Strategies to Sell Online Courses from Your Own Website
Want to sell online courses from your website? Here's what you need to know:
- Why use your own website: Full control, more profit, brand building, direct student contact
- Key advantages: Brand control, higher earnings, direct communication, easy updates
- Getting started: Find your market, create quality content, set up website/LMS, choose payment systems
- Selling strategies:
- Optimize website
- Set smart pricing
- Use email marketing
- Create valuable content
- Show student success
- Offer free samples
- Start referral programs
- Improve SEO
- Partner with others
- Provide student support
- Tracking and improving: Monitor key metrics, use student feedback, keep content updated
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1. Prepare | Research market, create content, set up website |
| 2. Launch | Start selling, gather initial feedback |
| 3. Promote | Use marketing tactics to reach more students |
| 4. Improve | Track performance, update based on feedback |
| 5. Grow | Expand offerings, refine marketing strategies |
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Advantages of Self-Hosting Online Courses
Putting your online courses on your own website has many benefits. Let's look at the main ones:
Brand Control
When you host your own courses, you can:
- Make your website look how you want
- Give students the same experience across your site
- Show off your teaching style without limits
This helps people remember you and trust you more, which can lead to more sales.
More Money
Hosting your own courses can help you earn more. Here's why:
| What You Pay | Your Own Website | Other Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | Only payment processing fees | Platform fees (often 30-50%) + Payment processing fees |
| Pricing | You set your own prices | Might have rules about pricing |
| Extra Sales | Can sell other things too | Might not be able to sell extras |
By not paying platform fees, you keep more of what you earn. You can use this money to grow your business or keep it for yourself.
Talk Directly to Students
When you host your own courses, you can:
- Build better relationships with students
- Get feedback to make your courses better
- Help students when they need it
This can make students happier and more likely to tell others about your courses.
Easy to Update Content
With your own website, you can change your courses quickly:
- Add new lessons when you want
- Fix things based on what students say
- Keep your courses up-to-date with new information
This helps keep your courses fresh and useful, which is good in the fast-changing world of online teaching.
Getting Ready to Sell Online Courses
Before you start selling your online courses, you need to prepare. Here's how:
Finding Your Target Market
To find the right people for your courses:
- Check what people search for online about your topic
- Look at online groups where potential students talk
- Ask people what they want to learn
- See what other courses are missing
This helps you make courses that people really want.
Making Good Course Content
To create courses people will like:
- Plan your course with clear steps
- Use different types of content like videos and quizzes
- Keep lessons short, about 3-15 minutes
- Give extra helpful materials
Your course should teach more than what people can find for free online.
Setting Up Your Website and LMS
You'll need:
- A WordPress website
- A Learning Management System (LMS) plugin
AccessAlly is a good plugin choice. It helps you:
- Make and manage courses
- Take payments
- See how students are doing
Make sure your website has:
- A page that explains your course
- A safe way to pay
- A page that thanks people for buying
Choosing Payment Systems
Pick payment options that are easy for people to use:
| Payment System | Why It's Good |
|---|---|
| Credit/Debit Cards | Most people know how to use them |
| PayPal | People trust it, and it protects buyers |
| Stripe | Good for courses people pay for monthly |
Make sure your LMS works with the payment systems you choose. Offering different ways to pay can help more people buy your course.
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How to Sell Your Online Courses
Make Your Website Better
Create a website that's easy to use and makes people want to sign up:
- Make sure it loads fast and works well on phones
- Use clear writing that shows why your course is good
- Put "Buy Now" or "Sign Up" buttons where people can see them
- Make it easy for people to pay
Set Good Prices
Choose prices that are fair but show your course is worth it:
- Look at what other similar courses cost
- Think about how much you're teaching
- Offer different prices for different types of students
- Use prices that end in 99 (like $19.99) to make them seem lower
| Price Type | What It Means |
|---|---|
| High Price | For special courses with lots of content |
| Different Levels | Different prices for different amounts of access |
| Monthly Fee | People pay each month to keep using the course |
Use Email to Talk to People
Get people's email addresses and send them helpful messages:
- Give something free to get email addresses
- Group people based on what they like
- Send useful information regularly
- Use automatic emails to guide people to buy
Make Helpful Stuff
Create things that show you know what you're talking about:
- Write blog posts about your course topics
- Make YouTube videos showing what you know
- Do free online classes to give people a taste
- Talk to people on social media
Show How Students Do Well
Let people see how your course helps others:
- Put videos of happy students on your course page
- Share stories of how students got better
- Write about students who did really well
- Show star ratings and what people say about your course
Give Free Samples
Let people try part of your course for free:
- Give away one lesson from your course
- Make a video that shows what's in the course
- Let people try the whole course for a short time
- Do free online workshops about course topics
Start a Program for Telling Friends
Get students to tell their friends about your course:
- Give discounts to people who bring in new students
- Make things students can easily share online
- Give bigger rewards to people who bring in more students
- Give special bonuses to people who bring in the most students
Make Your Course Easy to Find Online
Use good ways to show up in search results:
- Use words people search for on your website
- Write good blog posts that help people find you
- Get other websites to link to yours
- Make sure your website works well for search engines
Work with Other People
Team up with others to reach more people:
- Find people who talk about your topic and work with them
- Let others sell your course and give them part of the money
- Make courses or content with other experts
- Join online events to meet more people
Help Your Students
Make sure your students get the help they need:
- Give different ways for students to get help (email, chat, forum)
- Write answers to common questions
- Do live question sessions for students
- Ask students what they think and make things better
Tracking Results and Making Changes
To make your online courses better, you need to check how well they're doing and make changes. Here's how:
Check Important Numbers
Look at these numbers to see how your courses are doing:
| Number to Check | What It Means | Why It's Important |
|---|---|---|
| How many finish | % of students who complete the course | Shows if the course works well |
| Test scores | How well students do on quizzes | Shows if students understand |
| Students who come back | % of students taking more courses | Shows if students like your courses |
| Money made vs spent | If you're making a profit | Shows if your business is doing well |
Use What Students Say
Listen to your students to make your courses better:
1. Ask Students What They Think:
- During the course: Use quick yes/no questions
- After the course: Ask more detailed questions
2. Look at Reviews:
- Read good and bad comments
- Find common things students say
3. See How Students Use the Course:
- Check if students are watching videos and doing work
- If they're not, you might need to change things
Keep Courses New
Make sure your courses have the latest info:
- Check Your Content: Look at your course often to make sure it's still correct
- Learn New Things: Keep up with new ideas in your field
- Use Student Feedback: Change your course based on what students say
- Try New Ways to Teach: Test different ways to help students learn
Wrap-Up
Key Points to Remember
| Aspect | Action |
|---|---|
| Learning Goals | Set clear goals for your course |
| Platform | Pick a good online learning platform |
| Course Building | Make your course as you go to get people interested |
| Content | Keep lessons short but full of useful info |
| Proof | Show how others liked your course |
| Promotion | Focus on the most important ways to tell people about your course |
| Extra Help | Offer more support for an extra cost |
Next Steps
1. Start Selling: Begin selling your course now. You can make it better later.
2. Get Feedback: Ask students what they think after each part of the course. Use surveys and calls to learn more.
3. Keep Improving: Start your course, listen to what people say, and make it better. This helps keep your course useful.
4. Use Marketing: Try the marketing ideas we talked about. Write good descriptions, show how others liked the course, and use email to reach people.
5. Check and Change: Look at how your course is doing and what students say. Use this info to make your course and marketing better.
FAQs
How do I promote my teachable course?
To get more people to know about your Teachable course:
| Method | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Use YouTube | Make videos that tell people about your course |
| Write on your blog | Tell your readers about new courses |
| Show what students say | Put good comments from students on your website |
| Ask for reviews | Get happy students to write nice things about your course |
| Make special course pages | Create pages on your site that explain your course |
| Send emails | Use emails to tell people about your courses |
How do you convince students to buy a course online?
To help people decide to buy your online course:
| Tip | What to do |
|---|---|
| Tell them what they'll learn | List the skills they'll get from your course |
| Use social media | Talk to people online to show you know your stuff |
| Give discounts | Offer lower prices to new students |
| Start a friend program | Give rewards to students who bring in new people |
| Show success stories | Share how your course helped other students |
| Give free samples | Let people try a bit of your course for free |
