First eCourse Essentials – Getting Started on your eCourse
eCourses are fast and easy to set up. Don’t be scared. Writing one is not as hard as you might think. If we don’t know how to do something many of us assume it’s difficult to do, or maybe we don’t have the knowledge needed, or it would take too long to get it right, and you’ll hear loads of other reasons if you ask around enough.
As humans we tend to make things a lot more complicated than they really are. Instead, we should seek to work smarter, instead of working harder. Creating an eCourse is one answer to working smart.
You only have to create the course (or have it created) one time then put it into your email list service like Aweber. Once there, you set up one sales page in which you include a PayPal button.
Here’s how to go about creating the course content. We’ll cover the setup in a later post.
The DIY Route
There are a lot of different ways that you can get your course created. The cheapest way is to create the course yourself. If you want to go this route then here’s what to do:
Step 1: The Basics – length of Course
You’ve already brainstormed ideas earlier on, but now it’s time to put them together in a coherent course format. First things first, you need to decide how long you want your course to last for. It could be 4 weeks, it could be 4 months, or it could even be a year! It really depends how much you have to say and what you’re teaching.
Step 2: Outline what you’ll Cover in each Step
Now that you know how long your course is going to be, break it down into the correct number of steps. For example, if it’s a 4 month course and you’ll be emailing out every week, break it down into 13 steps, etc.
Briefly jot down what you’ll cover in each step. Once you’ve done that, have a look again and make sure everything flows in logical order. If not, juggle things around until they’re in just the right order.
Step 3: Research the Topic
Some people like to research ahead of time, to save time on the writing stage. If there are certain facts and figures you need to know, note them down now. Also keep a note of different resources you find that’ll help you with each section on your outline.
Step 4: Write your eCourse!
Now that you’ve got your outline, writing should be a lot easier! Don’t be too daunted by the fact that you’ve got a whole course to write. Remember you can start selling the course after the first part is written. You can then simply complete the next stages from week to week.
Consider Outsourcing your eCourse
Writing isn’t for everyone. Whether you struggle to get things out in a coherent way, you just don’t have time, you dislike writing; your command of the language is not so good, or any number of other reasons, you could opt to outsource the writing to someone else or a writing service. You could even complete the outline, as mentioned above, and give this to someone to “fill in the blanks”.
You can find people to outsource to through your own network by asking colleagues who they use. Or you can use job sites like oDesk.com and Elance.com or others to find the perfect person to help you create a fabulous eCourse.
It’s up to you how you proceed. Outsourcing is an easy way to get your course done fast. Just be sure that you have a clear idea of what you want created before you place your advertisement. That way the professionals that bid on your project understand what is expected of them, and when you choose one, you’ll know that you’ve done your best to explain what you want.
Don’t skimp on explaining exactly what you want because you want the least number of potential problems, so it pays to be very clear of what you expect.
Using Content Shortcuts
Another way to create an eCourse is to repurpose content that’s already been written.
For example, if you’re a blogger then you might already have a lot of content written on a certain subject. You can take blog posts you’ve already written, combine them and add to them to create a complete eCourse.
Or perhaps you’ve already released eBooks and reports in the past, whether free or paid, and you want to develop the subject into a course. Simply break them down into single topic sections, cut and paste into the Aweber system as follow up messages. Add an intro and conclusion, maybe ask the student to do some task, and that’s it.
Simply create a schedule for them such as one per week. It could be on a specific day if you like. Each person who signs up will be on a different schedule but will get their lessons one per week like everyone else.
If someone drops out, they’d have to start over with the first lesson. It’s best to let them know that in your introduction email because you don’t want people thinking that if they drop out they can simply restart where they left off in the event they want to rejoin.
Creating an eCourse is simple
Creating an eCourse is simple; it’s no harder than creating your normal broadcasts or scheduled email for newsletter subscribers. If you can do that, you can do this! If you do create an eCourse let us know. We like to see what our readers come up with in the way of an eCourse.
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