Online courses can make a business reputable, establish it as an expert in the field and attract new customers. Once your business has such a reputation, you can easily sell an online course from your website.
However, note that selling online courses won’t make dramatic changes to your ROI. Rather, observe it as a long-term strategy to support your products and services — by attracting new customers by offering quality, affordable and relevant online courses.
In addition, online courses can serve for internal purposes — to educate the workforce and provide them with advancement opportunities.
Online courses can cover a range of topics — but that doesn’t mean that they should address all of them. When deciding on the choice of topics, stick to your expertise and feedback. But also, think about hot topics, such as office sustainability.
Establish Your Company as an Expert in This Field
Establishing your company as an expert in the field should be your first goal. Reputable brands spend less money on advertising and can count on returning customers. In addition, it is reasonable to expect that loyal customers will recommend the brand to their friends, thus taking on the advertising role.
This is a sustainable goal. Keep in mind that sustainability is important. You can share insights you’ve learned from creating your own sustainability team, or be sure to make it a topic at work. Think about discussions on lowering your carbon footprint by carpooling, using and cleaning solar panels, and much more.
Remember that competition is fierce, so being an expert makes a whole lot of difference — both short-term and in the long run. Demonstrate to the employees and customers alike that you mean business by providing professional and user-friendly online courses that will benefit them.
Attract New Customers
Creating an online course that fits this niche can attract customers. For example, sustainability is important to all businesses, regardless of the niche.
It is well documented that people satisfied with a previous business’ service will first go back to the same source when they need a new service. This is an important moment and if you can maintain your reputation, people will have no reason to look elsewhere.
Online courses are one good example of how to secure returning customers and attract new ones. You can cross-promote the courses and listen to customer feedback. Apply adjustments as needed for best results and bide your time.
Keep Your Business Relevant
New sustainability trends are a constant, just like there are different ideas for your own health, such as new workout programs or SaltWraps. Look at the matter from a broader perspective and don’t expect that a single course will hold the fort for all eternity.
Rather, maintain relevance by continually providing quality and up-to-date online courses that will keep the audience wanting for more.
For Company Use
Finally, customized e-learning intended at helping the workforce continue their education and learn to be more sustainable themselves has numerous benefits.
An educated workforce with promotion prospects will be more motivated and engaged. By extension, the customers will be better served and thus happier. Listen to employee feedback when deciding on the choice of courses as everyone should be given the opportunity to further their career in the direction they desire.
How to Create Proper Online Courses
That being said, not all online courses are good online courses. You’ll need to brainstorm ideas and implement best practices rooted in feedback for optimum results.
The starting point is flexibility. Think from the recipient’s perspective. People increasingly use mobile devices for all kinds of activities, learning included. Start by optimizing your website for mobile devices and design courses so that they are easy on the bandwidth. Don’t forget to use a larger font for convenience, as smaller screens can make learning somewhat difficult.
Next, keep in mind that learning styles differ a good deal. Optimally, your online courses should accommodate different habits. The easiest way to achieve this is to provide smaller chunks of information that are easily digestible.
Divide your courses into smaller units and include revisions. Don’t forget to ask customers for feedback and adjust your approach accordingly based upon it. The choice of topic is up to you, but keep it aligned with your expertise.
Conclusion
Online courses can cover a range of topics as long as they are relevant, up-to-date, and aligned with the demand. Any topic can be turned into an online course, so stick to your field of expertise and demonstrate your professionalism.
To stay on course, stick to your goals, which should be well-researched and based on the demand.
As for online courses for employees, the safest way to do things right from day one is to ask for their opinion. Ideally, you’ll stick to the topics that can help the employees be more content and efficient and allow them to eventually reach their professional goals.
It would be unfair to ask employees to learn irrelevant things that will get them nowhere, after all. Brainstorm your strategy and apply adjustments along the way as needed.
