The top 6 apps you need to launch your online course

A rundown on the tech used for successful online course launches

Creating online courses has become wildly popular amongst business owners. In a world where business is changing, more and more people seek to upskill or change career directions, so they’re looking online for courses. 

Businesses that create and sell online courses are finding it quite profitable. It’s interesting to hear that the eLearning industry is expected to exceed $300 Billion by 2025! 

If you want to get into this profitable industry, the best way to join is to:

• Start planning your online course 
• Create your content for your online course (you’d be surprised how much you may already have)
• Have a solid marketing plan to sell your online course

But as with all things online, a successful course relies on technology

Yep I know – the tech side is the part that most business owners shudder at. You’re cluey enough to know that anything online will come with some form of technology, but it’s not your thing. 

The great news is, most of the technology used for online course creation is straightforward and not overly complicated. 

If you’re curious about the tech used for online course creation and you want to tackle it on your own going forward, you’re always more than welcome to join our Think Tank Society.  Here, we cover all the fundamentals of creating an online course and show you how to conquer the tech maze. 

But for now, let’s explore the tech we love for creating online courses. 

6 of the best apps used for wildly successful online course launches

1. Thinkific 

When it comes to hosting your online course, you can’t go past Thinkific. As Thinkific experts, we work with this program every day and guarantee you’ll love it too – it’s the BEST. 

Thinkific is an incredible online course platform as you can:

• Easily create and sell branded online courses

• Feel confident in the easy to use technology and support you receive

• Control your content, pricing and data and build your course as you grow

• Access state of the art landing page templates 

• Get support from the Thinkific team whenever you need it 

To get started with Thinkific, you’ll need at least the Basic Plan, which is currently priced at $49 per month. Grab yourself a FREE month on the Pro plan worth $99 here.

2. Stripe  

If you’ve ever looked into selling products online, you may have heard of Stripe, a payment processor. Stripe integrates perfectly with Thinkific and quickly changes the default currency from USD to the currency you use (e.g. AUD). 

Using Stripe, you can set up automatic payments to your bank account, saving you time logging in to transfer your money across manually (when you remember that is!). 

Honestly, there’s nothing better than selling an online course and having the money automatically appear in your account. 

Stripe’s fees are affordable too:

• 1.75% + A$0.30 for domestic cards
• 2.9% + A$0.30 for international cards

FYI – Thinkific doesn’t charge you anything above your monthly plan (no hidden extras), so the only fee you pay when you sell a course is the Stripe fees. 

3. Canva

Canva is an online graphic design program that will bring out your inner graphic designer! Trust us when we say it’s easy to use, with a brilliant range of templates you can use for free. We’ve saved some of our favourite (tried and tested to work) templates in our design shop that you can check out and use too. 

Using Canva, you’ll create a beautifully branded course experience for your students. You can design anything you can think of, from course logos and workbooks to slide decks. 

To get started, you can sign up to Canva using a free account. However, to get the most out of it (and if you’re going to use it regularly), we highly recommend the Pro Account at only $12.99 per month.

4. Zoom

Zoom is the perfect platform for hosting a live component in your online courses, such as 1:1 coaching or group sessions. 

You can also use Zoom to record the videos you use in your online course. All you need to do is start a Zoom meeting, present your content either ‘in-person’ by filming yourself or using slides and sharing your presentation. 

Remember to press record though! 

You’ll end up with a video that you can download from Zoom and upload into Thinkific. Trust us; it’s easy peasy. 

5. Zapier

Zapier is the app that you need to connect everything when you’re working with multiple tech platforms. Its magical powers allow platforms like Thinkific to ‘talk to’ ActiveCampaign so you can communicate clearly with your students. 

And you’ll find you can use it beyond your online course as it’s brilliant for streamlining other areas of your business. You can find out more ideas from Zapier here.  

Zapier has a free account that gives you 5 ‘zaps’, which is the perfect amount to get started with automation. 

6. Active Campaign

No online course is complete without solid email marketing campaigns, and Active Campaign is perfect for this. This online email marketing platform allows you to communicate with your students and create automations based on where your student is at in your course. 

For example, you can create:

• Weekly emails with updates
• Emails to let your students know when new content is live
• A congratulations email when they complete a lesson or course
• A follow-up email if they haven’t completed a lesson 
• And so on 

Active Campaign is a paid service, and the Lite plan starts at $15 per month. We also teach you all about Active Campaign in the Think Tank Course Creator Membership community.

Disclosure: Some of the links provided in this blog are affiliate links. I only promote services that I personally use and love. I will be paid a small commission if you use this link to make a purchase.

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