Now that you have your profitable topic for your online course, it’s time to decide how to deliver your online course and to figure out the right size.
Consider Your Delivery Options ![deliver your online course options]()
You can deliver your information through video, audio, text-based content, or some combination of those three elements. Your online course can be delivered one module at a time through an email autoresponder sequence. You could also deliver your course material through a members-only website. Also, you can conduct live webinars or how-to sessions that are recorded to ensure all your customers can benefit from your course information, whether or not they can show up live.
Podcasts are another popular method to deliver your online course. This means you may want to consider some type of subscription-based service or one-time fee for accessing your online course through podcast sessions.
In the past, online courses that were marketed on the Internet were sometimes delivered via snail mail. This puts a physical product in someone’s hands. To keep costs down and to allow for the “I want it right now” aspect of most Internet users, you should probably stick to some type of online delivery.
Figuring out the Right Size/Length
Bigger is not always better when it comes to online courses. You should make your course only as long as it needs to be. Be sure to provide excellent value, not one word, module, or video longer.
Copywriters will tell you that the perfect piece of copy cannot have a single word removed. That same perfect copy will only be as long as it needs to be.
This is what you need to consider when you are planning and creating your course. Having said that, there are some standard practices that veteran online course developers say are good guidelines to follow.
- Video courses should be 5 to 7 modules, plus an introduction and conclusion.
- Online seminars or workshops should be 3 to 5 webinars long.
- Text-based Internet courses delivered by email normally need to be 7 to 10 autoresponders in length.
Email Delivery
If you are using email to deliver your online text-based course, understand that the course material will not be in the email. Each email simply refers your subscriber to a webpage where they can download or otherwise consume the course information.
A 35,000-word text-based course should not be delivered as one piece of content. That needs to be doled out over several installments or modules.
Video Delivery
If you choose to deliver your online course using video, the more you charge, the more modules you should have, up to a certain point. If someone has to wade through 27 videos and attend 12 recorded or live webinars to benefit from your online course, you are not going to meet with much success.
People want actionable information that they can consume and act upon quickly. Your introduction and conclusion should always be extremely short and to the point. Remember, your customer is thinking “what’s in it for me”. That means getting right to the meat of the matter quickly.
Video modules that are 10 to 15 minutes long drive engagement. If you have to teach a lesson in a video and your length runs 45 minutes, it is best to make that into 2 or 3 modules.
Webinars
In the case of webinars, either recorded or live, you don’t want to run more than 60 minutes. If you are delivering several webinar sessions as an online course, consider making them 30 to 45 minutes each.
Use these as a guide to creating an online course that your customers will get great value from and remain engaged throughout.
