How Much Can You Make Selling Online Courses?

In this article, you’ll learn how much can you make selling online courses. As well as how much you should charge for your course, and other factors that will determine how much you earn.

Do you want to see how much money you could make from online courses before creating your own?

What kind of profit margins can you expect from selling online courses? It fluctuates a lot. Your online course might bring in anything between $0 and $50,000 per month. Many course makers will make between $1 and $5k each month, and there are several stories of online course instructors making between $10k and $50k per month.

The amount of money you can make offering online courses is determined by a variety of things. The cost of your course, the size of your specialty, and the size of your existing audience are all important considerations.

How Much Can You Make Selling Online Courses?

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How Much Can You Make Selling Online Courses?

The amount of money you make by creating an online course is determined by a number of things. Numbers fluctuate greatly, and I can’t really offer you a ballpark amount. The figure might be anywhere from zero to millions of dollars per year.

To get a good indication, we may look at some figures given by Teachable, a major online course platform.

Based on their analysis, they determined which schools make 80% of their income from their top course makers.

The data shows that:

  • 27.9% of schools on the platform have earnt over $75,000 (total revenue over time)
  • 14.7% have earnt between $50,000 and $75,000
  • 39.4% have earnt between $25,000 and $50,000
  • 17.9% have earnt under $25,000

Source: Teachable

According to the research, approximately 18% of schools on the network make more than $10,000 each month. So, if you put in the effort, you might be able to earn more than $100,000 per year from your own online courses.

And, in this case, putting in the effort is crucial. You might just as well make nothing from the process if you don’t put thought and effort into how you construct and sell your course.

It’s critical to consider the content of your course, who it’s intended for, and whether or not people would pay for the course you’re considering producing. Then you must develop anticipation for the course’s initial release and continue to market and sell it effectively in the future.

Assuming you accomplish everything correctly, the price of your course, the size of your audience or following, and the total size of your target market or niche will all have a role in how much money you make.

Course Price

price

The cost of your online education will have a significant impact on the amount of money you make each year.

If your course is only $25, you’ll need to sell 2,000 copies in a year to make $50,000.

For example, if you sell your course for $250 instead, you would just need to sell 200 copies.

Which do you think is easier: selling 200 or 2000 copies of a course?

Selling a cheaper course is, of course, easier. People are more inclined to buy a $10 or $20 course on the spur of the moment. Surprisingly, until your course costs more than a couple hundred dollars, the cost isn’t really a consideration.

Before paying $500 or $1,000 for a course, people will have to think twice. Most people with full-time employment, on the other hand, would not hesitate to pay $100 or $200 for a course if they were interested in the subject and understood the value they would receive.

As a result, instead of pounding out a large number of little, low-cost courses, I’d recommend attempting to create a more in-depth, high-quality, and higher-priced course to optimize your earnings. Also, don’t be scared to charge extra for the services you provide.

How Much Should I Charge?

Your online course should be priced based on the problem it answers, who your target audience is, and how comprehensive or in-depth your solution is.

Minor issues

If you’re only explaining what to do in a generic fashion, anticipate customers to pay up to $50 for a course that solves a tiny problem. You could charge up to $100 for a course that tells them how to do it and guides them through it step by step.

A course that teaches students how to read faster utilizing a variety of speed-reading strategies, for example. Five to ten movies, as well as a couple of PDF files containing directions

Problems with a medium size

You should charge between $200 and $500 for a course that tackles a medium-sized problem.

For instance, a course that teaches you how to run successful Facebook ads. There are over ten movies and detailed directions.

Large problems

There’s no problem charging $500 to $1,000+ for a course that addresses a large problem or provides unique or valuable tuition, as long as you supply enough value for the money.

For instance, a thorough affiliate marketing training package with over 25 videos, worksheets and exercises, and support.

I’d advise sticking under the $ 1,000-course barrier until you’ve had some experience developing and selling high-level courses. Above this price threshold, you must focus on your positioning, pitch, and marketing, as well as provide extremely high value.

Your Level of Expertise and Brand Recognition

Someone with a 100k-follower YouTube channel and a well-established blog or website will have a much easier time selling an online course than someone who appears to have appeared out of nowhere.

expertise

This is due to the fact that they already have a well-established brand and reputation, as well as a high degree of trust among their existing followers. Every major brand has a big number of ardent fans who will buy whatever product it releases.

You don’t have that luxury if you’re launching a fresh new course with no established audience. Nobody knows who you are, so getting those initial few sales will be more difficult.

To develop your first tribe of satisfied course clients, you’ll need to put in a lot of effort, build trust, and perhaps offer your course at a cheaper price for a period.

It will be much easier to sell your course and at a higher price once you have case studies and testimonials to back it up.

Your Audience’s Income

Your audience’s disposable money will decide how many of them are interested or able to purchase your course.

You could help people get out of homelessness by developing a course that costs one hundred dollars, but the people who need your assistance don’t have that kind of money!

If you’re creating classes for kids, you’ll almost certainly run into the same issue. Unless their parents are willing to pay for it, they will not be able to afford your course.

It doesn’t have to be so extreme, of course. The audience for an online course on basketball fundamentals is likely to be lower-income than the audience for an online course on sailing or snowmobiling.

That’s just because playing basketball has a lower entry barrier than sailing. Instead of purchasing an expensive piece of machinery, they only need to purchase a ball and a hoop.

Depending on the topic you’re covering, you should be able to intuitively anticipate what kind of income your target audience has, and this factor will have an impact on how much you may earn.

Market Size and Competition

competition

In an ideal world, you’d locate a vast market with little competition. However, those are difficult to come by. Other courses will immediately develop to take advantage of such a market if one exists.

If there’s a lot of competition in a big market, I’d stay away. Making an online course about the keto diet, for example.

I’d also stay away from really niche or simple topics with small market sizes. Take, for example, a kite-flying online lesson.

Anything that efficiently teaches people how to earn money or address a pressing problem is usually an excellent place to start, as does anything that is a hobby or skill that a large number of people are interested in.

The Quality of Your Course

How much money you make from your online course will be determined by how much time and effort you put into it.

Is it just a basic introductory course you’re working on? Or are you working on the definitive guide to your subject?

People are prepared to pay a greater price for a more complete education, but you must also convince them that it is worthwhile.

This is influenced by factors such as video and audio quality.

Several factors can affect this, including the quality of the video and audio. If you are providing a course that requires the use of high-priced camera and microphone equipment, you should ask for a higher price than someone who merely captures videos on their laptop.

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Harshit Baluja

Harshit is a seasoned writer specializing in online courses and eLearning. With 7 years of experience, he has the ability to craft engaging content that seamlessly integrates technology with learning. His expertise lies in simplifying complex topics, ensuring a seamless learning experience for learners of all levels. Connect with Harshit on Linkedin to get in touch with latest eLearning trends.

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