Having some form of passive income is a great way to ensure that you’re still earning, even on the days that you’re not working. This can be generated in many ways, included but not limited to; having a book published, creating an app, creating and publishing an online course.

If you feel like you have skills and knowledge that could be useful for other people, then the latter is definitely for you! It’s not just a great way of making money; it will help build your reputation in your industry and attract potential clients/custom. In this article, I am going to talk you through the process of creating and publishing an online course.

Photo by Arnel Hasanovic and blog by Jasmine Sutherland

Publish an online course today!

The first things you have to consider before starting to create an online course is your budget, the topic of your course and, the platform/provider you want to use (or even your own website/blog). Additionally, you will need the kind of material you wish to include such as text, video, quizzes, certificates and more.

Creating an online course can cost you nothing, or it can cost hundreds or more. This depends on the content you want to include, the software needed to make that content (video software and recording equipment for example) and whether the provider/platform you want to use charges for your course to be published with them. Doing some research on these things can help you come to an estimated budget to work with but be sure to allow for some flexibility.

If you’re putting your own time, money and effort into creating something for the benefit of others, then you want to be sure that it will be profitable. There are three things that all successful online courses do that will help increase profitability: they always solve a problem, teach the customer something new, and help them achieve a goal. Bear these in mind throughout the planning and creation process.

It is also essential to consider what type of online course you want to create; there are many. Choosing the right one for you, your customers, and your topic is vital. The kind, of course, you decide to work with will – to some degree – determine the content and assessment methods for your course.

• Masterclass: Defined by Wikipedia as ‘a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert in that discipline’.
• Coaching: Supports and guides a learner in achieving a specific goal by focusing on particular tasks.
• MOOC: Massive open online course – unlimited participation and access to the public via the internet.
• Corporate training: Created to educate employees.
• Mini-course: A short course that takes 2 hours or less to complete.
• Academy & Software Onboarding: Created to educate customers on the use of a specific product that you offer.

  Once all of the above has been considered, you’re ready to start the creation process! The first thing you need to do is decide on a topic for your course. This should be easy as you needn’t look further than your passions, interests and career skills. Do people often ask for your help for something specific? Have you devised a solution to a problem that others commonly struggle with? Are you an expert on software that others find hard to use? If it’s a topic that you enjoy, then you’re less likely to quit.

 

The planning and research stage of your online course creation is the most important. Brainstorming can be a brilliant way to get all of your ideas onto paper, and you’ll likely find that you have more to work with than you first anticipated. Split your subject into individual chapters and brainstorm to develop an in-depth content guide to work with. Once you’ve brainstormed as much as you can, search the internet and learn your subject inside out. See what people are talking about, asking for and teaching (knowing your potential competitors is essential). From your research, update your brainstorm ideas and expand on anything that needs more depth. Additionally, make a list of literature and sources to add to your course.

  Another planning step is to take your brainstormed ideas and create a course outline. This can be done by dividing your course subject into main topics (these will be different chapters of your course) and then distributing those main topics into subtopics. This enables you to be thorough with your content and will help the person doing your course develop a deeper understanding.

For the course, and for the different main topics, you need to identify goals and objectives. This will help the learner track their progress throughout the course and determine whether or not they have found the course to be successful. Both should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound (SMART). You are ensuring that your goals and objectives are SMART increases the chance of them being met and minimises disappointment. Setting targets for each chapter of your course will enable for constant learner development throughout your online course.

  Now you have to create the course content. You will likely use a few different forms of media. Start with looking through your computer for content you’ve written/produced in the past. Does it fit in with your course plan? If the answer is ‘yes’, repurpose it. This will save you time and give you some ideas for the content that you need to produce from scratch. If you have a website/blog, check back through your posts for anything that can be used. Some useful files that can be used in an online course are videos, eBooks, presentations/PowerPoints, blog posts, audio and infographics.

You should map out a schedule for producing your course content.

Plan out what you need to do and block out dates for the four stages of course creation: pre-production, writing, recording and post-production. Be realistic with the time you allocate. You don’t want to feel like you’re rushing yourself.

The tools that you use to produce your course content will depend on the kind, of course, you’re offering and the subject. For example, videos and pictures will be more useful for a DIY-based course. Podcasts/audio and text files will be more suitable for a course about literature or creative writing. Once you know what kind of content you want to offer, you will need to find the software required to produce the content. This is one area in which it can be cost-effective or costly. If you plan on providing video content, you will need a camera and a microphone.

As humans, we learn a lot from the people around us. This is why the community is essential for online courses. Since your learner won’t be in a physical classroom, they won’t have that peer support. Offering a community aspect with your course will enable them to communicate with other people taking your online course and enhance the learning experience.

  Next, you need to decide on the right price for your course. It should be affordable enough to be appealing to learners, expensive but sufficient to ensure a good level of engagement. Learners would be less motivated to engage with the content of your course if they didn’t have to pay much for it. This is because they are less likely to trust it and believe that they will see results. A higher-priced course will give the impression of a high-quality curriculum.

The final step is deciding how you want to publish your online course by choosing the right management system. Websites such as Udemy, Alison and Skillshare allow you to publish through them, but they usually take a percentage of each purchase. Some will also have their specific requirements that you will have to meet. Alternatively, there are plugins available to be added to your website; however, you may find that these don’t offer the same variety of features that standalone platforms have. The best method is through using an independent course platform. LearnWorlds is one example; however, with a little research, other options should be easy to find. They allow you to host your course, website and sales funnel all in one place. 

Did you know Skillbox has a online course publishing facility, check it out here.