Everyone is jumping into the online course game, and with good reason. It’s a fantastic way to supplement (or possibly replace) your income.

If you have expertise in a certain area, even if just a hobby, then you could potentially teach others this information. People will pay a good amount of money if it means that they don’t have to go through the trouble of having to figure everything out on their own.

But as you create a course you may be wondering how you are going to compete. Chances are there are already going to be courses available in your area of interest. In fact, if there aren’t any courses then that might not be a good sign.

Let me just say that in online business there are many different ways you can compete and you should look into a mix that fits your business the best.

One of these ways is the learner experience.

The online course taker today is savvy. There is a good chance that your course is not their first online course, nor their last. If you focus on creating a unique experience based on market research, then your offering will stand out from the others.

Focusing on selling a community usually does quite well.

But also incorporating the latest elearning industry trends into your program can go a long way.

Sell the Experience as well as the Content

Your learners should be experiencing your courses, not just receiving the content. To allow learners to fully experience your course offering you need to give them the freedom to choose how they learn.

I have spoken about this before and firmly believe that the elearning industry is moving in this direction. It’s a primary reason why we have built in this capability into our own learning management system.

Content will always be king, but the close second is user experience. In fact, a good user experience can even compensate for lack-luster content (not that this should be your aim, but it goes to show how important the experience can be).

Whether you are currently selling a course or are thinking about selling one (or multiple), take the time to map out how you want users to interact with you and what it is you’re teaching. The days of simply posting content behind a paywall are slowly on their way out.