Creating an Online Course that Sells

By: Justin Ferriman • July 31, 2014
Filed Under:

salesjpgYou are probably like a lot of people in that you have a great idea for a course, but you are a little intimidated about the the entire process.

Some people think that the course creation part is the most difficult, and in some ways this is true. However, what is nice about this part of the project is that you are in complete control. You get to map out what the course will cover, start creating the content, and eventually package everything together.

The more difficult part of selling courses online is the selling part. Getting customers.

Some people are in a unique position where they can leverage their industry contacts to start generating their first sales, but this isn’t always the case.

While it is true that selling a course isn’t entirely in your control (sure you can control your marketing efforts, but the decision to buy rests with the customer), what is in your control is the ability to create a course that is worth buying.

How You Can Easily Create a Course Worth Buying

Assuming the content of your course is well-structured and in demand, there is one thing that you must do to increase the chances that your course offering is purchased. Actually, to be more specific, you have to answer one question:

What’s in it for me?

Find a good answer to this question and you will absolutely sell courses. Notice that I said “good answer” and not just “answer”. That’s because not just any answer will do. All else equal, the better your answer is, the more courses you will sell.

Answering this question on your own is a bad idea. You should certainly start with yourself, but then you should interview your target market to see what it is they care about. Gather the pain-points and wishes and then design your courses in a way that addresses them.

There are no easy-ways-out when it comes to selling a product, be it virtual or physical. You have to do the proper market research ahead of time so that you can intelligently position it. People hate being sold, but they love buying. Make your course worth buying by telling them what’s in it for them if they do.

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter