Turn Your eBook into an Online Course

By: Justin Ferriman • May 30, 2017
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There was once a time when ebooks were revolutionizing the internet. Let’s “dust them off” and give them a new life!

Not too long ago internet marketers were selling tens of thousands of dollars worth of ebooks every month. Just the same, industry professionals and companies were setting up blogs and then selling the ebooks to their visitors.

And if you purchased one ebook from these gurus, they often threw in two or three extra as a “thank you” bonus.

Maybe you were someone who created (and potentially sold) their own ebook, but now it sits on your computer collecting digital dust.

Well no more – it’s time to give that ebook new life by turning it into an online course!

The New Normal

Online courses are part of the evolution of online information. In fact, many K-12 programs in the United States require students to take at least one online course as part of their curriculum. Online courses have been a staple in higher education for a number of years.

They are more engaging than ebooks, and often more profitable.

If you sell an online course then it is not uncommon to create an entire online course community around the course subject. The people in your community can become your brand ambassadors. Since they already trust you and your information they are more likely to purchase your future products.

Now while this all sounds great, one of the hardest things to do is actually create an online course. It takes a ton of time, much of which is spent organizing the content.

But if you have an ebook then you start with an advantage!

Use Your eBook as a Roadmap

Your ebook is likely already broken out into chapters and sections. You may need to reorganize them a little but chances are you can leverage what already exists to create your lessons and topics for your course.

With the framework pretty much complete you can begin focusing on the content.

One thing you will not want to do is simply copy and paste the text into the lessons of the course. Remember, an online course is meant to be interactive and diverse. Turn some sections into short videos, others as quizzes, others still into infographics. You should leverage micro-content strategies for best results.

Finally, incorporate some aspect of social learning into your program so that you too can begin to build a community. As an added bonus, update your ebook and offer it to people who purchase your course.

Don’t be overly concerned if they share this ebook with friends – it’s free advertising for you! Simply include references to your online course in the ebook and I am willing to bet that a percentage of people will want to join the course. Remember, courses are more desirable and perceived as higher value than just an ebook.

For those of you who don’t have an ebook (or maybe you simply lost it over the years), you can still use some starter content to get your course off the ground quicker.

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