Creating an online course can be tricky enough without having to decide on the format. Should you create video, audio or both? Should you stick with an e-book and write your course out?
At the end of the day I don’t believe that picking the “correct format” is going to have much of an impact on the volume that you sell. People (as a whole) tend to care less about HOW they learn and more about WHAT they learn. If you have a course that helps solve an urgent problem then you should certainly be able to find plenty of buyers.
That being said, audio and video courses tend to have a higher perceived value than just an e-book alone. So if you want to charge more for your course I strongly urge you to at least create an audio course.
Creating audio courses can actually be easier and quicker than trying to create a written product. You can start by outlining your step-by-step solution and then record yourself as you explain your outline.
If you’re not sure how to structure your content or create an effective outline, be sure to read The Ultimate Online Course Planner.
So, let’s assume that you want to create a course that will sell for significantly more than an e-book will and one that has a high level of student engagement. This being the case let’s consider either video or audio for your course.
Here are some questions that will help you decide.
1) Is your topic highly visual?
2) Is it important that your students see you?
3) Are you comfortable creating video (either face-to-camera or screen capture slide shows)?
If you answered “no” to at least two of the above then I would start by creating an audio course. Since this is your business YOU get to decide the format. Stick with what you’re comfortable with.
Unless you’re creating a course to sell on Udemy (they require that the majority of your course content is in video format) then you can get started with audio faster and easier than jumping into video.
Keep in mind that I’m not trying to discourage you from creating video. That’s the format that I usually choose for my courses. But I also don’t want you to feel that since there are so many video courses being sold that video is the ONLY format to consider.
In fact, I’ve found that a large number of my students actually prefers to download the audio and PDF handouts from my courses.
The idea here is to get into action. If you’ve been on the fence about creating a course I encourage you to START. Every day that goes by is one day further from your goal of creating an online course.
For a full breakdown of the course creation process read this.
Be sure to post any comments or questions below.
Cheers,
Tom