Becoming an Authorpreneur: Resources for Creating and Selling Online Courses

Creating an online course is a great learning experience, and another way that authors can potentially earn income. Currently I have two courses for sale, on how to make ebooks. One is on Udemy and the other on Skillshare. It’s been a great experience teaching these courses, and now I’m looking into making a course about dinosaurs, to complement my I Know Dino podcast.

As usual, I’ve been collecting links. Below are some helpful resources about creating, marketing, and selling online courses. Best of luck!

Researching Topics for Online Courses

1. “30 Proven, Profitable Course Topics in Fringe, Weird Niches You’ve Never Heard Of” on Femtrepreneur
2. “2016 Learning Trends” on Udemy
3. “How To Create A Profitable Online Training Course” on The Creative Penn
4. “How to Tell if Your Idea for an eBook or Course Is a Profitable One” on ProBlogger

Tools for Creating Content

5. Articulate
6. GoAnimate
7. “Tools” on Leading the Learning Revolution
8. VideoScribe
9. Swipe
10. Quizlet
11. Top Tools for Learning
12. “Tutorial: How to Use Screenflow to Create Beautiful Slide Content” on Teachable
13. “The world’s largest photo service just made its pictures free to use” on The Verge

Platforms for Selling Online Courses

14. “8 Things You Can do With Teachable + Zapier to Take Your Online Courses to the Next Level” on Teachable
15. Coursmos
16. Easy Generator
17. EdLoud
18. Udemy
19. Skillshare
20. Teachable
21. Ruzuku
22. WizIQ

Launching an Online Course

23. “Course Launch Collateral: All The Things You’ll Make For Your Launch” on Femtrepreneur
24. “Six Steps to a Successful Presale” on Teachable
25. “How to Price Your Online Course” on Teachable
26. “The Definitive Guide to Online Course Design (That Adapts to You!)” on Teachable
27. “The Ultimate Guide to Launching Your Online Course” on Teachable
28. “Double Up! 25 Ways to get 25 Students” on Udemy
29. “How David Travis got 300+ paying students into his Usability course in 30 days” on Udemy
30. “Pastry Chef Marco Ropke Becomes Udemy Bestseller in 7 Days” on Udemy

Marketing and Selling Online Courses

31. “13 Cheap & Easy Methods to Market Your Course with Online Communities” on Teachable
32. “21 Ways To Make Your First Online Sale Explained” on Teachable
33. “DIY: Online Education as Book Marketing” on Publisher’s Weekly
34. “How Flaunting Your Flaws Can Attract More Students to Your Online Course” on Teachable
35. “How to Attract an Avalanche of New Students for Your Next Course Using SlideShare” on Teachable
36. “How To Sell Online Courses” on Wild Audience
37. “My 8-Step Process for Writing Sales Page Copy” on Amanda Genther
38. “Pinterest Marketing For Online Courses” on Teachable
39. “Tutorial: How to Allow Your Users to Purchase Courses as Gifts” on Teachable
40. “Earn More from Your YouTube Channel—Turn Your YouTube Channel into a Sales Machine” on Udemy

Engaging Your Students

41. “Automation Meets Gamification: Maximizing Your Course Engagement” on ConvertKit
42. “Create an Online Course Your Students Will Love” on Teachable
43. “Strategies for Getting Course Customers to Take Action” on Smart Passive Income
44. Instructor Innovation Awards on Udemy

Monetizing More Content

45. “6-figure Blogging: How to Monetize A Blog Video Course (in 30 days)” on Sumo
46. “How to Increase Your Revenue With Upsells” on Teachable

More Advice for Making Online Courses

47. “How To Make A Million Dollars In 21 Days Selling An Online Course With Amy Porterfield” on My Wife Quit Her Job
48. “Behind the Scenes, Expert Edition: Your #1 Course Creation Challenge” on Ruzuku
49. “Case Study: How Lee Wasilenko Launched his Online Course” on Teachable
50. “Data Says: You Should Create an Online Course” on Teachable

Trends in Education and Teaching

51. “A Sharing Economy Where Teachers Win” on New York Times
52. “No More Pencils, No More Books” on Slate
53. “Harvard goes all in for online courses” on Boston Globe
54. “Cutting the Strings: MOOCs and the Unbundling of Online Education” on MOOC News & Reviews
55. edX
56. “Facebook Helps Develop Software That Puts Students in Charge of Their Lesson Plans” on New York Times
57. Global Virtual Classroom
58. “Gutenberg Technology Acquires Neodemia” on Publisher’s Weekly
59. “Inside the Classroom of the Future” on Publishing Perspectives
60. “Learn alongside innovators, thought-by-thought, in context” on O’Reilly
61. Curious
62. “ZSRx: The MOOC that wasn’t a MOOC” on ZSR Library
63. Nicenet

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on February 23, 2017.