In case you haven’t noticed, online courses are coming on strong across the internet. If you want to learn about a topic for the first time, become an expert on a topic that you are already involved in, or have ideas and techniques that you want to teach to others, this is the golden age.
With no commute to a physical classroom, these educational opportunities allow anyone no matter how busy they are, or where they’re located to learn. Here are six reasons why you should be creating online courses.
1. We Are in a Time of Change and People Need Help That You Can Provide.
Many people are in the considering, or are already in the middle of a career or job change. People get on the internet to find information they need. They are searching for the knowledge you already have. If you can address a need of your target market and teach them how to fulfill or solve it, you can help people. This benefits them but it also benefits you by building relationships. After people take your course, they’ll continue to follow you and they may take future courses.
2. Everyone Is An Expert On Something – Let The World Know It.
Creating online courses helps you to become an established expert in your field. Right now, you may not feel like much of an expert. What on earth can you possibly teach people? But if you think about it, there is a great deal of knowledge you’ve gained through your career and your life. This is knowledge you can easily teach others (and you can research to fill in any gaps). You’ll become a go-to source for information for your audience, and their trusted source when they need your products or services.
3. Someone Will Fill The Need in Your Industry – You or Your Competitors
There is a good chance none of your direct competitors are running online courses for their customers – YET. If they aren’t, this puts you in a unique position. Among the competition, you’re more than just another business but also a valuable learning resource. This gives you a tremendous competitive advantage.
If your competitors are already offering online courses, it’s even more essential that you start doing so as well. Find a unique angle or a unique approach to what you’re teaching to set your course apart. You know much more than you might realize. It is time to put it to work for your growth and success.
4. Online Training Courses Are A Proven Income Producer
You can sell your online courses and profit from them. There are free courses available online, as well as a great deal of free information, but if you can provide real value, offer something unique, and market your courses well, you can charge a fair price for them and you’ll see enrollment. From my experience, being able to package up this information in a convenient, one-source location will prove very helpful to those that are serious about learning more on the topic that you know well.
Even better, you can use your online courses as a way to build future profits as your courses build a relationship with your audience. Even if you offer a free course, you’ll establish yourself as an expert and trusted source of information. There are many ways to profit from online courses, including running a short free course that leads to a longer premium course. You can also build a passive income by creating courses that students can take at any time and that are run mostly through automation.
5. It’s Easy
It’s much easier than you probably imagine to create and run online courses. It just takes a bit of organizing and preparing. You can research to gather whatever information you need to fill in knowledge gaps. Your online course will exist and be managed on a platform specially designed for courses. And once you run one course, it gets much easier to do the next.
6. You Don’t Even Need a Website
While I prefer building my online courses within my own websites, and domains that I control, it is not necessary. There are numerous platforms that provide the environment in which you can get your course online and charge for registration all within their platform. You might already be familiar with Udemy, Teachable, Thinkific and others. They each have their advantages, but at some point in your experience you will want to provide your training on a domain that you have complete control over.
I have even successfully achieved an industry first by providing an online, digital training course available for purchase on Amazon.com. Imagine the reach that this can provide for you and your training.
Online courses offer a great way to reach your audience and if you’re not doing it now, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. The toughest part of getting your Online Training Course online is taking the first step. Check out the free eBook “The 5 Key Elements Of A Successful Online Course” and take that first step.