How to create successful courses on WizIQ

Guides

Creating a successful course for online education is similar to working in the traditional realm, and yet in many ways, completely different. Don’t struggle with the learning curve of creating courses in a new medium.

We’ve interviewed our course marketing personnel, course support team, and teachers just like you who already run successful courses on our platform. Let their insights save your time and experimentation, by following the best practices in the course creation process.

How to create successful courses?

The below specified step-by-step guide helps you to create a successful course-

Think like a student first and teacher second

Successful courses are designed from the beginning with the ideal customer (student) in mind. Understanding who these ideal learners are helps you sharpen your initial course concept, design, creation, and even your marketing strategy. Begin by defining at least three of these ideal learners, in statements known as learner personas. For each persona, create a short description of who they are and what they want to achieve.

Create a compelling course page

Typically, successful courses have at least the following elements on their course pages:

At least 3 testimonials, preferably from people matching each of the learner personas you created earlier. Just starting out? Include testimonials from your offline students.
Include your (teacher/instructor) introduction. Show students why they want to learn from you, in particular. If you have achievements, awards, degrees, and/or work experience that makes you ideal for teaching this course, be sure to list them.
List the key benefits students should expect upon course completion.
About the course

Course a collection of self-paced text and video modules?
Are you teaching a series of live classes?
Are you offering a combination of both?
List the topics you’re covering, from the most basic to the most advanced, so students fully understand the range of material you’re covering.
Highlight what makes your course unique among similar offerings.

Clearly define the course schedule, such as when it starts, what days and times classes are held, and how long it runs.
List the number of live classes, tests, videos, self-paced modules, and so on that make up the course.

Add a promotional video to your course page

If text is golden, then images are platinum and videos diamond.

Today, videos offer a level of polish that many people expect. Even fiction books have promotional videos!

Adding one or more videos to your course page gives you another avenue to capture learners’ interest. Don’t miss this chance to give potential students a look at your approach to online learning.

Show them what they might expect by:

Sharing a class recording with students to show interactions. Or, share a segment of any relevant class you’ve already taught. Once you’ve got your recording, download it, then use any screen recording software.
Explaining the course by switch on your webcam and record a video of you, dressed nicely with a nice background, talking about your course.
Sharing student testimonials by collect video testimonial from your successful students. Not only will doing this help you build confidence, but sharing it on your course page can make an instant impact.

Price your course right

Unfortunately there’s no simple formula for pricing courses. The “right price” is the one at which your course sells and pays your time. In general, you can decide the course pricing on the following basis –

Course subject complexity
Paying capacity of the prospective learners
Student demand and market supply for the course
Market rate for the similar genre of course

Including live classes

If your course contains live classes, list the time for every class. If you’re flexible, mention the time range in which you can teach the classes.

Evening and/or weekend classes, since most students are busy with school or work during the day
Class lengths of around one hour, with breaks in between, such as every alternate weekday
Access to class recordings for learners who miss a live class

Exceed learner expectations

Make an indelible impression on your learners by exceeding their expectations.

Schedule all live classes at least 3 days in advance, if not earlier.
Share your schedule and availability in advance.
Never ever miss any scheduled class, and if you must cancel or postpone, do so as far in advance as possible.
If you’re conducting a class from a place where electricity and Internet connectivity is an issue, make appropriate backup plans.
Prepare your whiteboards in advance, give yourself more time to interact with students.
Distribute notes and other learning material as promised.
Always record your classes so that students who miss them or want to review can watch the recording.

Add self-paced tutorials and tests

Even if you’re offering live classes, begin your class with self-paced learning modules. Letting your students get started the moment they enroll lets them build momentum. Your self-paced modules might consist of PDFs, Word/PowerPoint/Excel documents, videos, audio or previously recorded classes.

Also, don’t miss your chance to assess how your students are progressing. WizIQ allows you to create tests with multiple-choice questions. Tests also help students to see how we’ll they’re doing with the material.

Create multiple courses

Creating multiple courses helps you target specific learner segments. You can offer a low-priced course with self-paced tutorials and tests, and also offer a course priced slightly higher that contains live classes.

Other course variations might be for a different geography, covering a smaller portion of the syllabus, one-on-one vs. group, or even just a test series.

Offer discount

Add some discount to course –

A 10% early bird discount
A free audio book or e-book
A free counselling session after the course

Keep trying and reinventing

Life on the Internet is constantly changing. The most successful instructors on WizIQ are constantly experimenting. They try different course taglines and highlights, changing which courses they offer, adjusting their prices and how long a course takes, new course variations and much more. If you’re just getting started, keep gathering feedback, and perfecting your course page. One day, you too will be counted among the successful WizIQ instructors with your own successful teaching business.

Download this free guide “How to create successful courses on WizIQ” and get started with your new WizIQ courses. Creating an online course is simple and easy with WizIQ. Download this guide and experience the perfect way to create the course.

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