When young, we often wished for school to end so that we could escape the classroom and pursue other activities. In the world of adulthood, though, we may wish we had more time to learn, read, and pick up new skills.
Luckily, the Internet makes it easier than ever for educators and coaches to provide affordable online courses. These cater to anyone who wants to expand their learning, finding new audiences through social media and websites. Here are four online platforms for sharing your new syllabus, complete with their strengths and their price tags.
Patreon
For a general platform to produce any content, Patreon is the industry standard. Patreon is particularly well suited for creators who produce a lot of content—at least on a monthly basis—and who want to make some content exclusive. This makes Patreon very popular for artists, podcasters, and YouTubers.
Patreon allows you to tier your content: someone paying $5 a month might receive your monthly podcast, someone paying $10 a month might get bonus episodes, and paying $20 a month might give patrons access to monthly livestream workshops.
Unfortunately, Patreon doesn’t have a wide range of tools for managing courses, uploaded material, or scheduling, so it’s not the best choice if you want to develop a standard syllabus. But if you are a creator who develops tutorials, or an educator who uses videos, podcasts, and interviews with experts, rather than a standard course, Patreon might be the right choice.
Cost: Creating a Patreon doesn’t cost you anything, but the platform does take a cut from your monthly income from patrons.
Thinkific
If you want to create new courses from scratch, while marketing and selling them from one platform, then Thinkific has you covered. This platform comes with course templates to create a new syllabus, along with tools for video content, downloadable resources, handouts, and can even host quizzes and tests!
These tools are all provided via an easy-to-use creator interface that is specifically designed for newcomers. Making it an adaptive and straightforward introduction for anyone looking to make courses for the first time.
Cost: Thinkific offers a free plan with limited courses, quiz and survey capabilities, and unlimited students. If you want to create more courses and offer more resources, the Basic plan comes with unlimited courses, scheduled content, secure student emailing, and more for just $39 a month.
LearnWorlds
Looking to start an online academy, or collaborate with a team? LearnWorlds is unique for its focus on multi-instructor course management, meaning that you can easily develop course lists taught by different coaches and teachers, while still having centralized management over courses offered.
On LearnWorlds, those with an administrator’s account can create new courses and assign instructors, while instructors have access to curriculum customization and resource management. Perfect if you’re looking to expand your course offerings and instruction into an online school of your own!
Cost: You can start on LearnWorlds for $24 a month. The starter plan comes with one administrator account, your own domain, and unlimited courses!
Kartra
Like Patreon, Kartra is an online business platform extending beyond online courses. What makes Kartra an excellent course platform, though, is the powerful marketing tools it brings to the table. While many of the platforms listed so far are suitable for beginners, Kartra is a more technical option for veteran entrepreneurs who want a little more control over their marketing funnels and platform management.
With extensive campaign tools, email automation, and marketplace management for payments and memberships, Kartra is a powerhouse platform for anyone who wants to emphasize outreach and sales funnels.
Cost: With so many technical features, Kartra is the most expensive platform on this list, with a starter package at $99 a month. This comes with 2,500 leads, your own web domain, and 15,000 marketing emails per month.
Whether you’re looking to start your own virtual university, produce monthly tutorials and workshops, or manage a straightforward weekly online course, you’ll find the right fit in one of these platforms.
Of course, managing a business requires much more than digital tools and web domains, it requires a thorough marketing strategy and a team that supports your vision. From branding, to social media, to web management, Monkey VA is there to help you every step of the way. Schedule your consultation today!
