If you’re thinking of creating an online course, it’s likely because you have valuable expertise. Most content creators with expertise in a niche will look for ways to earn an income from their content. 

Online courses are a perfect way to do just that. In addition to offering memberships, online courses provide an opportunity to share your knowledge, build a community, and make money. 

While online courses can be a great opportunity, they’re not right for everyone. Let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages of online courses so you can see if it’s for you. 

Are you ready to teach online courses?

Online courses can work for anyone who has something to teach, no matter your industry or niche. But to figure out if it’s right for you, consider the following: 

• Subject matter expertise: Online courses should focus on a specific niche in order to see the most success. Are you considered an expert or voice of authority in your industry? You don’t have to know everything, but you should be able to teach concepts that can’t easily be found elsewhere. 
• An interested audience: You need an audience who wants the information you’re providing. Is there demand for the information you want to teach? Otherwise, your online course won’t receive any attention. 
• Preparedness to teach: How prepared are you to teach others? Comfort and confidence go hand-in-hand for online course instructors. If you’re new to teaching, or feel anxious about it, consider taking training first to brush up on your skills and to hone your pedagogical craft. 
• Business skills: An online course is a business, and it needs to be treated as such. Think about if you’re ready to create and sustain an online business. You must be ready to manage your online course with not just expert content, but with all of the marketing and business traits that are necessary.  

Advantages of creating online courses 

Ready to start thinking of what an online course can offer you? Here are the top advantages you can expect: 

Earn passive income

When you create an online course, there’ll be some initial up-front work. However, once your class is in place, you can offer it over and over again to new learners. This is an incredible way to earn passive income. 

Plus, if you’re already a blogger or a podcaster, you can repurpose your existing content into an online course, which is just another way to boost your earning potential while not taking on a ton of extra work. The earning possibilities are unlimited. 

Share your passion

Beyond monetary benefits, online courses provide a sense of accomplishment. It’s a chance for you to share your passion and particular knowledge with the world. 

With passion and care for your class, your learners will develop a sense of community and belonging and may continue to follow you even after the course ends. This’ll cut down on your marketing efforts and establish you as an even stronger authority in your field, which will continue to attract new learners to your course.

Easy to start with low costs

Creating a course can take as little as a few days, especially with a WordPress LMS plugin like LearnDash. With a variety of starter templates to choose from, your course will look sleek and professional without the need of a developer. 

While the cost to launch a course varies, generally you can get started for less than $500. This would cover the cost for your domain, hosting, course platform, and marketing materials – all on WordPress. 

Generate leads

Selling online courses can unlock opportunities to sell other products and services, such as consulting, or an upsell on a second course. If you use a cart system like WooCommerce, then you can upsell or bundle other offerings, like merch or swag, when folks checkout and buy courses. 

It also works the other way around. If you already have a product or service that you sell, then you can start to offer an online course as an upsell. Either way, an online course is a great way to find and generate leads to provide more robust earning potential. 

Disadvantages of creating online courses

Of course, those advantages don’t come easy. Consider the following hurdles when thinking of creating an online course: 

Facing competition

There’s a lot of information out there, whether it’s free or paid. So, your course will need to find a way to stand out. Depending on your industry and niche, the online course market may be oversaturated. But you can still choose a profitable topic that’ll help your course find value among its target audience. 

Marketing and selling

Every successful online course requires a good amount of marketing and selling strategies. You’ll have to promote your course in a variety of ways, especially to make it stand out in a crowded marketplace. 

You might even find more upfront costs with marketing than anticipated, depending on how and where you market your course and your own marketing savviness. 

Investment requirements

Although it’s easy to get started with a relatively small budget, you still need to create the courses, learn technical aspects, and start promoting the course. 

Though most courses stay evergreen for some time, you will have to update them at some point. You may also have to engage in your community or answer support-related questions. 

All of these tasks can have you putting in extra hours on your course instead of letting it be the passive vehicle you’d like. 

Meeting expectations

Some of your audience may have high expectations for your content and course. You may face criticism if folks think the information is any less than life-changing. Especially when they’re paying for it – they expect incredible value. 

If someone is not satisfied with your course, you may hear about it in reviews and feedback. It’s a chance to grow and improve your course, but be prepared to face and meet expectations of the market. 

Start creating online courses with LearnDash 

Overall, online courses are still a great way to diversify your income, share your passion, and build a community. Before creating a course, dive into market research to understand the market and your audience to overcome potential disadvantages you may face.  

If you decide to start creating online courses, take a look at LearnDash LMS. It’s a powerful learning management system for WordPress, packed full of features to help you create beautiful and effective online courses.

Ready to see it for yourself? Explore the demo to see LearnDash in action.