Updated: Feb 14, 2025 By: Marios
Online learning has significantly transformed how knowledge is shared and acquired. It’s no surprise why. Online learning platforms make the learning process flexible, which fits perfectly into today’s busy lifestyles.
It gets even better for anyone looking to start an online coaching business—whether as an educator, thought leader, coach, or influencer. How so? The demand for coaching has grown over time. This is one reason why the online coaching industry is expected to reach $11.07 billion by 2032, according to Allied Market Research.
Selling online courses is a business idea that can help you generate good income. If this interests you, keep reading as we walk through seven effective steps to start and grow your online learning business.
How to Start and Grow Your Online Coaching Business
If you’re not sure how to explore your interest in online course creation, keep in mind that you can start from anywhere: whether it’s a simple, beginner-friendly course or an advanced course for professionals. There’s something you can teach.
That said, let’s go into more detail about how you can start an online coaching business.
1. Identify Your Niche and Research Your Market
Start by identifying a niche you’re knowledgeable and passionate about. Your skills, core competencies, and experience are typically good indicators of what you can teach well.
Once you’ve chosen a niche, dig deeper into the market to identify your target audience. Highlight details like:
- Demography—age, location, etc.
- Topics they’re curious about
- Common challenges they wish to solve
- Preferred learning styles—audio, visuals, reading, etc.
Also, spy on successful online coaches and course creators in your niche. Find out:
- The type of courses they create
- How they structure or present courses
- Platforms they use
- Uncovered learning gaps
- What they’re doing/not doing well
Use social media platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Reddit) to gather these insights. Check top course marketplaces like Udemy or Skillshare. Also, look at online communities that are relevant to your coaching niche.
Finally, if you have an active social media engagement, try sharing a survey with your audience to find out what they wish to learn about.
2. Create Your Coaching Programs
Next, design your online coaching program based on insights from your research.
First, outline clear learning objectives. That is, what the learner should be able to do after taking your course.
For instance, if you were creating an online AI (artificial intelligence) marketing course, the learning objective outline could be like this:
At the end of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the advantages and disadvantages of AI marketing
- Use AI to run effective digital marketing campaigns
- Create high-performing AI-powered ads
You also need to organize your course content into various focused sections where you explore a topic with more context. To make your program more relatable, try to highlight real-life use cases in your discussions or give examples. Also, ensure you offer practical advice that learners can apply.
Optimize your online coaching program with valuable content. Include videos, slides, downloadable resources, and audio lessons to cater to different learning preferences. You can also add quizzes and assignments to make the course interactive.
Remember to set the duration of the course, as this is something learners will want to know before enrolment.
3. Choose a Suitable Online Course Platform
Once you’re done creating your course, find an ideal online course platform. Udemy, GetResponse, and other popular online course builders allow you to create, market, and sell courses online easily. Choose one that allows you to deliver a seamless learning experience for your students or coaching clients.
Use an online coaching platform that has important features app like:
- A user-friendly course builder
- Multimedia support
- Marketing automation
- Flexible integrations
Pricing is another key deciding factor. So, compare the price plans for the platforms you’re considering. Pay particular attention to the features app included in each plan offered and choose one that gives you the best return on investment.
If you’re just beginning your course development journey, you might want to start with one of the free online course platforms and upgrade only once you’re ready to go all in.
4. Price Your Courses Right
Pricing your courses correctly is critical to attracting potential customers and running a profitable online business.
There are different pricing strategies you can use for your course:
- One-time payments
- Membership subscriptions
- Recurring plans
Research similar courses in your niche and set your price within a competitive range—not too high to discourage learners and not too low to undervalue your course.
If you're still new to the market, a lower price can help attract your first batch of students. As you grow and build credibility, you can gradually increase your course prices.
You must ensure the value of your course matches what people have paid for it. Otherwise, you risk having unsatisfied learners who may leave negative reviews. This, in turn, can have a bad effect on the performance of your courses in the future.
5. Develop your USP and start marketing
Your unique selling proposition (USP) sets your course apart from others. So, this is where you highlight what makes your course special, whether it’s affordability, flexible learning options, or engaging teaching methods.
At best, focus on the results learners will achieve—for example, mastering a skill or solving a specific problem.
Use your USP to create compelling social media posts and encourage your audience to enroll. You can even start promotions before the course goes live and tell potential clients to join a waiting list. This is a strategic way to assess audience interest and optimize your marketing efforts.
You can also share snippets of your course content to showcase your expertise and attract ideal clients. Always include a clear call to action (CTA) in your marketing content to drive sign-ups. Also explore other marketing channels like email, guest blogging, and search engine ads.
Last but not least, remember to ask your existing clients for referrals and testimonials. Word of mouth is among the top three ways people discover online courses, according to GetResponse's E-Learning Revolution research, so you don’t want to miss that step.
6. Don't forget to offer free resources
Offering free resources is a smart way to build trust and attract potential clients. Whether you're a life coach, career coach, or any type of course creator, free resources can be a good way to highlight your expertise. They can also help you nudge potential clients to enroll in your paid courses.
Here are some types of free resources online coaches can offer:
- Templates: Share useful templates like content calendars, workout plans, or financial trackers. Depending on what’s more relevant to your course
- Ebooks: Create short, informative ebooks that explore a topic or show users how to achieve specific results.
- Checklists: Offer simple checklists to help learners track specific goals.
- Videos: Share short video lessons or previews of your course content.
You can offer access to these resources in exchange for the prospect’s email—another opportunity to nurture leads until they buy your course.
Be sure to provide information that your customer base can actually benefit from. Otherwise, it defeats the purpose and won’t get you much result.
7. Seek Feedback and Improve
Feedback is essential for improving your course and meeting learners’ expectations. Some online course platforms allow students to leave comments and reviews. So, encourage your coaching clients to share their thoughts.
You can also use email surveys to collect feedback. This means you must have collected their email addresses and added them to your email list upon course sign-up. With this, you can send a post-course survey to assess how well you helped learners achieve their desired outcomes.
Include questions like:
- Did you find the course valuable?
- Was the course easy to follow?
- How would you rate the quality of the course content?
- Did you find the course content relevant to your interest?
Surveys like these also show learners that you're genuinely interested in helping them.
Use the feedback to identify areas for improvement. If you regularly update your course based on feedback, you'll be able to keep it relevant and effective over time.
Conclusion
Online coaching businesses have become quite popular lately. This is mostly due to the high demand. As a course creator, there is a wealth of benefits to take advantage of. For instance, reaching a wider audience, building authority, and monetizing your knowledge.
To start an online coaching business, you first need to identify your niche and research your target audience. Then create your online coaching program and choose a suitable platform for hosting and selling your course.
Next, you need to set a competitive price for your course and create a strong USP (unique selling proposition) for promoting your course. Use social media and other online platforms to spread the word about your program. Offer free resources to get people interested too. Finally, gather feedback from your audience and improve your course offerings.
That’s it. Follow these steps if you wish to build a successful coaching business, and you’ll see the results.
