Are you interested in transforming your life’s experience into something tangible? Perhaps, even eternal? Maybe you’ve already written a book and are looking for ways to increase engagement in this digital landscape. Frankly, people are hungry for original content. That’s why sharing knowledge and making money on the web has become more common than ever.
From creating social content via TikTok or Youtube, to selling subscriptions to exclusive content; finding ways to make passive income streams online has become a lifestyle for many. We’re learning more about the diversity of knowledge across the world and how to find gifted individuals in every avenue of life. I sat with Educative’s author acquisition experts, Andrew Crow and David Geisbush, to better understand how and why software developers, engineering managers, and thought leaders choose to build courses. From our conversation, I summarized some of their key points for why creating a course benefits your career and personal brand. Spoiler alert: it’s not just about the money.
Diversify revenue and visibility
Earn passive income by teaching what you love
With Educative, you’ll have access to simple yet powerful tools designed to build the best learning environments. Start building your course today at your own pace.
Diversify revenue and visibility#
Make a course, and you will make money. While a new source of revenue is far from the only reason to create a course, it can be compelling for many. But how do you go from making free content to paid? You start low, maybe even just $1. Once you realize that your knowledge is valuable, the doors are open. Why stop at $1? Spread more of your knowledge, sell more of your content, and soon you’ll see that $1 grow exponentially. The first hurdle? Recognize the value of your experience and knowledge.
International reach#
Building a course expands your revenue stream to an international audience and creates resources accessible to anyone with internet access. Your content has the potential to generate revenue outside of your local area and expand your reach.
Our courses are accessed by people worldwide, and we’re constantly looking for ways to expand that reach. Marketing and communication are essential for developing your personal brand name, but doing it yourself can take away hours from your day. Offload that responsibility to our dedicated teams by making your course through Educative. Instead, you can spend that time with other people or tasks that matter.
Low upfront costs on digital outlets#
Unlike traditional means of sharing knowledge through books and videos, creating an online course requires a minimal upfront investment beyond the time needed to develop the course. Books demand proofreaders, designers, and publishers to make the final product. Likewise, videos also require expensive production equipment.
Building a text-based online course just requires a laptop with internet access. A team of designers, proofreaders, marketers, and advisors are bundled together to bring your course to the finish line and start earning you passive revenue.
Elevate your authority and credibility#
Becoming a leader in your industry takes time, and it all starts with sharing your depth of knowledge. As you find more channels to share your expertise and participate in more conversations, people will start to notice your name. You may have noticed other leaders invest a great deal of time speaking for conferences, participating in videos, or creating content to share their knowledge. You can do the same by creating courses. As a result, other developers or leaders will start looking to you for guidance and inspiration.
Gain traction early#
In 2020, The Grandview Research reported that the educational technology (EdTech) industry is valued at almost $90 billion and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.6%. Compare that to the valuation of $12.8 billion in 2018.
What does this mean for people like you? There’s a huge market potential for courses about your skill right now, and demand for good technical courses continues to rise. By setting yourself up as a credible and authoritative voice in EdTech early, you’ll capitalize on the growing industry in the future. Timing can make or break it for any successful venture, and you have the opportunity to take advantage of that optimal time window.
Become a thought leader in your field#
Companies like LeadDev thrive on thought leadership by bringing leaders in the tech industry to conferences and seminars. You might be asking, “Why?”. Thought leadership holds immense value and influence over the rapidly growing tech industry. Developers and engineering managers are looking for leaders in their field to provide guidance in solving technical or managerial challenges in tech. As you become a thought leader in your field, you’re also preparing for tomorrow’s competitive tech landscape.
Nowadays, retention and job satisfaction are a top of mind concerns for any leadership role. Not only will courses promote your company’s brand, but it will also benefit your career in the long run. To put it simply, great leaders attract great developers.
Spread your influence#
Courses can be your first step to becoming an influencer within a knowledgeable community. While some aren’t particularly fond of the term “influencer,” the term describes an individual’s ability to draw a following of people eager to consume their new content. Building a course provides the catalyst to help spread your name and personal brand in the form of shareable knowledge. Your content also provides value to your users to succeed in their profession and brings you gratification for assisting someone’s career growth.
Share your knowledge for others#
Education stands as an essential pillar of development and for good reason. Access to knowledge and information drives success in today’s world. Many of our course creators wish to provide quality learning content to underprivileged students without the hefty price tag. Regardless of where people are worldwide, your course is for anyone with a couple bucks and a desire to learn. Alongside this altruistic mindset, sharing your knowledge brings other benefits to your personal and professional career.
Grow communities surrounding your brand#
Creating a course online through Educative or other course websites combines your immediate audience with the users of the platform you choose. Similar to the concept of Youtuber collaborations, they participate in content for another channel to draw the attention of two communities instead of one. Like any symbiotic relationship, it’s a win-win for both parties involved.
Increase engagement and learning efficiency#
Practice makes perfect, and nobody ever learned to swim without jumping into the water. Sharing technical content through books can be a helpful resource, but efficient learning requires a practice environment.
The beauty behind online courses comes from pairing the intellectual property in your words with the interactive components of an online platform. You’ll be able to provide your learners with quizzes, built-in learning environments, and a progress tracker to keep them engaged. The best part? Your learners will appreciate your content in its most engaging form and learn faster.
Accessibility#
Whether your preferred platform is blogs, community feeds, or Twitter, sharing knowledge is a charitable and rewarding commitment. For this very reason, some of you may already be deeply invested in mentorship and growing less experienced developers through your following. A course online aggregates knowledge and information you may have already shared into one easily accessible platform.
Bring your existing work to life.#
Already have content, but not sure how to make it into a course? No problem, we’ll convert it for you. Our team of subject-matter experts, proofreaders, and designers will handle the course creation process from start to finish.
Wrapping up#
Today, we covered how creating a course can help your career and personal brand through a variety of reasons. We covered how courses can improve revenue and visibility, elevate your authority and credibility, and share your knowledge to others.
At Educative, we believe that access to high-quality technical content can be a driver to helping individuals find success in their careers as software developers. We invite you to join us on that journey.
Happy learning!
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