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Do you want to know how to create online courses that sell? The fact you are reading this tells me you already know how beneficial online courses can be for your business:

• From serving more people: online courses can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection, allowing you to share your knowledge and expertise with a global audience….
• To their scalability: online courses can accommodate a large number of students, more people than you can work with in a one on one capacity…
• And of course, the leveraged revenue they provide: you create the course once and sell it many times over, making it an extremely leveraged way to generate revenue, without relying on your time!

But before you create an online course and it out into the world, there are a few essential decisions you need to make.

Having served almost 1,000 entrepreneurs through my own online programs, and having helped my students launch online courses on topics from baking cookies, to surface pattern design, and SEO, I’m here to share with you what really matters when it comes to launching a course with more clarity – and more success.

Step 1: Your Online Course Needs to Solve a Specific Problem

People don’t want to buy a course: they want to solve a problem.

And it’s your job to get clear on what problem your online program will solve and the result that it will deliver if students follow it.

Specificity sells – vagueness doesn’t. It’s easy in theory – but let’s look at an example. One of my students who I helped launch her first online course – Debbie Holland from Little Bikkie – sells a mini-course called “Perfect Your Bake”.

The problem that Debbie solves is that biscuit business owners can’t get their biscuit bases to come out smooth enough to decorate. See how specific that is?

And the result that Debbie’s mini-course delivers is for her students to be able to bake the perfect biscuit base.

Debbie could teach everyone how to cook better. And it’s common to think she would sell MORE of her courses if she broadened the problem she solved. But by narrowing in on the specific problem she wants to solve being “bake the perfect biscuit base”:

1. Debbie’s course is much clearer for her audience to understand the specific problem it solves and result it offers
2. And to identify that her course is the exact solution they need
3. Which means she will sell MORE of her courses, more easily.

In fact, Debbie sold almost 300 of her mini-course in her very first launch! And a big part of this is due to how specific her course was, along with how clear she was about her ideal student – which is what we will explore in tomorrow’s email.

Action Task 1: In one simple phrase for each, describe the problem that your course solves, and the result that your course helps your students to achieve.

Step 2: Define the Target Audience You are Creating Online Course For

Next up, it’s time to decide WHO your course is for! What you want to achieve is for your audience to be able to identify clearly:

• “This is specifically for me”
• OR “This is specifically not for me”
• AND/OR “I know someone specific for this”.

More specific = more clear = more compelling = more students.

Less specific = less clear = less compelling = less students.

Here are some examples of more specific groups of people:

• Mountain-bike riders; Lawyers; Teenagers, Copywriters, Mums of newborns…

And examples of less specific groups of people:

• Women, Men, People, Business Owners, Mums….

You might be thinking: “but Emily, my program could help LOTS of people – who do I choose?!” Don’t fear! Here’s how to narrow it down. Consider:

• Which segment of people would get the BEST / MOST results from your course?
• And/or which segment of people have the BIGGEST / most urgent problem you can help them with?
• And/or which segment of people do you want to help the MOST?

Action Task 2: Which segment of people is your course specifically for?

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Step 3: How to Create Online Courses that Get Your Students Results: Create Your Step by Step Process

Your process is the steps your students need to go through to solve their problem.

Having a process organises all the knowledge you have to share – and provides clarity for your students to know how to work step-by-step through your course to achieve their desired result. These become the lessons or modules for your course.

So how on earth do you create your own process?!

Begin by thinking about your students’ A to B, with:

• “A” being the knowledge or skill level that MOST of your students will start at when they join your course
• And “B” being the knowledge or skill level that they need to achieve the result of your course.

HINT: I said “A” to “B”, not “A” to “Z”! You don’t need to teach every single thing you know! Stay focussed on that one specific result of your course.

Then, work out the key steps that your students need to learn in between, and the order that makes the most sense to teach these in, typically broken down into between 3 to 12 steps.

It’s just like I have created a step-by-step process for this blog post, breaking down the key decisions you need to make to create an online course into six steps, each with an action tasks.

Action Task 3: What 3 to 12 steps do your students need to go through to solve their problem? List these out. These can now become the focus for the lessons or modules (depending how much depth you need to go into within each) for your online course.

TIPS FOR CREATING YOUR PROCESS

Write out the key topics on Post It Notes, and organise them until you settle on an order you are happy with.
Think about the milestones of your own learning on this topic
Rather than “Step 1”, “Step 2” etc, give your steps creative names

Step 4: Course, Membership, Group Program… what are the Parameters of Your Online Course?

Deciding on the parameters of your program means intentionally designing the container that your students will experience your program within.

Let’s start with some definitions:

• Mini-Course / Paid Workshop: People pay once and the content included is one hour or less. There is no support from you and no student community. You may run this live and then sell the recording. Price point: Varies but often $50-$150.
• Course: Typically people pay once (or a payment plan) to access content which they self-study (none or limited support from you, may or may not include access to a student community group). Price point: Varies but often $150-$1000
• Membership: People pay ongoing to access content (typically with monthly and/or annual membership payment options). May included none or limited coaching/support from you and may or may not include access to a member community. Price point: Varies but often between $30-$100/month (with the higher end for business/finance memberships).
• Group Program: People pay once or ongoing to access content PLUS receive coaching/support from you and often includes access to student community. Price point: Varies but often $1000+ if once off or $100/month+ if a membership model.

Disclaimer: there are always outliers to these prices.

Let’s look at some ‘real life’ examples.

• Mini Course Example: My Instagram Boost Mini Course teaches how to optimise your Instagram Profile to get found by your ideal clients and drive more leads. It includes one video lesson that goes for less than an hour, an implementation guide, and no coaching from me. It is priced at $49.
• Course Example: My 30 Day Course Launch teaches how to set up and launch your first online course (or mini-course or membership) on Kajabi within 30 Days. It includes a step by step curriculum, implementation guides, and no coaching from me. It is priced at $149.
• Membership Example: The Modern Marketing Collective Standard Membership teaches online business owners how to grow an engaged audience, build their email list and sell more of their offers. It includes a step by step curriculum, implementation guides, and regular live Masterclasses, plus some support/coaching from me. It is priced at $49/month.
• Group Coaching Example: The Modern Marketing Collective Premium Membership includes everything from the Standard Membership level, PLUS twice monthly small group coaching/strategy calls with me. It is priced at $149/month.

So how do you choose a structure?  Let me ask you a few prompter questions to help you make the best decisions for you.

Decision 1: Can you teach this in one lesson (up to 60 minute workshop), or do you need multiple lessons (multiple-lesson program)?

• If you answered YES to teaching in one lesson – you have a mini-course / workshop-style program! No more decisions needed.
• If you answered NO to teaching in one lesson, move to Decision 2.

Decision 2: Is it a one time learning topic or ongoing mastery topic?

• Should it be a course? Once the result is achieved, is the student finished with the learning? Example: Sell your business or get divorced (one time things). TIP: Release lessons each week or fortnight during your first launch. How long does this make your course? I.e. 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 12 weeks? Then you can move to self-study/all content available next time you open enrolment. Now move to Decision 3. 
• Should it be a membership? Does this result get better with ongoing practice? Example: Grow your business or improve your marriage (continuous things). TIP: Start with a quarterly or six month membership. 12 months is a loooong commitment for your first time, especially if you realise you don’t enjoy it, whereas starting with a monthly option can be stressful and extra work to start with, taking into account cancellations / churn. Now move to Decision 3. 

Decision 3: Do you want to include access to/coaching/mentoring from you? This may be through weekly, fortnightly or monthly live sessions that all students are invited to join with you on Zoom. If so, your course or membership will be positioned as a group coaching program with a higher price point.

Action Task 4: Will you create a mini-course/workshop, an online course, a membership, or a group coaching program?

Step 5: How to Pick a Price When Creating Online Courses

There are three key considerations when it comes to pricing your program:

Price Factor 1: Value

What is the perceived value of your program’s promised outcome to your ideal students? For instance, how much money could they save or make with the help of your program? Or how important and urgent is your course outcome for them (i.e. their health, relationships…)? Then choose a price that is a no-brainer compared to this value. Typically, courses targeted at other businesses (B2B) can be priced higher than courses targeted at consumers (B2C).

Price Factor 2: Access

If you’re offering a program without any access to ask you questions or for feedback, the price is generally going to be lower versus a program with these.

In fact, you can look at your business model using this lens:

• DIY: Do it yourself – for instance, a self-study online course would have the lowest price of your offers
• DIWY: Do it with you – for instance, a course WITH group coaching/support would have the middle price of your offers
• DIFY: Do it for you – i.e. for instance, a service would have the highest price of your offers.

Price Factor 3: Structure

Depending on the parameters of your course/membership, you are either going to offer:

• A one-off payment
• A one-off payment with a payment plan option
• A monthly, quarterly and/or annually recurring membership payment (choose one or two to keep it simple).

If in doubt, I recommend starting lower and increasing the price over time as your experience and skills in delivering the course and selling it grow, along with the number of testimonials you gather to help prove it works.

PRICING TRUTHS
There is no perfect or “correct” price
Your program will always be too expensive for some people AND too cheap (yes really!) for others. Here’s why:Price signals value. I.e. more expensive wine – we assume better quality
No matter how low you price, you will have people who think it is too much (and tell you!)

Action Task 5: What price will you start at for your online course/membership?

Step 6: Choosing a platform to host your online course

Ok! So you now have a clear plan for how your online program is going to be positioned and structured (hooray!). What’s next?

Well, we need to decide on where you are going to host your program – i.e. on which technology platform.

You need a platform that provides your students with their own private login, so that they can access your amazing program.

You are also going to want an integrated email software so that you can communicate with your students, along with the option to create landing pages, opt in forms, check out pages, and of course the ability to process payments when students join!

The platform I use, love and recommend is (drum roll!)… Kajabi.

It’s an all-in-one platform for online course and membership owners, that I have been using since 2018, which is intuitive, comes with great support (I used the chat a LOT to get quick answers to my questions when I was first getting Kajabi set up!), and it continually has new features added (like podcast hosting, private coaching options, and online community forums!).

If you plan on making more than a couple of thousand dollars a year from your online program (which I know you are!), I think it’s a no-brainer investment to shortcut and simplify everything to do with your online program.

I’m a proud affiliate for Kajabi, which means that you can enjoy a 30 Day FREE TRIAL!

Action Task 6: Today is the best time to get started! Roll up your sleeves and get that program created!

Now that you know how to create online courses that your audience will love and buy – it’s time to take action and get started!

Want to download this blog post as a PDF to easily print and reference? Click here to download the PDF version.