With the evolution of technology, people have started turning towards online learning and making money teaching online.
And for some, they have decided to remain in online teaching jobs and make a LIVING off of it!
Now, you can make money teaching online too!
If you want to make money teaching online or are new to the online teaching business in general, this guide will show you how to make that sweet extra income from the comfort of your own home!
Create Courses Online with These 4Ds
Before you start teaching your online course, you need to CREATE a course to teach.
Creating an online course can be a difficult process, and chances are there are many courses and videos all over the internet that are similar to yours.
Here’s how to make your online course earn money and effectively stand out from the rest!
1. Determine Your Topic Coverage
This first step is the most CRUCIAL. It is the main product that you will make money teaching online.
Figuring out what online course to teach and how to go about teaching it can be a tough process. But it all goes back to one question: What do you love?
What subjects or hobbies are PASSIONATE about? What valuable skills, educational background, or expertise in a particular industry do you possess that you can share with people worldwide?
This will make the decision much easier and motivating!
You don’t have to be a professor or professional to teach something as your course can be JUST ABOUT ANY SUBJECT!
You can sell some online learning topics for a HIGHER price point if you have professional experience or specialize in a certain niche topic.
If you plan to teach an online class about graphic design or give online lessons to online business aspirants, then by all means!
If you LOVE a particular subject or topic, are SKILLED at it (professionally or informally); if it will HELP SOMEONE, and if you have a stable internet connection, you are good enough to teach it and earn money from it!
2. Decide on Your Target Audience
Once you have your online course created and planned out, you need to find a way to MARKET it. Consider who your target audience is and what subjects are high in demand.
Online courses don’t sell because you are a friend of the buyer. People purchase online courses because they want to learn new things and develop their skills.
How you determine if your online course is in high demand is RESEARCH.
In this day and age where there is so much COMPETITION and many courses on similar topics, your course may get lost in the crowd.
But this may be a plus too. Because you ALSO have something that a lot of people are looking for!
One way you can do research is to look at CURRENT TRENDS. Try to find out what questions people are asking and any gaps in the market.
If someone is willing to pay money for you to fill up that gap, then BINGO!
Once you see that your course is MARKETABLE and HIGH IN DEMAND, you can start marketing it to the world!
3. Draft Up a Course Timeline
A course timeline is a SCHEDULE that you will follow to develop your online courses further.
You can plan your schedule as you like to benefit both you and the consumer. Consider a timetable to help you map out when you will accomplish certain tasks.
For example, if you plan an online class for three months, it would be helpful to break down those three months into weeks and figure out what you will do for each week.
Let’s say Week 1 will be dedicated to creating lesson plans. Week 2 for gathering course materials. And so on. This process continues until your desired first teaching date.
This will help organize your entire course from start to finish, and when the starting date arrives, everything will FLOW NICELY.
4. Different Ways to Teach Online
The internet is a wide place that allows you to teach online courses in many different ways.
While some online classes are more hands-on than others, your way of teaching online may be different from others as well.
One common way to teach online is through a video presentation about your subject matter. Now having the online instructor talk to the camera and hope someone is taking notes doesn’t seem very efficient.
With course materials like practice exercises, games, interactive activities, and even tests, you can back this up
You can also set up an online classroom in the form of a discussion board, where you can ask questions, brainstorm ideas, and engage in conversation with your online tutors or classmates.
There is even more than that. It is really up to the instructor to determine how they want to teach their online courses.
How to Earn Income from Your Online Teaching Business
Now that you have your course ready, you still have to do what you came for, making money teaching online courses.
Just like with any business, you will need the right platforms and digital marketing tools to effectively launch your online course on the market.
Find the Right Platform for Your Target Audience
The first step is finding the BEST PLATFORM possible to teach online classes.
There are a TON of online teaching platforms like Skillshare and Udemy where students can learn online. They have to sign up and pay a monthly or yearly fee to access other courses.
Some platforms allow selling online courses to members!
You can do that as well! Choose any online education, follow its monetization methods, and soon your students will be able to access your course content!
It all depends on what you want to do!
If you want to put your online course on a marketplace like Udemy, where students can purchase individual courses, then you can do that!
Or, if you want to teach online courses using videos, Amazon Prime or Vimeo on demand allows students to stream online classes on demand!
Some platforms will require credentials like advanced degrees or higher education certification, but others also allow anyone and everyone to upload their course!
Set-up, Record, Edit: Make Your Content Engaging
Now that you have the course material, you will need a way to execute it effectively during the production phase.
Students do not want to attend a boring class where the online instructors talk to the camera. To teach online classes, you will need all the necessary classroom elements.
Set-up
First, you can start by changing your house set-up to look more like a classroom and not your bedroom, kitchen, or anything like that. This includes:
- Changing your BACKGROUND; you can have a whiteboard or something behind you
- Using natural lighting or investing in professional lighting equipment
- Your APPEARANCE. You don’t want to look like you just woke up.
Changing your set-up will make a huge difference, making things look more PROFESSIONAL and ENGAGING. It will also make you, the teacher, look more CREDIBLE and PRESENTABLE to your students.
Record
Now that you have your set-up, it is time to turn on the camera and hit record, but as previously mentioned, you do not just want to talk to the camera.
Before you record, it may be helpful to practice your teaching style or presentation so you will be a lot more comfortable in front of the camera, and the flow of your course will be more natural.
Once you are comfortable, you can add more things like a green screen to add anything informative during the editing phase, like videos, PowerPoint slides, or anything related to the subject matter.
You can also try screen recording, where you record your entire screen as you speak and present your lecture.
Edit
Once you have recorded everything, you can proceed to the editing phase. This is where you will add the final touches to your course and your last chance to make it as engaging as possible.
Use this phase to add informative text, videos, and anything helpful to keep the subject matter relevant.
Upload on Chosen Platform
You now have your first course ready for uploading on your platform of choice!
Once you are registered in your chosen platform, you can easily upload, give it an appropriate title and thumbnail, and just like that, you are now an online teacher with your online course.
You can also add SEVERAL new online classes if you like!
However, some platforms have strict guidelines for uploading and what can be uploaded. Take these into consideration when choosing an online platform to upload.
There are platforms where you can sell your online courses individually or have the host platform monetize your course.
You can even go as far as to create a Youtube channel where people can access your course for FREE! And in a few years, there could be a chance Youtube will monetize your videos, too, so you can make money!
You can also stream live classes via Facebook Live or other streaming sites!
Market and Sell to Your Target Audience
Now that you have everything uploaded and ready to be accessed by students, it is time to MARKET it to your target audience.
You can market your course in many different ways!
One way to do say is by offering early access to those who apply early! This is called PRE-SELLING, and it is to ensure that someone enrolls in your course before it is officially created.
Let’s say you offer someone an online course if they pay now, and in three months, they will have full access.
You need to create the full course within those three months, or else anyone who takes the offer will not be happy.
This way, your money is not wasted, and you are GUARANTEED to have some students or enrollees.
You can also use a sales page for advertising your course, which lists all the details and features of your online course. Or, if you are active on social media, you can use that to quickly reach out to people.
You can also include TESTIMONIALS from initial students who had access before.
Why You Should Start Teaching Online
You can make money teaching online courses and earn passive income, so why not?
Online teaching can be rewarding and in-demand for several reasons, and any successful online teaching business will agree!
Flexibility
Online teachers and students can work and earn money at their own pace, making time very flexible. The teachers set their schedules, and the students can access the lessons online at any time!
This is a good method for those who prefer flexible learning over rigid schedules.
Meet People From Everywhere
Aside from that, anyone from anywhere worldwide can learn and teach online classes!
It allows you to work from the comfort of your own home PLUS you get to learn from teachers all over the world, each with their own unique experiences and teaching styles!
You Are Your Boss
For teachers, this is also your chance to be your boss!
Unlike traditional school settings where you have the head of a certain department or something like that, you run your course and teach things the way YOU want while still making money!
Practice Creativity
Since you are in charge of your classroom and lesson, this is your chance to practice CREATIVITY when teaching! Let your creativity run wild as you create lessons, videos, graphics, or whatever you need to help the students learn.
If you are new to online learning, you can also practice your technical skills like shooting and editing.
Whether you are a first-time online teacher or student, everything is a learning process, and you will eventually get comfortable with everything!
Easy Access to Information
Say goodbye to lugging big textbooks around all the time!
Since everyone is just in their house with access to technology, your enrollees will have easier access to information than spending money on textbooks and long readings.
You can provide useful videos or presentations to make learning more motivating and interactive!
How Much Money Does An Online Educator Earn?
The online teaching business is a very FLEXIBLE profession where the amount of money you earn can vary. As for how much exactly you earn, it depends on many factors.
In some cases, teachers can earn money teaching online for around $1000-$4000 a month. Other cases can earn you $500-$50,000!
It usually depends on:
- Price of your course
- How many apply to your course
- How many courses you will teach
For example, if you teach one course for $120 and you have ten students, you will make $1200 in profit.
Or, if you teach four courses for $120 each, and you have ten enrollees, you will make $4800.
If you are unsure how to price your course, consider the goal amount you want to make and divide it by the number of enrollees you can take in.
So let’s say your goal is to make $10,000, and you can take in 50 enrollees. If you have 50 enrollees, your course price should be $200.
It VARIES for each person and course. You can make money teaching online in other ways like ads or monetization from online education companies.
What Topics Can You Teach Online?
You can teach people ANYTHING!
That’s the beauty of teaching online. Anything goes!
You can teach anything from creative subjects like music and arts to practical skills like problem-solving or finance.
There are even more courses online for things like mindfulness and yoga. You can even teach something as SPECIFIC as skateboarding, gardening, or photography for your senior portraits.
Regardless of the topic, you can treat it just like any other class you would take in the classroom. You can send out assignments and worksheets, give constructive criticism, and teach practical lessons!
Online Learning Platforms
As mentioned earlier, there are a bunch of online education platforms where you can upload your course. Of course, there are more sites than this, but these are the best picks!
Each works differently, so you can choose one that best fits your needs. Or, if you want to get your course out there, you can upload it to multiple platforms!
Udemy
Udemy is a MASSIVE player in the online learning world!
One of the BIGGEST and MOST POPULAR e-learning sites to date, it is the go-to site for those just starting in the online teaching world.
Udemy allows you to sign up as a premium instructor and provides a step-by-step guide to creating and marketing your course.
This platform also allows you to upload a SNIPPET of your course and get feedback and suggestions. There are also tutorials on how to plan and shoot your course too!
Udemy will also help you get your course on the map by featuring it in email blasts or offering discounts.
Udemy also lets you see how your course compares to others, so you can see how to set yours apart!
Skillshare
Skillshare is another great place to sell your course if you want to teach or learn more creative skills. You have to apply for Skillshare’s premium program to get paid.
Skillshare is the closest thing to an actual classroom, wherein you can interact with your classmates and instructor. You can leave comments or notes on the video lessons.
As the instructor, you can also give assignments and hands-on projects and give direct feedback to the student, which is useful to make the most of the online setting.
Teachable
Teachable is an effective platform for growing your audience and creating the branding of your course.
On Teachable, you can create a landing page, a sales page and even use coding to create personal templates and visuals. You can also seek help from affiliate marketing programs to help promote your course.
The native email marketing feature allows you to keep track of enrollees, collect feedback, and research current trends about your course!
Thinkific
Thinkific is a great place to help you get started if you are starting from SCRATCH! Thinkific has a built-in website builder to include anything you want for your course.
Thinkific provides helpful templates to create your course materials and landing page. You can choose HOW to sell your course, either by pre-selling, as a mini-course, flagship course, and so on!
You can also refer to Thinkific’s sample quiz templates, surveys, and instructor’s messages. Once you’ve played around with the features and found what works for you, then you’re good to go!
Final Thoughts
As you can see, teaching online is full of BENEFITS and can be practical to anyone! You get to share your passion or expertise AND make money teaching online.
It seems like there isn’t much to lose! Of course, it may come as a challenge at the start, but you get to reap all the benefits in no time!
