be done through social media, email marketing, or even paid advertising. The key is to get the word out there and attract students to your course.

I highly recommend setting up automated marketing for your course so you can start earning passive income from all of your hard work. This could look like setting up a funnel leading to an email signup. You can even automate your email list. This way, potential students can sign up and receive a series of emails about the topics covered in the course. You can also send coupons and offers when you run sales.

The goal with your email list and social media is to keep your courses and offers top of mind with potential and existing students. You can do this easily by providing them with value in your content that speaks to the topic of your course. Also help them see what it would be like to achieve the transformation you are offering.

Some of my favorite ways to market my new courses are to create videos for social media such as reels on Instagram, sharing the transformation my clients are having with the training, and inviting people to receive a freebie packed with value and details about the course.

Whenever I complete a new course or start to put one together, I go through a checklist of sharing details about the upcoming course to many of my social media channels. I blast details on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, as well as my email list. You can generate a lot of excitement around a new course by teasing it to your current audience. Don’t forget to ask them questions about what they’d love to learn.

Ultimately, think of your online course as the solution to your audiences’ problems. You are helping them through a transformation. You get to be the bridge to help them get from where they are now to where they want to go. Your course gets to provide them with HOW to get to where they want to go. If you can show them you are going to provide them with high quality tools and an easy system to get there, they will be more likely to buy.