Online Course Business

Create and sell educational video courses teaching your expertise on platforms like Teachable or Udemy

Startup Cost
$200-$1,500
Difficulty
Intermediate
Time to Profit
3-6 months
Profit Potential
$3,000-$20,000/month

Overview

Online courses represent one of the most lucrative digital products, with the e-learning market exceeding $300 billion globally.

You package your expertise into structured video lessons, worksheets, and resources that students can access on-demand.

Successful courses solve specific problems - from learning Python programming to mastering watercolor painting to building a freelance business.

Platforms like Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi handle hosting, payment processing, and student management for a monthly fee or revenue share.

Udemy offers built-in traffic but takes 50% commission.

Course creation involves outlining curriculum, filming lessons (smartphone quality works initially), editing videos, and creating supplementary materials.

Pricing ranges from $50-500+ depending on depth and niche.

Marketing requires building an email list through free lead magnets, creating YouTube content, or running Facebook ads.

The beauty is creating once and selling repeatedly with 85-95% profit margins.

Required Skills

  • Teaching
  • Video Production
  • Curriculum Design
  • Email Marketing
  • Subject Matter Expertise

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Extremely high profit margins (85-95%)
  • Passive income after initial creation
  • Scalable to unlimited students
  • Establishes you as an authority in your field
  • Can repurpose content for other products

Cons

  • Time-intensive to create quality content
  • Requires existing expertise or credibility
  • Market saturation in popular topics
  • Ongoing updates needed as information changes
  • Student support and community management

How to Get Started

  1. Validate course topic with audience surveys or competitor research
  2. Outline curriculum with specific learning outcomes
  3. Pre-sell course to validate demand and fund production
  4. Film lessons using smartphone or basic camera setup
  5. Edit videos and create worksheets/resources
  6. Upload to Teachable or Thinkific
  7. Launch with email sequence and promotional pricing

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