To be an online teacher you need focus, determination and know-how. Do you have all these traits? Don’t worry this article will take you through the stages. If you are already a seasoned online course pro this means you have already changed the lives of students and professionals alike by sharing your valuable knowledge.

Teaching online is an essential recipe to any entrepreneur, expert or thought leader as you will be able to exemplify your understanding through your specific skill set. The fastest and most impactful way to get your knowledge to shine is by getting out there with your online courses and generating money.

Do you have the ambition to make online teaching courses into a career? Read on to find out what it takes to be a course pro! 

Teach Online Today!

What is that one skill you have that you do better than everyone else? Do you have a primary topic to express your passion?  Are you good at elaborating on a specialist subject and thoroughly explaining concepts? Might you be an expert in guiding new online students to find there feet on a particular topic? Once you have identified your teaching method, you can put it to good use and provide an excellent service for your students and best of all get paid while you teach.

But wait there’s more! Online teaching involves several non-negotiable core skills. You will need to be qualified and experienced, a good communicator, tech-savvy and an expert in your field. If you have a genuine passion for online teaching and have a whole lot of patience mentoring online courses you could turn you into the pro, you have always dreamed of becoming. 

Practice makes perfect. Do you need to refine your ability? Utilising short course providers or a relevant workshop can help you stay on top of your game. Be careful not to get too involved with irrelevant activities such as, travelling to conferences that are not of any benefit to you and going on training days that give you tools you will never use again.

Instead, find out what the market demand is like for your online course and start crafting your knowledge around your chosen topic. Check for these three main things:

• Are people talking about your subject?
• Do people ask questions about it?
• Can you find a gap in the competitive marketplace?

 

If you can be different and showcase your knowledge in a competitive space, your course may well be a flyer!

 

Every online course pro needs to have appropriate equipment. Why not use course creation systems and multi-media course material all which will benefit your students.

Here are eight low-cost tools to help create your online courses:

• Canva
• Beaver Builder
• Camtasia
• Vimeo
• Zoom
• MailChimp
• Zapier
• Thinkific

 

You can spend as little as £200 pounds on course creation, and ten-fold your profits in a short space of time. Use sites such as Skillbox to load your pre-made courses and start selling today!

 

Get social, build strong profiles on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter etc. Give your students visual references for them to see you what you are offering and be more than a faceless teacher. Build a rapport online to showcase your skills and experience answering any questions students may have before they commit to your online course. Add a photo to your e-mail account and any relevant profile you might have to make it feel like you are more visible and real. 

 

 

Don’t burn yourself out by working 24/7 take the time to get social, attend meet-ups and Friday night drinks with friends. Plan it, make it an occasion for you to work towards your goals. Even though your students will be demanding of your work you can’t change the worlds of your students, make sure you work to realistic goals and provide your students with these expectations and deadlines (where required). Being highly organised will then place you in a healthy position of not having to work through another weekend.

 

Learning outcomes define your online courses for students, would you hand over your hard-earned money for a product you don’t understand? Of course not! Having a clear outline and the knowledge will allow you to articulate the topic in a way that helps your students understand how the course will benefit there further understanding of a particular subject.

Learning outcomes should plan out what the student will know, feel and be able to do by the end of the course. What skills they will be able to demonstrate and the knowledge they will obtain. When you display clear learning outcomes, this will ensure the right students are joining your course; this means a higher completion rate and better satisfaction.

Plan out how you want to present your course start by adjoining material into themes, tips and ideas to create structured modules and displaying them into the most logical order creating a flowing sequence of lessons.

It’s time to now focus on the delivery of your online course, principles of adult learning and learning preferences may determine the way you present the online course to ensure it is as engaging as possible. 

• Will you have; reading content, activities, audio and videos?
• What visuals will you display, if any?
• Will you be making announcements and have a community level of interaction?

 

The trick is to have a balance of visuals, audio and practical methodologies to engage a broader range of audience and to optimise the learning experience.

This phase is when you start to produce and make your online courses come to life. By now you should have a well thought out plan with all your content ready to be contributed to the project. Once you have aligned the material, it is time to get on the camera and start creating sessions.

There are two methods of using the camera firstly; you can be on the camera as the ‘talking head’ this means you will present and be the focal point of your lessons alternatively you can use screencasting which is when you are recording your computer screen. You can also incorporate a webcam shot of yourself when you are filming in this way.

Editing your videos could not be easier, use a software tool discussed earlier “Camtasia” to quickly cut edit, use the green screen, arrange your sound appropriately, add logos and text to your video. Once you have finished editing you can save your courses as an mp4 which is compatible with a broad spectrum of platforms.

 

There are three main ways to sell your online courses; these are:

1. Online course platforms
2. Learning systems
3. Plugins through your website

 

There is a clear winner when linking your classes, and that is to use dedicated online course platforms that generate traffic and give you a foundation to get your name out there. It makes online course creation easy to sell your learning products. Use Skillbox the platform of choice for freelancers and buyers to congregate and exchange services.

Do you have a strategy on how your online courses will fit into your business model?

• Are your courses going to be sold for free to attract customers to purchase your primary service?
• Will you make your courses an income stream from the outset?
• Will your courses be your primary income stream?

 

Be divisive when selecting your agenda as each method has it's a unique approach, in terms of providing value and to market your business. Your choice will also provide followers and students with very different types of funnels.

The strategy will also determine the pricing structure that is required to make your online business a success, appropriately matching your business method with your cost analysis. There is no right or wrong price for an online course exploring further here is why;

Incorrectly pricing your course might lead to lost revenue; however, pricing too high may put people off purchasing. Price your course low, and you will be doing yourself out of pocket. You may be asking how do I price my course? Simple, what is the market willing to pay, before you start to do some market research and find an acceptable price point. A starting price could be £29 for a small course and £199 for large. As your online courses grow in popularity, you will be able to charge an optimum price for your work.

 

Check out Skillbox an online course provider to get started today!