If you’re looking to establish yourself as an authority in your field, foster a community of like-minded individuals around your business, and expand your reach, the best way to accomplish this goal is by creating an online course.
It might sound intimidating, but with the right tools, support system, and planning, it’s easier than you think.
Here are some questions to ask to help you find the right niche to target:
- Why do you want to create an online course?
- What knowledge/expertise do you have?
- Who is your target audience?
Identifying Your Niche
Before you create your online course, you’ll need to determine what you want to teach. This will help you narrow down your niche and target audience to focus on creating a product that addresses a specific pain point.
Here are some questions to ask to help you find the right niche to target:
- Why do you want to create an online course?
- What knowledge/expertise do you have?
- Who is your target audience?
If you have a specific target demographic, don’t just think about their age or gender. Consider their interests and level of education. Do they have children, pets, cars? What kind of technology do they use daily? All this information can be helpful to understand your audience better and tailor your online course accordingly.
Validate Your Idea
Ensure that your niche has a market by validating your ideas. Create a survey and collect data on what topics they’re struggling with, which will help you decide what content you want to include in your online course.
Validate that there’s actually a demand for it—don’t create a product just because it sounds like fun. Seek out existing users and ask them questions—through email or in-person to understand if they have any issues they need solving around their niche.
Do Keyword Research for Your Online Course
Another way to find a gap in your niche to know what services to offer is to do a Google search for keywords related to your chosen topic.
It’s a good idea to find commonly searched keywords around your topic and see if you can create content that offers more information on these topics than what’s currently available online. This will help you build trust with your audience and set yourself apart from competitors. You can also use it when creating content for your online course.
Planning Your Online Course Structure
Carefully plan your online course to ensure your audience will not miss important information.
Plan the outline of your online course carefully. Decide how you’ll structure it and which format you’ll use.
Here are examples of the most common course formats that you may want to consider using when creating an online course:
- Video
- Audio
- PDFs
- Live stream sessions
- Podcasts
Whichever format you choose, remember that a laid-out structure helps your members stay engaged with your content. It also gives them confidence in knowing where they should go next. A good practice is to use different formats in your course, switching things up when one gets boring. This way, you’ll get more engagement from your audience without forcing them to sit through a boring presentation.
Organise Your Online Course Content
Creating an online course involves structuring your knowledge about your niche into a cohesive and easily digestible sequence of lessons. If you’re unsure where to start, take a step back and think of a format where people can learn in a logical order that builds upon each lesson with new information.
Instead of creating one overarching how-to video on one topic, consider breaking down that topic into smaller pieces (how-to videos) that walk learners through each aspect with new information. You can also support your members’ learning journey by providing them with any of the following types of content:
- Workbooks
- Challenges
- Online forums
The key is thinking from your learner’s perspective, so their experience is enjoyable and valuable—not confusing.
Researching Your Online Course Content
Take a look at your competitors’ services and identify an area where your online course content can fill a gap and what it will take to make it happen. Discover what’s missing from their courses —and create something better. If they aren’t happy with current offerings on sites like YouTube or Udemy, maybe you can teach what they want in a better way than those platforms offer.
Check Online Forums and Social Media Groups
Using social media groups and online forums for audience research can help you tailor your online course to meet their needs.
Search online forums and social media groups for people talking about your topic—and ask them what they’d want in a course.
The best way to create an online course is to find out what problems need solving, then offer a solution with creative, unique courses.
Ask your audience directly for their opinions to garner their feedback. Conducting market research is time-consuming, but it will help you determine what information should be included in your course, how much it will cost, and what length it needs to be.
Doing your research will also help you find inspiration for creating your online course. After all, when it comes to creating a successful digital product like an online course, it pays to learn ideas and methods from proven successes.
Even if your course is already created, continue monitoring what market trends might be affecting your specific niche market. By keeping up with your target audience’s wants and needs, you’ll develop a reputation for creating successful digital products.
A membership platform lets you offer courses to members. Wisdome, the most affordable learning management, and content delivery system in the market allows you to launch your online business in no time.
Click here and learn how to make money from your knowledge.
Tune in again next week…
Thank you for your time reading our guide today. Visit us again next week as we continue our discussion on how to create an online course that sells.
Learn how to create engaging presentations and video content to provide your members with a premium experience. Feel free to leave your questions in the comments below if you would like them answered in future posts!
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