How to sell online courses: Tips and examples

(Last Updated On: November 2, 2023)

Have you been looking to create and sell online courses in India and wondering where to start? If so, then this is a great time to get into the e-learning industry as more people switch to online methods of learning. In this complete guide, we will show you how to sell online courses in India with live examples of some great home-grown platforms. 

Let’s get started.

Why sell online courses in India?

Selling online courses in India is a smart choice due to these key reasons:

• High demand: India has a strong appetite for education and skill development.
• Digital access: Widespread smartphone and internet access make online courses accessible to millions.
• Diverse learning needs: Various subjects and skills cater to India’s diverse population.
• Convenience: Online courses offer flexibility and cost-effective learning.
• Government support: Government initiatives boost online learning opportunities.
• Entrepreneurial potential: Monetize expertise and reach a global audience.
• Scalability: Courses can be sold to unlimited students without major additional costs.
• Data insights: Analyse student data for continuous improvement.

Is selling online courses worth it?

If you are wondering whether you should start teaching online or selling online courses, we can answer your questions. Is teaching online profitable? Hell yeah! Here is some data that will get you really excited about teaching online.

According to Statista, the revenue of online learning platforms in India is expected to grow by 11.39%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$7.28bn by 2027. Experts are attributing this massive growth in online learning to the number of smartphone and internet users in India!

That’s just the market size. But how much money can you make by teaching online or selling online courses?

You can earn an average of ₹15000/- by creating online courses, according to a report by KPMG.

What courses to sell online in India?

Your income will greatly depend on the type and details of the course. To give you an overview of what the market looks like for different types of courses, we gathered this data from the Economic Times:

While the above graph shows the general categories of courses, you can practically teach anything online. It depends on your skills and how much you can customise and gamify the content of your course.

List of top online courses:

• Digital marketing courses
• Baking and cooking courses
• Skill development courses
• Public speaking courses
• IAS coaching courses
• CA/CPT coaching courses
• IELTS coaching
• Photography courses
• Soft Skills courses
• Data science courses
• Mental health courses
• Career coaching courses
• Writing and blogging courses

Given how the number of people looking to upskill/reskill – these are some of the most popular subjects that people generally search for when looking to learn something online. Here are the top 25 online courses in India list.

How to decide what to sell online in India?

You can sell online courses for free, depending on how skilled you are at a topic. The first step would be to identify if your course will be based on your knowledge/ hobby/ a personal transformation/things you are simply good at

Jot down at least 10-15 topic ideas and start your research on what’s already there in the market on those topics. This will help you make your course unique

Once you have narrowed down your topics, float the idea to potential students/course takers on social media or forums where people can discuss it. You can create a form to take a survey from interested users

Finalize the course topic depending on user research.

Some points to keep in mind when creating your online course:

💡  Once you have decided on the topic, it would be a great time to decide on the format of your course – video, text, audio, etc.

💡  People like to take courses that are actionable, give maximum value for their time and money, and are easy to understand. Craft your course in such a way that it becomes irresistible for the person taking it.

💡  Gamify your content: add quizzes, GIFs, videos and reward the person at the end of the course or chapter to egg them on to taking other courses and build stickiness for your online courses.

How to start selling online courses

Now, if you’re considering venturing into this space, this step-by-step procedure will help you get started on the path to creating and selling successful online courses.

• Define your niche: Choose a topic you’re passionate about and identify your target audience.
• Research competition: Study similar courses to find your unique selling points.
• Plan your content: Create a clear course outline with modules and lessons.
• Choose the format: Select the content format (videos, text, quizzes) that suits your audience.
• Create quality content: Invest in good equipment and create engaging, informative content.
• Pick a platform: Use platforms like Udemy, Teachable, or your website with eCommerce capabilities.
• Set a competitive price: Research and price your course reasonably.
• Write a compelling description: Describe the benefits of your course persuasively.
• Market your course: Use social media, email marketing, content marketing, and SEO to promote it.
• Engage with students: Build a community by providing support and feedback.
• Gather feedback: Continuously improve your course based on student input.

Related read: Sell online easily: The ultimate guide for beginners

Which platforms to use to sell online courses?

If you are thinking of where can I sell my course online, then this is a perfect section for you. 

Once you are ready with your course material, it’s time to look for a way to host the course content online and let your students/users consume your course.

So, where to sell online courses? There are several paid platforms that are built to support online teaching, but there are some free unconventional ways that you can teach on without paying for software.

Before we start, there are a few things you’d want to consider before choosing an online course selling platform:

• What format is your course in?
• Do you want to track students/users data?
• Want to collect payments for online course?
• Are you offering a mix of free and premium courses?
• Giving a certificate of completion after the course?
• Do you want to run marketing campaigns for your users?

Jot down the answers to each of these questions and jump to this list.

We will cover 5 best platform to sell online courses in India, along with some LIVE examples from the platform. We want to keep the list as diverse as possible, so we are covering one of each type.

1. Create your own landing page

A landing page is a one-page website that is designed to convert visitors into paying customers. Therefore, you can sell online courses from your own website or a landing page which is considered as a great way to start, especially if you want to stay independent of third-party course platforms.

You can create a landing page to sell online courses with a landing page builder like Instamojo Smart Page. To get started, sign up for free and start adding your page content. Write attractive headlines, add details of the course, and insert images.

With Instamojo Smart Pages, you can create and publish a page for your online course within minutes. You can then promote it across social channels or run ads.

Here’s an example of a Smart Page for a web development course:

To launch your course with a landing page, get started with Smart Pages.

Create a landing page

2. Teachable

This platform is a paid tool. It is built for anyone that wants to create customized courses and offers flexible customization plans. It allows you to:

• Host audio, video, and text files.
• It helps you collect students’ data, gives you in-depth insights on active students, course completions
• Allows you to send emails directly from the dashboard to users that take your course
• Has webhook abilities
• Allows you to collect payments on the platform while also giving the flexibility to offer free courses

Basic plans start from ₹2000/- per month! Check the teachable full pricing here.

There are other similar platforms like ThinkFic that offer similar product features at a similar price.

LIVE Example: How we built mojoVersity – India’s first learning platform for entrepreneurs and small businesses in just one month on teachable.

mojoVersity is a one-of-a-kind platform that hosts FREE online courses on all business aspects. We partnered with subject-matter experts to design courses on topics like GST, Email Marketing, Funding and more. 

Today, mojoVersity has, 8000+ unique businesses enrolled in the platform.

Anyone can easily take a course on mojoVersity. Just enter an email id, create a password and the user gets lifetime access to all courses and even a dashboard of their own.

They can also access the courses on any device, on any browser, and learn about any business concept in under 1 hour.

3. WordPress LMS

If you want greater customization and flexibility for your online school – there is nothing better than having your own website.

WordPress is the king of customizable websites and has specific learning management system plugins that can get you started with selling online courses in India easily.

Before choosing a WordPress LMS plugin, be sure to check out all the features it allows you to customize. We found a great WordPress LMS plugins list that can help you start teaching online.

Some of our personal favourites are:

• LearnDash
• Sensei
• LifterLMS

Most of them come at a small price. The larger the list of features the plugin supports, the more expensive it is. The good plugins start from around ₹1800. Some have free versions too.

Collect payments for your online course hosted on LMS like Teachable or ThinkFic with Instamojo.

While LMSes like teachable and Thinkfic already have their own payment gateway integrations, you can easily collect payments with Instamojo by just using Zapier webhooks with your LMS.

The Instamojo Zapier app allows you to get customer data, customer dropoffs, and more data.

Try adding filters on Zapier along with teachable and Instamojo zaps to get your desired results.

This way, you can manage all your payments and users’ data on one single dashboard!

4. YouTube or Zoom/Google Hangouts

Now, this is one of the unconventional ways that you can easily sell your online courses on. If you want to teach a LIVE class, Zoom, Google Meets, or any other meeting tool can easily allow you to gate the number of students.

YouTube, too, has a private link option that allows your users to see your content specifically.

Related read: How to start selling on YouTube in 2023: organic growth mastery

Combine this with Instamojo and you are all set to go! You can manage all your course and student details on the Instamojo dashboard.

You can also host your course files – like e-books, videos, etc on the Instamojo online store and start selling courses online easily.

Just place the Instamojo registration link on your YouTube description or in the calendar invite of your online class meeting, and you’re good to go.

You can also create a landing page for your courses on Instamojo and manage student purchases directly.

LIVE Example: See how Deepak Kanakaraju manages his digital marketing courses on Instamojo.

LIVE Example: SeemaYoga teaches yoga online on Zoom and uses Instamojo to manage registrations

5. Build email lists to promote your course 

Email marketing should be your number 1 priority when promoting and marketing your online course.

Use surveys, quizzes and social media to generate a buzz around the course. Slowly start collecting leads for your email marketing subscription base.

Also, target your previously built email lists to promote the course in a wide variety of audiences.

How to make money selling online courses?

Adding a price tag to your online course may seem easy, but there is a science to it. As mentioned in an earlier pointer, people want to take courses that offer great value for their money, and that’s why pricing your course in an optimum way is very important.

You want your users to become repeat users and keep adding value for them. We found this easy online course price calculator from teachable that can help you easily determine the price of your course.

How much can you make selling online courses?

The potential income from selling online courses in India can vary widely, depending on several factors, as mentioned in the previous response. Here’s a general range to provide you with an idea:

• Low end: On the lower end, if you create a basic course, offer it for free or at a very low cost, and don’t invest much in marketing, you might earn a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of rupees annually.
• Mid-range: With a well-structured course, effective marketing, and a moderate pricing strategy, you could earn anywhere from ₹1,00,000 to ₹5,00,000 per year. This range is where many online educators and small-scale course creators typically fall.
• High end: With multiple in-demand courses, advanced marketing, strong branding, and ongoing improvements, you can earn several lakhs to crores annually.

Collect payments for your online course with Instamojo smart links

Once you’re done with determining the price of the course, here are some cool ways to collect payments for your online course.

You can collect payments for your course by just copy-pasting an Instamojo payment or smart link. It allows your user to pay you with any mode of payment including UPI, Google Pay, and NEFT.

Collect payments for your online course using Instamojo embed payment button or Instamojo APIs and Plugins.

If you’re using WordPress or your own website to sell your course online, you can embed a payment button by copy+pasting code. Alternatively, you can use our vast library of APIs and plugins for greater customization.

More than 10,000 online tutors, coaches, and teachers are selling courses online in India with Instamojo. It’s just as easy as 1-2-3.

You can too!

Start selling on Instamojo