Are you currently thinking about starting your own online school?
With so many students opting to opt for online learning as opposed to in-person – deciding to take the plunge into starting your very own online school can mark the beginning of both a fulfilling and lucrative journey.
Not to mention, providing a way for you to share your knowledge with others while also making money.
In recent times, opting for online courses and lessons is becoming increasingly more common as a way to study.
But, not only that, besides offering plenty of convenience, online schooling also serves as a way to make learning more affordable and accessible to more and more people.
Thanks to that, it offers a way for everyone to pursue a course or area of learning they are interested in.
The only question is – how do you start up your very own online school, exactly? If you are currently asking yourself this, then rest assured that you have come to the right place.
In this guide, we are going to be showing you how you can start up your very own online, virtual school. From what courses to offer all the way to marketing tips – we’ve made sure to cover all bases.
So, without further ado, just keep on reading to discover how to start an online school.
Step One: Choose A Platform
When it comes to starting your very own online school, the first thing that you are going to want to do is to choose a platform that you are going to be able to offer your online courses and classes on.
There are many different options available for you to choose from – including website hosting platforms as well as platforms that have been specifically created to be used for online schooling.
It ultimately depends on what classes/courses you want to offer, as well as the way that you would like the courses to be delivered to your students.
That being said, there are a great many different options to choose from – and it is important to keep in mind that each type of platform will come with its very own individual features and tools.
As a side note, if you opt for a platform that is optimized for school, then you will also be able to make good use of features that will have been specifically designed for the various stages of starting a course – including student enrolment, community areas, course content and more.
Step Two: Research Competition And Pick A Topic
After you have chosen which platform you are going to be using to create your online school, you can then go ahead and begin creating the online courses that you plan to offer to your customers/students.
Ideally, you will already have a subject/area that you plan to offer courses within, but while you are building your course content – we recommend that you ask yourself the following questions while you are creating your courses:
- What is the course offering? What purpose will it serve?
- How much should you charge your students?
- What can your customers expect to learn from your course?
While you are asking yourself these questions and deciding which topic to focus on, it is likely that you will come across many other competitors that offer similar courses that you plan to.
We recommend that you take a look at what your competitors are offering so that you can see what is selling, as well as what you are going up against.
Step Three: Create Online Courses
After you have taken the time to decide an area that you would like to provide courses within, you will then be ready to go ahead and begin creating your very own online course content.
In order to do this right, all you are going to need to do is simply take the time to brainstorm a profitable course idea and then go from there.
Ideally, we strongly recommend that you opt to create e-courses that are within a subject or topic that you are either passionate about or are very knowledgeable about.
Even though it’s important to offer quality and professional courses, it is also just as important to make sure that you yourself are knowledgeable in the course topics, as your students will need to know that they are purchasing from a trusted source.
Even though creating online courses will likely come with some trial and error as you get used to building e-content for your students to learn from, with practice you should find it relatively simple.
In order to get started, however, you are going to want to begin by outlining learning objectives and then proceeding to create the rest of the course’s content surrounding the objectives that you have already put in place.
Not only will this method of structuring a course make it easier to create, but it will also be a whole lot easier for your students to follow.
Once you have finished creating your course, you can then proceed to add in visual elements and finishing touches as you see fit before then going ahead and uploading it to the platform you have already picked to host your course content/learning.
Top Tip: Before you upload your course, why don’t you ask a friend or family member to read over the course content? Proofreading with a fresh set of eyes is a great way to refine your work and make it more polished.
Step Four: Create A Brand And Website
Once you have finished creating your first course, you can then go ahead and begin building your brand, as well as your main website.
Even though you are going to be using a dedicated learning platform to provide a place for your students to work, view class content and more- you’re also going to need to make sure that you have a general website set up and running so that potential students have a place to view your courses, learn more about you and get a general feel for who you and your company are.
Along with that, making sure that you have a website will also ensure that your students/customers will be able to safely purchase the course of their choice.
That being said, before you launch your online school and begin taking on clients, you are first going to need to have built your very own website.
There are many different options available to you when it comes to creating your own website for your online school, but we recommend that you opt for a Ecommerce storefront style website as you are going to be selling courses.
Along with building your website, you are also going to need to make sure that you are taking the time to invest into the overall identity of your brand. This includes tone of voice, brand colors, visual imagery and much more.
To ensure a professional and polished first impression, you should make sure that your branding is consistent across all platforms that you use, while also ensuring that all written content is on-brand, grammatically correct and engaging.
To help get you started, here is a quick breakdown of what you should make sure that your online school’s website features:
- Landing page: This the first page that your customers will see so it’s important to make sure that it contains important information that you want them to see – such as course offers and more.
- Blog: A blog is an awesome way to add a touch of informality to your website all the while serving as a way to drive courses sales. As well as this, a blog is the perfect opportunity to utilize SEO tactics to help boost the chances of your website appearing higher in google search results and, in turn, raising the chances of more visitors coming to your site.
- Product page: This is very important as you will need a place to display your courses.
- Testimonial page: If possible, you should also include testimonials to help encourage more sales.
The Bottom Line
There we have it. Now that you have taken the time to read through this guide, we hope that you now have a much better idea of how you can go about starting your own online school – while also filling you with the confidence to take the first step and do it!
All in all, even though it can seem like an overwhelming and daunting process, starting up your own online school isn’t so different from starting an Ecommerce business.
So long as you are making sure that you are putting in the effort to create quality courses and have the ability to implement a great marketing strategy, you’ll have the potential to make a lucrative income.
Thank you for reading, and good luck!
