A Quick 5-step Checklist to Successfully Launching an Online Course

The market for online courses is growing fast with the ever-increasing demands of the knowledge-driven economy. The global interest in lifelong learning and the development of professional skills has pushed the knowledge economy one step further.

According to IMARC Group research, the global eLearning Market is expected to reach US$ 521.8 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% during 2022-2027. This expansion is due to the benefits that eLearning offers, which range from lower costs and huge scaling opportunities for the course creator to easy access, flexibility, and increased effectiveness for the learner. eLearning is not only growing, though – it’s becoming better with integrating Artificial Intelligence and using popular teaching methods.

This flourishing movement allows aspiring entrepreneurs to get paid by sharing their knowledge. An ‘edupreneur,’ which is a term for the educational entrepreneur, is someone who plans, opens, and successfully operates an educational service. The role of today’s edupreneur is to educate their learners on a specific subject or help them to develop a specific skill.

In this article, we will take a quick look at some of the key benefits of creating an online course and becoming an edupreneur, but most importantly, we will give you a quick 5-step checklist to building and launching your first -or next- online course successfully. Here we go!

Why Create an Online Course?

Make no mistake – the best time to create an online course is now! In many cases, setting up an online school to sell standalone courses or creating a membership site (if you plan to release content on a regular basis) is more profitable than starting a business. As many established edupreneurs say, online courses are flexible, fun, and profitable, making them one of the best business models.

Online courses, they work!

Becoming an edupreneur is great because you don’t need any credentials or certifications to create a course. All you need is some experience, passion, and knowledge of the subject you teach. This way, you get to make money working on what you enjoy the most – your passion project!

Let’s take a look at the seven key benefits of building an online course before sharing a quick online business launch checklist for edupreneurs.

1Make an Impact by Reaching a Wider Audience

When working online, you have greater chances to expand your business and increase your audience. Growth mentors worldwide recommend maximizing technology to build influence and online communities. Increasing your online visibility will allow you to promote and sell your courses worldwide and positively impact more people’s lives.

2Earn a Passive Income

An online instructor has the potential to create a course and sell it over and over again. If you choose to become one, you’re automatically creating a source of passive income. Once you become a course instructor, you start earning money while on autopilot. So regardless of what you do, be it working a 9-5 job, traveling, or…sleeping, you keep attracting students and selling your course. Just make sure you regularly revamp and refresh it with new, up-to-date content.

3Easy Management

In an era where learning is becoming more accessible, you are given the opportunity to create something from zero and build an online school from scratch. A lightweight learning management system (LMS), such as LearnWorlds, provides all the tools to easily manage and customize the appearance of your site. Literally, own your landing page and crush your sales goals with our sales and marketing tools! Build valuable learning experiences and add, remove, or update existing material aligning it with the needs of your learners and the latest trends in just a few clicks.

4Geographical Independence

Our digitally-driven world allows you to work from anywhere as long as you have a laptop and an internet connection. This means that you are not bound to a specific location. Instead, you can set up your online academy in any part of the world and sell your courses to an international market, reaching people from other countries and maximizing your income.

Freedom to earn from anywhere, anytime.

5No Material, Extra Costs, or Paperwork Involved

With an online business, you are clutter-free: no paperwork involved, and no manufacturing, delivery, or shipping costs. All aspects of school management are carried out online, whether this has to do with administration, content creation, site design and customization, advertising, or promoting your online course. Everything is faster, smoother, and more effective.

6Flexibility

When you become an edupreneur, you get to enjoy more free time. Since this is a ‘job’ outside of the normal 9 to 5 routine, you’re free to do whatever you want and set up your own work schedule. Once your content is out, your audience can consume it without you.

You can choose to work only a few hours a day, days of the week, or during the weekends. This gives you plenty of time to work on whatever you have going on, including your hobbies or even a part-time job that can help you sustain yourself financially on your first steps.

7Start out Free

Creating a course and an online school is a much safer choice than starting a brick-and-mortar type of business. Before you go ‘all-in’ and choose a platform to host your online academy, you get to try out the available service. If you are unsure about taking the next step, you can get your free 30-day trial, no strings attached, and experiment with all the tools available.

A Quick 5-Step Online Course Creation Checklist

Thinking is different from taking action. While it takes a while for a concept to become a reality, once you make a start, you can be certain that you will get help along the way. Create an online course creation checklist, so you can take it step-by-step.

Here’s our suggestion of a quick 5-step checklist to help you successfully launch your online course.

Step 1: Come up with a working idea

First, decide what you want to do. It could be one of your favorite activities and hobbies, or something more professional, like skills and knowledge. Ask yourself if there is anything you can help other people with.

Step 2: Research the subject

Take the time to explore the market and the customer demand in the topic you are interested in. Social media is a valuable source of information. Follow relevant groups and people to find out what the audience needs and what competitors are offering, what they’re doing well, and where they fall short. Network with people who inspire you and can give out a few tips.

Step 3: Define the learning objectives

The next step is defining the learning objectives – this should help you pick the right eLearning content and create spot-on assessments. You can also use learning objectives as your sales pitch, as they’re essentially everything the learners will be able to accomplish after they complete your course.

Step 4: Choose a course creation platform

Choose a learning platform that has all the requirements you need, like easy-to-use and customizable website builder, simple navigation, multimedia and interactive content, online community, promotional tools, advanced reporting, assessment builder, certificate builder, or even a gradebook if that’s important to you.

Step 5: Create a course outline and content

Success is in the details, but so is failure. Create a course storyboard to decide what goes where and map out a cohesive learning journey for your learners. Check and double-check what’s in there before you publish it. Also, decide how often you want your content to go out to your students and in which form.

Use this checklist as an online course launch template for future courses. For more detailed steps, read our ultimate guide on creating your first course, going over the most crucial steps you need to take to make all of this possible.

Are you Ready to Embrace the Future of Entrepreneurship?

Online education is thriving. LearnWorlds is the ideal all-in-one solution you need to scale your business and make an impact by offering unparalleled high-quality learning experiences. Claim your 30 days free trial today and join tens of thousands of entrepreneurs like you who built life-changing businesses with LearnWorlds.

FAQs

What are the essential features of an effective online course?

1. Interactivity. Passive learning is not particularly effective, to say the least. Learners that sit passively watching pre-recorded videos are bound to find their minds wandering. Although adding interactive elements to a self-paced course can be challenging, modern course creation platforms offer you the tools to do that: you can add interactions, like buttons and questions to your videos, or you can even throw a few live sessions into the mix.
2. Social learning. Learning from peers is an excellent way to impart knowledge that stays with the learner. Through peer interactions, whether these take place in a class discussion, in a discussion forum, social media group, or collaborative project, learners not only learn more about the topic but also develop social and communication skills.
3. Diverse learning material. Chances are there are different types of learners in your audience. And we’re not referring only to the visual/auditory/kinesthetic segmentation. People of different age groups also learn differently. Those who learn on the go and those who complete their courses from their homes have different needs. Make sure there’s a bit of everything for everyone there. Microlearning videos, eBooks, infographics, and podcasts are some examples of content that can satisfy different learning preferences while effectively imparting knowledge. Wherever possible and if the subject matter supports it, make sure to add some hands-on activities for your kinesthetic learners.
4. Accessibility features. Your courses should be accessible and easy to follow for people with learning or physical disabilities. Use tools and other methods that can make processing the learning material easy for them, like screenreaders, voice-overs, subtitles and transcripts, discernible navigation buttons, etc.
5. Learner assessment. Assessment is an essential part of learning. Tie assessment to the learning objectives of the course to measure whether these goals have been met and also to encourage learners to reiterate the course material and self-reflect.
6. Mobile-friendliness. Even if your course is not meant to be consumed primarily on mobile, it should still be mobile-friendly. The numbers of mobile users are huge, and it’s a given that all content should display well on mobile devices because sooner or later, your learners will want to check their course on their mobile.

What are the 5 tips to be successful in online learning?

If we could narrow down the steps to success to 5, these would be the ones:

1. Offer a topic that’s in demand. Do research on social media to figure out what people are looking for and if there’s a gap you can cover with your course.
2. Add interactivity. Whether through real-time sessions, interactive videos, or online communities, interactivity is a huge component of eLearning success.
3. Socialize and network. An active social media presence can help get the word out about your course, engage your current learners, and create excitement.
4. Use SEO and paid advertising. If you want people to discover you fast, you‘ll need to optimize your course and website for SEO. Invest in paid advertisement for even faster results.
5. Update your content. Yes, you’re supposed to “build the course once and keep making money out of it.” But that means that you shouldn’t stay in the know about what’s happening in your niche and update the information of your course accordingly. Outdated content means disgruntled customers and poor reviews.

Further reading you might find interesting:

• How to Create and Sell Profitable Online Courses: Step-by-Step Guide
• Personal Branding Guide: How to Build Your Brand Strategy
• Starting an Online Course Business from Scratch
• Sell Digital Downloads: The Complete Guide for 2022
• 18 Amazing Outline Templates to use in Course Design [3 Downloadables]
• How to Make Money on YouTube: 7 Ways to Monetize for 2022
• How Much Money Can You Make Selling Online Courses?

Androniki Koumadoraki

Androniki is a Content Writer at LearnWorlds sharing Instructional Design and marketing tips. With solid experience in B2B writing and technical translation, she is passionate about learning and spreading knowledge. She is also an aspiring yogi, a book nerd, and a talented transponster.