Key Takeaways
Whether you've been running online courses for years or are just dipping your toes into the arena, it is essential to learn how to price your online course! It's a common problem for online business owners. You find something you want to teach, and create the course, then boom! You're faced with pricing. You can't even begin to promote and market your online course until you have a solid structure of pricing and incentives.
When deciding how to price your online course, it is essential to consider what you have taught, the time it takes, and the number of customers you can reach within that time. If a course has extensive content, more depth, and more detail, that course should cost more. Keep in mind that those who are willing and able to pay for extensive content are usually serious about your topic and want it in-depth. In some cases, a paid course can be converted into a free lecture by offering free tips from the paid version in exchange for signing up for your email list.
If you're anything like me, you've put a ton of time and effort into creating your course. You want to charge a reasonable amount for it, but not so much that people can't afford it. The fastest way to lose customers is to price your products or services too high.
But how do you know what will work best for your audience?
How much should you charge?
And how can you be as competitive as possible while maintaining your sanity?
This guide will give you some tips for setting your first prices for your courses.A lot of people get tripped up on pricing.
But it doesn't have to be that way. With some careful planning and analysis, you can figure out the perfect price for your online course.
Set a big, audacious goal for your course.
Setting a big, audacious goal for your course is a great way to motivate yourself to write. Most of us are more motivated by the idea of "finishing" something than we are by ideas of incremental improvement. If you have an idea of what you'd like to charge, it can be helpful to start out with something even higher than that number — and then lower it as needed.
Ask these questions when setting your course goals:
What do you want the course to do for students?
How can it change their lives or careers?
Next, think about all the things that would need to happen to achieve that goal. Then, determine what resources you'll need in order to make those things happen. Finally, calculate how much money each resource will cost and add it all up! This should give you an idea of what kind of revenue you need from your course in order to achieve your goals. As a course creator, it's easy to get caught up in your course details. You want to make sure you're providing high-quality content and giving students what they need to succeed.
Don't be afraid to experiment with different price points. The higher the goal, the more valuable it seems. For example, if you set a goal of $1 million in sales within a year, that might sound impossible, but that sounds more realistic and achievable if you set a goal of $10 million in sales within five years.
Use the value of your course as a guide for pricing.
It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking about what similar courses sell for and pricing yours accordingly. Instead, focus on the value of your course and how it will help students reach their goals. If your goal is to help people get more clarity around their career paths, then focus on that — not what other courses are selling for. If you're offering something valuable, then people will be willing to pay more for it than if you're offering something less useful. For example, suppose someone offers a 30-minute video tutorial on how to make a sandwich. In that case, they might be able to sell it for $20 or $30 because people perceive it as being relatively easy and straightforward (and therefore not worth paying too much).
However, suppose someone offers a 30-day coaching program on how to lose weight by eating healthier foods and exercising regularly. In that case, they might charge $1000 or more because this program is seen as being much more complex than making a sandwich or even changing your diet.
Your course is valuable because it helps people solve problems or achieve their goals. So, set your price based on the value of the results you'll help students succeed.
Add up how much money students will save or earn by taking your course and multiply that number by four. This will give you an idea of how much money they're willing to pay to get those results.
Testing out different pricing models can help you find a good fit.
You might be tempted to jump right into offering a paid course, but it's worth trying some free courses before deciding on the best approach for your content and audience.
Try out free trials or freemium models.
If you do decide to offer a paid course, consider offering discounts for early adopters or giving away some of the content in exchange for email addresses or social media followers.
Set up a paywall for your content. Create an email list or Facebook group that requires payment to join or access certain content or features, like exclusive videos or quizzes, but allow free access to all other content. This can be especially effective if you're already building a following because it adds value while also driving sales and encouraging people to sign up for more of your stuff.
You could also try a freemium model where users get access to certain parts of the course if they pay, but there are other parts that are free for anyone who wants to check them out. This way, people get access to some valuable material even if they don't want to pay anything at all.Make sure your pricing makes sense for your goals and audience. If you're launching an online course as part of an eCommerce business, the chances are good that you'll have plenty of opportunities to sell products related to your topic after people take it — so it might not make sense to charge too much upfront. Offer different tiers of membership at different price points each month, such as $5/month or $50/year (or whatever works best for you), and let people decide which tier they want before they buy into your program. This allows you flexibility in setting prices while still getting paid by those who want more than one course.
Consider bundling multiple courses together as one package deal instead of selling them separately as individual courses. This way, students can save money by signing up for multiple courses at once instead of paying separately for each one individually. It also gives them an opportunity to try out a bunch of different topics without having to keep track of all the different fees on their own. Every online course has a different price. But there are some common pricing models that you can use as inspiration for your own pricing structure.
- Flat Rate: This is the most common type of online course price structure. It's simple, easy to understand and very effective. With this model, you charge a flat rate for all students regardless of whether they take the course in one month or one year.
- Pay Per Term: This model is also fairly straightforward, but you'll want to make sure that it's clear how many terms are included and how many months each term will last (for example, "Pay $100 per month for 12 months").
- Pay Per Lesson: In this model, students pay a set amount for each lesson within the course. For example, a student could choose to purchase lessons one through seven for $50 total or buy lessons eight through 10 at $25 total.
Offer a trial run to get feedback.
If you're interested in offering a free trial period for your online course, there are two main reasons why this can be beneficial:
- It will help you figure out what people think of the product before they buy it;
- Secondly, if someone takes advantage of your offer and doesn't like it afterwards, at least they won't have lost any money.
Get people involved in discussions about their expectations. One way of getting feedback on what people think about your product is by asking them directly. You could ask them questions like "What do you expect from this course?" or "How would you rate this course?" on social media or in an email newsletter. However, this type of survey can be difficult to conduct as there's no guarantee that everyone who answers will give their honest opinion — some may just want to give a positive response so as not to hurt your feelings!
Use user feedback to guide your decisions about pricing.
Don't price low just to attract more people. When people pay money for something, they expect value in return — so if they don't like what they get, they won't come back again (or at least not as often).
Ask students what they thought of their experience and then act on their feedback by changing course materials or delivery methods if necessary; this will help you keep students happy and coming back for more. Most students don't think about giving feedback — or at least not until after they complete a course — but if they like what they get out of it, they'll tell other potential students!
You can do this through surveys or interviews, but using user feedback during the development process itself is another excellent way.
Discover What Competitors Charge for Similar Products
One of the first things you want to do is research what other people are charging for similar products. This way, you'll know how much to set your prices in order to compete with their offerings. It's also important that you find out how much competitors charge for their products so that you can make sure yours is priced at a level that customers will find reasonable and attractive.
For example, if one competitor's product costs $100 and the other costs $500, it makes sense for yours to be
somewhere between those two prices (perhaps $200).
Again don't forget the value of your own hard work and the uniqueness of your course when setting prices.
You don't have to sell your course at a set price forever.
When you're setting the price for your online course, there are a few things to keep in mind.
- First, you don't have to sell your course at a set price forever. You can adjust the price as needed, and if you find that people aren't buying it at that price, consider lowering it or offering other incentives to get them interested.
- Secondly, try not to overthink what competitors charge for similar products. Your main goal should be to create something that is worth the money you're asking for — and if your product is truly valuable for students, they will be willing to pay for it.
- Thirdly, be sure that you've got the right pricing structure in place before launching your course. Some people believe that charging more will make their products seem more valuable (and therefore increase sales), but this isn't always true — especially when your pricing isn't clearly defined from the beginning.
Communicating your value is important for any pricing model you choose
One of the steps of pricing your online course is communicating its value to potential customers.
This means giving them a clear understanding of what they're getting for their money and why it's worth it. If they're paying $200 per month, they should know what they're getting in return — and if they're paying $20 per month, they should know how much time they'll have access to it each month (and whether or not there are any additional costs down the line). You should also explain how often new content will be added to keep things fresh and exciting for students over time. Is there going to be a big update every few months? Or will minor updates come in between bigger ones?
Conclusion
Remember that pricing is not set in stone.
With every price change, you have the opportunity to draw a new audience in, as well as offer existing students more possibilities of continuing on with your course. You can track your sales history to see at what price you sell the most courses. Whatever you do, remember that your pricing structure should never hinder a potential customer from signing up for your course and getting started on the road to success.
In the end, pricing your online course will likely involve a little trial and error until you find a price that works well for you. Hopefully, these tips will help you along the way.
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