How to Create a Digital Course in 2023 (9 steps) |
It's not a secret that the digital course industry has grown in popularity. Digital courses aren't something new. Heck your grandma is probably taking them.
The digital course industry will be worth $1 Trillion by 2030. And with a ton of possibilities for learning through digital technology available-and a web over with existing courses, you may be wondering... are there room for me?
For those wanting to create an online course, the moment is still right. It is. Sure there are a lot of people taking part. There are more than ever before willing to enroll in online courses.
If you're thinking of how you can create a virtual course, this article will talk you through the process. We'll cover the bases of what you need to know about how to select the right topic, create a plan and create a great course that will benefit your students and generates money!
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4. Choose a digital course platform
5. Make a plan for the materials
What exactly is a digital course?
A course that is digital means you are teaching something .... Um, Digitally? Okay, seriously though, a digital course is any structured learning experience that's provided on a computer. The majority of digital courses will walk students through this learning process using audio, video, text or a mix of all three.
Digital courses can be synchronous in that all of the learners are taking part in the learning process live. Or, they can be non-synchronous, where learners can learn on their own terms. (We offer a comprehensive explanation of the differences is. )
How do you create digital courses
1. Find your Ideal Students
The first step of creating any digital course is figuring out the audience it is intended for. We like to call this the Ideal Student. If you've got something to share, you'll require an individual who would like to master that thing.
Select Your Perfect student.
Your Ideal Student is an intersection of someone wanting to gain knowledge from your expertise to instruct.
It's important to be clear about this: courses that are specific, targeted, Ideal Students are more successful. Every time.
So your objective, prior to you begin to design a digital course, is to be really clear of who your course is intended designed for.
We would love to help you identify the Ideal Student by talking to certain individuals! Set up a meeting with 10 or 15 individuals you believe would be interested in taking your class, and then ask you questions, such as
- What do you want to master that you require assistance with?
- Which are your biggest pain points in your learning?
- Which are the best ways you like to learn?
- What amount of money could you put aside for a training course for that?
Be sure to make sure you are clear on what you have to offer. Below are a few questions you might ask yourself while you look for your Ideal student.
- What are I that is uniquely competent to assist? (Hint that it's typically someone you were previously. )
- What aspects of my story give me an advantage that I cannot match?
- What topics could I think of for half an hour without notes? (Not necessarily that you have notepads It's just a great exercise in thinking)
2. Choose your Big Purpose
Once you've identified your Ideal Student has been identified You can then create what we call an Large Purpose .
A Big Purpose can be described as a change that students experience as they study your class. Create an Big Purpose such as:
3. Pick your delivery method
Sometime, while planning how to make a digital course You'll have to take into consideration how you want to teach it.
There are lots of different ways to go about this. Because digital classes are in existence for at least a decade, a lot of students imagine a prerecorded (asynchronous) class where students go through a lesson each lesson while watching a video.
The could use this if it's your thing.
There are a lot of possibilities! The cohort course is our favorite right now, which is essentially a live streamed course that is broadcast to an audience that is live. Our students also love them! This gives them the advantage of having a conversation and posing questions live in the moment.
So as you think about how you'd like to present, consider your strengths and weak points as a presenter.
- Do you enjoy a live-streamed presentation with a bit of chance for error?
- Do you want to become a swarm of nerves? You could gain of a script, and the chance to "rerecord" when you make a mistake? up?
- Are you an effective speaker or better at writing?
- Have you got a great voice but don't want your picture on the camera?
It's true that when making a digital course you pretty much have the choice of delivering the content using a method that works most effectively for you. That's cool.
Also, think about other aspects beyond the curriculum to help students be engaged and achieve success. For example, we have a passion for communities at Mighty, and a community combined with a class is an extremely powerful concept.
Here are some other options you can incorporate into your courses:
- Live events
- Virtual events
- Community
- Live stream
- Chat with a member
- Group coaching
- Coaching 1:1
Think creatively about how you structure your class. Make use of every tool that is at your disposal to create an experience that is the most enjoyable for your students you can.
4. Choose a digital course platform
You're going to need an area to host this thing. And a lot of digital course instructors can get distracted by the thought of a course platform.
It's perfectly normal. There are a lot of options. And most people will swear by the one that they use.
The post won't go in the details of selecting the best technology here, but we'll do that in this post .
But based on what we have discussed previously make sure you choose an online course that offers you a lot of flexibility. You must be able to teach a live course if you want. You must be able to connect the live course in an LMS and resell it. You should be able to quickly add features such as community, live events, or coaching if you want to.
That's why we built courses within our community platform on Mighty. Our flexible Spaces give you all the features you'll ever require or want to deliver a course that packs a punch: live streaming, live events as well as an LMS, members' profiles, discussion forums, all member chat and messaging features, as well as a plethora of content options.
5. Make a plan for the materials
In the future, you're going to start planning the materials for your digital course.
If you have identified the Big Goal above, it's a good idea to tie that directly into the learning goals you want your students to attain.
As you plan the material for your course online Try to think backwards. What are you hoping your students to be able to do? If so, how are you going to need to show your students about that task?
Resist the temptation to plug in all of the information you have on a topic. Make sure you focus on the information that's going to get your student's ideal change they're looking for and need.
It is possible to create your own outline of what the material will be. If you want, use an LMS to plan out the lessons each one will comprise of. Even if you are teaching a live course it is an excellent practice. You can then sketch out the objectives of every lesson as well as the contents.
6. Presell
It's not necessary to do this. However, if you're creating digital courses, pre-selling can be a pretty fantastic option. It's basically getting people to pay before you begin teaching the course.
Preselling is extremely effective with cohort courses since you instruct the class after students have agreed to be present. There are other ways to presell asynchronous courses also.
There are lots of advantages to this.
- Start by establishing your earnings upfront so you are successful before you begin. (You can also reinvest some of it back into the program if you feel it is appropriate. ).
- It is clear to have a feeling of whether or not people would like the course or not.
- If you aren't able to sell it, then don't build it! Instead of wasting the time creating a product and hoping people will buy it in the end, you'll be able to tell immediately if the idea is working. It is possible to make a few tweaks so that it can be profitable.
7. Record and go live
After that, you'll construct the course. If you're pre-recording the course, this will mean setting up your gear and preparing to deliver the course.
If you're running live courses, you'll need to be much more intensive in the beginning. It's important to share every aspect of your course, get ready to go live, make sure your recordings are properly arranged and everything else.
8. Market it
If you've never sold your digital course yet this is the moment of marketing the course.
There are a lot of ways to promote an online course, and we've put together a full guide that you will find in this post .
However, in the interim, here's a brief list of ways you can market your digital course:
- Email your list
- Social media posts
- Invite to people directly (especially those who are Ideal Students you talked to)
- Webinars can be hosted.
- Make a landing page, and drive traffic there (eg. with paid ads)
- Include the course on your website and funnel search for traffic to your engine.
- Invite the existing members of your neighborhood! (One of the advantages of having a community that will pay off)
- Organise events for promotion alongside other creators in your space
- Be a guest on podcasts, or write guest blogs
- Pitch of major publication
9. Adapt and grow
Becoming a successful digital course creator generally takes the time. It's very rarely one-and-done.
In the case of websites that claim to provide you with "endless earnings" through putting a course online, then forgetting about it, it probably won't be that easy.
But stick to it. Since as you determine what works, grow your followers, and be consistent with the program, there's a better chance of finding an effective course design that works for you and the people you're teaching.
Ready to start?
If you're eager to start creating your own digital course then why not try Mighty a try? We've created a robust platform for courses that allows you to mix with content, community, and commerce. You can teach a class live or record it pre-recorded. Your choice. And as we talked about above, you can add in things like forums, community or live streaming occasions, and much more.
It's all done in a gorgeous platform that is designed to work for your brand. Every Mighty Network comes with an application that works on every device. And you can sell with 135 currencies and even use token-gating