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Why business owners should sell online courses

When most people are starting out with online courses, what they have in mind is building an additional stream of income. They might have a day job, or other side hustles, and are not really looking to invest the money earned selling online courses into something else.

Entrepreneurs can make as much as $100,000 or more in one year selling online courses. Sure, the average is lower than that. Regardless, as a business owner, the extra money has the potential to help you grow your business. If you’re looking for clever ways to market your services or product, an online course can bring in more customers. The same is true if you are looking into ways of raising more money to invest and grow your main business. This could actually be a good long term solution, depending on the potential of courses to generate a steady flow of profits.

Here are four more benefits of creating online courses as a business owner:

It helps you build your brand

We’ve previously talked about how you need to stay on top of the game with good content. Content does more than attract customers, it actually helps you build a better, stronger brand. Plus, if you’re in a niche market, you have so much potential to grow using online courses.


Read more: 6 Personal branding tips for knowledge entrepreneurs


Think about it: if you were to buy a laptop, who would you go to? To the guy that only talks about that one particular brand he’s selling, or the one that shows you the benefits, what are the best alternatives, and what product would be the best fit for you?

Nowadays knowledge sells, and the informed consumers are the ones that drive change. They want to know more about what they are buying, and here is where you can make your mark as a trusted brand.

It’s a good alternative to traditional training

Business owners have found a way to earn additional income by training other people. The so called corporate academies are pretty popular, but there are many other examples out there. Smaller businesses such as hair salons can make a profit just by teaching others.

Of course, there’s a limited number of people that you can teach face to face. Plus, there’s just so much time you can spend on this endeavor in addition to managing your business.

Instead, you can sell your knowledge online and reach far more people that can fit in a training room. Essentially, with online courses there is an unlimited number of learners from all over the world that could benefit from what you know.

It’s easier since you have the know-how

It can be hard to transfer that knowledge because it’s implicit knowledge that you’ve earned throughout your stint as a business owner. However, you don’t need to give away all of your secrets. If you are selling a special sauce that you invented, you can still teach people how to cook with it without giving away the recipe.

Once you try to think like a beginner in your field and get into that teacher’s mindset, you’ll see how great it is since you are offering relevant and great tips that you’ve learned from experience.

That’s something of great value that people love. That’s how famous chefs become famous, folks!

You already have an audience

As a business owner, you need to know your audience to make it work. You already have a marketing strategy in place, a buyer persona, you know what their pain points are and how much money they can spend on a certain product.


Read more: How to build an audience for your online course


So, it only makes sense that you have all the ingredients you need for creating online courses. It usually takes some trial and error for course creators to figure out exactly what people want, which should be easier for you.

Needless to say, you already have a customer base that will at least be interested in checking out your new venture, an advantage that beginner course creators don't have.

Final thoughts

As a business owner, you already have the knowledge and skills to create valuable online courses.

Sure, in the end, it’s up to you to decide if it’s something that’s worth pursuing. But keep in mind that people are creating courses on a large number of subjects, from “how to start your own business” to “how to build your own chair”.

The additional revenue stream can be reinvested and bring more clients to your main business.


INDIE White Paper: How to build a great site for selling online courses


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