Create An Online Training Course

7 Steps To Create An Online Course

How hard can it be to create an online training course? The answer is SIMPLE if you follow these 7 steps to create an online training course.

Hi Trish Davies here, founder Build Your AU which helps you create an online training course. The program also teaches you how to create a strong personal brand which establishes your authenticity and authority. You can learn more about the program here.

My objective today is to share with you the step by step process to create your online training program. It is a linear process that when followed to the letter helps you position yourself as an authority in your niche. Then you can attract the ideal audience to help them achieve their desired outcomes.

Once I have shared with you the process I will invite you to join my Build Your AU program. My free 9-step training program covers everything that I share and more and is the launchpad for your new online coaching business.

7 Steps To Create An Online Course

Choose Your Course Topic

Ideally your course topic should be something that you are passionate about. When you are passionate about what you are teaching then your course content will be more engaging. Your objective is for your students to feel your passion as they are consuming your content.

Coupled with what your passionate about is what you are good at. Think about the talents and skills you have along with the experiences you have had in life. Now I am not going to list potential topics as there are hundreds, if not thousands of niche topic ideas.

You know what your are passionate about and good at but here is some broad topic niches. I am sure your chosen topic will fit into one of the following.

Technical Skills
Academic Skills
Hobbies
Wealth Creation
Relationship
Personal Development

To recap. If you are passionate about something and are good at it then you can monetize it.

Make Sure There Is High Market Demand

In all probability you will have more than one idea for your online training course. At this moment in time, they are your ideas and topics that you feel you could teach people.

That is not enough to move forward on any idea. You must do some market research to ensure that there is high market demand. If you jump the gun and don’t follow this step then you could have a lemon on your hand and egg on your face.

In short if there is no one interested then no one is going to buy. You will waste your time creating a course that won’t have any chance of selling. When doing your market research, you must look at how many people are looking for your solution per month.

Also, you must look at what competition you face. Don’t be afraid of competition as it is a good thing. It means that if other people are selling similar products and services there is a market for them. There is space for you within the marketplace. There could also be a gap in the market that you can fill.

To define if there are people looking for your potential solution head over to Google. Google Trends is a good place to start. Also add a browser extension called Keywords Everywhere because it will tell you lots of information such as search volume and competition.

It also tells you how much the average cost is to market a specific keyword along with showing you some useful graphs.

Create Learning Outcomes

Once you have finished your research you are ready to start the creation phase of your course. What you must be clear on is that your online training course creates a transformation for your student.

Your student has a clear outcome that they want to achieve. They know what that outcome is, you also know that but they must understand that your course delivers the outcome.

Focus on three things when persuading potential students that your course is the vehicle they are looking for.

The new skills they will attain.
The new knowledge they have obtained.
What feelings they have moved from and to.

Getting Your Course Content Ideas Together

Here you must start compiling your course content ideas. Think about what must be included to deliver the desired outcomes your students are looking for. Also, it important to leave stuff out that is not relevant.

This is important because you will have a clear content creation strategy in place production stage. I will talk about that stage shortly.

For now, it is important that you course is a step by step process that your student will go through. At each stage your course content must be aligned with incremental learning outcomes.

Create Modules & A Course Plan

I am sure by now that you can see that this process to create an online training course has a flow about it. Each step seamlessly flows into the next and this step is to create a modular format to your course.

Each module is an incremental outcome that must be achieved to deliver the whole outcome. The modular format creates structure that your student can follow in a logical way.

Within your modules you will have individual lessons which deliver micro-outcomes. At this stage the best way to illustrate this is to look at the Build Your AU training program.

authority business model

The objective of Build Your AU is to help my students create a strong personal brand. That objective is in the centre but you can see that there are three core pillars which are the foundations to the program.

Authenticity
Authority
Audience

Around each of those three core pillars are an additional three sub-pillars which make 9 in total. Therefore, I have 9 modules in place for which I can create lessons within each of those 9 modules. Each module has a desired outcome for my students. Therefore, I can structure and name my modules as illustrated below.

1 – Purpose Driven Business (Purpose)

2 – What Is Your Secret Talent (Personal Value, Gifts & Talents)

3 – The Art Of Storytelling In Business (Story)

4 – Content Creation Strategy (Create Content)

5 – Personal Brand Website (Develop Authority Website)

6 – Authority Business Model (Authority Business Model)

7 – Business Networking Tips (Build Your Network)

8 – How To Find Leads (Attract Leads)

9 – Best Way To Market A New Business (Online Marketing)

Creating Content For Your Modules

Your online training course must be engaging, fun to take and effective to achieve your students desired outcome. Yu course content can be created in many different formats.

Videos
Reading Content
Audio Content
Practical Activities

I recommend that you incorporate all of the above so that your students remain focused and engaged. Also, this ensures that they enjoy the learning process that you have created.

Now you may be thinking how much content should you create and how long your course should be. Well, there is a saying “how long is a piece of string”? The only right answer is your course should last as long as it takes for your students to achieve their desired outcome.

They want to be taught correctly and in the shortest amount of time possible. They are anxious to get on with things. Your course must deliver the impact your students want but also in the appropriate amount of time.

Don’t take shortcuts and don’t create fluff. Meaning don’t rush and don’t create content just for the sake of it.

When it comes to producing your content then you will have a plan in place. If you are shooting videos you can create PowerPoints, live screen recording, live talking head videos to name a few.

Audio can be you talking into a voice recording software to create your audio files. You can also separate the audio from your video file. For text you can provide PDF files such as transcripts, work sheets, cheat sheets, quizzes etc.

Creating Your Academy

You will need a platform to deliver your training. I use a platform called Kajabi which you can learn more about here. In all probability you will have multiple courses in the future. Kajabi enables you to host all your courses in one place.

It is a one stop shop for online course creators. They have the platform in place for you to add your content in a modular format. Also, they have sales and marketing systems in place to help you sell your courses and collect money.

The system enables you to manage your students and acts as a communication tool when you want to contact them. It is a great environment for both creators and students.