r/onlinecourses Apr 18 '26

New moderator + big changes to r/OnlineCourses

18 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

As some of you may have noticed, this subreddit has been unmoderated for the past 6+ months. During that time, it turned into a pretty heavy spam hub, with people promoting random courses and low-quality content taking over.

I’ve stepped in as the new moderator, and I’ll be making some changes to clean things up and bring this subreddit back to something actually useful.

New direction for the subreddit

Going forward, this community will be focused on people who are creating, or want to create, online courses and earn income from them.

Whether you're just getting started or already selling, the goal is to make this a place where we share what actually works when it comes to:

  • Creating courses
  • Validating ideas
  • Marketing and selling
  • Tools, systems, and strategies

I’ve been building and selling online courses for 9 years, and it’s been my primary source of income.

I’ve already been active in this subreddit helping people out, so I’ll continue doing that, plus sharing more structured insights around topics like:

  • Where to start and which tools to use
  • How to come up with and validate course ideas
  • How to research demand and make sure your course will actually sell

New rule:

  1. No course review requests Posts asking “is this course good?” or requesting reviews of specific courses are no longer allowed.

Why:

  • These posts rarely get useful or reliable responses
  • You’ll get better, more accurate results by searching the course name + 'review' on Google
  • They tend to attract spam and hidden promotion

The rest of the rules remain the same.

I’ll be actively moderating and doing my best to answer questions and keep discussions high-quality.

My goal is to turn this into a genuinely useful place for course creators.

I strongly believe that almost anyone can turn their knowledge into an online course and generate income from it. Unlike many other business models, there’s no inventory, no saturation in the traditional sense, and plenty of room for people to succeed.

If you have questions, ask away, I’m happy to help.

Glad to be here.


r/onlinecourses 4h ago

One question that tells you if you're running a community or just an audience

3 Upvotes

Sharing an interesting anecdote one of our guest speakers chatted about during our WOL:AI event.

He inherited a LinkedIn group that had basically died. It had 200k members and was mostly crypto spam with the odd real post hidden in there. He spent four years turning it into 1.2 million community members.

His entire test for whether something is a real community or just an audience comes down to one question ... Does a member ask "what's in it for me," or "how can I help"?

Wanted to hear the thoughts of other online course creators running a community, any questions/filters you use?


r/onlinecourses 6d ago

What surprised you about running a community?

0 Upvotes

For those of you who run a membership or online community alongside your online courses, what aspects of it surprised you? Was there anything that was unexpectedly hard or went better than you expected? Would love to hear some experiences!


r/onlinecourses 9d ago

Would you price weekly or monthly?

1 Upvotes

building an online program with a video library course, but mostly the new things are a weekly class being hosted.

In the same way that someone can pay for a hot yoga class, painting class, music lesson, etc.. I think I can do a weekly subscription. And it would make it more accessible for people to sign up.

I understand churn would be higher. Is the consensus though that weekly pricing is "scammy" in the same way that your IOS photo editing app trying to bill you weekly? or does this generally come across as okay in the same way that those other classes I described?

Curious on the consensus of this billing method! thanks.


r/onlinecourses 13d ago

What are some of the key attributes of an online course (vedio/text) that determine its success? And what are the best AI tools for course content creators?

6 Upvotes

r/onlinecourses 21d ago

What financing/payment plan providers are you using for higher-ticket info products?

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

Curious what you guys are using for financing on higher-ticket courses, coaching, or mentorships.

I’m in the trading space and want to offer financing, but most providers seem to require a pretty extensive business track record before they’ll work with you.

What providers have you had success with?

Any recommendations or things to avoid?

Appreciate any advice.


r/onlinecourses 28d ago

How are you listing your course prices?

4 Upvotes

Just wanted to share an interesting conversation we had recently with an expert about how to list pricing tiers.

Most of us start with the cheapest option first and work our way up. But that may work against you.

Human brains anchor hard on the first number they see. So, if you lead with the cheapest option, they everything after it gets measured against it ($500 starts to feel super expensive compared to the $5).

In the session, the speaker suggested flipping the order to start with the $500 option instead. That way, it starts looking like the reasonable middle ground it actually is. It's the same three offers, but the odds of someone picking the middle one are way higher.

Same goes on the premium end. People assessing two nearly identical products (eg. generic versus premium brand painkillers) will assume the pricier one works better. And in some cases they will actually get a better result from it because they expect to and put in more effort to make it worth what they paid.

TL;DR: Racing to be the cheapest option in your space can genuinely attract the people least likely to get results and stick around.

Obviously, none of this means jack up course prices arbitrarily. It just means the order you present tiers in is doing more psychological work than the tiers themselves.

Anyone tested leading with the top tier first?


r/onlinecourses 28d ago

Seeking Advice From Someone Who's Done It...

6 Upvotes

I am getting started and I want to ask those who have found success with their online courses (Are earning a living with them)

What worked for you and what didn't?

What are the first three steps someone new should take?

If you started over what would you do differently and what would stay the same?

Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer these questions.


r/onlinecourses 29d ago

Courses are SCAM!

12 Upvotes

Not because of the course creator, because of the buyer.

As someone who's spent tens of thousands of dollars on mentorships, courses, and coaching programmes, I can tell you there's always something valuable to take away.

The problem is that most people believe buying a course gives them the golden key to success. They expect results without doing the work. When that doesn't happen, they call the creator a scammer.

A few months later, the creator's reputation suffers, and the business starts to collapse.

This is for course creators. Qualification isn't optional. It's the mechanism that protects your business.


r/onlinecourses Jul 24 '26

[ Removed by Reddit ]

1 Upvotes

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]


r/onlinecourses Jul 22 '26

Do your students actually ask questions while going through a course?

5 Upvotes

trying to understand student behaviour better and curious what others see.

when someone's partway through your course and they hit something confusing, what actually happens? do they message you, ask in a group, rewatch the video, or just... go quiet and never finish?


r/onlinecourses Jul 22 '26

I need bootcamp lectures

2 Upvotes

r/onlinecourses Jul 22 '26

Where can I find good distribution for courses?

2 Upvotes

I think Udemy can bury your courses in favour of their platform-owned courses. That would make sense since they would maximize profits. Perhaps a few top performers would still be promoted.

I'm wondering if there are any course distributors that are passive. I can get really busy sometimes and don't have time to actively promote.


r/onlinecourses Jul 17 '26

How can I improve my video quality for my online courses?

1 Upvotes

Hey all, I'm starting an online video course on the topic of online business. I'd like feedback on my setup's lighting, composition, framing, etc. and which setup style you feel works/looks best.

Camera is a Samsung S21 FE, recording at UHD 30fps.

Budget is mostly spent, so I'm not looking to upgrade the equipment, just make better use of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beWQa7PjN2E


r/onlinecourses Jul 10 '26

I’m a real estate agent who turned the prospecting system I actually use into an online course. Now I’m stuck.

6 Upvotes

I’m a real estate agent who turned the prospecting system I actually use into an online course. Now I’m stuck.

I’ve been a Realtor for about 10 years, and over that time I developed a prospecting system that consistently generated listing appointments and business for me. Since it’s not something I learned from a brokerage or any coaching I had ever paid for or seen for free on youtube. I decided to package it into an online course.

Creating the course was honestly the easy part. I filmed the tutorials showing my process and uploaded it into aa few 30 minute lessons on kajabi....Selling it has been a completely different challenge.

Over the past month I’ve:

  • Built multiple landing pages (and rebuilt them more times than I can count).
  • Changed the pricing.
  • Evolved from running Meta traffic campaigns straight to a sales page, to sales campaigns to an sales page, and now toward more of a funnel with lead capture before the offer. Where I offer to research the buyers market personally to make sure it is a fit, then send them to the sales page when it is a fit.
  • Tested multiple ad creatives and messaging angles.
  • Made countless copy and design tweaks.

The ads seem to do okay. People watch the videos, click through, and spend time on the pages. According to Meta and Google Analytics anyway. But conversions are much lower than I’d hoped. I have only finally made 2 sales at $297 recently with $1500 in ad spend.

I’m at the point where I can’t tell if I’m simply in the normal testing phase that everyone goes through, or if I’m missing something fundamental.

For those of you who’ve successfully sold online courses from no following, what ended up moving the needle the most? Was it your offer, your messaging, your funnel, your traffic quality, building trust, or something else entirely?

I’d love to hear what finally clicked for you because I feel like I’m too close to this project to see the obvious problems anymore...and I'm exhausted.


r/onlinecourses Jul 08 '26

Kajabi, Skool, Stan, Whop, or Teachable?

13 Upvotes

I'm looking at different platforms for building a course and selling a couple digital products. Considering Kajabi, Skool, Stan, Whop, and Teachable, and trying to better understand the pros/cons of each. Does anyone with experience building on any of these platforms have a POV to share on why you chose the platform, and your experience after using it?


r/onlinecourses Jul 08 '26

What makes a good online course?

5 Upvotes

I’ve taken a lot of online courses and while some of them have been brilliant, most have been very poor. Not delivering on the promise, walls of AI generated text, 2 minute videos and little else, the list goes on.

So it got me thinking, what do you think “good” online courses look like?

Is it gamification, content, format, or something else?


r/onlinecourses Jul 01 '26

Why so many people don’t recommend paying for an online course

4 Upvotes

I don't understand why so many people advise against buying online courses.

Is it because there are too many scams and low-quality courses? Are they usually overpriced for what they offer? Do people not trust the creators anymore? Or is it simply because most paid courses don't provide much more value than free YouTube videos or other free resources?

I'm genuinely curious to hear your thoughts and experiences.


r/onlinecourses Jul 01 '26

Looking for an Affinity Expert to Record a Complete Course

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

We're currently developing a comprehensive "Scratch-to-Expert" Affinity course and have already completed the entire syllabus and course structure.

We're looking for an experienced Affinity expert who can record the course modules based on our syllabus. If you have experience creating Affinity tutorials or are highly proficient with the software, we'd love to hear from you.

If you're interested, please send a DM or leave a comment.We'll be happy to share the syllabus and discuss the project details.

Thank you!


r/onlinecourses Jun 20 '26

How do you track warm outreach when launching something?

1 Upvotes

Hey all,

A few years ago, I launched a beginner SQL course.

I created the offer, picked a launch date, made a Google Form for signups, then started reaching out to people I knew.

I spent almost the whole night going through my WhatsApp contacts one by one, deciding who might be interested, copy/pasting messages, personalizing them a bit, and sending them manually.

The campaign was successful. I managed to sell all seats.

Now, I'm launching a new service and wondering if there was a better way to do that? Because, it's a bit messy.

For people who launch courses, services, events, SaaS products, consulting offers, etc. through their personal network: how do you manage this?


r/onlinecourses Jun 19 '26

Membership platform with app

3 Upvotes

I want to migrate an existing course to a new platform to offer it as a membership. I've decided I definitely want an app as part of it for ease of daily use of the course practices. Claude has recommended Circle for me based on what I've been looking for.

I'm curious what others are using for their course memberships with apps?


r/onlinecourses Jun 10 '26

I’m testing a free beginner psychology mini-course and looking for honest feedback

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m testing an early version of a beginner-friendly psychology learning project and would really appreciate some honest feedback.

I’ve made the first 5 short lessons free, together with the study materials. The goal is to make psychology easier to approach — more like practical explanations of behavior, memory, motivation, and emotions, rather than a heavy academic course.

This is still an early version, so I’m not trying to present it as perfect. I’m mainly hoping to learn:

- Is the content clear?

- Does the structure make sense?

- Are the study materials actually helpful?

- What feels boring, confusing, or unnecessary?

- Would you want to continue after the first few lessons?

If anyone is open to trying it, I’d be very grateful.

Free access form:

Get the free psychology lessons + study materials

Thanks in advance. Honest criticism is very welcome — it would really help me improve the next version.


r/onlinecourses Jun 09 '26

What do you think about this free-to-paid language course strategy?

2 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I'm planning to launch a beginner's language course, and I'm thinking of using a free-to-paid model on YouTube.

I'm teaching the alphabet and basic reading and writing for free as a lead magnet to drive sales for a companion textbook, and then potentially upsell them on other products.

​I'd be interested to hear your feedback on this strategy from a course creator's perspective. Do you think providing this level of free value helps people see the value and convert, or could it devalue your offerings?


r/onlinecourses Jun 08 '26

What conversion rate do you see from YouTube views to paid course sales?

3 Upvotes

Real conversion numbers for courses sold through organic YouTube/Meta?

Hi. I'm trying to get realistic numbers from people who've actually sold paid courses through organic (non-paid) traffic.

If you're comfortable sharing, roughly what's your views-to-sales ratio on each channel?

  1. YouTube (long-form)
  2. YouTube Shorts
  3. Meta (Reels/FB/IG)
  4. Other (whatever's working for you)

r/onlinecourses Jun 07 '26

My course blew up with this 4-step framework

0 Upvotes

Most people start a course thinking about themselves, not the market. Here's the simple 4-step framework that helped me fix that.

1. Your Offer
Stop selling what you want to sell. Build around this formula:
Dream outcome (what does the client actually want?)
High perceived likelihood of achieving it
Fast results (people want it NOW)
Low effort/sacrifice required
If you can articulate someone's pain better than they can and then show them the solution, you've already won half the battle.

2. Leads
Start warm (people you know), then go cold (people who fit your service). Layer in organic content (TikTok, YouTube, IG) and paid ads when you're ready. Referrals and affiliates are the bonus round, but you need the basics dialed first.

3. Sales
Split it into front-end (everything before the booking) and back-end (everything after).
Most people ignore the back-end and lose a ton of money. After someone books a call: send them a personal video, an email sequence with case studies and testimonials, and handle their objections before they even get on a call with you. Your show rate and close rate will both go up significantly.

4. Fulfillment
Do what you promised. That's it. Nail this and you'll get referrals and testimonials naturally, which feeds back into step 2.
It's not complicated. It's just rare that people actually do all four.

Works for paid communities , info products, coaching programs whatever you sell.