How to Design an Digital Course in 2023 (9 steps) |

Apr 28, 2023

It's not a secret that the digital course industry is taking off. Digital courses aren't something new. Your grandmother is likely enrolling in them.

The market for digital courses is projected to hit the sum of $1 Trillion by 2030. There are a lot of possibilities for learning through digital technology and an online library over with existing courses, you may be asking... are there room for me?


If you're looking to develop an online course, the timing is right. This is. Yes, there are lots of people taking part. There are more than ever before willing to enroll in classes online.


If you're wondering how to make a digital course in this post, we'll walk you through it. This article will cover how to go about it and how you can pick a topic, plan, and create a great course that will benefit your students and brings you revenue!


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        This piece...    


    What is a digital course?

    How do you create digital course materials

      1. Find the Perfect Students

      2. Choose your Big Purpose

      3. Pick your delivery method

      4. Choose a digital course platform

      5. Plan the materials

      6. Presell

      7. Record/Go Live

      8. Market it

      9. Grow and adapt

    Are you ready to get started?


What exactly is a digital course?


A course that is digital means you instruct the subject .... Um, Digitally? Okay, seriously though, a digital course is an organized learning experience delivered on a digital platform. Usually, a digital course guides students through this learning using either audio, video, text or any combination of these.


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Digital courses may be synchronous, meaning that everyone is studying together. They can also be non-synchronous, where learners learn at their own pace. (We have a full description of what the distinction is. )


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How can you make digital courses


1. Find the Perfect Students


The initial step in creating any digital course is to determine who it's for. This is what we refer to as the Ideal Student. If you've got something that you want to share, you'll require somebody who wants to learn that thing.


Input: Your Ideal Student.


Your ideal student is an intersection of someone who wants to learn something with your expertise to instruct.


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Let's be clear on this: courses that are particular, specific, ideal Students are more successful. Always.


The goal, before you even begin creating an online course is to be really clear on who it's designed for.


We love to suggest that you discover the Ideal Student by talking to several people! Sit down with 10 or 15 individuals you believe might be interested in your course, and ask you questions, such as


 

  • What are you trying to master that you require some help with?        
  • Which are your big problems you are experiencing in your education?        
  • What do you most like to learn?        
  • How much budget could you put aside for a course to learn that thing?        


Don't forget to also make sure you are clear on what you have to offer. Here are some of the questions that you could ask yourself when you look for the Ideal student.


 

  • Are I the only person who is qualified to help? (Hint: It's usually someone you were previously. )      
  • What aspects of my story give me an advantage that I cannot match?        
  • What can I discuss for a quarter of an hour with no notes? (Not that you need to do this without notes, it's just a good exercise in thinking)      


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2. Choose your Big Purpose


When your Ideal Student is in place, you can develop what we refer to as the Large Goal .


The Big Purpose describes the transformative process that students are going to experience as they study your course. You can create the Big Purpose statements like:


Big Purpose- New Image


3. Pick your delivery method


In the course of time when you're planning to create a course that is digital You'll have to take into consideration the way you'd like to present it.


There are a lot of various ways of doing this. Because digital classes exist for at least a decade, a lot of people imagine a prerecorded (asynchronous) course where students learn lesson each lesson while watching videos.


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It could do this if it's your thing.


However, there are many possibilities! Our students are enjoying cohort classes currently, which are basically a live-streamed course with an audience that is live. Our students also love them! It gives the benefit of having a conversation and posing questions in real-time.


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When you're thinking about the way you'd like to deliver, think about your strengths and flaws as a speaker.


 

  • Do you thrive off an interactive presentation with some room for mistakes?        
  • Or are you going to end up being a mass of nerves who could benefit from a script and a possibility to "rerecord" if you mess up?        
  • Do you have the skills to be a great speaker or better at writing?        
  • Are you a singer with an amazing voice but do not want your image to be captured on film?        


When designing a course for digital, you pretty much have the possibility of offering the course in a way that works best for you. This is pretty awesome.


It is also possible to think of other aspects beyond the curriculum to help students be engaged and succeed. For example, we happen to love communities at Mighty, and a community mixed with a course is an amazing thing.


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Here are some other options you can incorporate into your lessons:


 

  • Live events        
  • Virtual events        
  • Community        
  • Live streams        
  • Chat with a member        
  • Coach group        
  • Coaching 1:1        


Make it your own when thinking about how to structure it. Make use of every tool that is available to provide the best possible experience for your students that you could.


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4. Choose a digital course platform


You're going to need an appropriate location to store this information. And a lot of digital course instructors can get overwhelmed by their course system.


It's understandable really. There are so many options. Many people swear by the one that they prefer.


We won't get deep into details about selecting the best platform here- we'll do the same in this blog post .


However, based on what we have discussed previously, try to choose an online course that offers the flexibility. You must be able to offer a live-streamed course in the event that you wish. You must be able integrate the live class in an LMS and then resell the course. It should be possible to easily add things like live events, community, or coaching if you want to.


This is why we integrated courses on our community platform on Mighty. Our Spaces are flexible and offer everything you need or desire to create courses that pack a punch: live streaming, live events and an LMS. It also includes member profiles, a discussion forum, all member chat and messaging, and a ton of options for content.


5. Make a plan for the materials


In the future, you're going to start making plans for the content of your course online.


If you've identified your primary goal as mentioned above, it's an excellent idea to link it directly to the goals of learning that your students should have.


While you design the materials to be taught in your online course Make sure to look backward. What are you hoping your students to accomplish? If so, how will you have to teach them to do that thing?


    Beware of the urge to put into all the details you know about a subject. Concentrate on what's going to get your student's ideal transformation they need and want.


You can create an outline for the content to be covered. If you'd like, use an LMS to plot out the lessons each one will comprise of. Even if you are conducting a live class, this is a valuable exercise. From there, you can sketch out the objectives for each class and also the contents.


6. Presell


There's no need to do this. If you're planning on developing digital courses, selling them prior to the course can be a pretty fantastic idea. Basically, this means getting people to pay before the class is taught.


Preselling works REALLY WELL with cohort courses since you teach the course after students have agreed to attend. There are other ways to set up asynchronous classes as well.


There are lots of benefits to using this.


 

  • Get your revenue up front to ensure you're successful before you begin. (You could also invest some of it back into the program if you feel it is appropriate. ).    
  • It is clear to have a sense of whether people want to take the course or not.        
  • If it's not a good idea to sell it, don't make it! Instead of wasting all the time creating a product and hoping people will buy it and then you'll know immediately if the idea is working. It is possible to make a few tweaks in order to make it profitable.      


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7. Record and go live


After that, you'll construct the course. If you're pre-recording the course, it will involve installing your equipment and getting ready to present.


If you're running a live course, it's a bit more intense upfront You'll need to communicate every aspect of your course. Get ready for live broadcasting, and make sure your recordings are up and running and everything else.


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8. Market it


If you've never sold your digital course yet Now comes the time that you must market it.


There's a myriad of different ways to market an online course, and we have complete guidelines that you will find in this article .


But in the meantime, here's a quick guide to some methods you can promote your digital course:


 

  • Email your list        
  • Post on social media        
  • Invite people directly (especially the Ideal Students you talked to)        
  • Webinars can be hosted.        
  • Make a landing page, and send traffic to it (eg. through paid ads)      
  • Include the course on your website, and then funnel engines traffic        
  • Invite your existing members of your neighborhood! (One of the advantages of having a community that is that it pays dividends.)      
  • Host promotional events alongside other creators in your space        
  • Participate as a guest on podcasts or write guest blogs        
  • Pitch of major publication        


9. Change and develop


The process of becoming a successful digital course author usually takes a long time. There isn't a lot of one-and-done.


So to the multitudes of websites that claim to provide you with "endless earnings" through putting a course online and not thinking about it It's likely to not be that easy.


However, you must stick with it. As you discover what works, grow your reach, and keep iterating on the course, there's a better chance of finding the perfect course format which is beneficial to you as well as your students.


Ready to start?


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If you're eager to start making your online course, why not try Mighty an opportunity? We've created a robust platform for courses that allows you to mix in community, content, and commerce. Learn a course in person or recorded, your preference. As we mentioned earlier, you could add in things like community, forums and live streaming events, and more.


Everything is executed with a stunning platform that works for your brand. Each Mighty Network comes with an application for each device. And you can sell across 135 currencies, or even use token-gating