The easy part of e-learning for online course creators is the process of turning their ideas into a coherent and easily sellable course. With just a few steps, some tools, and a bit of know-how on the recent course creation platforms, you can have your own online course for students to take within a week.
If that was the easy part, then what’s the hard one? Believe it or not, it’s the selling of that online course in the market. There is just no telling how much you can earn from your course but there is a way to ensure optimum results. To do that, there are a few tips that you should try not to forget when creating your course.
#1. Solve a Specific Problem
When creating your online course, always remember that the more broad and vague the problem you are solving, the less profitable your course is going to be. For example, courses that provide people with tips on “how to grow your business online” do not regularly perform better than courses that provide solutions on, say, “how to boost your Facebook profile” or “How to Use Memes in Advertising Your Business Online”.
The reason for this is simple: the former course does not give the would-be student an idea of what solutions they can expect from the course while the latter courses give a brief yet clear picture of what the course is all about with just a few words in the title.
#2. Get their Attention. Always
Here’s an odd fact: the brain is not actually programmed to hold attention for more than 10 minutes every period. When learning, this means that the brain can do so much as to keep an intense focus on something for 10 minutes and will require constant stimuli to maintain that focus in every interval until the module is complete.
For you, the solution here is simple: design your course in such a way that it provides an interactive portion to the lesson once every few minutes. By making the person connect what they just learned a few minutes back with something concrete and relevant to the times, that information the brain acquired will move from the short-term department to the long-term memory section.
#3. Provide Solutions that Create Results
When you break your course down, it is basically a how-to guide that will help a person change their behavior or habit regarding one aspect in their life. Any sane person knows that changing habits take time and results do not appear overnight. Design your courses in such a way that the students can focus on making 1 to 3 behavior changes in every module. This way, you can be certain that they have learned something in every part of the course.
It would also help if you can give your students a sense of accomplishment when they finish a module. Basically, you must lay out each module in as much as it provides them with new insights or gives them a new skill to master. Basically, your students should feel that they were not the same person in that phase of the program compared to what they were when starting it.
#4. Establish a Roadmap of Ideas
The human mind actually thrives on an environment where there is a sense of structure. Basically, your students are more than willing to learn if your course outline provides a very clear and simple path that will help them get the results that they are looking for quickly and efficiently.
You must think of it this way: If you want persons A and B to get to location C, what route would want them to take? Which direction should they turn? What transportation/vehicle should they use? Your course must give them a clear idea of what skills they will learn or tools that they will use to reach the end goal. Also, it should tell them which paths are available for them to take to get to that point. After all, nobody learns the same thing the same way.
#5. Get to the Point
When it comes to the online world, every second counts. Your online course at best should be short and concise so that students can quickly learn new skills and information without skipping on some important steps. This is why you yourself should develop a habit of quickly getting to the central message of each module of your course.
If possible, design each module so that backtracking or pointless banter is minimized. This way, your student’s attention won’t drift off to something else even before the session starts. The faster you can get to the point, the quicker your course can end and your students will learn something new without forgetting it quickly in return.
Your online course can become a highly profitable start of an online business if you get it done properly. These tips are but a handful of sources that you must draw information from to make the best version of your course possible. With time and a lot of effort, you can create a course that can quickly draw in students and earn money for you.