There are a lot of learning management systems (LMS) out there, so I'm not here to say this is the only way to set up your online course.
But I'm sure you're busy too, so your criteria for choosing a platform might look a lot like mine...
is it easy to use?
can I get this up and running fast?
can I use it to improve my business?
For me, Wyzed checked all of the boxes, so here we are. If you want to save time and get your content out the door then you're in the right place.
NOTE: If you already use a different platform to create your online course, you can still benefit from the lead capture section of this article.
If you would also like to know how it can help you generate more leads for your business, then you're in luck.
The Fastest Way To Create Your Own Online Course
What do people come to you for?
Nutrition advice? Functional exercise? Stress management?
It doesn't matter what your expertise is - all that matters is that you can record a few quick videos sharing some valuable information in an easy-to-digest way.
Remember that for this case, if at all possible, we also want this course to be a lead generation and lead nurturing tool for our business.
If you aren't sure what information you may want to include, think about this: Do you do consults for new prospects/clients? If so, what do you cover then? Here are some things to consider...
your own background (or your business' background) and why you're uniquely qualified to help them - our first video is Dr. Steve Feyrer-Melk introducing himself as an expert on health coaching, behavior change and mobile health technology.
take apart your program structure and address in separate lessons why each aspect of the program is structured like it is and how that will deliver results - look at this as an opportunity to build trust with a skeptical consumer.
don't forget to close your course with a clear call-to-action. Your prospect may decide on the spot they want to become a client, but if they don't have a clear call-to-action in front of them in that moment, they could rethink that decision before they figure out how to sign up with you.
In our case, we know that lots of wellness, medical and fitness business owners and professionals have no idea how they can leverage health apps, wearables, and other connected technologies to provide a better experience to clients and patients and scale their care capabilities.
So the first thing we did was record a handful of 3 to 6 minute videos on why and how mobile health can be used - and we dropped them into Vimeo.
NOTE: With Wyzed you can also use YouTube or Wistia to host your videos. I just like Vimeo because it's flexible, easy-to-use and, well, pretty. ;)
Several videos we uploaded into Vimeo for our online training course
Here are the topics we covered in the initial training course we launched...
1.0 Course Outline and Presenter Information
1.1 The Big Picture
1.2 Current Use of Technology
1.3 What Can Technology Measure
1.4 Examples of Technology
1.5 How Technology Helps You
This course has since grown but this is all we felt we needed in order to launch. None of these videos is over 6 minutes long.
Building the Online Course in Wyzed
Once the videos were done we thought we still had a long way to go to get something viable up and running... but the best surprise throughout this entire process was how quickly and easily I was able to get our course implemented and live on Wyzed.
Here's every step along the way...
Step 1 - Create Your Course [about 10 minutes]
This only took 10 minutes because I waffled back and forth on a good description for my course. We ended up calling it Nudge University Lesson 1 because we decided we wanted to continue building on it going forward.
Step 2 - Create Course Lessons or Modules [about 30 minutes]
Yes, I'm saying I built out our initial 6 course modules in only about 30-minutes (does not include the time it took to create the course content - I'm not a magician ;).
Here's how to set that up in Wyzed...
Now that you're created a new course, add your first topic.
Once you've created a topic, start adding your content. I started by adding a video.
Name your video and drop in your Vimeo or YouTube link.
Below the video, we added a discussion forum for our learners.
Boom, we just created a lesson. Now just repeat that for each piece of content you have!
Now we can use Wyzed to track how many learners sign up and how many of them have completed each of our lessons.
This is a snapshot of how many of our learners have completed each lesson.
Congrats! You just created your online course!
If you've plugged in content that's (1) valuable to your target customer, (2) is hard to find elsewhere, and (3) naturally sets up your paid services, then you're in great share to capture new leads for your business AND nurture those leads effectively until they're ready for purchase... all in one place!
Let's set things up so we can capture some leads.
Start Capturing Leads In 3 Simple Steps
What's great about an online course is that the perceived or expected value is high in the eyes of your target customer.
This means they are very likely to be willing to trade their valuable personal information - i.e. their name, email and even maybe their phone number - in order to get access to it.
This is why using an online course is so effective for lead capture.
Here are the 3 simple steps to start capturing leads using your online course (this method costs $0 - but you could certainly also set up a paid campaign as well).
Create (or grab) a "Sign-up Link" for your course.
Create a splash page pitching the value of your online course.
Link the Splash Page to the Home Page of your website (or use a pop-up to get visitors to your splash page).
Step 1 - Create (or grab) a new "Signup Link"
When you create an online course, you also most likely get a custom Sign-up Page, where prospects can put in there information to sign up specifically for your online course.
NOTE: I'll be walking through this works in Wyzed, but it will also work if you can grab a link to the signup page for your online course no matter the platform you used to host it.
A sign-up page is basically just a form to gather information, so why not use it to capture new leads for your business right!?
This is what your Sign-up Page will look like...
Looks like a lead capture form to me!
To get people to this sign-up page who are primed to put in their information to get access to your course, we first need to create your "Sign-up Link".
Go into your Wyzed account and click "Manage Learners".
Then click "Invite Learners" and "Create Sign-up URL".
Once you create your Sign-up URL it will look like this...
Step 2 - Create a Simple Splash Page
Now that you have a link to your Sign-up Page, we need to create a simple splash page to tell people what great things they will get when they sign up for your online course.
There are tons of great tools you can use to build a quick, simple splash page without any coding - Squarespace and Instapage are my personal favorites - but use whatever makes sense for you.
Both of these sites have tons of great templates, so if you want to get this done quickly, don't reinvent the wheel. Use one of their templates and exchange in imagery and copy that suits your online training course.
Here is the dead simple page we created - [ go ahead and click on it if you want to see it live ]...
Click on the image to see the page live!
*** Remember the "Sign-up URL" we created to get visitors to our signup page? Make sure you use that URL as the link for the button on your splash page so you're directing people to the right signup page. ***
Step 3 - Get Visitors to your Splash Page
For most of you the Home Page of your website probably gets the most traffic (I'm just guessing here), so what we want to do is leverage the traffic you're already getting to that page and make it easy for those site visitors to discover your new online course.
There are a million ways to skin this cat, but if you want to get up and running fast and on the cheap, here is one dead simple and really effective way to set something up on your homepage.
Option 1 - Link To Splash Page in Main Navigation (at top of home page)
Website visitors aren't always patient, and often before they so much as glance below the headline of your home page they will look is in the primary navigation at the top of your website for a title or phrase that catches their eye.
Let's give them some click bait that will drive them to the splash page for your online course.
In our case, we're offering this quick-and-easy online course for free.
"Free" is a power word for calls-to-action like a link in the main navigation because it immediately lowers any fear of a barrier to entry on the part of the site visitor.
It gets their walls to come down, and that's what you're looking for (I mean, who doesn't love free stuff?).
Here's what this strategy looks like implemented on our home page...
This strategy is simple and subtle, but still very effective.
NOTE: I said there are many ways to skin this cat. If you're interested in a more aggressive strategy and want to ensure your visitors don't miss your online course, you may want to consider a site plug-in that makes it easy to add pop-ups or announcement bars to your site.
SumoMe and HelloBar are great tools with free options that are very easy to set up if you'd like to go that direction.
If you want to set up your online course the same way we did, just pop over to the Wyzed website and book a demo with their team - they'll help you get set up in a snap.
Want to learn more about how Nudge Coach makes it easy to manage client relationships and promote healthy lifestyle change at the same time? Why not check out our online course? Or just schedule a quick consult with our team - we'd love to work with you.
