There are more online courses today than ever before. You can take online courses through Harvard Business School. You can become a certified accountant through an online course. Online courses are no longer just the domain of higher education or digital marketers.  Today, a growing number of small businesses are launching their own online courses.

Benefits of Launching an Online Course

Launching an online course can unlock several crucial benefits. It establishes your business as an authority in the space. It draws new customers to your business. It shows you’re invested in your industry.

Because of these and other advantages, a growing number of companies have decided to launch online courses.

Have you thought about launching an online course? Are you curious about the benefits of running an online course? Have you never even thought about launching an online course – but now you’re interested? Keep reading to discover some of the most important advantages of launching an online course.

1) Establish Yourself as an Authority in your Niche

A company that offers a course in its niche must know a lot about that space. Launching an online course can help you quickly establish yourself as an authority in your niche.

You may be surprised by how valuable your knowledge and experience can be to others. Many business owners take for granted how much they know about what they do since it’s so common to them – it’s what they do every day for a living, no big deal. Let’s say you install furnaces in homes. Most homeowners don’t know much about furnace maintenance, comparing different furnaces, or comparing furnace installation companies. You do know these things: you’re an expert in your niche, and that knowledge is very valuable to your prospects and customers.

Package niche-specific information into an online course, then offer it to potential customers.

No matter what niche you’re in, we guarantee you have some nuggets of wisdom that can’t be found anywhere else online. What are some of the tips, tricks, or strategies your team members use to solve tricky problems? What lessons can you share with the world?

2) Offer Genuine Value to Customers and Earn a Positive ROI in Return

Customers can see fluffy marketing attempts online. There are thousands of companies competing for the attention of your customers. If you try to offer an online course with limited value, your customers will see right through it.

Try to launch an online course that genuinely teaches customers something they didn’t know about the industry – a lesson they can apply today, if possible.

Teach customers something that saves them time or money. Talk about a shortcut used in your industry to cut costs and avoid unnecessary work.

If you offer genuine value to customers through a course, your customers will appreciate it infinitely more than a lightweight course designed exclusively to promote your products or business.

3) Online Courses Are Amazing Lead Generation Tools

Perhaps the most obvious advantage of an online course is that it’s a great lead generation tool.

An online course draws customers to your business, your website, or your brand. Customers may become interested in your products or services – even if the course is unrelated to your core product or service.

Some businesses offer an online course in exchange for entering an email address. The customer gets a course, and you get the email address of a customer interested in your company. It’s a fair trade.

Or, companies might offer a free course with the option of upgrading to a paid course in the future. If you can offer real value in your free course, then customers will inevitably want to upgrade to the paid course to see what other lessons you can offer.

A good online course is one of the best lead generation tools you can create.

4) Educate Customers on your Products and Services

Let’s say you sell high-quality personalized web design services online. You will create a professional, highly-functional website for customers for $5,000.

An average customer might not want to pay $5,000 for custom web design. An average customer might be looking to pay $500 or $1,000 for a website, for example.

With an online course, however, you can educate customers on why they might want to spend more on professional web development.

You can convince customers that paying more for high-end web development today will lead to a better ROI, for example. You can teach customers the difference between, say, a basic WordPress template website and a custom-designed website. You can teach them that a custom website makes your business look more professional, or that it loads more quickly, or that it generates leads more effectively.

A good online course can teach customers everything they need to know about your product or service, then let them decide whether or not it’s worth a purchase.

5) Earn Additional Income

Some online courses are more than just clever marketing ploys; they’re a way to earn additional income.

You could charge a fee for your course. Some businesses sell a $10 eBook, for example, and call it a course.

Other businesses launch comprehensive online programs complete with certifications and credit. You might run a multi-stage course that teaches someone more about your industry. In exchange for $1,000, for example, a student could become “XYZ Certified by ABC Corporation”.

You don’t have to charge tuition to make money from an online course. A course that attracts thousands of online visitors could earn stable advertising revenue.

Or, your course could simply act as a sales funnel for your product or service. If 100 people take your free online course, and 1 student out of every 100 buys your product, then you’ll earn additional income through your online course.

Final Word

It takes significant time and money to launch a good online course. Remember: you’re competing against thousands of other online courses offered by universities, your competitors, and better-known companies.

However, if you believe you can genuinely offer value – and teach something – to potential clients, then launching an online course might be one of the best decisions to make for your business.

Contact Renew Marketing today for a free assessment of your business’s online presence. We can help you decide if launching an online course is the right choice for your business.