5 types of online courses a speaker can create

Whether you’re a first-time speaker or a seasoned expert who delivers keynote speeches, no matter your field or niche, you can help more people and create more income through your very own online course. Here are strategies to pick your topic and ideas to create online courses from free to top-tier.

There is only so much valuable, useful information you can give your audience within an average 30-minute or 1-hour talk. If you have more knowledge to share, instead of limiting yourself to each live speaking session, you can start by offering virtual coaching. Doing so lets you easily make your additional, supplementary or complementary content or lessons available to your audience virtually anytime, anywhere. You have more for back-of-room sales.

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After speaking you can make a majority of your money with selling relevant products and is common practice for speakers as an additional revenue stream.

Common ways a speaker can sell product at the back of the room:

• Your book(s)
• Training modules
• Workbooks
• Audio CDs
• DVD videos
• Branded items like tee shirts, coffee mugs, and other items that have slogans or other sayings that match the topics of the talk
• Online Courses

While it may seem easy for someone who is already a speaker, you can become an industry expert by following these steps. And who knows maybe you’ll go from doing free speeches to being paid top dollar to deliver keynote addresses to large audiences.

How to build yourself as a public speaker:

1. Claim and master your topic. After you master 1 topic, then you can diversify and add additional topics
2. Make sure you already love this topic and are always learning about it.
3. Choose a topic you already love to do
4. Think about what you’ve always wanted to learn.
5. What have you been through in life and have succeeded out of struggle
6. Choose a topic you’re willing to live and speak about for the next 5 years

Why a speaker should create online courses?

By having your own online courses, you can increase your influence and impact to your audience. You can also benefit from these 6 things.

• You can continue serving their audience
• It creates residual income
• It gives you something else for back of the room sales
• It has a higher perceived value then a book, DVD series, etc.
• It keeps you top of mind to your audience, even after you leave the event
• It builds you as an industry leader

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5 types of online courses a speaker can create to leverage their business

While there are many types of online courses you can create, here are 5 that you should consider, from free to top-tier.

1. A simple free text based course

Do you think an online course has to be complex to make and deliver to your audience? A simple text or sms based course that you send out every day or week that is easily readable by your audience may be a good start.

2. A free mini online course on your website

I highly recommend that you create something of value to get people to give you their email address and a freed mini course is the best way to go. A free mini-course delivers high value to your audience but is simple for them to go through.  Carrie Wilkerson of the Barefoot Executive has a free 7 day business blitz video series that walks the viewer how to be more productive. I highly recommend you go through it to learn from her and see how simple a mini-course is. I produced the videos for her mini course.

3. A cheap paid online course

Have a cheaper paid course that fills in the gaps to your talk. Think of it as an expanded version of your talk. Surely you can’t give all the information in your 30-60 minute talk, why not create a course that’s under $97 that you can offer on stage or at the back of the room? A basic, paid course is best for offering your audience the information pertaining to your live talks that you weren’t able to discuss. Think of it as an expanded version of your in-person speaking sessions that fills in the gaps. It can be a five-series, five-chapter or five module course where you explain more.

4. Middle-range paid online course

This type of course is more valuable than a basic, paid course. A middle-range course teaches your audience a new concept that’s related to your talks. Consider it as a movie sequel. For example, if you discuss self-motivation in your basic-paid course further, you can talk about how to turn positive thoughts into action in your middle range course. The ideas are endless because once you have your main topics you speak about on stage you can create additional material that can be easily updated and improved with any of your online courses.

5. A Top-tier paid online course

A top-tier course is the most valuable type of paid online course you can offer. It features more content, giving your audience a richer online learning experience than a basic, paid course or a middle-range course. It can include a copy of your book or merchandise, a number or group coaching sessions and access to a private Facebook group. Think about how to add the most value which will allow you to increase the price on this top-tiered course. You can offer more valuable content than most other types of content. Just make sure that you aren’t creating more work for yourself with monitoring a private Facebook group or coaching calls. Think of ways to streamline and create value while reducing your time commitment.

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Being able to give your audience even more content ensures their learning experience is satisfying. You stay at the top of your audience’s mind. An online course can be described as an intimate way to engage your audience. Unlike a live speaking session, where you communicate with them as a group, watching and listening to an online video of you giving a talk at the comfort of their home makes each of them feel as if you’re teaching only him or her. You can even make it interactive by letting them leave comments and replying. Taking your online course this way makes it much more personal, letting you create a deeper connection with your audience. Since they can access your videos whenever they want, they are more likely to keep you in mind than speakers who don’t have an online course.

Having an online course also positions you as more of an industry leader. Credibility is one of the factors that dictates whether you succeed as a speaker. You won’t make any progress without earning the trust of your audience. While giving live talks still works, having an online course is now more effective given its accessibility, reach and the rapidly increasing number of netizens who are also potential students. As long as you offer the best content possible and make as many meaningful connections as you can, you’ll gain a following and become recognized or popular in your field or niche.

Listen to other Online Course Coach Podcast interviews with acclaimed speakers

Dan Miller – How Dan Miller uses online courses and digital products

Tom Ziglar – Selling Tips and Building Ziglar on Demand

Jane Atkinson – How speakers can leverage their knowledge with online courses

Michael Kitces – Innovative Membership Sites

Grant Baldwin – How speaker can create online courses

These are only a few examples of how a speaker can leverage the power of an online course. If you would like to learn more about my coaching packages, please contact me below. I would love to help you create additional revenue streams for your speaking business!