One of the best ways to earn a passive income is to sell what you know, and the advent of online courses – especially through the Academy of Mine – has made it easier than ever to earn a passive income by creating and selling courses on subjects you are knowledgeable and passionate about.
Setting up a website yourself is simpler than it seems, whether you use a content aggregator, a semi-custom LMS (Learning Management System), or an LMS that you build from scratch.
You’ll get your course off the ground in no time! You just need the knowledge, a marketing plan, and your website.
But how to sell your courses on Academy Of Mine, and how do you get started? Read on to find out all you need to know!
Why You Should Sell Your Course On Academy Of Mine
You Can Sell Courses In Bulk
With Academy Of Mine you can sell courses in bulk to businesses who want to sign up their customers, employees, and partners to on-demand training, and as soon as customers purchase the course they can start learning.
Easily Market Your Course To Customers
With a course description and accompanying images, you can tell customers exactly what a course is about so they know exactly what they’re signing up for – and start the course as soon as they’ve paid for it!
You Can Customize The Purchasing Experience
Using different colors, pages, menus, and more, with Academy Of Mine you can customize your course so customers have a totally customized shopping experience.
You can easily categorize courses so students can easily find them, and white-label your site so it matches your branding.
You Can Create A Storefront To Advertise Your Courses
Academy Of Mine allows you to create a virtual storefront to sell your course, as well as an ‘About Us’ page, and a online course creation software catalog. You can alter website menus and attach images, online course videos, and other graphics to the storefront.
Learning Management Marketplace Vs Learning Management Software
Once you have decided what your niche for your successful online course software is and how you want to go about delivering the course, you need to sell it. There are three main ways to sell courses online.
Aggregation Sites Such As Masterclass , Teachable, Or Udemy
If you want to take advantage of the built-in audience these online course platforms draw in, we recommend choosing an e-learning aggregation free online course platform for your content.
These websites have thousands of students, which makes it not just a profitable option but also a great way to build an audience spanning multiple channels.
E-Learning Aggregators Pros
- Gives you access to users already using popular platforms.
- There are many resources and guidelines available to help you make the best content possible that is correctly formatted.
- Access to customer service for your customers, meaning they contact the hosting company rather than yourself if they need help navigating the course material.
- All updates and maintenance are managed by the host site, not you.
E-Learning Aggregators Cons
- Zero control over the pricing structure.
- You have more competition with similar, but unlimited courses.
- Profits are diminished as the host site is entitled to a percentage of them.
- The courses are tied to the host site, making the transition or expansion to your own site a challenge.
Semi-Custom LMS Platforms Like BigCartel, Shopify, Square, Or WooCommerce
If you would like to have more control over your courses and are confident to market and manage the site, then we would recommend going for a semi-custom LMS platform.
This option carries more risk than aggregator websites, but it can also massively boost your profits if you find success since you have control over the pricing structure and just need to pay a fixed fee for the domain and hosting.
Semi-Custom E-Learning Site Pros
- More flexibility over factors such as content type and website design.
- Operation and maintenance have a fixed cost.
- Site maintenance and updates are handled by the developers so you can concentrate on customer experience.
- Some sites give you access to email list builders and marketing tools.
- You can set the price for your content.
Semi-Custom E-Learning Site Cons
- Your success will depend on how well you are able to market your site and convince students to sign up to your courses.
- The time costs are higher as you are responsible for elements such as email lists, site design, and visuals.
- The lack of full control may put your business in jeopardy if the best online course platform you’re using is bought out or goes under.
Custom-Built LMS
If you have the drive and the ability to build an expansive, thriving business around the courses you’re offering, then we recommend developing a custom-built LMS from scratch.
A custom-built LMS puts all the control in your hands, from developing the LMS that works on all browsers and managing the website and other operating systems your customers use for customer service queries and payment.
Needless to say, custom-built LMS’ is a big responsibility, but it can be worth it, as it provides you with plenty of opportunities and the exciting possibility of almost limitless success.
Custom LMS Pros
- You have total control over what you charge for your courses.
- Gives you the opportunity to accrue a loyal customer base who will return for more courses.
- The growth ceiling is near limitless.
- It is a flexible option that you can change and adapt to fit new business trends.
Custom LMS Cons
- You have total responsibility over every aspect of the site, not just the business aspects but the maintenance and updates.
- You need to have some knowledge of coding and experience in managing an LMS and a website, or you will have to hire someone who has such skills.
- Customers are less likely to trust a site they don’t know – and less likely to pay for your courses. You may have to put a lot of investment into marketing to build trust among your customers.
However, Academy of Mine can help you build a custom e-learning LMS and website for you, so most of these cons will not apply!
Whatever platform you decide to host your content on, selling the content is only the first step on your journey.
How To Find The Right Demographics For Your Online Courses
Posting your e-learning content to your site and waiting for the students to come to you is not going to yield results.
Yes, a few people might happen to pass by and see what you’re selling online courses, but if you want to draw people in you’re going to have to do just that – actively search for students and sell online courses on your site loudly and proudly.
But where do you find students? Well, the answer will depend on what you’re teaching.
But if you have already done some of your research, then you are probably well aware of who could benefit the most from your knowledge.
When finding your target audience, you need to consider the smallest group and the largest group.
The largest group of students is the biggest group of people who have one thing in common: They need the knowledge you’re selling.
These could be business owners, craftspeople, or those who are unable to afford trade school but want to learn a new skill.
Sell to these people with a shotgun-inspired strategy, with many cheap, easy-to-distribute ads that are sure to reach a lot of people. Think of these as virtual billboards.
Once you know what your largest group is, you now need to identify the smallest group that it is still financially worth advertising to.
You can do this via social media posts, or on forum sites such as Reddit.
It’s recommended to dedicate a larger portion of your advertising efforts to reaching these people, as this smaller community will be more tight-knit and help to create a loyal, dedicated, and profitable customer base.
Marketing is also about creating good branding for your content, building a presence on social media, and focusing on SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Tips For Selling Courses On Academy Of Mine
The Success Of Your Course Will Be Determined By Your Niche
Before you begin selling your course, it’s important to research courses that already exist, doing what you’re hoping to do.
Look for success stories and compare them with your goals, as this will give you a clearer idea of what you want to achieve and how you can set yourself apart.
Selling Your Knowledge Through Practice Or Experience
Regarding selling courses online, there are usually two kinds of knowledge you can sell.
These are something you have learned due to years of unique experience, or something you have learned through practice. Either way, both types of knowledge derive from the expertise you have cultivated.
Outline The Curriculum Of Your Course Before You Begin Selling
It may seem obvious, but having a clear idea of what you want to teach is one of the first steps of this journey, followed by how you want to present this information.
For example, most successful online courses concentrate on presenting information in video form.
How Much To Charge For Your Online Course
Deciding how much to charge for your e-learning course can be an overwhelming prospect.
After all, you don’t want to charge too much and put off possible students, but you don’t want to charge so little that the course is not profitable. However, there are a couple of ways to mitigate these concerns.
Firstly, try offering some freemium content on your website. This allows you to gather contact information such as email addresses for potential students, and include them in your marketing strategy.
Even if these students don’t want to sign up today, an email that comes at the right time or a sale may persuade them.
Then, you should decide what is the minimum threshold of profitability, taking into account the current number of students you have.
For example, if you would like to make $10,000 a month from your e-learning courses, and you only average 10 students, then technically you need to charge $1,000 for your courses in order to make your desired profit.
While this isn’t a ridiculously high cost, it definitely changes your demographic.
If you’re aware that your potential customers will be unable – or not want to – pay that much, then you will need to invest more in marketing and boost the amount of paying clients you’re averaging a month, or you will need to lower the cost.
Being aware of your potential customers’ price tolerance is a huge part of setting the prices for your course.
You can also sell courses as a one-time purchase, or put a subscription model in place.
With a subscription model, you can offer free trials for customers, or allow them to try a course for free before they subscribe to your content.
You can also create training packages and create online courses that bundle similar courses together or create membership plans.
How Academy Of Mine Helps You Sell Your Course
You can sign up for Academy Of Mine’s ‘You Plan It, We Build It service for assistance in creating interactive online courses in a variety of formats.
All you need to do is provide the raw content (audio, PDF, PowerPoints, text, video, etc.), and they will bring it to life!
First, Academy Of Mine discusses your plans with you, so they can give you exactly what you need.
You will then provide them with the raw content you want on your site before they structure the course and come to you for approval.
Finally, they build the course in their interactive, portable SCORM format. Voilà! You have your site up and running!
Final Thoughts
There you have it! Now you know how to sell your courses on Academy Of Mine, and how much the platform can help you get your online course up and running.
We hope that our article has given you all the tools you need to plan and market your online course, and what the best way to present your online course to the world is.