It's no secret that online courses and e-learning web apps are in high demand.
The pandemic accelerated the need for virtual classes and it has swiftly become the preferred mode of education for students seeking high-quality development opportunities.
The greatest advantage of e-learning is that there are no geographical boundaries.
The global e-learning market is expected to grow to $325 billion by 2025, which is thrice the $107 billion in 2015.
The rapid development in technology has altered the face of education in emerging countries.
If you have expertise in a niche skill that might be a highly rewarding area for you to mine. Revenue from your online courses can be a fantastic way to supplement your income. The best part is that you get the joy of sharing your expertise and experience with people across the globe who are willing to learn from you.
Furthermore, you are establishing yourself as an industry expert by offering a course.
Why You Should Create Your Own e-Learning App
Today, mobile is the preferred method of content consumption. This is why a mobile app is the best way to share your knowledge with the rest of the world.
Of course, there are many platforms like Udemy and Coursera that let you host your course, but you will have to share a good portion of your revenue with the hosting site.
Downsides of using a third-party course platform
You do not have complete ownership of your course - you share it with the hosting platform.
The platform may micromanage your course by setting guidelines for minimum and maximum lesson duration, fee structure, and monitor your interaction with students.
The platform has complete access to student information. They can use this to market their own courses or sell products.
They act as a middleman between you and your students. They take a large cut of your fee.
You will always be one of the many tutors on the platform.
Most of the third-party platforms work on a TVOD basis. With your own platform, you can have the flexibility to design your own monetization plan.
Having your own app also adds to your brand value. It gives you complete control over how you monetize your course, certify your students, or sell digital or other merchandise to your students.
It also helps you foster a better relationship with your students.
Deciding the Course Topic
Coming up with the right course topic is the very first and also the most important step of creating your online course. You definitely do not want to waste your time creating a course that nobody is looking for.
You may have a clear picture of what you want to teach, but don't worry if you haven't decided yet.
Think about:
- Topics on which others call you for advice
- Industries you are passionate about
- Skills you have developed over your work experience
These could turn out to be golden opportunities.
You would have come up with a broad range of ideas. Now let’s niche it down.
You may think that keeping it broad and reaching a larger audience is a good idea, but doing so makes the course appealing to no one.
To make your course more appealing, you may add in details like:
Who this course is for (eg: Yoga for new mothers)
What will they learn from you (eg: Learn e-commerce content marketing)
Expertise level (eg: Baking lessons for beginners)
For example, let’s say you are a professional photographer. Your broad topic could be - Learn Photography. This addresses a wide range of audiences but there would be tons of such courses and your title would hardly appeal to anyone. By niching it down to Food Photography or maybe Smartphone Food Photography, you instantly appeal to someone looking for it.
Deciding the Course Content
Your course content must be worthy of the time, money, and effort your students are investing in improving their skills.
You do not need to stuff your course with everything about the topic. In fact, your students may find it overwhelming. Instead, narrow down the topics to the outcome expected from your course.
Picture yourself as the person you were before gaining the skill. Now think about the topics you would want a course to cover. Make a note of it. Once done, group them logically. If there is something missing, address it.
See if you could add value by covering more topics.
You can also share a guide (a pdf or document) on resources or tools that will help your students.
For example, a guide on brush sizes and stroke type will be a great add-on to a watercolor course for beginners.
Filming and Editing Your Videos
Now that you have your content planned, it’s time to get into action. Start recording your videos one at a time.
Once recorded, play them to see if you have conveyed your ideas clearly, with simplicity, and covered all the planned details.
To express your ideas with clarity, you may want to add presentation slides with voiceover or share your screen with a camera.
Students tend to learn more effectively when they are actively involved in the process.
Incorporating games and other such interactive elements is an engaging method of teaching complex concepts.
Shoot and edit your lessons. See if it makes a complete course.
Now you are ready to present it to the world.
Uploading Your Videos
Once your course is ready, you need a platform to host them. Choosing a SaaS platform would let you establish your apps quickly without breaking the bank.
Make sure to add subtitles, if possible, in multiple languages to make your courses truly global.
You need a powerful video CMS that lets you schedule your videos and also organize them.
Watermarking your videos with your logo not only boosts your brand value but also shields your videos from piracy.
Make sure your platform provider supports auto and manual bit rate switching for seamless content delivery.
Marketing Your Course
You can create a course that's worth every penny. You can do all the research to make it better than the other courses out there. Yet without marketing, no one would know your course exists.
Of course, you can promote your course with paid ads - but it will only bring in a spike to your sale.
So how do you keep the traffic constant? Social media is your best when it comes to marketing.
Create promotional videos for your courses that would grab attention. Don’t forget to add a compelling CTA. Using a professional template to create a promo ensures you have a high conversion rate.
Ensure that your platform provider has the ability to integrate with your social profiles.
Answer topics related to your courses on platforms like Quora and Linkedin to let people know that you are a subject matter expert. Also, look for guest blogging opportunities where you can bring in traffic to your course.
Tag your videos and posts with appropriate keywords. This enables you to rank better on search engines.
Most importantly, communicate with your past students regularly. This way you can promote relevant new courses to them. They would also be an effective word-of-mouth marketing medium for your courses.
Understanding Your Audience
You need to understand how each of your video lessons is performing to create better courses in the future. An ideal platform provider will give meaningful insights on which videos were watched completely and which were passed over.
Insights about devices, geography, age, and interaction with other videos/courses will enable you to target your audience and make better decisions.
Managing Courses
Myth: You need a lot of technical skills to manage your courses.
Fact: There are tons of tools available online – that makes managing your courses a cakewalk.
A good SaaS platform will take care of launching and scaling your online school with its simple and intuitive user interface.
Live Classrooms
A live classroom is the most important aspect of your online academy. It enables the trainer to interact with the students in real-time. This also enables the student and teacher to have a connection with each other.
This method could be great for conducting quizzes and whiteboard sessions.
Live streaming is a must-have feature that your hosting platform should have. Live chats and recording the sessions are great value ads.
Takeaway
An online course can help you establish your personal brand, spread your message, and connect with people.
Moreover, an online course is a lifelong asset that will keep supplementing your income. All you need to do is keep updating it with the latest and relevant content.
With little effort, you can convert students into business leads. Your courses are powerful lead magnets that can add great value to your business.
Above all, it gives you the happiness of sharing your knowledge with the world and making a positive impact on your students.