17 Best Online Course Platforms to Earn Money from Your Skills (Ultimate Guide for 2020)

Making money online is becoming more popular and for good reason.

In 2015 the global eLearning market was worth a whopping $107 billion and it is estimated that by 2025 it will be worth $325 billion. With growth like that it is no wonder that so many people are itching to get a slice of the pie.

The recent Coronavirus outbreak has changed the way that we live and work, with so much more training and work being completed remotely it is the perfect time to jump in and make your mark on the online course platform market.

If you have good knowledge and skills, you too could be making a fortune and it’s not as complicated or niche as you might think.

Your skills and knowledge are essential when it comes to making money from online course platforms. We’ve created the ultimate guide to help you find the best ways to make money using these platforms.

What are Online Course Platforms?

An online course platform is designed to provide content, training, or instruction on a specific subject. The aim is to provide people with access to skills and knowledge that they don’t already possess, in an engaging and flexible way.

Online courses are much easier than standard training, they normally don’t require learners to attend at specific times and allows them to access the information in their own time.

Online learning tends to be more engaging and accommodates for those learners who need extra time or space to understand content.

As the content can be accessed from anywhere it’s a wonderful alternative to traditional classroom learning and often a cost-effective solution for learners who can’t afford to undertake traditional training.

How Can You Utilize Online Course Platforms?

There are many different types of online course platforms just waiting for you to harness and begin making money.

First you need to establish what skills and knowledge you possess that might be valuable to others.

Do you know a lot about Administration? Have a knack for carpentry? Know how to code and create graphics?

There are so many valuable skills that people are desperate to learn. The key is harnessing your knowledge and making it marketable and engaging to your target audience.

But what if you don’t have any formal qualifications?

That’s the beauty of online course platforms, you don’t have to be formally qualified as a teacher to create courses and educate others!

If you have a lot of experience in a field or years of accumulated knowledge, you can use it to create informative and engaging content for people who need it, sharing your knowledge to help others, and making a little money at the same time.

What Kind of Online Course Platforms are There?

Have you ever considered blogging to make money? It’s surprisingly easy if you do your research and share your knowledge effectively.

Understanding keywords and having a clear idea of your target market is essential if you want to make money with your blog.

WordPress and Wix are the most popular blogging platforms in the world, meaning that your content is available to millions of people as soon as it’s posted.

If you’re looking to own the domain of your blog, the cost can be low if you begin on the lower plan. There is also the option to upgrade later if you wanted to. If you’re happy to keep your content under the host domain, it’s totally free!

Blogging is great but you’re looking to make some serious money and change your life then running your own online course could be the way to go. 

Read on to find out about the different kinds of online course platforms and how you can get involved in one of the fastest growing industries in the world.  

Stand-Alone platforms

If you’re particularly skilled in website building, you could create your own platform from scratch. This would mean making and implementing your own system, entirely of your creation and design.

You’d need to know exactly what you want your platform to offer, who your target audience is and how you’re going to market your online course platform to reach its full potential.

Building your own domain can be pricey so check your budget allows for this kind of cost before you start!

All-in-one platforms

If you’re a little less skilled or just don’t have the time to build your own platform you could use a hosted or all-in-one platform. These are designed to have everything you need to get started, in one place.

You’ll have access to website building, marketing tools, your online course platform and a shopping cart. All-in-one online course platforms are ideal for anyone who doesn’t have the ability to create a stand-alone platform for themselves. Most all-in-one platforms have pay per month plans for hosting your online courses.

The costs can begin low and if you want to upgrade when you’re making a little money, the option is there. This means they’re great for anyone who doesn’t want to sink a huge amount of money into a platform when they’re just getting started.

Two of the most popular all-in-one platforms are Teachable and Thinkific. They are easy to use, brilliant for highlighting your skills and creating your own brand.

Why should I Create an Online Course?

You might be wondering why creating an online course is a good idea. It’s a common misconception that running an online course platform is complicated and time-consuming, and that’s just not true.

By 2025 the Online Education Industry will be worth a massive $325 billion and $50 billion of that will come from the corporate market alone.

Today 90% of the world’s corporations use Online Learning compared to only 4% in 1994 and Digital Learning is the fastest growing market in the education industry as it has grown by 900% since 2000.

Online Courses Earn you a Sizeable Passive Income 

Online Courses Enable you to live where you want

Have you ever seen those Social Media posts where the poster travels all over the world, whenever they want?

You might look at them and be filled with envy wondering how they earn an income while traveling.

That’s why running your own online course platform is brilliant, because you CAN travel and work at the same time.

Working remotely has become essential over the last few months and although life might return to ‘normal’ why should you have to work your life away in an office, endlessly dreaming about traveling when it could be a reality.

Online course platforms are a goldmine and if the idea of making a solid income doesn’t sway you, the possibility of working wherever you want might.

Working remotely and running your own online course platform means that you don’t even have to get dressed if you don’t want to.

Feel like spending the day in your pyjamas? No problem, you can work from your living room.

Feel like jumping on a plane and flying away for a while? That’s not an issue when you work remotely, grab your laptop, pack your bags and you could be sunning it up in Spain and earning money at the same time!

Live where you want, work when you want

Not only do online course platforms give you the freedom to work from anywhere, you can set your own working hours.

No more monotonous 9-5 if that routine doesn’t work for you because you can decide how often and how much you work.

You will have to put in some work, there’s no avoiding that, but how can making money, while living where you want and working the hours you want, be a bad thing?

What are the best Online Course Platforms?

There are so many Online Course Platforms out there that picking the right one can be a little overwhelming, but that’s no reason to miss out on joining one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

1. Teachable.

If you’re looking for an easy to use, customizable platform, Teachable could be the way to go. It’s one of the best Online Course Platforms on the market and there are plenty of reasons why.

Teachable has simple, accessible panels so you can create your own course in a short amount of time and if you’re tech-savvy enough to have your own website, you can link it to your Teachable with a custom domain.

This platform allows you to create your own videos, lectures, and coaching sessions so the course is entirely of your own design.

You can track sales numbers and student feedback thanks to their extensive dashboard so you can improve and amend your course or marketing techniques as you go.

This platform has a flexible sales page where you can create your own marketing pages in your brand’s design, meaning your course can be seen and selected by thousands of potential students.

Teachable enables you to really engage with your students by giving you the option to run one-on-one or group coaching sessions. This feature means you can set milestones for your students, host calls and set tasks so you always know where your students might need a little extra help.

Teachable is integrated with Calendly and Zoom, so from booking to learning is simple and you won’t need to spend time setting up your own links or sending out email calendar invites as it’s all completed in one place on the Teachable platform.

Some platforms will have restrictions if you’re on the lower paid plans, but with Teachable, any paid plan means you can have unlimited courses and an unlimited number of students.

They offer Annual or Monthly plans and the Annual Basic Plan begins at only $29 per month, billed annually! With the potential to make an unlimited income, $29 a month is incredibly cheap especially considering developing features like these for yourself would have you paying developers $100k or more!

If you can’t afford the Annual payment when you start out, they offer monthly plans beginning at only $39 per month for their Basic online course plan.

The features that come with Teachable plans are brilliant; unlimited students, instant pay-out, course creator training, domain support, integrated email marketing…the list goes on and if you wanted to upgrade from the Basic to a Pro or Business plan the option is there.

The Pro and Business plans allow you to have more admin access because when your courses start getting busy you may need to hire some Admin Assistants to help!

These plans also offer you your own unbranded website, advanced customization options, affiliate marketing, priority product support and more…the list seems endless!

There are some amazing features of Teachable that make it one to consider such as having a built-in marketplace to sell your courses, which isn’t offered by some other platforms! 

If you’re looking for a platform that is cheap, easy to use and gives you total control over your own branding click the link below to start making money today.

Check out Teachable!

2. Thinkific.

Thinkific is another one of the best online course platforms available. They offer a customizable, drag and drop interface and a free plan so making money doesn’t have to cost you a cent.

This platform gives you freedom over designing your course website so you can market your courses however you see fit thanks to the platform’s pre-set themes, which means you don’t have to worry about creating your own. No coding required!

Not only is Thinkific completely customizable, and designed with simplicity in mind, the platform supports a multitude of course content. So, if you want to make videos, create quizzes, change type form or link with your google docs it’s easy.

Creating your online course is simple and with the huge number of options to deliver your content, it’s a fantastic platform to consider using to get your income booming.

Thinkific has a drag and drop builder so editing your website is easy and linking it with an existing site, if you have one, is simple. If you happen to be tech-savvy and you want to go a little further, Thinkific gives you full access to make those changes to the HTML or CSS.

Unlike some online course Platforms, Thinkific offers a Free plan!

Everyone loves a freebie and if you’re not sure that setting up your own online course is for you; it means you can give it a go without paying anything out.

The Free Plan has limited access, but what they offer is great for a test drive. You get 3 Courses, unlimited students, quizzes, surveys, content hosting and instant access to your funds…there’s no reason not to give it a go when it’s totally free!

If you do decide you want to increase your plan, Thinkific’s Basic Plan begins at $39 a month and you can access coupons, scheduled content, affiliate reporting, a custom domain and email integration.

As your online course success grows you can upgrade to the Pro or Premier plans giving you more access and more customization options.

One of Thinkific’s best pricing features is that you can upgrade, or downgrade, your plan at any time!

Downgrading a plan whenever you like isn’t something many platforms offer so it’s definitely an excellent and unique feature. 

So if you’re looking for a platform that gives you freedom, simplicity and you want to start making money without paying anything out, click the link below to get started with their free plan. 

Check out Thinkific!

3. Learnworlds.

Learnworlds is another popular online course platform because it’s easy to use and has a lot of fantastic features. From attractive, engaging courses to the ability to design your own website, this platform has everything you need to kickstart your remote working career. 

Learnworlds has a lot of easy to use features to get your website up and running quickly. The site has block builders with drag-and-drop options and a huge variety of templates, so you don’t have to create your layout from scratch.

This platform is fully e-commerce enabled which means that all your courses can be managed in one place including sales, course management and marketing which makes it an easy, stress-free way to stay on top of your Online Course Business.

Like the other platforms we’ve already talked about, you can upsell to your students with promotions, coupons and payment plans while using your own brand identity and domain name if you have one.

Learnworlds can also be integrated with a variety of different tools such as Zapier, Zoom, Mailchimp and Hubspot so if you already use, or want to use, any of those for your course content it’s simple enough to link.

One of Learnworlds best features is the 24/7 support they offer if you sell your courses through their platform. If you have any issues, they should be resolved quickly so you can get straight back to making money and sharing your knowledge. 

When it comes to pricing they’re not very expensive, you can begin for as little as $29 a month on a Starter plan. The Starter plan comes with some really great features when you’re and the number of features available increases if you upgrade your plan.

If you’re looking to pay Annually rather than monthly the Starter plan is $24 a month billed annually meaning it will cost £288 for the year, which is pretty good.

The only downside of the starter plan is a $5 transaction fee per course sale, which in the grand scheme of money making isn’t a huge amount. If you upgrade to the Pro Trainer or Learning Centre plan there are no transaction fees at all.

Another big win for Learnworlds is the offer to start with a free trial! The free trial can be used on any of the platform’s plans so you can have a good go at seeing how it works and how well you get along with the interface.

Check out LearnWorlds!

4. Kajabi.

Kajabi focuses on the importance of the platform supporting your Online Course Business so you can be successful and is built on the idea that selling your content should be simple. Kajabi has created a single dashboard to simplify your experience without limiting your potential. 

One of the most important features of this All-in-One platform is the ability to customize your website and integrate it with all the other parts of your Kajabi page.

Don’t be concerned that having a single dashboard might limit your potential, Kajabi’s dashboard has an incredible number of features where you can customize your pricing, adjust your course delivery and set up the payment plans for your courses.

The dashboard also has real-time insights into your courses so you can generate reports, track your students’ progress, and adjust your methods if you need to.

If you want to contact students via email, Kajabi has an integrated system that allows you to contact them with your own customized emails.

You can design your emails to highlight your branding, contain videos and also set automations so emails can be sent whenever you need them to, even if you’re not there to hit send.

A large portion of this platform encourages automation so you don’t have to update your website manually, you can set the automations and go about your day!

The pricing for Kajabi is a little more expensive, beginning with the Basic Plan of $149 per month but you get a 20% discount for Annual payment. 

Although a little more expensive than the other platforms, Kajabi also doubles as a CRM system so you can continue to generate business leads and income rather than wait for students to find you.

The Basic plan gives you 3 products, 3 pipelines, an unlimited number of landing pages, an unlimited number of marketing emails, 1 website, and access for 1 Admin. You also have no transaction fees, ready to use templates, quizzes, surveys and the ability to create webinars!

If you wanted to pay Annually the Basic Plan is $119 per month (billed annually).

You can upgrade to Growth or Pro plans which come with plenty of extra features such as 24/7 live chat support, up to 100 courses/ products and the ability to remove the Kajabi branding from your page altogether.

The Kajabi platform also offers a 14-day free trial of their plans, so if you’re looking for a platform that focuses on supporting your courses, building your business and personalizing your branding, follow the link below to get started with your 14 day free-trial.

Check out Kajabi!

5. LearnDash.

LearnDash is a dynamic and creative platform designed to be used with WordPress. This platform is made for creating and marketing your online courses with a variety of professional and beautiful themes to get your online course business flourishing.

LearnDash comes with a variety of brilliant features to get your courses up and running quickly. They have an easy-to-use, powerful course builder with the ability to customise your students’ course experience. 

This plug-in is made to be used with WordPress, so if you already have a WordPress site, this would be the ideal solution for swapping from blogging to course creation. 

LearnDash gives you the ability to create your own Learning Portal, design comprehensive and engaging quizzes and drip-feed course content. 

One of the reasons LearnDash stands out from the crowd is because you can create certificates and award points to your students using this plug-in! 

Another unique feature is that you can create licenses for your courses! If an organisation wants to bulk purchase your course content, you can license your course using this plug-in, but you will need to purchase the Group Registration add-on from LearnDash to be able to do this. 

The LearnDash plug-in gives you full Administrative control over your content, allowing you to see detailed reports, send out email notifications, mark student work and award certificates all in one place! 

If you’re tech savvy and understand plug-ins and add-ons LearnDash would be perfect for you. You can use any form of media, it’s mobile compatible, WordPress multisite enabled and if you need to use Tin Can API or SCORM this plug-in is compatible with that.

At the moment LearnDash are offering HUGE discounts on their pricing plans. 

This site doesn’t offer a monthly payment plan, so it’s not for you if you don’t want to pay in one go but their basic plan is actually very cheap! 

The Basic plan is a good starting point, offering many great features and it doesn’t limit the number of courses or users that you can have. 

Not only do you get an unlimited number of courses and users with all the plans, they also offer 12 months of support and updates to your plug-in. That’s a full year of dedicated support should you need any help! That is definitely a feature worth considering as it’s not something commonly offered by other platforms. 

If you’re a tech-savvy, have a wordpress site and are looking for an amazing, beautiful interface to get your courses selling, click the link below to get started with LearnDash. 

Check out LearnDash!

6. Podia.

Podia is another fantastic online platform designed for simplicity and ease of use. This platform offers step by step guides to getting started, will move any existing content you have to their site for free and includes live support whenever you need it. 

Podia has a lot of similar features to other online course platforms but it does include some that others don’t. 

One of Podia’s unique features is their live messaging which gives you the ability to boost sales and converse with potential customers about your courses and it’s included in your plan without extra fees.

Podia comes with email marketing, an online storefront, the ability to create memberships and you can host webinars for your students! All in one place. 

Podia prides itself on being an all-in-one platform meaning that you don’t have to have multiple sites to achieve your sales goals. The site encourages the use of their single platform to complete all the usual business tasks in one place from blogging to payments making your life a lot easier. 

This platform is fully customizable so you can create your courses and your own brand as you build your site. Once you’ve got your site organized you can build your courses in the way you want. 

The platform gives you many options to offer your students including monthly payment plans, pre-selling courses, quizzes, pre-launch courses and drip-fed content. 

Another unique feature of Podia is that you can upload any file to their site. If you want to supply your students with eBooks or PDF’s you can add that onto your course content easily and your students can download it without technical headaches. 

Podia offers fantastic marketing assistance to get your courses selling with newsletters, announcements and email campaigns. You can also create reports to track the effectiveness of your marketing so you can see where it might need improving. 

Pricing isn’t very expensive considering all of the amazing features this platform offers. 

They offer 2 pricing plans: a Mover and a Shaker. The Mover plan is the beginners plan starting at $39 a month, which is very reasonable. Included in the Mover plan is your own storefront, webinars, email marketing, digital downloads, 0% on transaction fees and 7-days-a-week support. So there’s plenty of features to get you started. 

If you want to pay annually you can save up to $158 should you choose to go with the Shaker plan, which includes extra features such as Zoom integration, blogs, memberships, off-site buy buttons, affiliate marketing and for those tech-savvy bunch third party code. 

Podia is a brilliant example of a supportive all-in-one platform offering a fantastic, easy to use service without transaction fees making it one of the best platforms on the market at the moment. 

If you’re looking for a simple, customizable platform, get started with Podia today using their 14-day free trial by clicking the link below. 

Check out Podia!

7. Gurucan.

Gurucan is a new all-in-one platform for the creation, sale, and promotion of a variety of digital products, including online courses. It helps create stunning online courses, or even online trainings. It’s features replace those of Teachable, Kajabi or Thinkific. 

One of the main features in an online course builder where you can build multimedia online courses, video lectures, quizzes, downloads, community chats and a blog. Converting mobile-friendly landing pages are made easily. 

It comes with an engaging mobile app available on iOS and Android (app and web platforms are available in one price plan) so that the courses are available on-the-go and even offline.

Another feature that makes this new solution especially interesting  is an option to create a white label mobile learning app. This means that you can have your own branded mobile app for online courses. The app can be  in Apple and Google stores in less than 30 days. 

It has a LIVE stream built in the platform.

Gurucan has creator and expert pricing plans starting $26 for a yearly subscription.  Both have unlimited content, push notifications, webinars (in beta) and support. You can start with a 7-day free trial without sharing credit card information.  

White label app for an online course  can be created starting at $2988.  

The price covers White Label iOS/Android App with your own icon, customizable web connected to your domain, branded push notifications and emails. Everything is customizable, not just the icon. 

Check out Gurucan! 

8. Ruzuku.

Ruzuku is another all-in-one platform that prides itself on being easy to use and focused on you, the user, instead of making as much money as possible. This platform makes creating courses simple, removing all of the complicated coding that some platforms require you to do.  

Ruzuku comes with a fantastic number of features to get you started without any fuss. This platform accepts payments through Stripe, PayPal or if you have your own payment system you can integrate this with Ruzuku easily. 

As an all-in-one platform you wont need to code anything yourself, you build your course, upload any extra content and start making money. 

You can set up email notifications to give you alerts should your students need any assistance, you can host teleconferences with slides, group chats and automatic recording and you can host video broadcasts with the same features. 

One of Ruzukus unique features is the Open Access courses which allow you to create self-directed courses so your students can complete their work at their own pace and you can be totally hands-off on the teaching front. 

Another wonderful feature of Ruzuku is their promise for friendly help and support for both you and your students. If you need assistance getting started, have a query or your students need a little advice, the platform offers a great support system so you never have to feel lost or out of your depth. 

Ruzuku is one of the few platforms that ensures that ANY paid plan includes unlimited students, unlimited courses, unlimited uploads and unlimited data storage. Not only do you get a huge amount of unlimited features, all plans also include comprehensive support from the Ruzuku team, global content delivery, daily back-ups of your course, bank level security and integrated eCommerce system. 

Pricing wise Ruzuku offers annual and monthly subscriptions so you can start making money. 

Their lowest costing plan is the Boostrapper which is $99 per month. If you opted for Bootstrappers annual plan, you would be receiving a discount of $291, which is a massive saving, so their annual plans are definitely one to consider. 

All Ruzuku plans come with brilliant features, their lowest paid plan does not include access to webinars, polls, quizzes, subscriptions or payment plans for your students but still has an excellent number of features to get you started, including 0% transaction fees which is always a winner. 

If you’re looking to hold webinars and quizzes it’s definitely worth considering either their up-and-comer plan or their university plan which gives you access to all of their features and a few extras thrown in for good measure. 

So if an all-in-one, no coding required, eCommerce enabled platform that comes with the offer of comprehensive support sounds like the platform for you, follow the link below to get started with your 14-day free trial. 

Check out Ruzuku!

9. Academy of Mine.

Academy of Mine is another excellent example of an all-in-one platform that caters to your needs. This platform is fully customizable and if you find that you need something extra for your online courses that the platform doesn’t already have, Academy of Mine will build it for you! 

Academy of Mine has a host of developers available to help you build your ideal online course website without you having to write any code. 

It’s a fully customizable platform that can be used on any device so your students can take your courses however they want. 

What makes Academy of Mine completely unique is that they offer a multitude of services that other platforms don’t. If you have the raw material for your courses but lack the time to create them, Academy of Mine will build your courses for you!

They offer website design and development, if you need help with page customization or development they can help with that too and if you have existing content on another platform, they’ll migrate it over for you.

Academy of mine can be integrated with 3rd party systems for marketing or tracking, full analytics so you know what your students are doing, flexible eCommerce so payments are easy and completely personalized branding for your online course business. 

When it comes to creating your course content you can offer your students live virtual training, corporate and group courses, marketing pages to get your courses selling and you can also offer self-paced courses if you want that hands-off approach. 

So how much does it cost to have a fully eCommerce enabled site with committed developers on hand to do all of the complicated work for you? Not as much as you might expect. 

If you were to build your own site and hire your own developers, it could end up costing you over $100k, just to get started. 

Academy of Mine offers assistance with all coding, branding, will build courses for you and customize all of your content so you can start making money without having to build anything yourself for as little as $9,997 per year. 

Considering the amount of work that goes into building a fully customizable website, that’s very cheap! 

If a totally hands-off approach sounds like the ideal platform for you, with developers able to complete all the time-consuming work,  Academy of mine is definitely one to consider. Follow the link below to get started with a personalized demo.

Check out Academy of Mine!

10. WizIQ.

WizIQ is a cloud-based all-in-one platform that is geared towards beautiful courses that are entirely customizable and built around your own branding. 

This platform aims to be easy to use, fully customizable with a high-definition virtual classroom to create the best learning environment for your students. 

WizIQ enables you to upload content in any format so you can build your courses the way you want in a short amount of time. 

This platform takes away the complicated course building thanks to their huge variety of themes, so you can build your own branding for your online course business with no coding required. 

What makes this platform unique is that you can recreate a classroom environment online. Rather than pages of writing, or listless quizzes you can design your own classroom with HD video conferencing, online whiteboards and instant messaging, so you can engage with your students as if you’re right there with them. 

WizIQ also gives you the option to create self-paced courses so if you would rather your students learn in their own time, without your input, they can do that with drip-fed content and multimedia tests of your own creation. 

This platform also has LMS analytics so you can keep track of your students progress, make improvements to your course content and automatically generate reports. 

WizIQ can also be integrated with many different platforms including API, Moodle, Joomla, WordPess, Drupal and Efront making it simple and easy to link any of your existing course content with your WizIQ site. 

When it comes to pricing, WizIQ has two separate ways you can build your site. 

If you’re looking to build a Virtual Classroom you can choose from their Pay-per-Use, Enterprise or Professional plans which all come with a huge variety of features

However if you’re looking to build a Learning Management System you can choose from their Elite or Infinite plans. 

On their website, WizIQ doesn’t publish their prices so you’ll need to contact them directly to discuss your requirements and the pricing for their plans. 

You can, however try this platform for free and if all of the amazing features they have are exactly what you’re looking for, follow the link below to grab your free-trial

Check out WizIQ!

What are the Best Online Learning Platforms?

So you’ve decided that creating your own online learning platform could be the way you want to make a bit of extra money.

There are already hundreds of them available but a few are definitely a cut above the rest, so what makes these platforms so popular? 

1. Shaw Academy.

Shaw Academy is an all-in-one online learning platform that gives students a choice between hundreds of courses available on their site and offers a monthly subscription payment plant to their students. 

They are a privately owned online education company based in Ireland that delivers content through timed video webinars. 

Students can sign up to Shaw Academy with a 4 week free-trial where they have access to course content of their choice for the first module of their chosen course. 

Students select a date and time to join the webinars which are scheduled throughout the week and these can be adjusted and changed by the students at any time. 

After the 4 week free-trial students are enrolled onto a payment plan of £49.99 per month which gives them full access to their chosen course. Students also have the option to pay quarterly or annually. Students also have the option to cancel their subscription at any time. 

Once the course begins, Shaw Academy will send email notifications and text alerts to students with reminders to attend their webinars and updates on any deadlines. Assignments can be completed weekly and once the course has been completed, students will receive a certificate to show their newly attained knowledge and skills. 

So why is Shaw Academy so popular?

• They offer flexible learning to students that is entirely adjustable
• Students can go back and rewatch previous webinars whenever they need to 
• Assignments are easy to understand and based on the knowledge gained in the webinars students have watched that week. 
• The webinars themselves contain a screen-recording and instructional videos from qualified individuals. 
• Payment plans are flexible, affordable and can be cancelled at any time. 

Ultimately what makes Shaw Academy so popular is their student focused, self-paced learning approach which gives students the control over their learning and ambition. 

Check out Shaw Academy!

2. Skillshare.

Skillshare is another very popular online learning platform based in America. This particular online learning system educates students with educational videos and learning completing projects rather than lectures. 

This online learning system has a variety of classes on offer, allowing students to learn in their own time, building their knowledge by undertaking projects. 

Skillshare offers students the chance to begin learning by signing up to a free membership. This platform offers a variety of free courses so students can learn new skills and gain knowledge without having to spend any money. 

If students want to access the more than 20k other courses available on the platform they can upgrade to a premium membership which is $13 per month or $7 per month billed annually, which is a very reasonable and cheap price. 

Skillshares courses are not accredited and are entirely knowledge based, so although students wont gain a formal recognized qualification, they will still gain valuable knowledge and skills.  

There are a few reasons that Skillshare is one of the most popular learning platforms

• Premium members have access to an unlimited number of classes meaning that students can learn as many new skills as they want without having to pay extra. 
• Skillshare focuses on giving their students practical knowledge 
• You don’t have to pay to begin learning. They have a variety of free courses with no hidden fees. 

Skillshare has really harnessed the idea that learning should be accessible to all with free courses and low costing memberships, making it a hugely popular online learning platform. 

Check out SkillShare!

3. Linkedin Learning.

Linkedin Learning is another excellent provider of online courses. As one of the largest networking platforms for professionals they provide a huge number of courses for professionals to update and improve their skills at an affordable price.

This platform offers over 16,000 online video learning courses for technology, business and creative skills for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners. 

Linkedin Learning offers a monthly subscription at $29.99 or annual plan for $299 which gives you unlimited access to all of their courses, you can also try Linkedin Learning free for 1 month!

There are no limitations on how many courses you can watch and, although the courses are not accredited, when you complete them you’ll receive a certificate. 

So why is Linkedin Learning so popular?

• They have ‘Learning paths’. While you’re learning your new skill the platform will recommend related courses so you can decide which courses will help you achieve your goals. 
• Linkedin Learning has a Q&A Page. You can ask questions and receive an answer from a real person, not an automated system with automatic answers.
• You can learn while offline! This platform gives you the option to download content and learn offline which is a unique feature making the platform more flexible. 

Linkedin Learning has truly considered their target audience and made the online learning experience more flexible with offline learning options and real-time interaction with instructors. 

Check out Linkedin Learning!

4. Udemy.

Udemy is an online learning platform which prides itself on their huge variety of courses meaning students can learn about almost anything. 

Learning on Udemy is simple and they have over 100,000 courses meaning their course selection is amazing. Udemy allows anyone to publish a course and this means that the variety of courses is one of the largest in the online learning community.

You can study professional courses or you can take hobby courses where you learn a new skill such as sewing or gardening. 

Udemy offers a 30-day money back guarantee. There are some rules; if you download all of the course content you’re unlikely to receive a refund and if you frequently purchase a course and then request a refund you may find yourself banned, but this is a wonderful feature that encourages customer satisfaction. 

Why is Udemy so great?

• The course software is great. The course navigation and lesson players work very well, providing a high-quality learning experience. 
• Learn entirely at your own pace. Udemy allows you to learn whenever you want, and unlike most platforms that give you a final deadline to complete a course on Udemy once you purchase a course you have a lifetime to complete it.

Udemy is amazing for the sheer variety of courses they offer. Not only do they offer so many courses, their 30-day money back guarantee and lack of deadlines really appeals to most learners. 

Check out Udemy!

5. Treehouse.

Treehouse is another excellent online learning platform that mainly focuses on technology-based courses from beginner to advanced levels. 

Treehouse has a minimalistic and easy to use interface. Less is often more when it comes to online learning platforms and Treehouse has harnessed this. When you load a webpage and are overwhelmed with information it can really push potential customers away. Treehouse has a very simple landing page, leaving students feeling comfortable and ready to learn.

This platform offers a ‘Techdegree’. Although not an official university degree, Treehouse has come up with a set of courses that encourage multiple purchases by grouping 4 tech related courses together of ‘must-have’ skills that are an excellent addition to any CV. 

So what makes Treehouse a popular choice?

• The platform is cheap! You can join Treehouse for as little as $25 per month giving you access to their course library, quizzes and challenges and their learning tracks. If you want the extra features you can upgrade to grab extras. 
• Try before you buy. You can grab a free trial on Treehouse before you decide to commit to the platform. If you don’t like it, you can cancel at any time. 

Treehouse is an excellent platform for no-nonsense learning, with high-quality courses giving learners access to desirable technology related skills which are highly regarded in today’s technology ran world. 

Check out Treehouse!

6. Coursera.

Coursera currently has over 50 million students worldwide, offering a variety of higher-level education courses. 

Coursera offers college-level courses from trained and accredited professors and instructors. Unlike some of the other platforms, on Coursera you gain knowledge from accredited professionals. 

They offer 5 different learning options: Individual courses, specializations, professional certificates, MasterTrack Certificates and Degrees. Giving them the edge when it comes to specific learning goals. 

What makes Coursera the first choice for 50 million people?

• There are thousands of free courses available! You can work through any of the free courses without having to pay a penny, although if you want a certificate you will have to pay for a subscription. 
• The instruction is high-quality from professionals. All of the courses on this platform are created and taught by qualified professionals meaning the knowledge you gain is valuable and accurate. 

Coursera have harnessed the need for professional qualifications and ensured that the quality of their courses matches their students’ expectations, making it an affordable and high-quality learning platform. 

Check out Coursera!

7. OpenSesame.

OpenSesame is an online learning platform that encourages diverse, inclusive training to improve the working environment for all.

OpenSesame is a platform that has a wide variety of courses that are constantly being reviewed and updated meaning all content is as accurate as possible. 

This platform is designed to be implemented with companies and organizations instead of individuals. The kind of learning style with OpenSesame is easy to follow and ideal for group learning within organizations making this platform highly unique.

Why is OpenSesame a good platform?

• This platform stresses the importance of team-building and inclusion, making the learning experiences unique and important. 
• OpenSesame has an amazing support team to help answer questions and resolve queries as you learn. 
• The courses are unique to the organizations requirements and are updated continuously.

OpenSesame is one of the most unique platforms currently on the online education market as they focus on inclusion and diversity and market their courses towards organizations and businesses instead of individuals.  

Check out OpenSesame!

How Do I Create and Sell Online Courses?

Figure Out the Costs to Develop Your Online Course 

Like any business, there are costs involved in getting your online learning system up and running and you’ll need to plan for these before you can start making money. 

You’ll need to decide which platform or plug-in you want to use, decide on which paid plan would suit your online courses and then decide if you’re going to pay for it monthly or annually by checking out the platform’s pricing plans.  

Not only do you need to think about the initial outlay, you need to plan for the kind of equipment you’re going to need to create and deliver your course content. 

Are you going to need an Adobe license to build the content? Will your content be pre-recorded or are you planning on uploading it live?

Are you going to need to purchase equipment or do you already have all of the things you need to deliver your course content?

Understanding how you’re going to market and deliver your courses is the perfect way to establish how much it’s going to cost you. If you’re planning on presenting your course in a standardized slide-show with text and graphics, you might not need to purchase anything extra and the only cost will be your time. 

If you’re planning on uploading videos, tutorials or hosting webinars, it might cost you a little bit to get all the equipment you need; microphone, camera, headphones and video editing software. Ultimately these initial costs are very cheap in comparison to how much money you could be making once your online course is up and running. 

You can start developing your first set of high-quality courses for less than $5,000, especially if you already have some of the equipment at home and a bit of free-time to build your courses. 

Use The Best Equipment and Software

Delivering high-quality course content means using high-quality equipment. The better your course content, the more popular and profitable your courses will be. 

Microphones

If you’re looking to host webinars, record videos or host live lessons you’re going to need to be able to hear and speak to your students. 

Microphones are essential for creating clear, high-quality videos and hosting webinars. 

There are a variety of different microphones to choose from and each option depends on the type of content you want to create. When you’re just getting started it’s worth making a solid investment and buying a product which will provide solid sound quality to ensure your course content is top-notch. 

USB Microphones are really useful and one of the top choices for vlogging, podcasts and voice recording. One of the most popular choices of USB microphones is the Blue Yeti as it is compatible with windows and Mac and costs about $155 dollars. This microphone also has a headphone amp so you can hear the clarity of the sound as you record. 

There are cheaper options for USB Microphones, you can pick one up from most electronics stores and they are also widely available online. 

If you’re looking for a higher sound quality a Recording Microphone might be worth considering, these are available with a USB plug in but due to the built-in condenser the usual feedback ‘hiss’ is virtually non-existent making it a perfect option for clear, quality sound recording. 

One of the most popular choices for Recording Microphones is the Rode NT1-A vocal microphone costing approximately $276 which might seem expensive, but the fantastic reviews and brilliant sound quality make it a solid investment. 

Headphones

Headphones are another essential piece of equipment when creating course content. If you’re recording videos, speaking to students, hosting webinars or completing live lessons being able to hear your content, and your students, is paramount to providing an excellent course.

You don’t want your headphones being uncomfortable or overly bulky while you’re trying to teach. They might get in the way or distract your students and although you need good quality audio, you don’t necessarily need to spend a fortune on a top notch pair. 

There are a variety of headphones that are great for teaching online courses, and a majority of them come with microphones, so if you’re hosting a webinar you might not need to buy both a headset and a microphone. 

One of the top picks, and the cheapest without being poor quality, is the MPow PC Headset. These have decent noise cancelling, comfortable over-ear design and don’t cost a fortune with prices as low as $39 online. 

Another popular choice of headphones with a built in microphone is the Plantronics CS540 Cordless DECT Headset. This headset comes with a noise cancelling microphone, perfect for ensuring that your students only hear your voice, and not any extra background noise. They’re also comfortable, provide excellent sound quality, foldable so you can take them anywhere and cost approximately $129.

If you’re going to purchase a separate microphone to your headset then the top choice of headphone is the Marshall Major III. These headphones are over-ear, comfortable and don’t have a wire. The charge lasts for approximately 5 hours, so there’s plenty of time for teaching and recording. They price at about $66 which is an excellent price for the standard of sound you receive when using them. 

Screen Recording 

Screen recording programs are essential when creating course content. You’ll most likely need to demonstrate tasks to your students and pre-recording these means you can upload the content straight to your online platform. 

There are loads of options when it comes to screen recording programs and they all come with different features. 

Some programs record all of your screen, some you can record just portions, some can record audio at the same time, others might allow you to record in HD or include annotations on your screen recording. It’s essential that you understand what you need from a screen recording program before you pick one. 

Open Broadcaster Software is a free screen recording program that does not limit the length of your videos or recording time. You can record all of your screen, part of your screen and you can seamlessly mix in audio with your screen recordings making it an excellent, and cost effective solution. This program is perfect for live streaming, so ideal for webinars and live lessons. 

Screen-O-Matic is perfect for creating quick, simple tutorials for your courses. This software is available for free, but if you wanted to use the extra features, such as introducing audio and including screenshots you would need to sign up to a paid plan starting at $1.65 per month, which is really reasonable! 

There are plenty of options out there so it’s important that you check what you want the program to do, before you sign up. Most programs come with a free-trial so you can try creating content before committing to a monthly or annual plan. 

Webcams

USB webcams can be really important if you’re hosting webinars or live lessons. Sure your built in laptop camera might be fine for family video calls but the quality isn’t always the best and grainy images can really impact the quality of your course content and affect your students concentration. 

The Logitech C922 was built for online teaching. It has clear picture quality filming at 1080p and high-quality audio so you won’t necessarily need to purchase an extra microphone. The only downside to this high-quality camera is that it’s a little pricey, starting at $227 but if you don’t need to purchase a microphone as well, the extra cost is worth it. 

Another option is the Razer Kiyo Streaming Webcam. This camera also films in 1080p and provides high quality images. It also comes with an LED Light which is really useful when you’re teaching. This option is also a little expensive starting at $166 but the price is worth the quality. 

If you’re looking for a cheaper, budget option then the Logitech C270 could be a good choice. The quality isn’t as high as the previous ones, but it’s definitely better than a built in webcam as it comes with a wide angled view which is ideal for teaching. This camera starts at approximately $54 dollars which is great when you’re just getting started. 

Audio and video editing software

When you’re creating content, you’re going to need to edit audio and videos for your courses. Having the right software for what you need is key to creating great content so you’ll need to check out all the features that the software offers before you choose one. 

Corel VideoStudio is a great solution and a pretty inexpensive option for video editing software. It allows you to motion track objects, so if you need to point an arrow at a part of your recording, or you want to add in important highlights, this software will allow you to do that. This software also comes with 360 degree VR and 4k support. Not only does it have great features and is easy to use, you can purchase it for a one time payment of $97!

Filmora is an excellent option for audio and video editing, especially for beginners. With this software you can edit screen recordings as well so it’s a brilliant all-in-one solution for creating a variety of online course content.

This software also comes with overlays, transitions and royalty free music to make your content more engaging and interesting. This software also comes with ‘Easy Mode’ which allows you to drag and drop clips and select music which is ideal for beginners. This software starts at $39.99 for a year or $69.99 for a lifetime plan! Not too expensive and comes with brilliant features. 

PowerDirector is one of the fastest editing softwares available in terms of rendering. This software comes with a huge variety of options to add effects and themes to your content and it may seem a little overwhelming but there are plenty of helpful instructional tutorials available on the site.

You can subscribe to PowerDirector for a monthly fee starting at $51.99 per month or a lifetime license starting at $99.99 which is pretty reasonable for the quality and features you can get using this software. 

Lighting and accessories

Recording lessons or hosting webinars in an effective way means ensuring your students can see you. If your recording area is shadowy, it could impact on your students’ engagement and reduce the quality of your video content. 

The best and cheapest way to improve lighting is to purchase a ring light, popular with vloggers and youtubers, these lights produce a shadow-free area which highlights the subject in front of the ring light. These are ideal for filming videos of yourself but might not be great if you’re going to be filming a wider angle. 

Ring lights can be purchased online for as little as $45 and you can purchase different sizes from ones that sit on a desk to free-standing ones. 

If you’re looking to film at a wider angle, 2 free-standing lights could be the perfect solution. Placing one light either side of your filming area, out of shot, removes the chance of dark shadows and using a softbox reduces the harshness of the light. 

These lights can be purchased online for approximately $89 for 2 free-standing softbox lights. These are also used in photography to achieve a balanced and soft lighting effect so they are perfect for online teaching and are a relatively inexpensive solution.

Design an Online Course That Delivers Results to Your Target Audience

So you’ve decided to create an online course, you’ve researched all of the platforms, you’ve established what equipment you need and you’re ready to share your knowledge but before you do, you need to design your course. 

Your Target Audience 

Before you can create your content you need to know who you’re trying to share your knowledge with. Start by establishing who might find your course useful. 

• Is it working professionals who want to increase their knowledge?
• Is it to introduce beginners to a brand new skill? 
• Would it be more suited to someone wanting to start a new hobby? 
• Is your course geared towards teenagers, adolescents or fully grown adults?

All of these will affect the way you deliver your course content and how you design it. You can’t write a course for working professionals but present it in a way that is more engaging for teenagers. 

What are the Key Results Achieved by Taking Your Course

Why would people want to take your course? The answer is because they want to achieve something, whether that’s learning a new skill or improving their career. 

Consider what your students will gain from taking your course. what can you give them that they can’t get somewhere else? 

Your students will come to you to achieve a specific result. If you’re aiming to educate and improve a hobbyists knowledge then you need to ensure that your course content does just that.

Providing appropriate guidance and accurate information that achieves the original goal you promised means that students will finish your course feeling satisfied and empowered by their new found skills. 

To make sure your course provides the results your students want you need to design the course backwards. 

It might sound a little bizarre but it’s a sure fire way to ensure that your course aligns with your students goals. 

1. Begin by defining the course goals and objectives. What do you want students to gain from your course? 
2. Then consider how you will know your students have gained the knowledge or understand your course? Will you have your students complete projects, take quizzes, write an essay or take an assessment? Providing an appropriate way to understand your students progress allows you to understand if they have achieved their goal. 
3. Finally you can begin planning the lessons and activities. Once you’ve decided how you will track your students’ knowledge and achievements you can create your lesson plans and activities. Each lesson and activity will need to connect with each project, quiz or assessment. You can’t create assessments without ensuring your students have received the knowledge to complete them properly.

Course Pricing Strategy 

How will you price your course? Once you’ve established who you’re trying to market your course to, and how you’re going to assess it, you can decide on an appropriate pricing strategy. 

Your pricing strategy should account for the amount of work you’re going to be putting in. 

It’s no good charging nickels for a course that’s going to have you working 50 hours a week with webinars and marking assessments. If you price too low you’re likely to get fed-up and frustrated with the lack of income for all the work you’re putting in. 

If you charge too much you might have to reduce your pricing to encourage students and that often gives the impression that your course is of poor quality. 

If you charge too little for your course you might not be able to afford the costs of marketing. 

Marketing your course is essential. 

Don’t presume that customers will purchase your course because it’s cheap! More often than not, customers will avoid the cheaper options because they’re not well marketed and this gives the impression that the course is of poor quality. 

Higher priced courses encourage higher-quality students! Consider your own purchasing history, if you’ve bought something cheap you’re normally not bothered if you finish it, if it gets broken or if you forget about it. 

This principle applies to your online course too. If a customer pays a little more for your course, they’re likely to complete it because it’s cost them a significant amount of money. 

That doesn’t mean your course should be extortionately priced. Customers are also put off by the idea that something is not affordable to them or the achievement of completing the course doesn’t measure up to the amount the course cost. 

To work out how much you should charge for a course you could complete a pre-launch market test. 

What is a pre-launch market test? This is where you release a certain part of your course for a cost and receive feedback from students. You can release the first few hours or the first module and see how your students react to the content delivery and the price you’ve suggested. 

These pre-launch market tests, also known as a Beta Tests, can arm you with the appropriate knowledge to select the correct pricing for your course content from your student feedback. 

Check out the competition. There’s plenty to be said about checking out what your competitors are doing. Providing your course content is of similar quality and provides similar results to your competitors there’s no reason you couldn’t charge a similar price. Don’t get bogged down in offering the lowest price out of all your competitors, there’s often not a winner when the low price wars begin. 

You’ll also need to consider coupons, discounts and offers to acquire customers. Should you only offer one-time payments or monthly subscriptions?

Will you offer coupons? How much will the discount be? Should you offer free access to part of your course? Could you offer a buy-one-get-one-free?

Ultimately the way you price is down to you. How you want to present your course and what your students can achieve affects your pricing. The quality of the content and how you attract customers is also a key factor and all of these need to be considered before you can begin charging customers for your content. 

Course Launch Strategy 

Once you’re ready to get your course selling you’re going to need to launch it. Launching your course is one of the most important parts of getting your online course business underway. 

If you don’t launch your course in the right way you might not achieve the sales you want. 

Customers want to know what you’re selling before they buy it. A pre-launch or sneak peek can be hugely effective in building excitement around your upcoming course. 

Marketing is essential! An effective sales page can really make your course stand out from the crowd. Providing customers with a clear understanding of your course and what they can achieve by purchasing your product can help make sales in minutes. 

Fantastic sales pages can help you to gain subscribers for your future email marketing campaigns.

Build excitement for your course. Write blogs about the effectiveness of your upcoming course, host webinars, create launch videos. All of these build a buzz for your potential customers.

Send out the emails. Once you’ve begun marketing your course and creating a little buzz you can start emailing potential customers. 

Try not to annoy your potential customers with continuous, ineffective automated emails. Your emails need to be concise, effective and straight to the point detailing your course launch date and how this course will benefit them. 

Send out ‘last chance enrollment’ emails. Once you’ve notified subscribers of your upcoming course, set a deadline. 

Bring on the FOMO. Highlight the importance of purchasing before the deadline. Consumers are more likely to purchase if there’s a chance they might miss out. 

Market Your Online Course The Right Way

Market yourself. 

When you’re ready to begin your journey into teaching  online courses you’re going to need to market your product in the right way. 

There are tons of ways to do this but making sure you get it right is essential. 

1. Start by setting up a blog. You could start your blog using BlueHost. Which is a simple, easy way to create and manage your own website and it doesn cost a fortune. BlueHost starts at $3.95 a month for their basic plan and it’s a great way to get your blog up and running without the stress. Write posts about online learning, how your courses are going to help someone achieve their goals, how effective your courses are. Your posts will need to be well thought out and carefully written to engage and entice potential customers into purchasing your courses.
2. Once you have your base, you need to grow your audience. Encourage people to subscribe to your blog and then you can create email marketing campaigns. Email marketing campaigns are brilliant for engaging with people from all around the world. Well written and branded emails can really capture consumers’ attention and get them looking at purchasing your course. You can create marketing campaigns really easily with ConvertKit which is a totally free, yes FREE, email service provider with an easy to use interface to get your marketing campaigns started without the fuss. Another fantastic option for email marketing campaigns, without the fuss, is ActiveCampaign which allows you to automate your campaigns at a reasonable price, starting at only $9 a month. 
3. Host a webinar. Once you have your email campaign ready to go, plan a webinar and invite your subscribers to attend. If you’re not sure how to host a webinar you can use Webinar Jam or Demio which are brilliant, easy to use platforms for webinar hosting without the fuss. Webinar Jam offers a 14 day free trial and then $499 for a full year with a whole heap of amazing features. Demio also offers a free trial and then a monthly subscription starting at $34 for loads of useful features. Discuss all the great parts about your course and why it’s better than any of your competitors. Webinars are highly effective because consumers are more likely to purchase from a real human being than an automatically generated email.
4. Set your sales page. A well presented sales page is the key to getting customers. No-one wants to purchase from a poorly presented sales page with dead-end links and images all over the place. Your page should be well thought out and straight to the point. 
5. Set a deadline. Nothing gets a product selling faster than a deadline. How often have you seen a product advertised with a ‘Final Chance’ advert and felt that immediate urgency to purchase it before they run out? It’s the same with online courses. Remind your potential customers about final enrollment dates as a part of your email campaign and you’ll find more people rush to purchase. 

How to Choose the Right Online Course Platform?

You’ve read through all the features and pricing for the platforms but you still don’t know what one is right for you. That’s normal. Starting in a new industry can seem overwhelming but once you understand the key features that you need, nothing will stop you. 

So how do you choose the right platform?

1. Whitelabel platforms give you the chance to create courses entirely of your own branding. If you’re looking to create an entire business, as opposed to just one or two courses this is a feature you’re going to need. The platforms with this feature give you full control over the sales pages and a custom domain meaning that all of your content is designed and branded by you. This gives you the opportunity to build you own business.
2. Video Hosting. How you plan on delivering your content is another key deciding factor when choosing a platform. If you plan on uploading videos, webinars or live lessons you need to choose a platform that can either incorporate this or allows you to integrate with another system. 
3. Payments. Consider how you plan on taking your customers payments. Do you want an entirely eCommerce enabled platform that handles all of it, or do you want to integrate with paypal or a similar payment method. If you plan on offering your customers the option of monthly payment plans, you’ll need to choose a platform that gives you that feature. 
4. On the go learning is becoming increasingly popular. Some platforms just don’t have the option to be used on mobiles so that is something you’re going to need to consider. Do you want to be able to have your students learn wherever they are or are you marketing your courses more towards computer and laptop based learning. 
5. Accepting file types. How do you plan on uploading your content? Will it be in video formats, PDF’s JPEG or in another entirely different format? You need to ensure that the platform you choose works with the file formats you plan on using. Not all platforms accept all format types so it’s essential that you check this feature before you commit to a platform. 
6. Drip feeding content. Some platforms don’t offer the option for drip feeding content and if you don’t want your students having complete access to the entire course all at once, you need this feature. Drip feeding content means that students get access to a certain part of the content at one time. Sometimes this is a singular module or a certain number of hours for the course. Whichever way you want to drip-feed content, you need to choose a platform that allows you to do this.
7. Affiliate marketing support. Marketing can be complicated. Understanding consumers and what they look for is a key skill in making sales. If you’re marketing-smart you might already know how to do this and won’t necessarily need the extra support. If, however, you’re not up to speed on affiliate marketing then it would be a good idea to choose a platform that offers this feature. A little bit of help goes a long way in the world of selling. 

What are the Most Popular Online Courses? 

There are thousands, if not millions, of options for online courses but making money means you need to understand what your target market wants. 

The most popular online courses are the ones that sell the best, make the most money and gain the most support so which ones are they?

1. Technology. It’s no surprise that the most popular course choice is technology related. With the rate that technological advancements are being made and incorporated into everyday life, understanding and knowing how to use technology has quickly become an essential skill. Knowing the basics of building a website, coding and software programming are among the top rated online courses. 
2. Business and Entrepreneurship. Everybody wants to make money, advance in their career or own a business. In today’s market understanding business and how they work is another essential skill in all walks of life. Understanding affiliate marketing, drop-shipping, branding, social media marketing are all courses that are in the top picks for consumers today. 
3. Health and Fitness. We all want to be a little healthier, a little fitter and understand how our bodies work a little better. With the recent outbreak people have jumped on the chance to learn more about their own health and fitness, taking courses about home-workouts, muscle-building, vegan cooking and diets and nutrition have skyrocketed over the last few months. 
4. Arts and Crafts. Making, painting, gluing and stitching have become hugely popular. Consumers might be considering making their own small business by gaining a new creative skill, or they could be looking to find a new hobby. Either way people want to be more creative and learn how to build things such as sheds, playhouses, sew dresses and create art.

Most people want to improve their skills and knowledge which is why they choose to take online courses. It doesn’t always have to be professional skills and it’s becoming more common for people to try and learn ‘soft skills’ such as Time Management, effective communication, teamwork and problem solving. 

Just because you might not have a formal qualification in a subject doesn’t mean you’re not knowledgeable about something else. 

Knowledge can be found anywhere, and the beauty of online learning is the ability to share that information all over the world, changing the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people. 

Online Course Platforms FAQ 

Ready to Start Your Online Course and Make Money Online? 

Now you know how amazing and beneficial teaching your own onlines courses can be, it’s time to get started and make some money. 

As the world changes and technology and remote working becomes more essential, the online education industry will continue to grow and become more profitable over the next few years.  

You’ve researched all the platforms, you know what equipment you need, you understand how to build your course and market to your students, now it’s time to share your knowledge with the world and work towards achieving the life of your dreams. 

Getting started in the online education industry shouldn’t be difficult and the best online platforms, to begin your new-found career in teaching, should be the simplest ones to use. 

Teachable and Thinkific are the leading platforms to build simple, effective online courses so if you’re ready to change your life, hit the link and take your first steps towards a flexible, profitable lifestyle, free from the mundane restrictions of the 9-5 daily grind.