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Whether you teach yoga or offer technical consulting services, selling an online course or creating video classes will help you amplify the impact of your teaching and expand your pool of students. There is no one-stop shop for online learning, so students are taking online courses through thousands of websites—which can include yours.
There are many reasons to sell courses online, including supplementing your in-person classes, creating a passive income stream by selling digital products, and building your visibility as an expert in your field. Read on to learn about how to design, produce, and sell an online course.
Designing an online course
Before you film your first lesson, take some time to determine the type of online courses you want to create. Perhaps you’re simply adapting classes you already teach in person. Perhaps you’re building an entirely new curriculum. You may even want to take a few online courses yourself to see what works and what doesn’t for other teachers.
A few course design concerns to think through include:
Class format: Consider whether you should offer individual classes—such as a pilates class or an hour-long dive into a specific topic—or a multi-lesson course. Courses can even come with additional reading materials and homework assignments.
Prospective students: Think carefully about who your course is for and what their goals may be. This will help you develop the curriculum—and market the course.
Market: Search online for courses similar to yours in subject matter, audience, or format. Look at what people are charging for similar types of classes. Then think through how you can make your course stand out against the competition and how you can market it to your existing audience.
Producing online courses
You want students to complete your online course feeling that they got out of it everything they hoped to learn and that they enjoyed the experience. By creating courses with high production value, you can help surpass their expectations.
It may be worth investing in the following elements:
Setting: Choose a camera-ready location to film, even if it’s just against a blank wall, with good light, or improve the appearance of your set with film lights and reflectors.
Video and audio: A high-quality video camera and microphone will help you look and sound your best. If you don’t have the skills to record great video and audio, consider paying for professional help.
Video production and editing: Another investment to consider is professional video editing software. Or hire a professional to edit the recordings, add title cards and graphics, and design any interactive elements you need.
Supplementary materials: If you’re giving students resources to download or print out, make sure they’re attractively designed as well. If you can’t afford to hire a graphic designer, consider purchasing premade design templates.
Selling your online course through your website
One of the most straightforward ways to sell an online class is to do it on your own website. You can place the course contents in a subscribers’ section, which you charge students to access.
Selling an online course on your website can take two forms:
Recurring subscription: If you’re an instructor who plans to regularly post new classes, such as exercise videos, you can charge a recurring monthly or annual fee for your students to access this growing library of videos.
One-time fee: If you are selling a higher-level professional course with several chapters and a combination of videos and print resources, consider charging a one-time fee for lifetime access to the course. You can post all the modules in sequence, so students can take the course at their own pace, or start the course at a certain date and post new modules at specific times.
If you have built one-on-one contact with students into your course, you can add appointment scheduling options to your course package. Also consider setting up a private group or chat for your students to engage in discussions with you and one another.
Make sure you build a marketing plan into your course design. One way to get people to sign up for your online classes is to post sample classes or video teasers in the public section of your site. You may also want to send email newsletters to clients and past students, advertise the course on professional forums, and post about it on social media.
This post was updated on August 21, 2023.