If you’re ready to share your business expertise with a broader audience (and perhaps to generate some additional income while doing so), you may want to consider launching an online course.
Of course, this isn’t something you can do on a whim. From developing your content to choosing the right platform, there are a number of steps you’ll need to take to ensure a successful launch for your business course.
List of Online Business Course Guide
Define Your Niche and Your Audience
First things first: “Business” is a fairly broad category. Before launching a course, you’ll want to zero in on a specific area where you can impart your subject-matter expertise. Maybe your niche is finance, digital marketing, or securing funding. Maybe it’s startup secrets for stay-at-home moms, or for military veterans.
Once you’ve determined your niche, you’ll also need to identify your audience. Spend some time researching who your ideal students are, and gaining insight into their needs, goals, and pain points. All of this is crucial as you ensure your online business’s courses are pitched toward a specific audience, keeping it from being overly broad or generic.
Research the Competition
As you research your audience, you’ll also want to research your competitors. Spend some time doing online research relative to the niche you’ve identified, and to the audience you’re trying to serve. Size up the competition, specifically identifying what they offer and how your online courses can fill in gaps.
From there, validate your own ideas, ensuring your business courses are distinguished from those of the competition. Use surveys, interviews, and focus groups to gather feedback on your course concept.
Create an Outline for Your Course
Your business venture will rise or fall according to the quality of the course itself. As such, you’ll want to devote ample time to outlining exactly what it is you’ll be teaching. Start by creating a syllabus, outlining the topics and modules you plan to cover.
One way to pursue your syllabus formation is to focus on the outcomes you hope to achieve. Start by asking: What are the main academic takeaways you hope your students will walk away with? What skills or areas of expertise do you hope to impart? It’s critical to define clear, measurable outcomes for what students should achieve by the end of the course.
Assemble the Right Tools
Needless to say, launching an online business course will require you to have the right set of tools, including technologies that ensure a frictionless learning experience for all your students. In particular, you’ll need to choose a learning management system such as Udemy or Teachable.
Beyond your course platform, also consider whether you need to invest in additional technologies like video recording software, email marketing systems, or software to manage community forums.
Generate Course Materials
Your syllabus helps guide your course formation, but of course, there are plenty of other materials you’ll need to create in order to ensure a smooth learning experience. While the materials needed can vary by course, you might want to consider high-quality videos, slides, interactive quizzes, and workbooks.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of materials that engage your audience and allow for some give-and-take. See whether your online course platform allows for things like live Q&A sessions or class discussions.
Set Up Your Course
Once you have all of your materials assembled, you’ll want to make sure it’s intuitive and easy for your students to access them. Populate your platform with the course materials you have developed, double checking that everything is well-organized and simple to navigate.
In fact, you’ll want to go through the platform as if you were a student, perhaps even asking some friends or family members to navigate your course and provide you with any feedback or areas for improvement.
Register Your Business
Of course, as you prepare to share your business acumen with the broader world, you’ll want to ensure you’re embodying business best-practices yourself. In particular, take the time to set up an LLC, which can protect you and your family from any litigation that comes your way due to the business course you’ve established.
To learn more about how to register an LLC, investigate state-specific guidelines, remembering that an LLC in New York is going to look different from one in Wyoming or Wisconsin. With that said, the general process for registering an LLC looks something like this:
First, you’ll need to determine which state you’re registering in. For online courses, this is almost always going to be the state where you’re personally headquartered.
You’ll also need to ensure that your LLC has an original name, which is to say, a name that’s not in use by another LLC in the same state.
You’ll also be required to appoint a Registered Agent, which can be either an individual or an organization tasked with receiving your legal correspondence.
To officially establish the LLC, it’s necessary to file a document called Articles of Organization with your state, and to pay any requisite fees.
We also recommend creating an Operating Agreement, which can further clarify key aspects of how you’ll structure and manage your business.
These are the basic guidelines you’ll need to follow to formalize your online courses as an LLC, though again, it’s always wise to double-check state-specific requirements.
Get the Pricing Right
Another business consideration: Pricing your course. A good place to begin is by investigating pricing models within your niche. Research what similar courses are charging and decide on a pricing strategy that reflects the value you think you can offer.
You may wish to consider discount or bundle options, too. For example, you may decide to offer introductory rates or package deals.
Test Your Course
By this point you’re almost ready to officially launch your online course. Before doing so, however, consider doing alpha or beta testing.
To do this, simply make your course available to a small group of students. This may be limited to family members or a few close friends. As noted above, it’s crucial to have some folks actually navigate the entire course to ensure that it delivers a seamless experience. Solicit candid feedback, and make any revisions you need before launch day.
Market Your Course
As any business professional knows, the “if we build it they will come” approach rarely works. If you want people to gravitate toward your online course, you’ll need to market it, leveraging the channels best-aligned with your intended audience.
To attract, nurture, and convert leads, you may wish to consider a combination of email marketing, social media, and PPC. A good website, backed by potent SEO, is also essential for raising awareness.
Launch Your Course
Before you do your full, public launch, we recommend completing a quick checklist:
Verify that your landing page is fully functional, and ready to provide a seamless user experience.
Ensure that your payment platform is running the way it’s supposed to.
Think through how you’ll deal with any customer service issues or complaints that may or may not arise.
After some final steps of due diligence, hit launch and wait for your students to commence learning!
Monitor Your Results
Even once you get your online courses up and running, that doesn’t mean your job is done. On the contrary, it’s important to monitor your progress, keeping an eye on the core metrics that will allow you to fine-tune and improve your course offerings.
There are two specific types of data you’ll want to monitor:
First, keep a close eye on quantifiable data, such as enrollment, page views, website traffic, bounce rate, and more. These metrics can help you identify any areas for potential growth, or areas of concern, regarding your marketing and SEO efforts.
Also make sure you regularly seek feedback from your customers. Get their input so that you can refine your online course, or perhaps be inspired in the creation of some additional courses.
The bottom line: Online courses should never be “set it and forget it.” Instead, make continuous improvement your priority.
Position Your Business Course for Lasting Impact
Ready to share your business expertise with the wider world? By launching an online course, you can make a big impact on the business leaders of tomorrow. And, you can potentially build your own reputation in the process, leading to additional opportunities for business growth. These are just some of the reasons to start developing your own online courses.
To get your online business course up and running, make sure you’re diligent in course development, platform selection, marketing, and ongoing improvement. And, be thoughtful about the investments you make in SEO, beta testing, and beyond. These are all key ingredients for success as an online educator, and can help distinguish your course from any and all competitors.
Author Bio
Amanda E. Clark is a contributing writer to LLC University. She has appeared as a subject matter expert on panels about content and social media marketing.
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