7 Ways to Validate Your Online Course Idea

Ways to Validate Your Online Course | ProductiveandFree
 

Creating and selling an online course is a goal that many online business owners have.

Whether you want to share your knowledge and help more people or you want to earn passive income for months and years to come, an online course is a proven and popular way to do it.

Since you’re reading this article, chances are that you may already have an idea of what you want to teach.

Maybe you want to create an online course about a skill you’re really good at.

Maybe you want to teach people how to use a tool or software that’ll make their lives easier.

Maybe you want to share how you overcame your challenges in the past and how others can do the same.

Maybe you want to help people save time and energy with a system you came up with. Whatever your online course idea is, it’s important to first validate it so that you can be sure that it’s the right topic to pursue. Free Udemy courses offer an invaluable resource for individuals seeking to validate and share their unique systems and experiences, ensuring they invest time and energy in the most impactful online educational topics.

Whatever your online course idea is, it’s important to first validate it so that you can be sure that it’s the right topic to pursue.

Speaking from experience, the more you validate your online course, the higher the chances that your online course will succeed.

After all, you have limited time and resources yourself and it’s better to bet on an online course topic that will actually sell, not flop.

Here are 7 ways to validate your online course idea.

1. Ask Your Audience

One way to validate your online course idea is to simply ask your audience.

This is only applicable if you already have an audience of course, but remember that you don’t need to have hundreds or thousands of subscribers, followers, or clients to get insightful feedback about your online course topic.

As long as you have access to a group of people in your niche who know you and engage with you, you can reach out to them to see if they’re willing to pay for an online course to learn about a certain topic.

You could reach out to them one by one or as a group and then:

  • Ask them to fill out a survey

  • Invite them on a Zoom call

  • Email them questions

  • DM them on social media

  • Ask them to answer your Instagram stickers (questions, polls, emoji sliders, or quiz stickers)

Just make sure you’ve prepared your interview questions beforehand.

It’s not enough to simply ask them, “Would you join an online course about XYZ?”

Try to really get to know them on a deeper level by asking more penetrating questions related to:

  • Who they are and what their current situation is like

  • What they’re struggling with right now

  • What do they want or need in life

  • What do they want more of or less of

  • What would make their day, business, situation, or life better

  • What methods they’ve tried before and why it didn’t work

Doing this will help you understand where they’re coming from and determine if your online course can really benefit them.

Also take note that if you’ve managed to build relationships with your audience already, try to recall if they’ve asked you about your topic before — this is proof that there’s been interest in it all along!

2. Search

Another way to validate your online course idea is to search for it.

  • Look up trending topics in search engines like Google, Youtube, or Pinterest.

  • Analyze popular topics on social media platforms your audience frequents.

  • Go to online forums to see what topics people are talking about.

  • Check out Quora or Facebook groups for top questions people are asking.

  • Browse the Amazon book list to see what books are trending and what readers are saying about the topics.

  • Visit online course websites such as Udemy or Skillshare.

Remember that you don’t necessarily need to choose the specific online course topic you find.

You can branch out and create an entirely different online course:

  • to complement that topic

  • to answer a specific question about that topic

  • to offer a specific solution to that topic

  • to offer alternatives to that topic

  • to fill a gap within that topic

3. Analyze Your Existing Content

Another great way to validate your course idea is by analyzing your existing content.

Look at the different platforms and channels you’ve posted in and analyze:

  • Your most popular blog posts

  • Your most downloaded lead magnets

  • Your highest-opened emails and clicked links

  • Your most listened to podcast episodes

  • Your most viewed Youtube videos

  • Your most re-pinned Pinterest Pins

  • Your most liked or shared Instagram content

  • Your most in-demand webinars or workshops

The idea here is that your audience is already interested in these topics so if your online course idea is related, there’s a greater chance they’ll be interested in it too.

Want to create & sell an online course… without the design headache?

No need to start from scratch — our Course Creator Templates can help you create your online course workbook, webinar presentation, and social media graphics quickly!

4. Create New and Free Content

Related to the previous tip, another way to validate your course idea is to create new and free content.

Create a brand new valuable piece of content and share it on your blog, podcast, Youtube channel, Instagram or Pinterest accounts and see how it performs.

Even if a topic was highly popular six months to a year ago, it doesn’t mean it’s still in-demand right now.

This tip is helpful to determine if people are still very much interested in your course topic and if it’s still relevant today.

5. Create a Lead Magnet

Building on the previous tip, you could also validate your online course idea by creating a lead magnet and see how it performs.

Put up your brand new piece of content behind a sign up form to determine just how interested your audience is in your online course topic.

Are they interested enough to actually sign up for it and give you their email address in exchange?

Or would they prefer to just read a blog post about it or watch a video about it?

The beauty of this strategy is that you can capture the email addresses of interested people right from the beginning.

Then once you launch your online course, you’ll already have a list of qualified leads.

Here are examples of lead magnets you can create and offer:

  • Checklist

  • Workbook

  • Roadmap

  • eBook

  • Webinar

  • Challenge

  • Facebook Group

  • Waiting List

+ Related post: 20+ Irresistible Lead Magnet Ideas and Examples

6. Do Competitor Research

Next, you can also do competitor research to validate your course idea.

Make a list of existing online courses within your niche or industry from:

  • Fellow business owners

  • Bloggers

  • Podcasters

  • Youtubers

  • Relevant Facebook groups

  • Affiliate programs

  • Virtual summits

  • Ads

The online courses that are being sold, promoted, or advertised in your niche or industry are most likely relevant or popular topics with your audience.

With this strategy, however, remember to never copy other people’s content or strategies.

Simply use them as inspiration to come up with your own to give your students a fresh take on the topic.

You can also look at the reviews people gave and see if there are unanswered questions or gaps you can fill with your online course.

7. Pre-Sell Your Online Course

Last but not the least, another way to validate your idea is to pre-sell your online course.

This is a powerful strategy to see if people are interested in your topic, so much so that they’re actually willing to shell out money for it.

Pre-sold online courses are typically cheaper than the actual course because these haven’t been completed yet. There’s just the promised end result, along with one or two modules ready to go.

The idea here is to give a small group of people a chance to join your course at a lower price in exchange for their feedback (and their patience!).

Think of it like a focus group.

You can create your online course one module at a time while getting invaluable, direct, and immediate feedback from your first students.

You can then adjust your course accordingly and make improvements so that your actual online course will be better than you can ever create on your own.

Over to You

Coming up with the right online course idea may feel overwhelming at first but it’s not impossible. You can verify your online course idea to see if there’s genuine interest in it, if it’s still relevant, and if it actually has the potential to sell.

To validate your online course idea, consider asking your audience, searching for it, analyzing your existing content, creating new and free content, creating a lead magnet, doing competitor research, and pre-selling your course.

Does your online course idea check all of the boxes? Which of these strategies are you looking to try out next? Share your answers in the comments below!

Pin or save this post for later!