If you aren’t selling online training courses, you could be missing out on revenue and much more. Many businesses have started selling eLearning opportunities to professionals or customers.
Even if you aren’t a company that operates in the education industry, you can still benefit from selling what you know. Information is power and while you don’t have to give up your trade secrets, you can provide helpful instruction and training that earns you more profits and can lead to higher sales of your product or service.
The eLearning market is rapidly growing with no signs of slowing down. If anything, last year’s shutdowns showed us that being able to do more online is essential. The global eLearning market is expected to reach $325 billion in the next four years. That’s a big opportunity for ambitious businesses who want to gain a foothold in their industries.
It’s also easier than ever to build and distribute online courses. Many learning management systems are equipped with ecommerce features, like a shopping cart. These allow businesses to sell from a website or list their courses on third-party marketplaces, putting their brands in front of new audiences.
If you aren’t convinced yet, consider the benefits of selling courses online.
Another Revenue Stream for Your Business
The most obvious benefit of selling online courses is the earnings potential. This is another revenue stream for your business. Once you have built your courses, there will be little cost required to maintain them and keep them online, so the rest is going to be profit.
Even if you schedule instructor-led courses, you can record these and sell them as self-paced training that is available on demand. You won’t have to pay a trainer to re-teach the class every time someone signs up.
Additional revenue streams are very important right now, especially as many businesses recovered from last year’s shutdowns. eLearning may not support your entire organization, but it can help offset losses should there be other obstacles in the future.
Reach New Audiences Through Marketplaces
There are many eLearning marketplaces out there. Getting your material into one or two can help you reach new audiences. Get your brand and name in front of people who otherwise may have not found you.
Offering high-quality, high-value training will leave learners with a positive opinion of your company. They may seek you out if they ever need a service or product like the one you sell. Courses can also be shared, increasing your word-of-mouth reach.
Establish Yourself as an Industry Leader
Industry leaders are those with a strong customer base who are the most recognizable among the competition. While this starts with a good product or service, that’s not the only way to gain visibility. Your branding and reputation also play a role.
Selling online courses will further build that reputation and expand your brand reach. Sharing your knowledge will highlight the fact that your team knows what it’s doing. You understand your industry and what customers need. It also shows that you are investing more in your product or service through training and education. All these things will contribute to your standing as an authority in your industry.
Show Customers What Your Product Can Do
Show customers just how amazing your product is by teaching them about it. An online course explaining the basics, alternative uses, and more can go a long way. Of course, if you want to sell something like this, you will need to make sure it has a lot of depth and value for the learner. No one wants to pay for what is essentially an advertisement.
Use Subscriptions for Ongoing Revenue
Online courses don’t have to be a one-time purchase. Many learning management systems and payment gateways support subscriptions. You can package multiple courses together as a bundle or sell access to courses for a set time frame.
Recurring payments can be made to allow learners to continue to access your learning content every month if they want to do so. It’s a great source of residual income.
Monetize the Knowledge You Already Have
Even if you aren’t a training company, your team likely has knowledge that is marketable. You can monetize that information without an additional investment in training. If it’s already there, you might as well get the most you can out of it.
A good way to begin is to speak to your employee trainers and find out who your subject-matter experts are in each area. This will give you the initial resources you need to build effective training courses that can be sold online.
Expand to Audiences in Any Part of the World
Many businesses sell a service that is only available within a certain distance of their physical location. For example, a mechanic can’t work on cars located in another part of the country (unless they are willing to invest in high travel expenses). These operations are usually limited to certain communities or geographic areas.
eLearning lets you break out of borders and make something you do available to anyone in the world. The internet is available 24 hours a day almost anywhere. With online training, that same mechanic could teach basic car repair and maintenance classes online to reach a new audience and generate more income without impacting their business.
No Material Costs and Low Set Up Expenses
Online courses are typically much cheaper to make and distribute than traditional training. The material costs are limited to those needed to create the initial content and anything paid to host or distribute the course.
If you already use a learning management system, then you may already have these tools paid for in your existing budget. If not, then the costs are still typically minimal unless you choose to invest more in production or marketing.
Build Relationships with Affiliates and Businesses
Online courses can help you network with other businesses and professionals. This is helpful if you ever want to partner with other companies in your industry or if you need to hire a freelancer. It’s a good way to establish yourself as a trusted and respected member of your industry.
If you want to get started selling online courses for your business, you need a learning management system that supports ecommerce. Visit LMS.org to check out platforms that can do that and much more.
