You know how much work it’s going to take to create an online course from scratch even if you have a good model to help you put it together. You’re probably a bit concerned about how you’ll make a profit afterward, but the following should help you see some possibilities.
1. Straight Sell
The most straightforward way to make money from a course is to make it a product. According to Kajabi, “…you can simply create and sell online courses since the market continues to thrive.” You need to get into that action, but you have to invest a considerable amount of effort into marketing your product. There are a lot of e-courses online, and you need to make sure your course can compete with the others. If you’re successful, then you’ve created a new residual stream of income.
2. Free with Certification Fee
Another way to make money is by simply offering the course for free, but make sure the certification associated with the course is not free. A chunk of people skip buying an e-course because they’re afraid they’ll waste money. They don’t know if what you’re offering has value, and some people don’t want to take that risk. If you offer for free, then they’ll see its value. After going through the course, they’ll want to pay for the certification because it’ll have professional value, so you still end up making a profit.
3. Subscription Profits
It might be a good idea to create a subscription service. You’ll be creating a more reliable stream of income, and you’ll build a good following if you’re successful. Now, this only works if you’re thinking of creating several courses you know your audience will be hungry for. Creating this much content from scratch is going to take a considerable amount of time. Be sure you’re ready to take on this challenge and that you’ll be able to continue creating content.
4. Tiered Payment System
If you’re thinking of creating introductory content as well as advanced content, then a good option is to introduce a tiered payment system. Here’s where you’ll get the opportunity to sell your product at different prices. For example, you can give away introductory lessons for free to hook your audience, but force folks to pay for premium or in-depth courses. This system could work with or without the subscription model. Offering your introductory course at a reduced price or for free makes it easier for your audience to share with others, so that’s a bonus.
5. Pre-Selling
Making a course takes a lot out of you, so you’re definitely taking a risk with this move unless you don’t. Yes, you could make your profit by using the pre-sell model to make your cash. You’ll have to poll your audience first to see if they’re interested in some of your course ideas. After that, pre-sell the course, and get started if you get enough folks to pre-buy the content. Doing this ensures your product will be sold rather than just hoping that it will.
6. Sell Something Else
Some folks make their courses not to sell them but to sell something else. An online course could establish you as an authority figure and could make you seem quite knowledgeable. Maybe the online course you’re giving away for free is there to hook people to other services or products. For example, maybe after the course is taken, your audience will be interested in having a one-on-one with you to pick your brain. Here’s where you get to charge folks if they want to discuss your online course or anything else. You could also use these courses to get folks to trust the products you sell a little more.
7. Stick to Licences
Maybe you don’t want to market your online course because this part could be quite challenging, but you still know you can make a good online course. That’s okay because you can still make some money by selling licenses instead. What you’ll need to do is market your e-courses to companies or small businesses that want to do this but don’t have the time. You’ll have to find your niche and make good content. You could work on your courses beforehand, or go directly to the company and see if they want you to create a course for them.
You have many ways to make a profit from your e-course if you want to. All of this is going to take some time, but you have the chance of creating a reliable stream of income from courses you will only need to update every so often afterward, and that’s a good thing.