Alright, let’s be real—if you wanna get your name out there and maybe snag a bit of extra cash too, tossing your knowledge into an online course? Absolute game changer. Seriously, it doesn’t matter if you’re the neighborhood knitting wiz, a burnout teacher with a fresh attitude, or just that random person who can cook the world’s best lasagna—someone out there actually wants to learn from you. And the best bit? You call the shots.
Now, I won’t sugarcoat it. Starting out? Can feel like trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the instructions. Like—what are you even supposed to teach? How do you take all those ideas swirling in your head and turn them into a real course people will pay for? What platform isn't gonna make you cry with tech headaches? But hey, online courses aren’t rocket science anymore. Setting up your own is actually kind of easy (or at least a lot easier than it looks). I’ll break it all down for you. Seven steps. That’s it. Pinky promise.
Think of this rundown as your cheat code to the world of teaching online. We’ll go from the “hmm, what should I even teach?” phase all the way to actually launching your baby into the digital wild. Ready? Cool! Let’s do it.
Step 1: Nail Down What You’re Teaching (And Who Cares)
First thing’s first, you gotta pick a topic that doesn’t make you want to poke your own eye out—and that someone somewhere actually wants help with.
How to Find Your Sweet Spot:
Who’s Your Course Actually For?
You don’t need a twelve-page demographic breakdown. But having a general idea of who’s gonna be on the other end of the screen? Helpful.
Step 2: Build Your Course Skeleton
Look, nobody wants to sit through a three-hour ramble with zero structure. Your job: break your course down into bite-sized, logical chunks so people can actually follow (and, ya know, finish).
How I Do It:
Tools That Don’t Suck:
Step 3: Don’t Blow Your Savings on Fancy Tools
Forget what those weird YouTube ads tell you. You don’t need a Hollywood setup or bank-breaking software.
Here’s what works:
Hosting Platforms? Yeah, These Work:
Step 4: Make Stuff People Don’t Snooze Through
Now comes the fun (or chaos, or both): recording your course. Don’t sweat, you don’t have to look like a Netflix star.
Some down-to-earth tips:
Don’t forget the written stuff:
A bit of fun, too:
Step 5: Upload Time—Get Your Stuff Online
At this point, you’ve got a digital pile of videos and PDFs just begging to be unleashed. Pick your platform, and start uploading. Don’t overthink it, don’t get stuck on tiny tweaks—done is better than perfect.
Okay, now you’re rolling. Ready to actually share this thing with the world? Stick around, ‘cause next up is launch time.
Now, I won’t sugarcoat it. Starting out? Can feel like trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the instructions. Like—what are you even supposed to teach? How do you take all those ideas swirling in your head and turn them into a real course people will pay for? What platform isn't gonna make you cry with tech headaches? But hey, online courses aren’t rocket science anymore. Setting up your own is actually kind of easy (or at least a lot easier than it looks). I’ll break it all down for you. Seven steps. That’s it. Pinky promise.
Think of this rundown as your cheat code to the world of teaching online. We’ll go from the “hmm, what should I even teach?” phase all the way to actually launching your baby into the digital wild. Ready? Cool! Let’s do it.
Step 1: Nail Down What You’re Teaching (And Who Cares)
First thing’s first, you gotta pick a topic that doesn’t make you want to poke your own eye out—and that someone somewhere actually wants help with.
How to Find Your Sweet Spot:
- Ask yourself: What do you know that gets you excited? If you’re not hyped on it, trust me, your students will feel it (not in a good way).
- Do a little creeping—check out what’s hot on Udemy, Skillshare, whatever. Google Trends, too. Some topics are oversaturated, some just need your spin.
- Get specific. I’m talking “Mastering watercolors for comic book art,” not just “painting.”
- And then, you know, sanity-check it. Hit up your friends, your group chat, maybe your IG followers. Would anyone actually pay for this? If not, might be time for Plan B.
Who’s Your Course Actually For?
You don’t need a twelve-page demographic breakdown. But having a general idea of who’s gonna be on the other end of the screen? Helpful.
- Age, job, and skill level—just the basics.
- What headaches are they trying to fix?
- Why would they even care to learn this now?
- Do they love videos or are they reading types? Maybe they want quizzes, maybe they don’t.
Step 2: Build Your Course Skeleton
Look, nobody wants to sit through a three-hour ramble with zero structure. Your job: break your course down into bite-sized, logical chunks so people can actually follow (and, ya know, finish).
How I Do It:
- Figure out what you want them to walk away with—like, “After this, you’ll snap pro-level phone pics, even if you’re all thumbs.”
- Split up the topic: basic stuff, intermediate, then that flashy advanced bit for the overachievers.
- Don’t turn every lesson into War and Peace. Short and sweet—and make every lesson about one main thing.
- Mix it up a bit: toss in some videos, PDFs, a quiz here and there, maybe a meme if you’re spicy. Different people, different brains, you get it.
- Let the course ramp up—start simple, save the tricky bits for later, recap the most important stuff.
Tools That Don’t Suck:
- Google Docs is always there for your outline (bless ‘em).
- Notion if you’re fancy.
- Wanna see it all at a glance? MindMeister or XMind for some sweet, sweet visual thinking.
Step 3: Don’t Blow Your Savings on Fancy Tools
Forget what those weird YouTube ads tell you. You don’t need a Hollywood setup or bank-breaking software.
Here’s what works:
- Recording: Your basic smartphone or webcam is fine. Want a cool screen recording? Loom or OBS does the job.
- Video editing: iMovie’s chill for Mac, Shotcut or DaVinci is free and pretty powerful.
- Slides and docs: Canva is easy, Google Slides too. Crap, even PowerPoint works.
- Audio’s bad? Clean it up with Audacity (super straightforward).
Hosting Platforms? Yeah, These Work:
- Teachable and Thinkific are easy—both have free or trial versions.
- Podia? Solid if you wanna try before you buy.
- Udemy’s good for a built-in crowd but they kinda set your prices, so…think about it.
- Already got a website? Just tack on something like LearnDash or MemberPress. Control freaks, rejoice.
Step 4: Make Stuff People Don’t Snooze Through
Now comes the fun (or chaos, or both): recording your course. Don’t sweat, you don’t have to look like a Netflix star.
Some down-to-earth tips:
- Keep vids between like 5-10 minutes—ain’t nobody got attention spans these days.
- Shoot in daylight, or at least not in your bathroom with the fan on.
- Just be you. Ramble a bit. Authentic is better than robot-perfect.
- Slides and screen shares help—so does actually demonstrating stuff.
- If possible, toss on captions for the accessibility points.
Don’t forget the written stuff:
- Give your peeps downloadable stuff—like cheat sheets, checklists, whatever.
- Keep instructions clear, but chatty. No word salads.
- Make it sound like you’d actually say it out loud.
A bit of fun, too:
- Throw in some quizzes or polls if you feel like it, it keeps people on their toes.
- If your platform has forums or chat, get your students talking. People love sharing their progress.
Step 5: Upload Time—Get Your Stuff Online
At this point, you’ve got a digital pile of videos and PDFs just begging to be unleashed. Pick your platform, and start uploading. Don’t overthink it, don’t get stuck on tiny tweaks—done is better than perfect.
Okay, now you’re rolling. Ready to actually share this thing with the world? Stick around, ‘cause next up is launch time.
