How to Teach Online Classes and Make Money Online

If you have been on this earth for more than a few years, chances are you know something valuable that you can teach!

Teaching online is a great way to make some extra cash, and if done well, it can become a profitable business idea to rely upon.

But how exactly do you get started teaching classes online? And is online learning really profitable?In today's article, we will share how to teach online classes and make money online; we will show you the tools you need to start creating online courses or teach live classes, and you will be ready to start your online knowledge business.

Types of Online Classes You Can Teach Online

Before we get into details on how you can start your online teaching business, it is important to distinguish the various types of classes and courses you can create.

Online learning has become a popular way for creators to share their knowledge and expertise online and create a leveraged income online.

With many online course platforms you can use today, it has become easier than ever to create and sell online courses, and teach online.

There are many different ways to teach online or deliver an online course, so let's see them below.

Online Courses (Self-paced)

Self-paced courses are a well-known and popular type of virtual classes. Since they are self paced, learners can work through the material at their own speed and without following a set schedule.

These courses consist of pre-recorded modules and lessons that students can access at their convenience. They are usually sold as a one-time payment, and students get access to a set amount of content and lessons over a limited period of time.

Self-paced courses are ideal for creators with busy schedules or for students who prefer to learn at their own pace. They allow teachers to attract customers from all over the world, regardless of their time zone.

You have two options when it comes to enrolling students in your self-paced course. Firstly, you can choose to set a specific launch date, which means that students can only enroll during a set period of time.

Or, you can choose to have evergreen enrollment, which means that students can join the course at any time without any restrictions on enrollment dates.

Check out this article to learn the different enrollment strategies for an online course: Selling Evergreen Online Courses Versus Scheduling Multiple Launches. Which is Better?

There are two main ways for creators to build a self-paced course.

The first approach involves creating the online course on your own website, which gives you full control over pricing, content, and audience.

The second approach involves uploading your course content on a marketplace. However, this means that you will have to share your revenue with the marketplace and renounce any control over content and students.

How To Create a Self-Paced Online Course

To create self-paced online courses, the first step is to sign up for a free account on Heights Platform.

This platform allows you to build different types of online courses, including self-paced ones. With Heights, you can easily map out the lessons and modules you plan to create, upload videos and other content formats, and use gamification tools to enhance the learning experience for your students.

Moreover, you have complete control over the price you set for your course, and you don't have to worry about any commission or transaction fees as Heights Platform does not charge any.

Pros of Selling Self-Paced Courses:

• Flexibility: Allows learners to complete courses at their convenience, suitable for those with busy schedules.
• Scalability: Creators can enroll unlimited students without additional effort, offering significant growth potential.
• Income Potential: Enables creators to earn without directly trading time for money, thanks to scalability.

Cons of Selling Self-Paced Courses:

• Limited Interaction: May lack real-time engagement with instructors and peers, though this can be mitigated with community features.
• Reduced Accountability: The absence of deadlines can lead to procrastination and decreased course completion rates.

Live Online Classes (1:1 or Group)

Live courses are a type of course that is delivered in real-time, with students and instructors meeting "face-to-face" in an online environment at set times. This type of online class happens via videoconference or other online tools.

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

This online learning environment is a great option for those who prefer the structure of a traditional classroom setting and the opportunity to interact with instructors and fellow students.

It is also a great option for creators who are launching their course for the first time, as they can teach and gather feedback in real-time before completing the recorded version of their course.

However, live courses lack the benefits related to pre-recorded online courses, such as the option to scale your business and create a leveraged, recurring income stream, and the flexibility for students to access your content at any time and go through your course at their own pace.

Pros of Live Classes:

• Interactive Activities: Enables real-time engagement with instructors and peers, enhancing learning through discussions and immediate feedback.
• Accountability: Fixed schedules promote commitment and consistency in learning.

Cons of Live Classes:

• Lacks Flexibility: Demands adherence to a predetermined schedule, challenging for those with tight schedules or different time zones.
• Not Scalable: Teachers must be present for each session, limiting business growth to increasing workload.
• No Leveraged Income: Directly trades time for money, hindering the potential for passive income streams.

Community Memberships

Community membership sites, also known as subscription-based courses, are a type of online learning program where students pay a monthly or yearly fee to access the course materials and a community space.

This delivery method is suitable for creators with a vast amount of content to offer, and for students who prefer to learn at their own pace.

Unlike self-paced online courses, membership sites do not have a set start and end.

Instead, their goal is to retain learners for as long as possible. Membership sites are an excellent option for topics that require a longer time to learn, such as language courses or fitness courses.

Students can learn and practice at their own pace, without the pressure of completing the course within a set timeframe.

How to Create a Membership Community

To create a Membership Community, you can start by signing up for a free account on Heights Platform.

Once you've signed up, you can create various types of online courses, including membership sites and subscription-based courses.

You can group different courses, digital products and community channels together and sell them for a monthly or annual fee.

The best part is, you get to keep everything you earn, as Heights Platform doesn't take any commission from your revenue!

Pros of Membership Sites:

• Extensive Content: Offer a broad selection of courses or materials, ideal for exploring various topics or in-depth study.
• Flexible Learning: Allows learners to progress at their own pace, suitable for those with tight schedules.
• Community building: Members can interact with each other and learn together.
• Increasing Revenue: Monthly subscriptions can lead to growing income as more students join.

Cons of Membership Sites:

• Ongoing Effort: Requires regular content updates, engagement, and support to keep students interested.
• Lower Pricing: Generally cheaper than one-off courses, with prices often under $100/month, but revenue can grow with new enrollments and low churn.

We discuss online courses and membership sites more here: Online Course vs. Membership Site. Which Info Product is Best For You?

How Much Can You Earn Teaching Online?

The amount of money you can make teaching online depends on a number of factors, including the type of online learning you choose to sell (as described above), the demand for your classes, the price you set for your course, the marketing you do, the number of students who join your learning program, and more.

The best learning model in terms of earning are self-paced online courses.

Online course creators have the potential to earn a substantial income, though the amount earned varies depending on the course's role in their business.

Some creators earn tens of thousands of dollars per month, while others starting out may earn just a few hundred dollars.

Our experience shows that in the US, creators who sell courses as a side hustle may earn around $5,000-$25000/year, while creators who sell courses as part of their business typically make $40,000-$120,000.

Finally, creators who focus solely on creating and selling online courses can earn anywhere from $40,000-$50,000, all the way up to millions of dollars per year.

It is important to remember that the amount of money earned from selling online courses varies greatly depending on niche, audience, and marketing efforts, and many other factors. It is not a guaranteed source of income.

We believe that money earned is often directly corrolated to the value you provide to your students. As a course creator, if you start by focusing on how you can deliver the most value with your course, you'll increase your chances of success and earn more money in the long run.

However, it's worth noting that creating an online course takes time and effort, and it may not be suitable for everyone. Before starting this venture, it's important to carefully consider your goals and the resources you have available.

How to Start Your Business Teaching Online

Now that you have learned about the benefits of selling online courses on your website and being in control of your content and revenue, let me show you how to do it practically in a few simple steps.

All you need at this point is an online course software, such as Heights Platform, which allows you to sell online courses and create web pages for your business.

Step #1: Create Your Free Heights Platform Account

Getting started with Heights Platform is easy. Simply create your free account! That's all it takes to get started!

After creating your account, you will have access to the account settings where you can customize your program.

This includes uploading your logo, changing the color scheme of your site and much more.

Step #2: Create Your Online Course (with an AI assistant!)

When you're ready to start building your online course on Heights Platform, you'll have the option to create a new product and choose from a variety of formats, including:

• Online Course: This is a traditional format that includes modules and lessons that can be free or paid, or turned into a membership site.
• Digital Product: This format includes digital downloads, such as PDFs, eBooks, guides, templates, and more. You can also offer events, coaching sessions, and other services.
• Challenges: This format is time-sensitive, with a set start and end date. Lessons are released on specific dates.
• Community Channel: This is a group in your online community where students can interact and connect.
• Bundle: This format is a collection of all or some of the products listed above that can be sold for a one-time fee, installments or subscription plan, or offered for free.
• Group Projects: This format includes a unique assignment for students to complete at the end of an online course where they get to showcase their work.

After choosing a format, you will be directed to a page where you can start creating lessons, uploading course content, and organizing the structure of your program.

One of the most popular features on Heights is the Climb Outline, which helps you visualize the structure of your course while building it. You can easily organize lessons and modules by dragging and dropping them in the correct order, and get a bird's-eye view of your program.

Heights Platform also lets you create an online course draft in seconds with artificial intelligence, thanks to a tool called Heights AI.

Heights AI is an awesome tool that can help you create a course quickly and easily. With Heights AI, you can provide your course title and it will generate a better title for your course with recommendations on how to enhance it.

In addition, the AI will assist you in creating a well-structured lesson plan and write a captivating course description that will entice learners to enroll in your course.

Heights AI will then create an entire online course draft for you within your Heights Platform account, including a course outline with modules and lessons that you should include in your course.

Furthermore, it will offer a ready-made marketing description to promote your course and even pick a suitable image for your course.

After Heights AI has done its work, all you need to do is fill in the lessons of the course with your unique content and insights.

Step #3: Set up Your Branding and Website

Branding is important when it comes to building a business and selling online. In Heights Platform, you can create a learning program that is truly your own.

Choose your color scheme, add your logo, remove the Heights branding and choose a custom domain.

To sell your online courses, you alos may want to create a website or landing page. If you already have a website, you can add a link to your courses on Heights Platform.

If you don't have a website or want to create a dedicated landing page for your courses, you can do it easily on Heights Platform!

With Heights, you can create a general landing page for your program, as well as individual pages for each course you offer.

Creating your landing page is simple, thanks to the Web Page Builder, a tools inside Heights that lets you build unlimited web pages with a drag and drop editor (no coding skills needed!).

Step #4: Set Your Course Price

Selling online courses from your own website using Heights Platform enables you to set a price of your choice and earn 100% of the revenue you generate.

However, determining the right price for your program can be challenging and requires consideration of various factors.

If you need help finding the ideal price for your new online course, we recommend checking out our blog article, where you can find a calculator to help you figure out your future revenue and costs as a course creator: Ultimate Guide to Pricing Your Online Course (With Earnings Calculator)

Step #5: Promote Your Online Course and Start Earning

Once you are ready to go, it is time to promote your online course and start getting sales.

How can you do that? Well, first of all, there are many marketing strategies you can use to promote your online classroom.

A great AI tool that you can use as part of your Heights Platform subscription is the AI Coach.

This AI tells you exactly how to promote your online course, based on your unique situations and goals.

It acts as a traditional business coach and every week you will receive personalized guidance and new tasks you can complete to get closer to your revenue goals.

This tool is great for beginners who do not know about digital marketing, and more experienced creators alike, as it can help you brainstorm new ideas to gain new students into your course.

The AI Coach from Heights Platform is an intelligent tool that creates a personalized business growth strategy just for you based on your goals, challenges, and successes.

It is included in your Heights Platform subscription (Pro Plan & up) at no extra charge.

Unlike other AI tools, it is "proactive" and creates new tasks for you every week on its own. You can share what's happening in your business with the AI coach, and it sends you weekly tasks, tips, and suggestions customized to your goals to give your business a boost.

Teach Online Courses With Heights Platform

Teaching online offers a unique opportunity to share your knowledge with the world while creating a profitable business.

Throughout this article, we've explored various formats for online learning, including self-paced courses, live classes, and community memberships, each with its own set of benefits for creators and learners alike.

Heights Platform is a great tool and learning management system that simplifies the process of creating and selling online courses, with features like AI-assisted course creation, customizable branding, and no transaction fees.

Whether you're a seasoned online teacher or a first-time course creator, Heights Platform's suite of tools and AI course creation tools can help you deliver valuable learning experiences and achieve your income goals.

Start teaching online today with Heights Platform's free account!