4 Steps to online Course Idea (Plus 50 Ideas for Courses)

Indulge me for a minute and I'll let you guess what kind of inner conversation you might be having around the online course you'd like to develop:

"Yes! I'm thinking of a variety of ideas for an course. This will be amazing."

"Hmm I'm wondering which option I should take?"

"I should pick something I'm enthusiastic about."

"Nope. I'm going to have to know everything about (insert the latest trend in your field) and create an online course on the newest trend in your industry."

"Or should I just teach what I know and hope there are people out there that need to learn more about this?"

"Maybe I'll just to flip an old coin."

"Screw it. I'll figure it out this week."

  (Next week will be. )

"I'll worry about it next month."

Any of that seem familiar? This article will guide you step by step through the process of identifying a course's idea before putting together a profitable course.

First, you'll must have a plan for the courseIt's okay if you don't already have one. There are fifty course concept options to consider, or to inspire you prior to diving into.

•    Course ideas
•    Sort your course concepts in order to satisfy market demand and maximize profit
•    Classify your course concepts using the intersection of preferences, knowledge, and issues
•    Check your course concept
•    Offer your course

Ideas for courses

  Creative  

The creative umbrella has many possibilities to pick from dependent on the area you're skilled at. Here are some ideas to get started with:

• Portrait photography
• Production of music
• Writing that is creative
• Digital art
• Illustration of children
• Painting using watercolor
• Sewing lessons for beginner sewers
• Interior design
• Fashion design basics
• Guitar 101

  Business  

There are so many different facets of the business. From sales and marketing to finance and accounting and further. Here are some examples:

• The incorporation of your company
• The process of creating a business model as well as a business model canvas
• Conversion copywriting
• Bookkeeping
• Creating a sales funnel
• Getting funding for your business
• Email marketing
• Marketing through social media
• Hiring great employees
• Project management

  Cooking  

The world of cooking and baking is very diverse and everybody should learn to master it. Explore these tips:

• Cake decorating
• Baking essentials
• Knife skills
• Vegan and vegetarian recipes
• Cooking for college students
• Food preparation on a limited budget
• How do I create sushi at home
• Cocktails that are made by hand
• Baking bread at home for new bakers
• Barbecue meals

  Lifestyle  

Lifestyle is things that help make people's lives easier or find more satisfaction in the daily routine. This could include exercise, travel and makeup as well as cleaning and organization. Explore these examples:

• Yoga at home
• Making the most perfect travel plans
• Organize your life
• Training for the marathon
• Make sure you are doing your best in your morning routine
• Training your first puppy
• Apartment gardening
• Build a skincare routine
• Backpacking basics
• Travelling south-east Asia

  Tech  

Technology covers every level of technical capability Take a look at these examples to get ideas:

• Getting started with Adobe Creative Suite
• Microsoft Excel tips and tricks
• Learn HTML
• Website design
• Data analysis basics
• Make your gaming PC your first
• iPhone basics for seniors
• Cloud architecture: Introduction
• Network security
• Mobile app development

Hopefully, these examples spurred a course idea for you. If not, no problem. It is possible to find out how to design your course now, and come up with the topic for your course later.

Here's what to do next for converting a bunch of course ideas to actual course creating in 4 basic actions.

Sort your course concepts according to market need and profitability

If you're like me, you're probably awash with different things you're passionate about and could teach if you wanted to. It's not necessary to refer to ought to.

Why not? You can be sure that if you're trying to design a course, you're hoping to earn some cash from this course. And if you want to earn money, you need to make sure that there's an audience out there just as eager to pay you money for your knowledge just as you would be to share the expertise.

In other words: generally accepted advice that says is to only do what you're interested in' may not be the whole story.

It's a good idea to teach what you are passionate about. Your energy for the topic will come out naturally and make for a better education experience for your students and you.

You don't wish to impart knowledge that you're not passionate about - you want to select the appropriate passion to share it with others.

Let me explain using my personal experience as an example.

One of the things that I am enthusiastic about is hiking. I am a mountaineer of Colorado and can't think of anything better than heading out into the backcountry for several days at (literally) the wilderness.

In that same passion is another: as with any excellent hobby, backpacking has many outfitters who are happy to use all my money and ensure I have the latest equipment when I'm on the trail.

Take my word for it that it's true: I am obsessed with staying up-to-date with all the latest technologies and making sure I'm using the best of the best. I am extremely knowledgeable about the ins and outs of backpacking gear and could take 5+ hours to break down the details of the latest line of rain jackets.

I'd like to make money from this knowledge with a course If I had the chance. But , what do you know? No one actually cares. There's no reason to pay me $497 to advise them on which rain jacket they should buy. Instead, they'll buy a magazine gear guide for just $5 and then figure it out for by themselves.

For me, my story of learning doesn't stop there.

Another thing I love is aiding others to create and scale their online businesses. It's something I'm very good at , and I've done for over 10 years with one format or another. and unlike the rain jackets, people will pay for help with their own business.

It is important to explore course ideas that can be reasonably expected to meet a significant demand on the market or at least a large enough requirement to fulfill the personal financial goals that you set for the course you create.

What can you do to determine whether or not your ideas can meet a need in the market? If they're equivalent to the backpacking course, or one that assists entrepreneurs build their businesses?

Here's an easy way: Create a square like the one below, divided into 4 quadrants with the following labels 'Passion Project' (bottom left) "Exclusive" (top left) and 'Mass Market' (bottom right) and  Magic (top right).

On the other hand, you can label the bottom of the box 'Potential Customers' and add an arrow that points to the left, symbolizing additional customers when you shift to the left. And label the left side of the box  as 'Price' by pointing upwards, meaning the higher up you go, the more expensive price that you are proposing to charge.

Then you can begin to plot the various course concepts into the different boxes. This is a quick way to categorize your ideas visually so you can begin to figure out what could be the most successful.

  The key is to not require perfection. Just guesstimates are what you need at this point.

Below is the definition for each box , to help figure out where to place the ideas you have:

Mass Market: It's the place to get lots of customers but with a minimal cost. Think books and big box stores. And of your ideas that seem to be a bit generic with a large number of people would be willing to spend a small amount to belong in this category.

What's the advantage from Mass Market? The market can reach an enormous number of individuals. But what is the problem? Especially for new course creators? It requires an enormous amount of work to create the kind of coverage you require to gain mass market share (and the revenue you're looking for since it's a free product).

In addition, the customers aren't as loyal here like they are in other boxes - because of the low cost and relatively generic ideas which are employed in this box the customers have no reasons to put their money into the product or in you. If they do purchase, it's very easy to forget all about it. Mass Market is a tough to deal with for brand new course creators.

Exclusive  It is here that private sessions, 1:1 coaching and the other exclusive, high price items in the online commercial world usually reside. Anything you have in mind that require high touch and will appeal to a small but invested group belong here.

The main benefit for The advantage of Exclusive quarter is the fact that it can be a lucrative place to be a hangout as well as a lot of new course designers hail from this quadrant that has been providing 1-to-1 services.

But, it's rarely the best place to put the actual course. This is because the goal for most courses is to reach more individuals by offering an less accessible version of your 1:1 1 . The goal is not to duplicate the 1:1 service.

Passion Project: The Passion Project quadrant is the area of danger for the entire course. Keep away from it.

Here is where your thoughts that are similar to my backpacking gear course idea are stored in this box. The box is a place to put ideas in which there are just a handful of clients, and even more the fact that they're not willing to shell out any amount, or even anything, for the information you provide.

Examples of common sense include things that can catapult an individual's company forward or solve health problems or improve a person's quality of living. What ideas do you have that fit in this category? Which ideas do you think many people would be willing to pay the most to get? This is your top ideas.

How'd you do? Here's how to know whether you've got a green signal to move on to the next stop or whether you have some tasks to complete.

Green Light: Have you got at least one thought that is compatible with that upper left quadrant of the Magic box? If so you're ready for step 2.

Warning Alert: Be honest about your passions. They're passions because you love them, which means that you could be at risk to be biased and misreading the market. Believe me when I say that I would like it if an entire million people wanted me to teach people about the benefits of hiking pants that are waterproof. But they don't. That's fine with me.

You must ensure that you've ranked your desires in a reasonable manner, and you truly believe anything that you put into the Magic box is a good idea. If you're unsure, go back to the list of your thoughts and look at the ideas you have which do have a place in the Magic box.

Sort your ideas of courses based on your personal preferences, knowledge, and your customers' needs. Find the crossroads.

After you've got the ideas you have gathered into possible profitability, it's time to select the ones that ended up in the Magic box to decide which you want to go after first.

What can you do to narrow it down to the right idea without resorting to the coin flip previously?

Easy. Find the concept that is the most effective combination of your passions, experience, and your customers' burning requirements.

Here's how to do this. Begin by drawing the Venn diagram that is similar to that below.

Within the Passions box, write down your interests. The Knowledge Box, write down all the things you know enough about to be able to instruct a class on the topic. And finally, in the Customer box list those issues that your customers need help solving.

Compare the three lists to find the topics that appear across all three boxes and evaluate those subjects against the course ideas which were included in your Magic box from step 1. Whichever Magic box concept fits well with the themes you've identified so far will be your winning idea.

Why? Because it has every aspect you'd like to see to include in your course You're passionate about it as well as having the knowledge to impart it, and you're able to attract customers and you've determined that enough of them exist and will pay for it. This sounds like a winning proposition to me.

Think you're ready to move into step 3? Here's how you can tell for certain.

Green Light: You've identified a course idea from Step 1 that also fits inside the intersection of your passion/knowledge/need Venn diagram.

Warning Light: None of your Magic box ideas from Step 1 fit inside the intersection of your passion/knowledge/need Venn diagram. If that's the case, determine the three circles of your Venn diagram the course you are thinking of doesn't fit in then see if you can tweak your idea just enough to fit.

Check out your course ideas

A word of caution: You could be tempted to skip this step because you feel you've done enough testing during the first and second steps. I see this happen often when I work with private clients. Don't skimp on this process. It's a major error.

Why?

A huge leap needs that needs to be taken between the information you think you know and what actually happens in the real world, and many an entrepreneur has been burned when they didn't take this stage.

But don't fret: testing your idea in the real world does not have to be done over a period of months or weeks. It can be quick and dirty but you do need to complete it.

It is important to make sure your potential customers will react to the course concept (and the way you teach) according to the way you expect they will.

The best way to accomplish this? Tease some information that would have been included in your class and see what kind of reaction you can get.

Some ways to go about this? Create a blog that breaks down an instruction and then observe the comments you get back. Are people excited? Confused? Begging for more? If you don't have a blog yourself you can nonetheless create an article as a guest blogger on the sites where your potential customers hang out.

You can also make a Facebook page or 2 and post it to groups that your potential customers are hanging out. Be aware of the reactions people have to your post. Are you getting crickets? Or do people like, respond, or even pose questions in the thread?

All of these are quick and easy ways to test how your best potential customers will react to the course you offer.

Unsure of how to comprehend the comments you're receiving? Here's a few clues:

green Light: Do people respond to your ideas? Do you have comments on your blog post? Want to know more? You can ask them to learn how to replicate the results you achieved? All of these are good indicators that you've got your top method of instruction. Continue to the next step.

Warning Light: No one comments on your blog (especially when it's published on an online platform that gets a lot of comments). Your Facebook posts receive no responses, or those who respond aren't sure. All of these are signs that you should revise or clarify what you plan to share before you begin the process of creating and marketing the course.

Offer your course

You've figured out that people are curious about your course topic and, more importantly are interested in knowing more about the subject from you now is the time to develop and market your course!

Pre-selling is my favorite strategy so it's the one I'll be sharing with you today.

What exactly is pre-selling? It is the process of offering your course for sale at a significant discount to a select group of people (usually an email address, or an element of your mailing list) before you develop any contents.

What's the reason you would do this? It's because it's the most important testing of the market. The public will inform you every day they're interested in your project They'll leave comments and even share your blog and Facebook posts, but when push comes to shove you need to be confident that they will pay you money for your program.

By offering it for sale prior to the time you create it to find out prior to it's too late whether or it's actually an offer to pay.

Another reason that I enjoy the idea of pre-selling is that it permits you to develop your own course with the knowledge that customers have already paid for the course. Or to say it another method, you won't spend months creating a product that you have no idea whether people will actually purchase or not. We already know.

From my personal experience, this information is all by itself - that people have already purchased courses reduces the pressure on the creation process (and provides a healthy dose of responsibility) the courses that are pre-sold are created faster and produce better quality in comparison to courses that haven't been pre-sold.

This happens because as creative people, you're expected to give your best. Instead of creating something with the hope someone's going to be interested in it, you're making something aware that people have already waited for it. It puts you into an entirely different creative mindset which produces incredible quantity.

Customers win hugely in this scenario too and you can gain even more. Imagine this scenario: since you offered them a deep discount, and deliver an amazing product, they gain the solution they needed at an incredible value. And that creates lifelong faithful customers who will share your products for you and go on to purchase anything you develop.

And that's the ultimate win/win.

Have you been stuck in the course idea stage for way too long? Do these suggestions help you move from ideas to the action phase? Do you feel stuck on the path and in need of help? Let me know in the comment section below.