The great thing about offering an online course is that once you have invested the time to produce it, it then becomes passive income because you can sell it over and over again with very little input.

There are really only three steps to creating a course. Firstly decide what subject you want to create a course about. You don’t need to be an expert on the subject because you can research the subject to become knowledgeable. Most people aren’t interested in who produces the course as long as the content is useful to them. Really it can be anything you know enough about to teach beginners about that subject. Some example of ideas are gardening, cooking, traveling, photography, academic subjects, programming, knitting, crafts, marketing or languages.

Once you have chosen the subject, the second step is to actually produce the content. Similar to writing an ebook, this is the time consuming part and by picking a subject you are knowledgeable and passionate about it will help to keep you motivated.  There are a number of sites that provide you with the tools needed to create a course. Some of the best ones are listed below. But if this is your first time the easiest way to do it is to turn your camera on and start recording or using screen recording software. Then uploading it to your chosen platform. We would recommend Builderall as it is an all in one platform for digital marketers so not only can you upload your course you can produce a sales funnel to sell it and build an email list of your customers which you can sell future courses/updates to.

The third and final step is marketing the course. Some of the sites where you can build a course will also promote the course for you. You can use affiliate marketing to reach a wider audience but you will have to share your profits with the person that sells your course. You can also use social marketing or paid advertising.

Extra Cash

Another way you can indirectly make money from an online course is to actually take one. This could be from the open university, the Khan Academy or any other course that benefits you or furthers your knowledge. This then increases your skills which can lead you to better career prospects or to use for any other money making idea.

You may also consider running the course in person as a seminar or group learning session. The material will need to be adapted slightly depending on the venue and length of time. You will also have to consider overheads of booking a venue. But this can suit some people better than taking or running an online course.

Top Tip

Setting up an online course is ideal to run alongside your existing business such as a blog, YouTube channel or tutoring.

Sites to use 

Builderall – All in one platform which includes every tool you need to produce and market your course.

Udemy – The world’s largest selection of courses.

Kahn Academy – Take an online course for free.