We live in an era of self-improvement and self-empowerment through knowledge. Want to master a new profession? It’s just a few clicks away. You can follow lessons of any type without leaving your cozy living room. The only thing you need is your smartphone.
So no wonder there is an almost infinite choice of online courses out there. Today people don’t want to learn only from college professors. They seek an easier approach to the study process and prefer experts who apply to practice what they teach on a daily basis.
That’s why now is a perfect moment to shine for those who truly love what they do and would be thrilled to share their experience with others. It doesn’t matter if you are a lawyer, a hairdresser, or a holistic therapist, your expertise is precious.
As an online courses production company, we have worked with professionals of any kind and we can say there is almost no subject that couldn’t qualify for becoming a successful e-learning product, with the right approach and promotion.
Use the potential of social media
If you already have a strong presence on social media, this journey will be much easier for you, since you already have a loyal audience that would be potentially interested in buying your online course. Maybe you’ve even received positive feedback on what you already do through likes and comments, so you just need to put together all you’ve learned about your followers’ interests so far and give it a structure. If you are not confident your online product will become a success, there is a simple way to check it before putting any effort into it.
Ask your followers what they value the most about your page and your content, which topics they are interested in. You could do it in many different ways, for example through a short survey in your Instagram stories. With the help of such a questionnaire, you’ll see how active your followers are and will get to know them better.
Give your course a structure
Once you’ve established the list of their preferences, you can start planning the content you would like to include in your course. Let’s imagine you create vegan recipes and you set a goal to teach the basics to all the participants in just 7 or 8 lessons.
“Where do I start?”, would be the first thought that comes to your mind.
Well, you could start with an introductory video unwrapping the following topics: where veganism takes roots from, what are the most common cooking techniques and ingredients combinations, etc. Keep in mind that the lessons shouldn’t last more than an hour because it’s difficult to stay focused longer.
To make sure your viewers are still with you, try to use different intonations and constantly change the focus of the video camera: it can show you, your kitchen, the ingredients you normally use, your favorite cookbooks, and so on. Just make sure the people are not getting bored!
Then you could split the next lessons into topics like this:
- vegan salads;
- vegan first and second courses;
- vegan desserts;
- vegan recipes as a remedy for diseases;
- children and vegan food;
- vegan recipes for losing weight;
- easy vegan recipes for every day in under 30 minutes.
The only limit here is your fantasy and passion for particular arguments, but still, try to remember what you’ve learned about your followers’ preferences and try to give them what they expect.
Don’t overthink it
It sounds like a lot of work but actually, when you start, you’ll realize it’s so much fun to share with others all this information you’ve learned during the past years. Just be yourself and speak from your heart. Your videos don’t have to be perfect, they just need to be impactful, useful, and reflect your personality as an expert. So tell your students how you started, what difficulties you encountered along the way, and how you got where you are today. People love to hear stories of success. This could be your perfect opportunity to make an impact on their lives!
Gather useful feedback
Before releasing your online tutorial, show it to at least 5 people from your circle to get feedback and correct eventual mistakes. Don’t get upset if you hear some negative opinions. The others just want to help you, so try to see it as an opportunity to improve your product, especially if you receive the same comment more than once.
Make sure your course is exhaustive
Think also about any additional materials your students might need apart from videos. Maybe it’s PDF files containing recipes or small audios to support your main statements. Try to imagine yourself in your clients’ shoes: would you be happy with this amount of information or would you still have some unanswered questions? The more attention you pay to details the more your product will succeed on the market.
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