Memberium Partner Post
This post was written by one of Memberium’s Certified Implementation Partners, BarkaBarka. All of our partners, including BarkaBarka, have a vast array of knowledge about building membership sites and online courses. You can learn more about BarkaBarka at the bottom of this post.
It is no secret that 2020 was the year of online learning! Even moving into this new year online courses are still very popular, and also a fantastic way to add a stream of passive income to your business. You may have been inspired to create your first course, or maybe you are trying to improve your course creation technique.
With so many new courses popping up, how can you set your course apart from the crowd?
Here are our best tips for creating a quality e-learning course that will convert.
Tip #1: Provide quality content.
Quality content is what is going to really set your course apart from the rest. You want your content to:
- Offer definitive value to your audience. You want your content to be something that they can’t just find anywhere, and it should add value to your target audience. Make it something that is worth paying for. Think along the lines of content that will grow their bottom line, improve efficiency, increase happiness or productivity, etc.
- Be immediately actionable. Now it doesn’t have to all be immediately actionable, but some component of the course should be something that they can take action on immediately to start seeing improvements in their business or life.
- Applicable to your target audience. Spend some time thinking about who exactly your target audience is. Be specific. Don’t be afraid to cast a narrow net. Research indicates that specializing is actually better for business in the long run. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what problems they need to be solved and what will appeal the most to them.
- Communicate well. Obviously, your content needs to communicate your message and the lesson clearly, in a way that is readily understood. Whether it is written, audio, or video or a combination of all of those, make sure that it is organized, clear, and for the love of all things, succinct.
Tip #2: Make it look good.
The presentation of your content is going to speak directly to your business and your brand. If your course looks professional then people are going to assume that you know what you are doing, and of course, the opposite is also true. Your course layout should:
- Be visually appealing. Graphics should look clean and neat. Fonts should be easy to read. Videos should be high quality, audio should be easy to listen to without feedback or interference. Now, we are definitely not saying that it should be perfect because nothing is perfect. Just try to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and think about what you would like to see and experience.
- Have consistent, and clear branding. If you already have clear branding for your company then it might be best to stick with the same colors, font, and logo for your course. If you want to play around with creating a new logo just to be used for course content you can use the same style, colors, and font or a font that is in harmony with your brand fonts to create something new and cool, but that still is recognizable as being a part of your company. Get the help of an expert graphics and design team to really unlock the potential here.
Tip #3: Easily navigable platform and thoughtful plan for your course journey.
This is honestly what separates a lousy course from an amazing course. Above all else, consumers are looking for something that is user-friendly. Gone are the days when a course (or piece of software, or product) can be unwieldy and difficult to use and still excel. (I am looking at you Adobe.🤣)
- Integrates. Choose a platform that integrates with your current website, CRM, and payment processing system to streamline your efforts and the end-user experience. Taking the time to do your research on the front end and making sure that all of your pieces are going to fit together will save you a lot of heartache in the long run. Do not let yourself get three weeks into setting up a new course and discover that a crucial piece will not work, or that you have to purchase a new plugin or upgrade to a new, expensive service or something to make it all flow. Of course, Memberium is one of the best choices for membership sites that you can make.
- Easily navigable and easy to use. You want to make it really clear and really easy for your student to navigate around their course. If you think you are making it too simple…you aren’t. Believe me. You do not want to be answering support questions 24/7 for things like, “how do I get started?”, “how do I access Module 3’s video?”, “how do I download the worksheets?”. Make everything clear from the beginning. Create a video that walks them through their dashboard, showing them around. Create a FAQ page with links that they might need, downloads, and a place where they can email support, or better yet, get on a live chat to solve any issues that might come up. Do not make them work for the material. Trust us, if you make it hard they will bail and ask for a refund. If you can, get someone who is not computer savvy (think your 85-year-old grandmother) to test it out for you before you launch to see if it is user-friendly enough.
- Plan out the student journey. This is where you think through the flow of the lessons. Where, and if, you will place quizzes to make sure that they are retaining the info. Do you want them to have access to some sort of group support platform (i.e. Facebook group, or weekly zoom calls)? Does the flow of information make sense? Does it take them on a journey where they can be successful by the end? Does it help them to take action and see results?
Click here for a free resource to help map our your student journey
Tip #4: Get help when you need it!
No man is an island, and no one can do all the things all by themselves all the time. If you need help creating a killer course, get it! The investment will be worth it in the long run when you are slaying it in sales.
BarkaBarka provides a complete membership site and online course creation from A-Z; content creation, graphics, custom course design, audio and video editing, and tons more. Check us out or schedule your consult call here to get a quote
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To get started, visit our pricing page and pick the plan that works for you.
