If you’re looking for an easy way to make money from home, you’ve probably considered exploring the lucrative world of online learning. Launching an online course doesn’t require extraordinary talent or any particular degree in computer science, and with the right strategy, you can make a decent living teaching others how to perform tasks on modern computers.
Though there are plenty of lucrative opportunities in the world of online teaching, you need to understand the basic principles of digital marketing, email marketing, and social media in order to succeed. Additionally, you must become an expert in educational technology if you want to utilize online resources effectively. With a little bit of preparation and persistance, you can easily market your online course and become a full-time digital nomad. Let’s get to it.
Set Up Shop
The first thing you’ll need to do in order to effectively market your online course is to set up shop. Establishing a digital nomad blog or a YouTube channel where you can teach others the tricks of your trade is a great way to go about doing this. By establishing a reputation as a quality teacher, you can attract potential students who are looking for help with computer programming, development, and design. Establishing a brand, a social media presence, and a website for your online course is critical in order to have credibility as a quality resource. All of these things will help potential students determine whether or not you’re an expert in your field and whether or not they’ll be able to get valuable help from you. When choosing a name for your website, blog, or social media channel, think about what is most relevant to your target audience. If you’re providing software training for web designers, for example, you might choose to go by the name “WebDesigner.com” rather than just “www.website.com”.
Create Content
The next step in marketing an online course is to create content. You should do this either individually or in collaboration with some of your students who are interested in educational technology. The objective is to establish yourself as an expert in your field by creating free online articles, infographics, or videos that are both relevant and useful to your target audience. Don’t worry about whether or not these things will sell. You’ll eventually find the right mix of content that is both relevant and compelling to your audience. Just focus on creating something that is worth their time.
You can use a tool like Google Analytics to track the performance of your content and to determine which types of content perform the best. From there, you can decide whether or not to continue producing this content. When establishing a presence on social media, it’s important to create content that is both relevant and valuable to your audience. This ensures that your content will be shared frequently and that your brand will be connected to highly engaging material.
Build Your Email List
The next step in marketing your online course is to build your email list. You can use a tool like MailChimp to collect emails from potential students who are interested in educational technology. The great thing about having a list is that you can then use automated email marketing software, such as HubSpot, to send out constant emails to people who have subscribed to your newsletter. This will greatly expand your reach and put you in touch with a much bigger audience. Additionally, if you are planning to sell and ship physical products to your students, having an email list is obligatory.
Create YouTube & Blogging Feeds
The next step in marketing your online course is to create YouTube & Blogging feeds. These are basically automated RSS feeds that can be used to syndicate your content to various platforms, including YouTube and Blogger. You can use a tool like Feedly to create a list of your favorite blogs and YouTube channels and then use a tool like RSS Manager to create an RSS feed that you can use to create your blogging and YouTube channels. The advantage of having a separate feed for each platform is that you can then use specific software, such as HubSpot, to listen for new content on your channels. This makes building and maintaining your audience much easier.
Get Active On Social Media
The last step in marketing your online course is to get active on social media. This entails establishing a presence on the platforms that your audience uses most frequently. Facebook is a great place to start if you’re looking to establish an audience and engage with your followers. If you’re looking to establish a presence on YouTube, you can use a tool like Hootsuite to manage multiple channels, connect with other platforms like Twitter, and post frequently to all networks.
If you’re looking to establish an audience on Instagram, you can use a tool like Canva to create engaging content that will eventually lead to sales. Additionally, you can use services like Instagram Live, Facebook Live, and Periscope to broadcast yourself regularly. If you’re looking to automate the process of engaging with your audience and growing your following, you can use tools like Hootsuite, ZoomChat, and MeetEd to get in touch with potential students and build a lasting relationship.
With these basic marketing tips, you’ll be able to easily establish a profitable presence online. However, rather than sitting back and waiting for money to flow in, you should be constantly doing research, analyzing data, and tweaking your strategy. The digital marketing world is ever-changing and though you can follow these easy steps to get started, you’ll eventually need to find your own way.