Online Course Building Resources: (Part 1)
Building your First Online Course
In this article I will cover the the basics of Online Course Creation, plus a whole lot more.
I will provide a complete online course template (courtesy of Thrive Themes & Thrive Apprentice), I will cover what I believe to be the very best online course platform and the other 2 tools that I use to integrate with Thrive Apprentice. But be aware, all of this information can be utilized regardless of the online course website builder you choose for your own E-Course.
The Plan Phase of Building an Online Course
The 3 Key Steps to do First:
These 3 and many others are covered in the Full Article
Thrive Themes/ THRIVE APPRENTICE
Online Course Template Instructions
What is a Course Outline?
Content Breakdown:
3 Tips for your Online Course Outline:
Wrap Up: Points to Keep in Mind
Want More Details?
Thrive Themes - Online Course TemplateVisit the Thrive Themes / Thrive Apprentice & Course Building Page:
Niche Market Research - The Next Level
Of course Google is a constant for most of us operating in the Digital Marketing space. So of course that is where we are going to do our deep dive.
Here’s what you’re going to look for and the questions you want to answer: (from the Thrive Themes Article)
- Where does your niche live? Is there a particular geographic area?
- Where does your niche congregate? Do they meet or go somewhere regularly?
- What blogs do they read? Forums? Websites?
- Are they in specific Facebook groups?
- Do they watch the same TV shows or movies?
- How old are they? What age do they tend to be?
- What do they aspire to most in life? What are their dreams?
- What kind of jobs do they work?
- What level of education do they have?
- Who do they admire and why?
Google is a good starting point, but it's not the only place you should be searching.
To expand even further, here's a short-list of tasks you can do right from your laptop:
- Use the website buzzsumo.com to find the top 10 blogs related to your niche.
- What are the most popular articles on those blogs? Why were they so popular?
- Now read the comments on those articles. What are people saying? What do they agree or disagree on?
- Go to Amazon.com and search for books related to your niche. (This is my Favorite Research Spot, Email for a Great Research Template)
- What are the top books? What are people saying in their 5-star reviews? Why do they love those books?
- Look at the Table of Contents for these books. What topics do they have in common?
- Who are the top 10 influencers in this niche? Why and how did they get popular?
- What trends are happening in the market for that niche?
So you will learn rapidly that being an online entrepreneur is 50% Desire, 50% Sweat and 100% Google Research and Reverse Engineering!
Wait, that adds up to more than 100% Yogi! True, but it will require 200% Effort ... So just go with it! :)
Great Resource to Help you Launch your First Online Course!
Online Course Creation Resources
Here you will find some incredible resources to help you get started down the path of becoming a profitable online course creator.
Article & Resource Links:
MMT Media Florida's BIG Three Digital Marketing Tools
These 3 Drive Virtually All of my Web Properties . . .
WHY?
I use a method called the 3 way Connect. This method of choosing marketing platforms has served me very well going back to my early days of digital marketing. You see early on there was NO Zapier, Automate, or really even many native integrations. I had to do it all myself by coding my own APIs.
It was a Real Pain the A$$! So when developers started creating a "native api" (what is a native api?) for other software that they liked, partnered with or realized that they had large market share. So I knew very quickly I would research solid tools and then back my way into the integrations. But once I would add a 3rd product I might have to resort to web hooks or writing my own code. But they became a "Very Leaky" process. Now you ask what LEAKY means. It just means that the "Home-Coded APIs" did not work 100% of the time. Why? I learned to ask WHY often. But the answer to WHY was difficult to nail down. And who was going to answer that question for me? No one. So I realized my method of selecting software was one of infinite connectivity. So All Marketing Software had to integrate with all other software I would choose. It is way more simple than it sounds. I will detail below.
The 3 Way Connect Integration Selection Method
It is NOT Rocket Science :)
Marketing Software | PROVIDES NATIVE API / INTEGRATES WITH | PROVIDES NATIVE API / INTEGRATES WITH |
---|---|---|
Thrive Themes | ActiveCampaign | Thrivecart |
ActiveCampaign | Thrivecart | Thrive Themes |
Thrivecart | Thrive Themes | ActiveCampaign |
Tons of other examples | but I will not bore you | with my endless details :) |
My 3 "GoTo" Tools for Building an Online Course:
Finally, Marketing Automation that's powerful & easy to use
All-In-One Toolbox for WP, Convert Visitors into Leads & Customers
The World's Easiest & Most Powerful Checkout Cart + Funnels, Learning +
Other Factors I consider when
Building an Online Course
So one of the aspects that online entrepreneurs often overlook is that a FREE version of their course (let's say Level 1) can be used as a FREEBIE or Lead Magnet for their website visitors. And it can still be built as part of the online course, it simply requires a user to register and be logged in to view the "Level 1 Online Course Content". Not only does it make great SEO Friendly Content, it doubles as a lead magnet. Way better than some useless hokey infographic that you wracked your brain to come up with. It is better for your visitor and it is way better for you and the value of your online presence. (Plus +) Bonus Value: Thrive Apprentice doubles as a Content Lock Plugin that you normally pay in the neighborhood of $39 to $399 a year for. Less Plugins equals less headaches and less malware threats.
"Create Online Courses You Can Sell with Thrive Apprentice, the Most Customizable WordPress Course Plugin."
Thrive Apprentice gives you the most flexible drag and drop WordPress course building solution on the market — alongside a complete online business building toolkit! It is an absolute "No Brainer" for me.
Listen, I have used Teachable, Thinkific, LearnDash, (I do use Wishlist sparingly), MemberMouse, Heights Platform ...
All of them have their Pros (and Cons) ... But when you look at Dollar for Dollar Value, Ease of Use, and overall flexibility and simplicity ... Thrive Apprentice is Hands Down the Winner for most Small Businesses and Solopreneurs trying to get an Online Course Launched!
Thrive Apprentice allows you to deliver Your Course Content with Precision Timing Using Advanced Drip Features
Automate customer access to your lessons, modules, course content or ANY digital resources with timed schedules and custom triggers through our WordPress course plugin.
Organize your release schedules with easily customizable drip campaign timelines. Simply drag and drop to make changes on the fly.
Get Thrive Apprentice to visualize and tweak your drip schedules.
It’s a complete game changer for me and it will be for you as well.
Using Online Course Content to personalize each Website Visitors Experience:
Personalize Every Visitor’s Experience on Your Website
Thrive Apprentice allows you to fully customize your Membership Site and personalize the content each visitor sees with Conditional Display.
Create amazingly compelling pages rapidly (all with content boxes, background sections, and blocks) that only show when visitors meet specific conditions you’ve set.
Set your own display rules based on campaign goals to hide pages or block restricted content until a membership has been purchased or a visitor has registered to be able to view hidden content and visually edit it all at the same time.
Thrive Apprentice lets you personalize not only the sales conversation, but the content different customers and non-customers will see! Thrive Apprentice is WAY MORE than an Online Course Plugin. It is an Online Presence Game Changer!
Thrive Apprentice is an easy to install WordPress plugin.
It is easy to use and most importantly, affordable.
Thrive Themes and Thrive Apprentice are a complete online presence kit.
Finally, Marketing Automation that's powerful & easy to use
All-In-One Toolbox for WP, Convert Visitors into Leads & Customers
Thrive Suite Includes the Thrive Apprentice WordPress Plugin for Online Course Building, as well as Restricted Content Control Use.
The World's Easiest & Most Powerful Checkout Cart + Funnels, Learning +
SEO Research for your Informational Pages:
(Deleting Soon, Pay attention if you care about "Getting Found")
AI Content Research:
online courses with certificates
online courses
free online courses platform
free online courses
best online courses
free online courses with certificates
coursera
udemy
online course pricing
online course key features
free online courses
online course creation software
thinkific
learnworlds
graphy
podia
learndash
Questions to Ask: