With the heightened decrease in the attention span of consumers, creating mini courses has become more popular than ever. If you wonder if it will be worth the effort and if there’s any point in investing your time to create one, the simple answer is yes! A simple bite-sized course can actually benefit you in ways you wouldn’t even have imagined. The mini-course will not only be a great learning experience for the learners, but a good quality mini-course can actually be used as a part of the marketing funnel and attract new leads. To be more specific, if you are exploring ideas for how to generate leads for online courses or how to promote your coaching business, this is for you!
Mini-courses have their own set of benefits for both seasoned knowledge entrepreneurs and people who are rookies and are seeking more knowledge in their respective fields. Let us dive a little deeper into the mini-course creator, learn about its benefits and help you pick a good topic. We won’t only discuss know-how but also the most effective marketing strategies to get the most out of it.
Reasons why you should create a mini-course?
It helps generate leads
Among various lead magnet ideas, free mini-courses prove to be one of the best interactive content to capture leads, especially among people who would be extremely interested in the content. Online courses fall under the category of competitive hobbies. You have a competitive advantage over course producers who don’t have a similar product by providing a gratis. Additionally, a lead magnet will help you establish a conversation with potential customers by gathering their contact information. Even if they aren’t ready to enroll in a big course or interested in your coaching business right away, you’ll be able to send your prospects offers and news until they come across anything that piques their interest. A mini-course is a wonderful idea to market online courses.
You may think a simple “subscribe” CTA button on your landing page will also do. You sure about that? We think otherwise, and here’s why!
Get more “quality” leads
If you are fed up with high unsubscribe rates from your newsletters, tired of spending time with free meetings that lead up to nowhere, and looking for ways to get more quality leads, it’s time for you to try a mini-course!
If a customer is already into what you present in the mini-course, they will complete the funnel and reach your CTA at the end.
Stop wasting your precious time by offering free meetings directly, but offer them to the ones who completed your mini-course first. Similarly, you can improve your email newsletter statistics by collecting emails only from the leads who proceed deep enough into your funnel, which is a mini-course. If you’re interested in the idea, keep reading from here.
Once they are created and embedded on your landing pages, mini-courses work on their own to bring you leads! You can show your expertise, make quizzes for your audience to make them understand what you have to offer, and also collect information about your customer profile.
It is super easy to create one!
If you aim to create educational material to generate leads, communicate with your audience, and nurture your leads, mini-courses are enough for you. You don’t need to get into complicated LMS tools or any other macro course builder.
With so little time and no learning curve, you can immediately start creating micro-learning journeys for your landing page, email newsletters, and social media with Mini Course Generator. You can create content even faster with the AI Assistant that completes your text for you and speeds up the process. Watch the video below to see how easy it is to create content with our AI-Assistant:
As we have already mentioned, it is super easy to create a mini-course. Yet, it is even easier to share it. You can present a social-friendly link to your audience or simply embed the mini-course in your webpage. Your audience does not have to log in to view it and is free to explore your work. They go into your funnel and get closer to being your client seamlessly.
It allows you to get into the coaching & online course business
A newcomer to the industry? Creating the perfect course/program and meeting the first clients is very hard. Here is what you need to know: Sell first, then create!
You can only create the perfect course by knowing what your audience needs to learn from you. A mini-course, whether free or paid (at a fair fee), is a clever method to entice people to give you a chance and discover for themselves your level of expertise in your industry.
Besides, as a mini-course is interactive, you can get your audience into the game and collect information about their needs and expectations for a bigger offer. You can use your mini-course to get your foot in the door and make a sale before creating a whole program according to clients’ needs and expectations.
You can showcase your expertise
Marketing is hard! Yet, it becomes easier with functional content material that is easy to share and experience, allowing people to know you better. This entails figuring out how to convince people that you’re worth their money.
Create a mini-course to summarize your services, add quiz questions to boost interactivity, and collect contact information on the way.
Reminder: If you want to monetize your mini-course, even the one you use for lead generation, you can arrange to make it partially accessible for free! Mini Course Generator has direct Stripe integration, and you can charge for a mini-course wholly or partially.
You get to have some positive online reviews
Everyone appreciates positive reinforcement and a sincere compliment for a job well done. When selling a course online, these “compliments” must be present on your landing pages in order to foster trust and enhance conversion rates.
It stands to reason that you will receive more reviews as more individuals enroll in your courses. Since a mini-course is accessible without a login barrier, typically free or less expensive, and demands less time commitment, it will draw more participants. Therefore, a mini-course would work wonders if you want to increase the number of testimonials on your website.
Lets you build excitement before launching a full course
Have you been trying to think of unique ways to sell your course? A great strategy for promoting a long-form course you are creating is to create a mini-course.
A mini-course is easy to complete and creates a sense of achievement in a short time. Besides, it is interactive and includes quizzes, surveys, and conditional messages depending on the score. Thus, you can show people what will change in their life after completing the full course by presenting the mini-course first.
Reminder: You can represent a mini-course AFTER the full course, too! Hence, you can present a recap, reinforce the learning materials with questions, and collect feedback.
If you do go ahead with this plan, it’s recommended that you give the mini-course away for free. Aside from the fact that anyone will rarely pay twice for the same course, this will definitely boost interest in your premium course.
Get a quick win
A mini-course is an inexpensive venture that can nevertheless be profitable. You can quickly produce videos and infographics, or you may recycle information you already have. Repurposing your content is a great idea. You can use the AI Assistant to produce even faster, and, your short course is prepared! If you already have a following, you can begin selling to build an audience or make some extra money quickly.
Play it safe
One of the challenges novice course makers face is the significant time and financial commitment required to produce their first course. However, a mini-course enables you to test the waters before starting an online school. It allows you to gauge your interest in what you’re teaching and to gather suggestions and feedback that you can then use to improve your long-form course.
Next up is coming up with ideas for your mini-course
Choosing a subject to teach is the first step in creating a course. You need to pick a topic that you are familiar with as a jumping off point. To what extent, though, does this suffice? We’ve compiled a list of questions you should ask yourself before deciding which path to take.
What are the different areas of expertise that you possess?
Okay, so first things first: what is it that you actually know how to teach? Something you’ve studied in college or mastered on the job is a good example, but it doesn’t have to be. You can even teach something you enjoy doing for enjoyment; in fact, here is where the real fun lies. Why not turn your talent for creating beautiful wall art into a lucrative career?
How fervently do you feel about this topic?
Even if you are a skilled marketer, do you really want to spend hours writing a course on marketing? (We are not making any inferences here.) The point is that it takes more than knowledge to be an effective teacher. To bring this energy and passion to your course and inspire the same in your students, you must truly love what you’re teaching.
How well-known is this subject matter?
People are more willing to pay money to learn about something if it’s popular; therefore if a topic is trending, then (or they are already). How would you know?
- Google it! You may find a boatload of ideas using tools for keyword research like Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner.
- Keep a close eye on the various social media sites. Check out places like Reddit and Quora to see if there is any discussion going on about this. If you’re an instructor of either hard or soft skills with a practical application in the business, such as time management, you should definitely look at LinkedIn.
- Look for communities that already exist and examine the questions that are being asked on these platforms. Facebook groups, Discord, or Slack servers can be good places to look into.
- Get the students’ input. If you already run an online academy, you may ask students if they would be interested in taking a course on the subject you’re considering. Alternatively, enquire with them about related courses that could be of their interest.
💡 Reminder! You can always use a mini-course to test and validate your course idea before building a full-length piece of content.
Can this be broken down into a shorter course?
While you can’t guarantee that your students will learn “Master Astronomy in Under an Hour,” you can guarantee that they will learn a “Introduction to the Universe” and some salient details about the solar system. For the most part, even difficult subjects can be covered in a mini-course; you simply need to be realistic about how far the course can go.
💡 Reminder! You can create collections of mini-courses! Each mini-course in the collection will represent a chapter of your program, and creating a collection allows you to present them in a tidy and ordered way. Click here to learn more about collections.
What kind of competition do we have in this industry?
Look what students are saying about courses and social media. Are students lamenting the lack of opportunity for hands-on learning in the courses? Is the topic sort of a hot trend amongst the students in a discussion forum?
Do as the successful have done, and you won’t have to worry about making the same mistakes. If your issue is well-covered, think about approaching it differently.
What kind of educator are you?
Choosing a topic to be a competent teacher may not be necessary, but it is imperative to pose this question before moving on. That’s why we threw it in as a freebie. If you don’t have an aptitude for imparting knowledge or any expertise teaching, a hot topic, and your passion won’t cut it. It’s not everyone’s strong suit to keep an audience engaged.
The answer? Start producing instructional videos for your upcoming students. Don’t fret about coming off as flat in your first few attempts; this can be worked upon with practice. Ask your friends to watch the videos and give you their brutally honest opinions.
A brief guide to creating your mini-course
Sure about the topic you want to pick? Awesome! Take this step-by-step guide that tells you how to generate your own mini-course. Use these instructions as your mini-course template while creating.
Step 1: Specify the objectives
Determining the objectives is crucial, and we cannot emphasize this enough. Choosing and organizing the mini-course material will be easier if you’ve done a good job of identifying learning objectives and course outcomes. You can’t select appropriate material for a course’s intended learning outcomes unless you have some idea of those outcomes in advance.
Besides, from lead generation point of view, you need to decide what you want to achieve at the end of the mini-course. Do you need more visits to your website, do you need more emails, do you need more one-on-one meetings? Depending on your aim, add appropriate elements and customize your mini-course.
Promoting the course more successfully is another benefit of establishing objectives. If the value isn’t made clear, your intended audience won’t be interested enough. Even while the short course gives the impression of being a sample, it is much more than that. Make it clear to them why your course is worthwhile.
Step 2: Develop learner/buyer personas
The following set of questions will help you gain insight into your clients and guide your content creation in the proper way.
Where do my clients stand in terms of their knowledge?
Whether or not the subject of your mini-course is of academic interest, it is important to keep in mind that user experience with the subject differs. Choose whether you’re going to develop an introductory course or a “cheat sheet” with specialized advice for more experienced people.
💡 Reminder! You can start with presenting a quiz in the first place to segment your leads according to their knowledge levels. In Mini Course Generator, it is possible to display conditional specialized messages depending on knowledge level. This way, you can direct people to another mini-course that matches their score and build personalized communication, which is one of the wonderful ideas for lead generation with micro-content.
What drives them to join?
In most cases, this is determined by the nature of the content material and the final offer that you want to promote. What is your business about that you’d like to promote with a micro-learning journey?
Suppose you sell your online courses about home-made pottery. People may start your short lesson about “Pottery 101” to see if they are interested in the subject and, in the end, enroll in your macro course afterward to pick up a new hobby.
Similarly, if you are a wellness coach, trainer, or consultant, you may present a survey or a quiz in a mini-course with short videos. In the end, you may direct your leads to book a one-on-one call with you. A mini-course is a wonderful step into content marketing for coaches.
You can alter your tone to fit the situation by keeping in mind the marketing objectives.
Step 3: Select a Platform for Creating Courses
Choosing a platform to build your mini-course on is another crucial step. Making the right choice here becomes an important aspect, and our Mini Course Generator helps you do just that, convert cold visitors into engaged audiences and start monetizing your valuable content.
Course platforms like Thinkific, Teachable, Udemy, Kajabi, etc. are great to help you prepare a full-fledged course. Yet, if your aim is to create mini courses for lead generation without hindering with too many complexities or features, or you do not want your clients to deal with a login barrier before viewing the content, Mini Course Generator is the go-to tool for you. Digital marketing for coaches and online course creators doesn’t involve an LMS necessarily. Save time and build interactive mini-courses with speed since their simplicity makes it all the easier to operate. Customize the layout of your Mini-course in coherence with your branding needs. What’s more, you can integrate with mailing platforms to automate your newsletter subscriptions directly on your mini course.
If you need to increase your landing page activity, simply embed a single interactive mini course directly on your website, like capsules for interactive content that can easily be placed anywhere. Create your mini-course in no time with us in these few simple steps:
- Create
- Customize
- Add Call to Action
- Share your work
Step 4: Establish a course outline
The same principles that apply to long-form courses apply to your mini-course. You still need to consider what goes where and which learning materials will help you reach your objectives, even if you only provide a few modules.
It is important to outline so you can organize your thoughts and design a course that flows.
💡 Reminder! In Mini Course Generator, you can create a mini-course by adding different content cards after each other. It is as simple as that!
So when you begin establishing an outline, start by adding your cards and type a few sentences. You can fill those cards later on easily with the help of the brand new AI Assistant.
Step 5: Begin Producing Content
The crucial time has come. Now is the time to create your micro-course. The content kinds listed below are all excellent options for your mini-course:
- Videos: A classic instructional tool, video content has great engagement potential – as long as you bring your enthusiasm to the lesson! Use microlearning films that are under 10 minutes, or even shorter in length since this is a mini-course.
The most effective method for outlining procedures and displaying practical abilities is video. In a recent TechSmith study, 83% of participants preferred viewing video tutorials to reading or listening to them. It also makes total sense.
- Interactivity elements like surveys and quizzes: With a mini-course, you have the ability to start a conversation instantly and make the communication two-sided. You can not only make the content more appealing and engaging for your leads but also get a lot of information about them along the way.
Whenever you think of ebooks vs. mini-courses, keep this in mind! Mini courses provide a variety of content, and they are interactive.
How can you promote your mini-course to generate leads?
Mini-course with massive gains! However, you must spread the word if you want to generate the leads you desire. Here are some strategies for publicizing your mini-course and reaching your intended audience:
Embed on your website and landing pages
We have seen embedded mini-courses cheer up landing pages from day 1! Interactive content such as a mini-course embedded on your website is totally a game changer for your lead generation and lead nurturing strategy. You can see an example mini course embedded in this very page, below. It is a mini-course prepared by Malcolm Dewey, a painting artist and an art coach. Malcolm uses this mini-course to promote his business.
You can easily embed content with js codes and also directly use MCG WordPress Plug-In if your website is built on WordPress. Watch the 4-min tutorial below to see how to embed courses on your WordPress website:
Email advertising
Refresh your email list and begin communicating with those who are already in your contacts. You don’t yet have a strong mailing list! Start slowly but surely. Mini courses allow you to grow your mailing list more effectively and increase the performance of your email marketing campaigns. Here are more details!
Social media
Share the news on your social media profiles with pride. Do not be timid! To share your mini-course, participate in pertinent social media discussions and groups on Facebook, Reddit, and Quora.
All in all…
Now that you have understood the importance of mini-courses in lead generation, why not start with something more useful and likely to get successful? We hope that reading this article has given you the motivation and inspiration to turn your expertise into a mini-course!
The versatile nature of mini-courses got your back when it comes to reaching more people with micro effort! Several use cases are possible, including those presented in this article. Discover several more ideas on our blog.
So go ahead and create a mini-course with Mini Course Generator to achieve more with ease and speed! Get started for free today!