Create and sell your own online training in 7 steps!

Great to see you here. You’re probably wondering: "How do I create and sell an online course myself?"

We understand that curiosity. With e-learning, you enrich the lives of your students by teaching them something new! Plus, you can earn 'mountains' of passive income yourself. Although... that sounds about as realistic as losing 10 kilos in a week. Or winning a million in the lottery.

Yet, this is often promised. Ads on Facebook and Instagram lead you to believe that entrepreneurs generate mountains of money after launching their online program. I can hear you thinking: if it’s that easy, why isn’t everyone doing it?

The reality is a bit different. Creating a successful online course is actually hard work!

You really need to create a strong online training if you want to be able to buy a swimming pool with it. And that Hummer won't just appear out of thin air either... So, you’d be wise to dive into a solid step-by-step plan before you get started yourself. That makes the chance of earning 'a mountain' of passive income much greater ;-) So, by all means, keep reading!

Is it not entirely clear to you what e-learning is exactly? Then read: What is e-learning?

Create and sell an online course yourself in 7 steps!

Step 1 - Your expertise

If you are going to create an online training, you can compare it to starting a new business. If you want to make a profit, your idea has to be damn good. Without a good idea, you cannot create a successful online training. It makes sense, then, that you first start by thinking about the business plan for your online training.

This step is very simple if you already have an offline training course. You can simply convert it into an online learning intervention. But even if you start without a clear starting point, you can generate income by developing e-learning. You just need to get clear on where you truly have something to add.

So, grab a piece of paper and answer the following questions:

1. What part of your work makes you incredibly happy?
2. What are you truly good at?
3. What are you already doing that you could create an online training about?
4. Can you call yourself an 'expert' in a certain field?

In step 2, you will translate your answers into a specific topic for your e-learning. ‍

Step 2 - The topic of your online training

It is advisable to focus on the sales strategy for your training very early in the development process. Selling e-learning requires quite a bit of thought, and that starts the moment you begin brainstorming the topic. You should determine which course topic is likely to sell best. Your training needs actual product-market fit. But how do you find that out?

Take another look at the list of topics you made in step 1. Now write down 3 specific topics you could create an online course about. Ensure that the topic for your online training meets the following criteria:

• You know a lot about this topic
• There are very few others who know as much about this topic
• There are many people who want to learn more about this

Ready? Great. Time to test if your idea will actually catch on.

Be sure to check out our latest free tool: the E-learning Needs Scan. Answer the questions in under 10 minutes and receive a personalized advice report, written by our own e-learning experts.

Step 3 - Selling an online course? Test the possibilities!

Don't let developing a training course cost you blood, sweat, and tears only to yield nothing. Before you start, implement a few growth hacking tactics! These techniques allow you to test whether there is a market for your e-learning.

• ‍Trigger test

In a hypothetical scenario, you create three different Facebook ads about potential topics for an online training. Let's say:

• one about cuddling spiders
• one about cuddling puppies
• one about cuddling alpacas

Each ad focuses on a different course topic. You select the same target audience and the same budget for each ad (this is crucial!). You run the ads and, after half a month, look back to see how they performed. Which ad received the highest CTR (click-through rate)? In other words, the highest frequency of clicks.

It is important never to rely solely on your gut feeling. No two people are the same, and you cannot decide for others what they might or might not be interested in.

Did you expect a training course on cuddling spiders to be the most popular?

2. Smoke test

The next step is to create a landing page with a form where interested people can sign up. This is similar to a pre-registration for your online training. This allows you to verify whether there is actual interest in your course.

3. High Hurdle

Still having doubts? Does it seem too unlikely that people would want an e-learning course about spiders? Test whether this training is truly marketable by creating a landing page with a very long survey.

Are interested people willing to put in the effort to fill out the entire form?

Then they can't wait to receive information about cuddling spiders!

Step 4 - Choosing e-learning software

Building your online training can begin! But not without the right e-learning software... We recommend taking your time to discover which learning environment best suits your online training.

In this blog, we tell you exactly how to make an informed choice for e-learning software.

Our LMS, Pluvo, is packed with features. You can easily create an online course yourself. Pluvo has three packages, so you choose what fits the size of your organisation.

‍Choose a Learning Management System combined with an authoring tool. This allows you to create the online training and analyze the results in the same place!

‍Step 5 - Create the structure of your online training

After all the preparatory steps, it is now time to actually start building your online training. Time to celebrate! 🥳 Start by determining the structure. This will make it much easier to fill your e-learning with content later on. Follow these steps to do so.

1. Write down everything a student should be able to do after completing your online training. Make this as concrete as possible, such as "being able to write a cover letter" or "understanding the basics of SEO." You can think of these as learning objectives.

2. Write down all the steps someone needs to take to achieve the learning objectives. These are your sub-goals.

3. Divide the steps into sections. Sections make your course material easier for students to follow because they allow you to group related topics together.

4. Fill the sections with lessons. This could be, for example, "structure of the letter" or "having your cover letter proofread."

5. Check whether the sections are in a logical order.

Done! You can now get started with populating your e-learning.

Step 6 - Write content for your online training

Now that your structure is in place, you can start developing the content. You’re probably eager to get your knowledge down on digital paper, but keep the following points in mind!

1. ‍The student's level

Always consider the current level of your students. If you make your course material too easy, students won't feel challenged. However, if you make your modules too difficult, they may become demotivated.

As a result, they won't finish the online training and may regret their purchase.

Therefore, always start your online training with the easiest part. Align the level of this section with the current level of your students. Ensure that someone can jump right into the training. You can gradually increase the difficulty in the following chapters.

2. ‍The didactics of an online training

From a didactic perspective, it is wise to consider the 4 different learning preferences. Don't get me wrong, every student uses all of them, but not everyone has the same dominant preference.

• Visual learners are the visual thinkers among us. They learn best when you include videos, photos, GIFs, and other visual elements in your online training.

• Auditory learners retain information best by listening to explanations. Think, for example, of podcasts.

• Read/write learners are the group of people who remember things by reading or writing. You will need to incorporate this into your online training as well.

• Kinesthetic learners learn by doing and applying things themselves. Quizzes, tests, and games are ideal for them!

The perfect online training alternates between these methods so that everyone stays engaged.

3. ‍Writing your own e-learning text

If you don't have any content yet, you'll have to start writing yourself. This sometimes seems like a very long process. That's because writers are often perfectionists. Don't be!

Use your structure and just start writing down everything that comes to mind about the topic.

You can always cut or rewrite sentences later. You'll see that a lesson or chapter gets written much faster this way.

Do make sure these blocks of text aren't too long. Otherwise, your students may quickly lose motivation. Facebook, Tweakers, or NU.nl are just a few mouse clicks away from your learning environment. So alternate between different types of content (text, video, images).

Also read our blog on writing web copy, for more tips on writing online content.

No time, money, or desire to make professional videos, but you still want to show your students something? Record your screen with, for example, Camtasias or Quicktime and talk through what you're doing. And/or record your face. Very personal and yet low-threshold!

Step 7 - Test your online training

Your online training is finished. Still, people won't just buy it, no matter how great the end result is. First you have to convince them of the added value of your training. You can do this by letting future customers follow part of your course for free! This also makes the chance of dissatisfaction much smaller. After all, they know what to expect from the e-learning.

A free course, by the way, doesn't fill up by itself either: here, too, you need a solid marketing plan.

Create and sell your own online training

Now that you have that pile of genuinely interested people, it's time to convert them into customers! Write several emails and schedule them with an email tool such as Campaign Monitor or Mailchimp.

In this email, explain why they should sign up for your fantastic trainings.

Also add some social proof: a quote from someone who has already taken your training, for example. Or someone who was positive about your company.

Ready to get started with your online course? Schedule a call with Pluvo.