Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher
Do you struggle with how to market your online course? Do you worry that you don’t have a large enough audience and that you have to spend a lot on marketing your course? One of the most common questions people ask me is how to market their online courses. While there isn’t a one size fits all approach, here are 7 ways to market your online course.
The key thing to do in your marketing is not to be in sales mode, but to get to know people and learn how you can serve them. The sales will come only when you show genuine interest in what can truly help them succeed. This isn’t an extensive list, but it’s a place to start…and it doesn’t cost you any money to do these things. In future episodes, we’ll talk about paid strategies for marketing your online courses, but these will get you started.
You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar
1. Market your online course by blogging about things surrounding the topic of your course
We all know important it is to add regular content to your website, but are you doing it? I’ve seen tangible results when I regularly add content to my website. Think of creative ways to blog about the overall topic, industry or news that your online course is about. Additionally you can add the following types of content to your website.
- Blogs
- Videos
- Infographics
- Audio clips/podcasts
- Whitepapers
- Case Studies
- Testimonials
2. Be a guest on podcasts that has in the same target audience
I’ve seen this quickly propel people to success and know it can work for you too. Search iTunes or other podcast services for podcasts that are in a similar genre to your online course. Reach out to the podcast host and write a compelling reason why you should be on their podcast. Once you’re on the podcast, offer as much value as possible. Check with the host, but try to give away a free bonus by giving a website link to the audience. This could be a free lesson to your course, a checklist or some other valuable piece of content.
3. Start a podcast about the topic of your online course
Create your own podcast and become the industry leader. You can talk about whatever you want to talk about, have guests on your show and build your brand with each new podcast episode. It does take more commitment and technical expertise to start and run a podcast, but the benefits are well worth it. Give yourself a 6 month to 1 year window to build your audience. Just like with anything in life, it will take time to grow your audience, so keep working at your podcast and release a new episode each week.
4. Create a YouTube channel and make tutorials and FAQ videos
Youtube is the second largest search engine behind Google and Youtube is owned by Google. So harness the power of Google by creating short videos, tutorials, FAQs and explainer videos. Then, once your video is uploaded to your Youtube channel, embed the video on your own website and write a blog post about that same topics. Ideally you’ll want a blog post of 600 words or more, to get the maximum ROI from your efforts.
5. Speak at conferences about the subject of your online course
Few things will instantly give you credibility than being a speaker at a conference. I’ve spoke at several and it’s a chance to showcase your knowledge, teach your audience and position yourself as the industry leader that you are. As a benefit some of the audience may use social media to share out your key points, so make sure to have “Tweetable” quotes.
6. Attend conferences, meetups, networking events and other places where your target audience is
There’s nothing better than face to face interactions. What better place for people to get to know, like and trust you than by attending conferences, going to meetups or networking groups and any other place that your audience is.
7. Host webinars, get on Blab or Periscope to talk to your audience about your online course topic
If going to a conference and meeting people in person is valuable, than you can leverage that even more by going online and sharing your insights by hosting webinars, getting on Blab or Periscope. People want to get to know who you are and your expertise.