The Ultimate Guide to Launch Your Online Course

Are you looking for that Holy Grail to launch your Online Course? Which gives you anything and everything you need to know and succeed?  Stop pondering anywhere else for the kick start by doing what is said below.

Preparation To Launch Your Online Course

It takes a lot of preparation to launch an online course. Topic selection to structuring and then designing and selling and finally maintaining the whole process of online teaching after you launch your online course.

Decide on the topic

Sharpen up on your topics.  Accuminating your knowledge on that topic. Bring that confidence and get-set-go mindset. The topic that you choose should always be oriented towards what learners are looking for.

Learnyst has made a market study and prepared a statistical report on most in-demand online course topics. Check our report – Online teaching topic suggestions based on Quora

Give it a structure

Just thought of sharing your knowledge is like firing up in the air. When you come up with a derivable syllabus on your topic, you get a vector structure for your online course.

Study the Learnyst Anatomy of a Course that sells and learn how a profitable course should be built.

Learnyst Sample Model

Here is our sample model which you can use while designing your online course. Learnyst’s  profitable online course ideas

Draw A Plan

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. – Abraham Lincoln 

Planning is important. It’s the sole part of your business. Ask yourself a few questions before you start planning. The sooner you identify all those questions and get answers to them, the easier your path is going to be. If not smoother at least you wouldn’t be walking blindfolded.

1. What should your online course be like?
2. When should you launch your online course?
3. Who are the target learners for this course?
4. What needs to be done to reach them thoroughly?
5. How to go about it?

Do you have all that it takes to launch your online course but still think it needs FAR more effort than what you have? Are you looking forward to launching yourself as a strategic well planned, competitive, business-oriented, sustainable online teacher?

Content

There could be two possibilities when it comes to content.

1. You do not have any content and need to start developing your content from scratch.
2. You have the content already and just looking for a conversion to digital or compatible forms.

Fresh creation of content

The crucial phase of launching an online course is developing the content for the course from scratch and deciding on your information medium. i.e., in what ways do you want to deliver your content.

Information medium to consider for your online course are,

• video
• text files
• HTML lessons

Does your topic best suit to video lessons, HTML pages or text files would be more appropriate?

If you decide to build publishable standard digital online course content using HTML pages, you need the best designs. Canva is very simple to use infographic tool for non-designers like you and me.

Refer Learnyst list of Ultimate Tools To Teach Online 2016 to get all the tools that you need to start off.

Compatibility check & refinement of existing content

Your task would be a little simpler if you already have the content but the challenge is the compatibility. Check if the course builder you choose, can provide content importing of excel, word doc or PowerPoint presentations. Else you just get back to square one.

Strategic Communication – Mail blaster, Push Notifications

Once you are ready with the content get ready Push Notifications are an excellent and efficient way compared to mail blasting, to reach all right on their mobile screen with a call to action button. But if you are not accomplished with push notifications then get ready with the mail list.

1. Keep your learners updated about release date planned.
2. Send teasers to give them a glimpse of the upcoming course of yours and offer some discounts for those who register in advance.
3. Twitter and FB Posts to familiarize with the course that you are going to release.
4. Share the targeted blog posts with your mail list to educate them about the advantages of taking up your course, it’s competitive score.

Post-Launch Activities

• FAQ email after the launch

This email doesn’t sound so important to write now, but it’s going to be a big help in the long run.

In this e-mail answer all the logistical questions about your course

For Example,

1. What is the course validity/Expiry?
2. Is there a money-back guarantee?
3. What are the payment options?
4. What are the course payment plans?
5. Is there content dripping?
6. Who is this course suitable for?
7. What is the course duration?

You can answer these questions NOW or you can answer them in angry emails later.

• Thank You email – post launch

Always good to show your gratitude to people to whom you do what you do.  You can simply say thanks for the unbelievable response and that you never expected that. Expression of expecting the unexpected always makes them happy and also boosts your sales. You are just being factual after all. Also, do not forget to send the course expiry email on finishing the validity period.

Comment and say how your course launch went on. Happy Teaching!