Want a Flexible Way to Earn Income? Make a Course!

Being a writer takes time, discipline, and commitment. But also a lot of patience. As I’ve mentioned, getting paid for your writing can take a while. So in the meantime, you need something that’ll provide income while allowing the flexibility and energy for your writing. One of the recent approaches I’ve taken is to develop an online course and masterclass, and I wanted to share that process with you.

Why Create a Course?

I wasn’t sure, at first, if making a course was right for me. As an introverted individual, the idea of presenting to others was intimidating. But at the same time, I love sharing knowledge and helping others, so I was at a bit of a crossroads. Ultimately, with some guidance and support, I found a way to teach that worked for my needs.

The course allows me to support others while also gaining some passive income now that it’s up and running. And that’s the benefit of having it, whether you present live or not. If you have the time and social energy to go online or in-person to instruct, it’s a great way to make some income.

And I recommend recording your presentation because you can develop it into something called “evergreen” content. That is content you create that never goes away and can continually make you money, like an online course recording that people can pay to access after you’ve given the initial presentation. Or, you can approach it as I did and do a recording only.

Most marketing experts will recommend you do a live presentation first, as it helps build a rapport and what is called “social proof” (if real people took your course, then it must be legitimate!), but I had to work around my strengths and reservations.

Still, how you approach the process, ending up with an evergreen piece of content that people can continually come back to and take, is a no-brainer.

But What Do I Teach?

Figuring out what you want your course to be about is a subjective process. Where does your relative expertise lay? Thanks to the accessibility presented by the internet, you don’t need to be a Ph.D. with years of experience to get your course off the ground (though that certainly won’t hurt!).

As long as you have a subject you’re passionate and knowledgeable about and can create an exciting presentation from that, you’re good to go.

For me, writing and self-publishing was an obvious choice! For you, maybe you know a lot about blog writing or pet care or parenting – it all depends on where you’re at in your life, obviously, and what you feel confident about sharing with the world.

Making a Course

Before you can start earning with your online course or webinar, you need to build it. That is where all your time, effort, and possibly money will go upfront. Making a course is a process. From my experience, this is a general outline of what’s needed:

• A subject (as mentioned above)
• An outline of the topics for each lesson
• Written content for your lessons
• A slideshow built for the presentation
• Written copy for the course’s supplemental materials (workbooks, printed reference sheets, etc.)
• Design the supplemental materials
• If presenting live, a platform or venue to host the course
• If prerecorded (like mine), compiling the presentation into videos and then hosting said videos
• A webpage to market the course
• Emails to market the course
• Social media copy and design to market the course
• A test run of the course (for cheap or free with friends and family or an initial run of students) to get feedback before charging a more substantive price

As I said, it’s a lot but worth the effort. The more thoughtful and polished you can make it, the easier it’ll be to market.

Getting my course off the ground took several months, but now it’s live, and people can come and go as they please, taking the course at their own pace. I don’t have to put a lot of thought into it except to market it and respond to any feedback and questions my students have or engage with them in the private Facebook group we share.

Tools That Help

Now, my above outline lays out a lot, and I don’t want to get into every minute detail of the aspects that speak for themselves, like writing the copy for the various components, since all that hinges on whatever subject and process you take. What I can offer, though, is an insight into some accessible tools you can look at to help you in creating your course.

Design

I don’t personally have a knack for graphic design, but maybe you do. If you don’t already have digital art software, here are some ways to create PDFs for your course materials, slideshow, and even social media marketing graphics.

• Canva: You’ve probably heard of this one. It’s accessible as it only requires you to sign up for it, and the free plan gives you a decent amount to work with, from design assets to templates for you to build from. Plus, you don’t need to download anything if you don’t want to, as it all works in a browser (though there are apps if you prefer to go mobile!) Once you’ve designed your various elements, you can export them as PDFs or graphics or use the platform for a complete slideshow.

• GIMP: This is for more advanced users, as it’s essentially a free version of more popular programs like Adobe Photoshop or Affinity Photo. As it’s freeware, it isn’t as smooth, but it does the job of the name-brand design tools. Once downloaded, though, you have access to a robust set of design tools that are more flexible than what Canva has to offer if you’re willing to learn the ins and outs of it.

• Google Slides: Got your free Google account for Gmail or Google Drive? Great! Then you have access to a fantastic slideshow creation tool for free! No need to purchase a Microsoft Office suite. You can build your slideshow quickly enough with stock imagery and various tools to make the most polished presentation possible. Once done, all you need to do is download it, and you’re ready to go.

Email Services

If you’re not already registered with a solid email marketing platform, I definitely recommend you look into it. Sure, you may have a Gmail or Hotmail account, but they don’t let you set up automated marketing broadcasts that you can set and forget. I’ve tried a couple, so here are some I recommend to help you get started.

• Mailerlite: While I had initially started on another platform, Mailerlite is where I’ve landed. Its pricing structure is appealing, especially when starting since its free account allows for up to 1000 subscribers. I also found it a bit more straightforward to use for my needs. And like many others, it also offers a landing page builder. If you don’t have your website set up for the course, this can be an alternative solution for marketing it.

• Mailchimp: One of the most popular platforms, so it’s well-supported. I didn’t find it as intuitive to work with, but it does offer a bit more with some of its packages (though it is also more expensive.) If it jives with you, then use it! That’s what matters.

• Aweber: This is another platform that offers many of the same features as the others, though one thing worth noting is that they integrate with Canva. So, if you’ve already got a design account there, you can marry the two nicely for developing newsletters or webpage content. Their pricing structure is a bit more flexible, as you can adjust it for your needs, though the free account doesn’t allow for as big an audience as Mailerlite. But again, if it suits your tastes, go for it!

Course Platform

Selecting the right way to host and structure your course online is as essential for you as it is for your prospective students. As you have likely figured out, I like doing my research before committing to something, and I did so when determining how I wanted to integrate my course with my website.

• LearnDash: I settled on this one for my needs. It had a great price, allowed me to integrate videos from Vimeo, my existing payment system, and is easy for students to use.

• Udemy:I had looked into this system as an option, too. It’s free, which is excellent, but then I found that meant the market was pretty oversaturated, so I was worried no one would see my course. If you want to go the Udemy route, be prepared to advertise heavily to ensure folks find what you’re selling. Otherwise, it’s a solid interface with lots of tools to help you create a great course.

• Teachable: Another platform that came highly recommended to me is pretty user-friendly and affordable. But I largely found it’s better suited for folks who want to teach face-to-face, and I didn’t like that they charge transaction fees, so make sure you weigh those cons versus the several pros the service offers.

Creating your own course is pretty satisfying, I’ve got to say. While involved, the process was fun, building something I knew I’d like to take. Whatever subject you want to teach, as long as you share something that you wish you knew before getting into whatever it is, you’re likely on the right track.

That drove me: To help people save time and energy from all that I put into getting my novel, Getting By, self-published.

If there had been a course like mine available, I would have happily paid for the info because it took SO much time. Do you have questions about putting together a program or have an interest in taking mine? Then please check it out on my site or reach out via email at jsims@jairesims.com. I’d also love to connect on social media, so please say Hello!