Online Course Ideas That Inspires You to Create and Teach
The price tag for higher education is accelerating without substantial aid coming in to match it. But today’s modern technology offers a convenient solution for learners to continue education- Online courses. The solution allows you to learn anytime, anywhere. And it’s inexpensive.
From an educator’s perspective, online courses make a highly profitable side gig, or it works great if you want to take it up as a career. You might be a tutor, a speaker, a coach, an author, a business owner, or anyone who has some expertise that is worth sharing with the world.
But to sell profitable online courses, avoid critical errors even before you start. To build best-selling courses from the ground up, you need to take up a systematic approach. For that, you must be familiar with the best online course ideas, profitable online niches, industry trends, and more.
This blog contains lots of wise inputs and insights and all you’ll need to sell profitable online courses. Let’s dive in.
Profitable online course niches that pay big
Being one of the leading online tutoring marketplace platforms and having years of experience working with edTech businesses, we have done our research to find profitable online course niches.
Here are the best profitable online course niche ideas for 2022:
Health & Fitness
Health & Fitness is an extremely significant niche, especially after the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone wishes to stay on track with their fitness goals by following an effective workout regime at home.
If you are into the fitness industry, you can opt for selling fitness-related online courses.
Through these difficult times, we have seen a rise in online courses related to fitness, mental well-being, clean eating, and staying healthy at home.
Here are some of the sub niches you can choose for your online course.
- Dieting (Vegan, weight loss, Keto, Mediterranean)
- Yoga
- Cross fit
- Mental well-being
Avocadu is an online wellness platform that helps women lose weight quickly and safely.
Led by a team of body-positive pioneers, Fit bottomed girls cover topics related to fitness, Zen moments, healthy recipes, and more.
Arts & crafts
During the pandemic, people all over the world have been turning back to their favorite hobbies in arts and crafts, to relax while staying at home.
The hobby industry is flourishing too. According to Statista, the industry is predicted to reach $545 billion by 2023.
Zibbet is an online marketplace connecting crafters, artists, and vintage collectors to millions of shoppers across the globe.
Computer and technology
There is a great demand for online courses in this niche as it makes it easy for non-technical people to strengthen their skills in technology. Online courses on this niche need not be just for advanced level learners, it could be as simple as teaching someone to start a winning LinkedIn profile or create an online store.
Here are some of the course ideas:
- Ethical hacking
- A quick introduction to python programming
- Build your own gaming PC
- Trading cryptocurrency
Business and Entrepreneurship
Business coaches who offer guidance to entrepreneurs and small business owners are in high demand. Anything that offers valuable and actionable insights to grow in a corporate environment is attractive to business-minded people.
Course ideas in this niche could be the following:
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance management
- Project management
- Marketing and sales
- Growing as a successful business
- Diversity and inclusion in workplaces
Education
There is nothing greater than helping people improve their skills and knowledge. Educational online courses are another profitable online course niche that most entrepreneurs are interested in. You can help learners improve their IT skills, speaking skills, or simply master any skill that can improve their academic qualification or help them excel in their career.
SuperKid is an online tutoring marketplace that connects ESL tutors with students across the world.
Entertainment
The popularity of social media platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok means that the entertainment career is flourishing. With social media influencers making a good revenue, there is high demand for online courses to help develop similar skills. The niche is popular, and any sub-niches will succeed as well.
Udemy has thousands of online courses related to starting a full-fledged career on YouTube and platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok.
Makeup and Beauty
The niche related to beauty is enormous, witnessing incredible growth. Instagram is awash with beauty reels getting millions of views and likes. Beauty sub-niches like haircare, skincare, nail art, body art, etc., are popular among the audience.
How to choose the best online course topic?
Course creation success starts with a unique course topic designed to sell. You are here as you have the expertise which you want to turn into hot-selling online courses.
Choosing the topic for your online course is less about finding out what you can teach but more about what you should teach first. If you are well versed with a topic, it’s likely that there are already dozens of topics you can pull off.
The challenge is in finding out where you can have the biggest impact and what the first topic you start working on should be.
Right course, right time, right audience = Bestseller online courses
So here are some tips for finding the right course topic:
Ask your audience
If you ask us, what are some of the best online course topics, the answer would be the ones your target audience are interested in. So if you are brainstorming to choose a course topic, the best way is to ask your audience. If you already have a following, interact with them to gain insights into your course idea.
Send out an email or a social media post, or even a well-written blog to let your audience know that you are planning to launch an online course on a specific topic. Listen to your audience and note the feedback you get.
Estimate demand through search
You want to validate an online course idea, so what is another alternative to asking your audience. You can do this by performing an online search based on the keywords for your online course topic. Use Google keyword planner and look at the results for both primary and secondary keywords.
Ideally, you want to choose a topic that has a high amount of searches and low competition. If the competition is high for a particular keyword, you will have to put in a lot of effort to rank well for those keywords. Aim for something with a healthy combination of both.
Let’s say, for example, a user is searching for the keyword “photography” which is a top-level keyword that is extremely competitive. Type the keyword on Google and see what you get.
The second result that pops is actually an online course. Amazing, isn’t it?
Search eLearning marketplaces
Just like Keyword planners, online course marketplaces like Udemy have marketplace insights with which instructors can measure the demand of a course topic. Udemy provides data around the number of courses around the topic, demand, monthly revenue, and a lot more insights.
Top online courses trends for 2022
The last few years were not easy for online tutors. Despite the ongoing challenges imposed by COVID-19, educators had to fight Zoom fatigues, technical glitches, along with the sudden big transformation from offline to online.
Let’s look into the top online course trends for 2022 to have success with online course ideas.
Online course Trend 1- Lifelong learning (subscription services)
The traditional education system was restricted to learning programs that could be delivered in a real classroom. However, the education landscape today is vastly different from what we were accustomed to.
In the face of this wave of change, both educators and learners are moving towards an ongoing model of education- taking cues from the trend of subscription services.
Another driver is the popularity of eLearning marketplaces like Udemy, which offers both traditional degrees and multi-year courses along with “micro-courses.”
New learning methods are designed to align with the ever-changing requirements of businesses and employers and will become a popular option with learners looking for convenient ways of fitting learning into their lives.
Subscription services are in great demand among eLearning businesses as it brings in recurring revenue along with increasing profits. Learners also benefit from eLearning value packages where they get worth for the money they pay.
Online course Trend 2- Community based curriculum
A sense of community is extremely significant to new learners in an online classroom environment. As the online course is based on a niche, everyone who signs up likely has similar interests. Creating a group, preferably a Facebook group for learners who enrolls in the course, can make a really wonderful community.
Learners can interact with each other, and those who have benefited from a community space will probably refer their friends to your online courses as well. Nothing beats word of mouth, right?
Online course Trend 3- Micro-learning
We live in a fast-paced world where everything we need is at our fingertips within seconds. While this is great, it has resulted in shorter attention spans – something important that you need to keep in mind when building online courses.
Micro-learning is great as it presents information in bite-sized pieces which is easy to consume. Small sections of learning material can increase learner engagement and retention. This is not just effective for easy learning; it is also easier to create.
Online course Trend 4 – Immersive learning technology- Combination of AR and VR
Technology promises to create more immersive and engaging eLearning opportunities that cover both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). This is essential in times when the attention spans are reducing, and learners are growing accustomed to consuming information in ultra-fast and bite-sized chunks.
These technologies have other benefits – for instance, they can help students learn in simulated environments that closely resemble reality. Plus, it doesn’t create the risk of damaging expensive equipment. Virtual reality and mixed reality are very commonly used in training courses for firefighters, surgeons, professionals working on search and rescue teams, and more.
Not just dangerous, but other potentially tricky skills can also be catered, for example, Public speaking.
The VirtualSpeech app allows anyone to practice public speaking in front of a virtual audience.
Another example is Labster, a platform that provides a simulated science laboratory and equipment, allowing learners to get hands-on experience.
Online course Trend 5 – Artificial intelligence and automation in a virtual classroom
Artificial intelligence or AI will impact every area of online education. The smart software powered by self-learning algorithm is capable of performing all tasks.
For example, Jill Watson, AI chatbot of Georgia Tech, is an excellent example of the role AI can play in eLearning. Jill Watson is a virtual teaching assistant deployed on online forums like Piazza and Slack to answer the questions of learners of all different levels.
Online course Trend 6- Flexibility
When you log in to an online course platform and start searching for courses, you are often asked to select your preferred level- Beginner, intermediate, or advanced. Most online courses allow learners to move within the course levels. For example, they can start from a beginner-level course and move to an advanced version when they are ready to move to the next level. Online courses capable of offering a flexible learning experience will see higher participation and course completion.
Want to start selling online courses?
There is currently an enormous opportunity to benefit from the demand for eLearning and launch a profitable online business. Anyone who has the expertise to teach a skill can launch online courses; you just need to be one step ahead of your target audience. If you need guidance to help you create profitable online courses, we have several guides.
Many entrepreneurs have leveraged the demand for online courses during the pandemic and have grown their business to million-dollar brands.
If you have already found a course topic idea and want to start creating your online course, all you need is the best course platform. If you are looking for assistance in creating your online course marketplace, here at Pinlearn, we can offer you the right guidance. Get in touch with us now.
