Paid Traffic - How To Boost Online SalesAre you hoping to increase online sales for your business? Paid traffic - ie, online ads - is a powerful tool. Unlike organic traffic, which can take several months to kick in, paid traffic can start working the day you turn it on. However, unless you know how to properly use paid traffic within a broader marketing funnel, you're at risk of spending a lot of money, without getting sales in return. In this article, I give you tips on how to run paid traffic for strong results. What is paid traffic?Paid traffic is the visits a business's website receives from online advertisements the business has purchased on other websites. For example, if a business buys an ad on Facebook, when users click it and land on the business's website, the visits would be considered paid traffic. What is the difference between paid and organic traffic?Organic traffic is the visits a website receives that did not directly come from advertisements. For example, if a business sends a website link to its email subscribers, when people click the link and land on the website, the visits would be considered organic traffic. Paid and organic traffic - examplesPaid traffic examples Website visits from these sources, among others, would be considered paid traffic:
Organic traffic examples Website visits from these sources, among others, would be considered organic traffic:
Paid vs. organic traffic - which is better?Neither traffic source is purely "better" than the other. Many successful businesses leverage both paid and organic traffic together, to serve specific purposes within their broader funnel strategy. For example, a business may use paid traffic to generate leads, then email those leads links to blog articles for several weeks, creating a steady flow of organic traffic. Paid and organic traffic each have pros and cons: Paid traffic - pros
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How much do online ads cost?Not all paid traffic costs the same, or is it paid for the same way. Different advertising sources have different rates and charge models. What determines ad rates?Some key factors that ad rates are based on:
Once you begin running ads, you'll receive a surge of data about their performance. See what's working and what isn't. Shift more of your budget into opportunities with a strong sales/cost ratio. To automate this process, consider the tool Optmyzr. How are you charged for ads?Different platforms charge for ads in different ways. The three major charge models:
How can you boost sales with online ads?Before you invest in online ads, you should first map out a funnel strategy for your business. In case you're unaware, a funnel is a series of marketing tactics that turn people who've never heard of your brand into loyal customers... To learn more about marketing funnels, I suggest you take an online course from Skillshare. Paid ads can be effective at all four levels of the funnel. Here's an overview of each level and how paid ads can be leveraged at it:
Below, find some tips on how to effectively apply paid ads to your funnel to boost sales and generate a great ROI. 1. Know your key funnel financial valuesAre you selling a high-ticket item with many potential customers? If so, you have quite a lot of flexibility for paid ads. Even if you spend a lot of money within the awareness and/or consideration phases of the funnel, as long as you can get a solid amount of customers to convert (ie, make a purchase), your ROI can be positive. On the other hand, are you selling, for instance, an item that only costs $2, and would only be relevant to 1,000 people? If all of them purchased it, you can make $2,000. Spending $3,000 on paid ads wouldn't make sense, unless you had other items for sale and could tap into repeat purchases in the loyalty phase. 2. Identify your funnel strengthsAre you already thriving at a certain funnel stage? For instance, possibly you have a large social media following and are already driving a ton of awareness about your brand. Investing your advertising budget into awareness ads may not have a large impact on your business. When you're first starting out - and may not have an enormous budget - you should be selective with your budget. 3. Identify your funnel obstructionsAre you noticing an obstruction within your marketing funnel? For example, whenever you get people to land on your product pages, you tend to convert a high percentage of them into buyers. However, you're only getting a few dozen people to these pages, every month. A business like this is solid with conversion, yet lacking with awareness. A paid campaign aimed at driving awareness can make a lot of sense. As more leads enter the top of the funnel, more sales will naturally emerge at the bottom. 4. Choose an effective advertising platformOnce you've identified where in the funnel you want to improve performance via paid ads, you'll need to select a platform to advertise on. Though you can experiment with multiple platforms at once, if you're first starting out, I'd suggest focusing on one at a time. When picking a platform, consider the following:
5. Create a landing page and follow-up sequenceIn the vast majority of cases, a business shouldn't simply send paid traffic to its home page. Instead, you should create a specialized page, designed to prompt an action that's relevant to the focused-upon funnel stage. These pages are known as landing pages. For example, with an awareness ad, you'd pay for traffic to your website. Once those visitors arrive, you want to advance them to the next stage of your funnel, consideration. You can of course pay for a consideration ad next, targeted at these visitors. However, by collecting their email addresses, you can avoid this second cost. Visitors from your awareness ad can arrive at a landing page, where you offer them something of value for free, in exchange for their email address - this free item is known as a lead magnet. Once you have their email address, you can send them messages - without paying for another ad - that encourage consideration. You can take advantage of various funnel-builder software tools that let you easily create high-converting landing pages, follow-up pages, and follow-up email sequences. FYI, I put together a detailed list of these software systems. Want to learn more about paid traffic?I recommend you check out the great online courses from Skillshare. This post contains affiliate links.
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Leadpages vs. Instapage [Read This Before Deciding]Are you considering Leadpages vs. Instapage to build landing pages? In this article, I'll help you make your pick, covering the key differences in features and pricing. Though your choice should, of course, be based on features you need, it should also be based on those you don't. I'm going to help assure you're not paying for capabilities you're already getting elsewhere, or just have no use for. Leadpages vs. Instapage - overall recommendationLeadpages and Instapage are both high-quality landing page builders, which can help you generate more leads and sales. Due to its lower price, Leadpages would be a better choice for more businesses. However, due to its dynamic personalization feature, Instapage can be worth the additional cost for businesses that invest in PPC advertising campaigns. Both platforms have a 14-day, free trial. I highly recommend you try both to see which you like better: Leadpages vs. Instapage - featuresShared featuresThough they have differences, Leadpages and Instapage have many of the same, core features. Here's an overview of these capabilities... Landing page template library On both platforms, you can browse a library of pre-created landing page templates, already optimized for conversion rate. Sort the templates based on various filters, like page goal and industry. Any template can be customized with your brand's logo, colors, and advertising copy. Drag-and-drop page building Whether you're starting with a template, or from scratch, both Leadpages and Instapage have a robust, drag-and-drop builder for landing pages and confirmation pages. Arrange and customize content blocks. Quickly create a great-looking page, even if you lack a background in computer programming or graphic design. Lead and e-commerce conversions Landing pages you create on Leadpages or Instapage can be aimed at generating leads or online sales. With lead-focused pages, visitors can fill out forms with their email address, name, etc, and you'd collect the information. With sales-focused pages, accept online credit card payments and sell products. Third-party integrations Landing pages are just one element of a business's marketing funnel. Leapages and Instapage have direct integrations with premier, third-party tools that address other funnel elements, such as CRM, email marketing, and commerce. Here are some software platforms Leadpages and Instapage sync with: Do you think these features can help your business? Take advantage of the 14-day, free trials from Leadpages and Instapage. Leadpages-specific featuresLeadpages has a handful of features Instapage lacks:
Instapage-specific featuresInstapage has a team-collaboration feature Leadpages lacks. However, the key difference between the platforms is Instapage's dynamic personalization for ads. It's aimed at increasing the ROI of pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. If you happen to run high-volume PPC campaigns, this personalization feature can significantly boost the conversion rate of your ads, making Instapage a better choice over Leadpages, despite its higher monthly cost. Here's a closer look at the personalization feature... Step 1 - Associate landing pages with ad campaigns
Step 2 - Enable page content to dynamically change based on a clicker's context
Step 3 - Experience higher conversion rates and lower CPCs
Feature comparison tableLeadpages vs. Instapage - pricingLeadpages pricing
The higher the price of a plan, the more features and larger limits it has. To learn more about each plan, visit the Leadpages site: Visit Leadpages Instapage pricing
The higher the price of a plan, the more features it has. To learn more about each plan, visit the Instapage site: Visit Instapage Leadpages vs. Instapage - frequently asked questionsWhat is better than Leadpages?Leadpages is a high-quality tool for funnel building, however, certain platforms, like Instapage, offer features Leadpages lacks. For example, Instapage can dynamically tailor the content of a landing page based on keywords entered in a search engine. Is Instapage worth it?If you run several thousand dollars, or more, of PPC ads per month, then yes, Instapage can be worth its cost, and potentially earn you a large profit. Instapage's technology automatically personalizes a landing page for people who visit it, which can boost its relevance and conversion rate. What is Instapage used for?Instapage is a tool for creating marketing funnels. You can build landing pages and connect them with a CRM or marketing automation platform. Instapage's page-personalization feature makes it particularly useful for businesses directing PPC traffic to landing pages. How much does Leadpages cost per month?The Leadpages Standard plan is $37/month, if paid annually, and $49/month, if paid monthly, while its Pro plan is $74/month, if paid annually, and $99/month, if paid monthly. Leadpages also offers an Advanced plan, which is custom-priced for custom features. Is Instapage free?No, Instapage is not free. However, Instapage does offer a 14-day, free trial. After the trial ends, the platform costs $199/month, if paid annually, or $299/month, if paid monthly. Instapage also has a custom-priced plan for custom features. Does Instapage work with Shopify?Yes, Instapage works with Shopify. You can sell items from your Shopify store via Instapage landing pages, accept online credit card payments for sales, and track and manage orders. Can you build a website with Leadpages?Yes, you can build a website with Leadpages. You can browse Leadpages' library of website templates, select one, and easily customize it via a drag-and-drop editor with your brand's content. Leadpages also gives you the option to just create landing pages. Can you sell products on Leadpages?Yes, you can sell products on Leadpages. Create a high-converting landing page for your product and accept online credit card payments for it, directly on your Leadpages landing page. Do you need a domain for Leadpages?No, you don't need your own domain for Leadpages. You can use a Leadpages sub-domain. However, if you do own a domain, you can easily connect it with Leadpages, and use it instead of the sub-domain. Ready to start boosting your conversion rate?Do you know which is a better fit for you, Leadpages vs. Instapage? Create your account today and begin your free trial. Still not sure which is better for you? Create an account on both platforms today, try them out for free, and make your choice. This post contains affiliate links. 5 Social Media Marketing Tips [Boost Sales]Do you want to boost online sales for your business? Social media is a great way to do that, however, you can't simply post the same links to your sales pages on a bunch of different platforms and expect your revenue to climb. In this article, I give you 5 key social media marketing tips to leverage the major apps to your advantage. 1. Use social media within a broader funnel strategyInstead of treating your social media strategy as a standalone part of your business, view it as one part of your broader funnel strategy. Before investing time into social media, first map out your marketing funnel. In case you're not certain what a marketing funnel is, it's a series of marketing tactics that convert people who've never heard of your brand into loyal customers... Here's a snapshot of the four levels of the marketing funnel:
Do you already have a funnel strategy in place? If so, you can use social media to amplify the progress you're already making at each stage, or possibly get through a bottleneck you might have at a certain level. Do you not have a funnel strategy in place yet? That's okay. You can build one from scratch, on top of social networks. If you want to learn more about marketing funnels, I recommend you check out an online course from Skillshare. 2. Use different social networks for different funnel stagesA mistake beginners in social media marketing often make is viewing all networks as different versions of the same thing. Though certain social apps have a lot in common, they're all fundamentally unique. A post that performs well on one may hardly be noticed if duplicated on another. Because of these fundamental differences, certain social networks are better suited for certain funnel stages. Below, I'm going to give you an overview of the major social apps used for marketing, the type of content to make on each, and the funnel stages each are helpful for. Funnel Stages
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3. Give each post a purposeAssociating a post with a certain funnel stage is great. However, you want to get into even more depth, deciding how that post can accomplish a specific goal within that funnel stage, then composing a call to action to encourage viewers toward the goal. Here are some examples for different funnel stages:
4. Build your social media followings one at a timeGrowing a following on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest very rarely happens overnight. You'll likely need to put in a good amount of time to get solid results on any platform. Instead of trying to grow all of your accounts at once, I'd recommend you prioritize them, and focus on one at a time. Yes, you can definitely make accounts on all of these platforms right away, however, in terms of dedicating time to creating posts, focus on them individually, at least in the beginning while you're learning. Though the different networks have their own nuances, certain types of photos and videos can be repurposed across them. For example, let's say you decide to focus on TikTok first. Videos you create on TikTok can definitely be cross-posted to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Cross-posting only takes a few minutes. Feel free to do this as you're building up your TikTok account. Once you get a hang of TikTok, and have an active following, only then would I suggest you start focusing on building up a second account. Once you have followings on various accounts, and understand the platforms well, you might be able to manage all of them on your own. However, this can be tricky, especially if you're in charge of many other parts of your business. What you can do is oversee the strategy, then hire freelancers to help carry it out. They can create certain photos, videos, descriptions, and more. To hire social media freelancers, I recommend viewing the profiles on the platform Fiverr. 5. Establish a social media content scheduleYou should avoid posting on the fly. Instead, consider funnel stages, topics, and post types, and plan ahead. I recommend you create posts and schedule them to go live in the future. You can view your scheduled posts on a calendar, quickly see if you have too few, or too many, of a certain kind, and make adjustments. Tailwind is an excellent tool for scheduling Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest posts. You can schedule TikTok and YouTube uploads directly within their apps. Posting frequency and consistency will help you grow your following on each network. Ideally, you'd post once a day on a platform if you were trying to build your followers from zero, or at least three days a week. Posting on similar days of the week, and at similar times, can help too. Advanced scheduling makes day/time consistency easy. This post contains affiliate links. Kartra vs. Kajabi [Read This Before Deciding]Are you considering Kartra vs. Kajabi to manage your online-content business? In this article, I'll help you make your choice, covering the key differences in features and pricing. Though your pick should, of course, be based on features you need, it should also be based on those you don't. I'm going to help make sure you're not paying for capabilities you're already getting elsewhere, or just have no use for. Kartra vs. Kajabi - overall recommendationKartra and Kajabi are both high-quality platforms for creating, selling, and managing online courses and memberships. Because it has more feature depth, Kartra is my recommendation. It offers a 30-day, free trial. I suggest you take advantage of it and check out the features yourself: Kartra vs. Kajabi - featuresShared featuresBoth platforms have the core capabilities to create, sell, and manage online courses and memberships, plus a lot more. Here are the features that Kartra and Kajabi have in common:
Both Kartra and Kajabi provide all of this. However, Kartra offers even more major features, which I'll go into next. I suggest you start the free, 30-day trial to get a sense for the platform: Kartra-only featuresAdvanced funnel analysis Visually map out your entire marketing funnel, including external traffic sources like Facebook and TikTok. View real-time analytics to easily spot bottlenecks you can fix. Run A/B tests and funnel simulations to optimize your results. Advanced video tools Though you can add videos to Kajabi, it doesn't host them. Kartra does. Because of this, you can tap into various advanced features for video, such as automatically tagging leads based on the portion of a video that was viewed. Helpdesk creation Support your leads and customers with a robust online helpdesk. Add live chat to your site, allowing your support agents to answer questions in real time. Enable site visitors to create support tickets and have them directed to an appropriate rep. Feature comparison tableReady to launch your premium-content business? Or, try Kajabi. Kartra vs. Kajabi - pricingKartra pricing
The more advanced a plan, the more features and higher limits it has. To learn more about each plan, visit the Kartra site: Visit Kartra Kajabi pricing
The more advanced a plan, the more features and higher limits it has. To learn more about each plan, visit the Kajabi site: Visit Kajabi Kartra vs. Kajabi - frequently asked questionsIs Kartra better than Kajabi?Though Kartra and Kajabi both have a robust feature set for creating, selling, and managing a content business, Kartra has various capabilities Kajabi lacks, such as an advanced funnel analyzer, video hosting, and helpdesk software. Can you sell courses on Kartra?Yes, you can sell courses on Kartra. Create a course with video, audio, text, and downloadable files. Sell your course for a one-time payment, or provide access via a subscription membership. If you have multiple courses, you can bundle them. Can you build a website with Kartra?Yes, you can build a website with Kartra. Browse templates or start from scratch, and create your site via a drag-and-drop tool, with your own domain name. Your pages will automatically sync with Kartra's collection of marketing automation tools. How much is Kartra vs. Kajabi?Paid annually, Kartra's subscription plans cost $99, $189, and $429 per month, while Kajabi's go for $119, $159, and $319 per month. Paid monthly, Kartra's subscription plans cost $119, $229, and $549 per month, while Kajabi's go for $149, $199, and $399 per month. What does Kartra replace?Kartra can replace software tools for website creation, landing-page design, email marketing, payment processing, course creation, community management, video hosting, helpdesk, and more. Can Kartra send text messages?Yes, Kartra can send text messages, if integrated with an SMS platform. You can sync Kartra with three SMS platforms - Twilio, Plivo, or Vonage. Once an integration is set up, you can send text messages to your CRM contacts. Is Kartra a funnel builder?Yes, Kartra is a funnel builder. You can create a variety of web pages and automated email sequences, and set up rules to surface content to certain users at certain times depending on actions they take, or don't take, such as clicking a link. Can I use my own domain with Kartra?Yes, you can use your own domain with Kartra. You can build a full website on Kartra, on a domain you own. You can also build individual landing pages on Kartra, and associate them with your domain, even if you already have a website. Can I build my website on Kajabi?Yes, you can build a website on Kajabi. Browse a variety of site templates, which you can easily customize. Create a home page, blog, product pages, and more, and connect your site to a domain name you own. Can I buy a domain with Kartra?Though you can't buy a domain directly from Kartra, if you buy a domain from a third-party site, like GoDaddy, you can easily connect it with Kartra. With Kartra, you can create landing pages or even a full website on your domain. What does Kajabi cost per month?Kajabi offers three tiers of subscription plans - Basic, Growth, and Pro - which cost $119, $159, and $319 per month, if paid annually, and $149, $199, and $399 per month, if paid monthly. What are alternatives to Kajabi?Some popular alternatives to Kajabi:
Certain alternatives offer many features Kajabi does, while others just have a handful of specialized features. Get started todayStart building your premium-content business today: How to Create a Popular Online Course [7 Steps]Looking to turn your expertise into a highly profitable business? In this article, I'll show you how to create an online course that can generate income for you 24 hours a day. I'm the creator of Write Gripping Stories, a learning platform for writers with three online courses. I'm going to sum up the key takeaways I've picked up into 7 simple steps for you. 1. Focus on what you know and like for the course topicWhen choosing a topic for your online course, you want to tap into a skill you already have. Ideally, this would be a skill you're already using in a professional capacity. For instance, launching an online class about playing the guitar would be a good fit for an instructor who's in a band that plays professional gigs, or who currently charges for in-person lessons. The level of knowledge you have in your topic is important, as is the level of affinity you have for the topic. Popular online courses are taught by people who love doing the thing they teach. Most of the students who pay for courses love the topic too, and want to learn from someone who shares this interest. Almost all successful online courses are mostly formatted in video. If you don't enjoy the stuff you're talking about, that's going to show on camera and the course is going to come off as flat. If you love what you're talking about, the opposite will happen, and your course will have an engaging feel. 2. Determine the course's market potentialJust because you know and like a topic, doesn't mean you can turn an online course on it into a viable business. First, you need to make sure the course would have a big enough market, which comes down to two questions:
Potential customersFor many topics, you can rely on intuition to estimate possible-customer count. You may not know exactly how many people would pay for an online course on playing the guitar, however, since the topic has a lot of interest among the population, you could assume a course would have a lot of potential students. You should also do a Google search for "topic name online courses" and see what comes up. If multiple courses already exist on your topic, don't be deterred. In fact, this is a good sign. It means the market has already been "validated," ie, customers are out there willing to pay for this type of material. For a more precise answer on customer potential, you can leverage Ahrefs, which has a free tool that lets you type in a keyword to see how many times it's Googled per a month. Enter "topic name online courses," plus additional keywords related to your intended topic. Potential priceWhen you do your Google search for "topic name online courses," check out the classes that come up and see what they're charging. The prices might vary a bunch, but that's okay. Get an idea of the range. Were you unable to find any online courses on the topic? Possibly you can find classes on related topics and see what they're going for. If you can't find any pricing at all, consider how much money your course can earn your students. In general, students are willing to pay more for an online course if the lessons can directly lead to a profit. For instance, many courses on financial trading cost a lot of money. The lessons can be applied to financial markets, and students can profit directly from them, immediately after finishing a class. Courses on leisure topics that can't translate into earnings tend to cost less. You can still build a business from a low-priced course, you'd just need to sell a lot of them. The "students and price" equationLet's say you have a financial goal of making $100,000 a year from your course business. Apply the "students and price" equation to assess the various paths to reaching that goal. If none of the paths seems realistic, you may want to dial down your earnings goal, or consider another topic for your course. Here are some possible paths to $100,000 a year:
As you can see, you can also build a solid business with a small number of students, as long as your class's price tag is high. 3. Find a unique value proposition for your courseYour course should offer students the ability to go from the state they're currently in to a better state. For example, going from a "novice" guitar player to someone good enough to "perform on stage." This is known as a transformation. Your course likely won't be the only one on the market that offers this transformation. That's all right. A unique value proposition is a draw your method has that competitors lack. What will make your course stand out versus others on the market that claim to provide a similar transformation? To come up with a unique value proposition, start by assessing the courses that show up on Google for the phrase "topic name online courses." For each, make a note of these characteristics:
You want to find a pocket in the market that no other course covers, a unique combination across the dimensions above. You don't need to be wildly different, however, you need to stand out in at least one category. Unique value proposition - examplesNotoriety vs. support Let's say a world-renowned expert in your field teaches an online course. The videos and supporting PDFs look great, however, the instructor offers zero human support. Though you may not have the same level of notoriety as this famous expert, if your course offered 1:1 support from you, it would stand out against the other instructor's. One sub-topic vs. multiple Let's say the most popular course on your topic is predominantly about sub-topic X. You can consider addressing sub-topic X in your material, while also covering sub-topics Y and Z in just as much depth. High price vs. low As for price, if you're going to charge considerably more than the other providers in the market, you better be offering considerably more material, support, and/or be a well-established expert in your field. Another strategy is to charge much less than other providers, or even offer a class for free. However, I would not recommend this if you're only planning on offering one course. This can be a good tactic to "get people in the door" if you'll be creating additional, higher-priced courses in the future. Students who take and like your first course could be inclined to purchase your others, despite the higher prices. 4. Consider the scalability of your courseScalability refers to how much your customer base can grow with you still able to provide the promised level of service to everyone. For instance, for a certain course, an instructor may be able to easily support 10 students, struggle with 100 students, and find 1,000 impossible. When putting together your unique value proposition, if you decide 1:1 instruction will be a key part of your offer, think about these questions:
The answers to these questions should give you a sense of how many students can enroll in your course without you maxing out your allotted time for support. Now, multiply the intended price of your course by how many students you can enroll, and compare the number to your broader financial goal. Let's say you want to make $100,000 a year selling courses, yet you can only support 200 students a year based on the level of personal help you're promising. This means you'll have to sell your course for at least $500. If that price makes sense, you're good. If not, you'll need to make an adjustment. Scalability adjustmentsDoes $500 seem way too high based on other courses' prices in the market? Here are some adjustment options:
5. Create the course materialOnce you've established your unique value proposition, you should have a strong sense of the following:
Next, you want to create a content outline for the course. For every sub-topic, break it into sub-sub-topics, with at least one video dedicated to each. Consider which sub-topics would benefit from supporting material, and make a note of files you'd need to create. Recording videosI find students prefer watching multiple short videos to one long one. I like keeping my videos around 10 minutes or less. For example, five 8-minute videos would be preferable to a single 40-minute video. Try to keep the videos simple. You just want to get across the information in a straightforward way. Often, the videos in online courses just feature the instructor sitting down, discussing a concept. You can film them on a cell phone. You'll need a tripod to keep the camera steady, ideally with a light on it to assure your video is properly lit, plus a microphone.
Though modern cell phones have high video quality, you may want to invest in a camera for a wider range of filming options. Here are a variety of affordable video cameras on Amazon. Possibly, to effectively cover a lesson, you'll need a video that features more than you talking. Is your lesson about sports, for instance? You may need to hire a videographer to film you demonstrating a technique. Is your lesson a software tutorial? You should purchase a screen-recording app that'll film you going through the software. Editing videosOnce you've recorded your videos, you'll need to edit them. You can either do this yourself, or hire an editor. If you do want to edit your own videos, you'll need a video-editing software. An easy-to-use one is InVideo. If you don't already have video-editing skills, I recommend you take an online course. It'll be well worth the money. Here's one from Skillshare on InVideo. If you plan to use a different editing software, Skillshare offers various classes on others. Making supporting filesEach piece of non-video, supporting content should accomplish one of two goals (possibly both):
For example, if you're doing a video lesson that covers math equations, a PDF document that lists all the mentioned equations would help students better understand the material because they wouldn't be forced to memorize all the equations, which could lead to a mistake. Or, let's say you're doing a video lesson that teaches students how to write an effective e-commerce product description. Possibly, you can include a Microsoft Word template, with pre-labeled sections and sub-sections. A document like this would help students put the lesson into practice, creating their own product description. 6. Choose an online teaching platformOnce you've made your course material and decided on a price, you're ready to go live with your class. Manually managing sign-ups, payments, and file storage and delivery would be extremely time-consuming and error-prone. Instead, you'll want to create an account on an online teaching platform. For a monthly fee, these software platforms will handle the end-to-end process of students finding out about your course, registering, paying, and going through the material. I recommend Teachable. The plans are well worth their cost and come with powerful features for marketing and delivering your class. 7. Market your courseOnce your course is live for sale on Teachable, or a similar platform, don't expect a surge of people to immediately open up their wallets for it. For results, you'll need an effective marketing strategy. To successfully market an online course, I'd recommend the same method for successfully marketing any online business, a digital funnel.
How to create an online course - frequently asked questionsHow do I create an online course?
How can I create an online class for free?You can create an online class for free with Teachable. The platform offers a free plan, which allows you to create a single online course. However, when it's bought, you'll need to pay a transaction fee of $1, plus 10% of the purchase price. How much does it cost to create an online course?To create an online course, you should buy a subscription to a teaching platform, like Teachable, and integrate email marketing, which can cost about $50 per month, total, to start. If you create the course content yourself, you'll need video-editing software, which starts at around $15 per month. What software do I use to create an online course?To create an online course, you'll need software to edit the course videos, such as InVideo. To organize your videos, and other material, into online lessons, manage registrations, and payments, you'll need an online teaching software, such as Teachable. Is creating an online course worth it?In general, yes, creating an online course is worth the money and time investment. Making the material may only take a couple weeks. You can run a course for less than $100 a month. Yet, the profit potential is high, especially if you teach skills that can generate income for students. How do you create and sell an online course?You create an online course by recording and editing videos, and making PDFs and other files. Upload the content to an online teaching platform, like Teachable. People can visit a landing page for your course, buy it, and access the material, via Teachable or a similar system. Are online courses really profitable?In general, yes, online courses are really profitable. A course creator only needs to make the educational material, like videos and PDFs, once. Students from all over the world can purchase and access the material, which carries no delivery fee, since it's digital. This post contains affiliate links. |