9 Ways to Find Great Ideas for Your Next ECourse

You might be thinking: "I need to find a great idea for my next e-course, but where do I start?" Well, we have  several strategies that will help you brainstorm and narrow down your ideas.

We've broken it down into three categories: the first category is all about getting creative with what's already out there; the second category is about researching other people's successes in this market niche; and lastly, the third category focuses on using what you know best. Let's get started!

Use existing social media platforms

• Market Research on Amazon - Market research on Amazon is a great place to start looking for niche ideas. Let's say you have an interest in selling an ECourse on how to create an online course.  Head over to Amazon and type that into the search bar: "how to create an online course." Then click on the subcategory called Kindle Publishing & Self-Publishing. From there, it will show you the best-selling books in that subcategory. You can narrow it down even further by looking at categories  like Business & Money, Communication & Social Skills, or Education.There are dozens upon dozens of books on this subject, but the best thing to do is read through their reviews and see what people like about them. Use that information as a starting point for your own ideas.

• Market Research on Quora - Quora is a super powerful tool to market research the topic you're interested in writing about for your next ECourse . Type "how to create an online course" into the search bar and see what questions come up related to  this topic.You can see how many people are asking the question and who has written great responses to this query in Quora's search results box. You might notice that there is a high number of questions being asked on Quora about creating online courses, which means it is an extremely popular topic for discussion among other users looking for answers related to this subject.Remember, the key is to look for gaps in content related to your industry or niche while also paying attention to what has been asked by potential customers on social media platforms and Quora . This information will be helpful when it comes time for you to create an outline of topics that could go into a future ECourse.

• Market Research on Google Trends - Conduct some informal Google searches by typing in the keyword phrase "how to create an online course." From here you can see how often people are searching for this term or phrase. You might notice that it's pretty low now but has been increasing steadily since 2015. This could mean there is a growing interest in creating online courses, which would make it a great topic for an ECourse.

• Market Research on YouTube - Let's say you have an interest in selling an ECourse on how to create an online course. Head over to YouTube and type that into the search bar: "how to create an online course."  You'll be surprised at how many results come up.In the list of video results, watch the first five topics that pop up.  (Hint: You can click on the "watch later" button if it's not something you'd like to watch right now.) For this example, let's say there are five results.As you're watching these videos, take notes of things that they mention or do in their video. Maybe one person mentions a specific software program while another talks about a certain tactic or technique.For example, one person mentions using Adobe Spark while another talks about how they use Google Drive to create their courses. You might notice that many people are mentioning specific tools and resources for creating online courses.  Take note of the number of views each video has to strengthen your understanding of which topics are popular.Searching in YouTube will give you an idea of what is already out there and what people are talking about.  

• Market Research on Facebook - There are several Facebook groups dedicated to online course creation.   These groups are a great place to find new ideas.For example, join the Facebook group "Online Course Creation" (click here for link ) and be sure to lurk without posting while you read through past discussions. You'll discover many different kinds of courses and see what's resonating with other members. This will give you fodder for blog posts, and you can even post questions to the Facebook group that will inspire new ideas for your next course.

• Market Research on Instagram - Another great place is Instagram, which, according to Hootsuite, has one billion users who spend at least 30 minutes a day on the platform.Therefore, you will find an endless supply of videos and photographs posted every day by users sharing their lives with other social media users.Again, do a search related to "how to create an online course."  From here, you can see how many people are posting about creating courses. You might notice that there is a huge interest in this topic and that many of the posts have between 100-500 likes or comments.Searching on Instagram will give you an idea of what kind content people are interested in seeing related to your niche and industry.  It will also tell you what specific keywords, hashtags  and topics are popular on Instagram. Use this information to flesh out your course outline.

• Market Research on Twitter - Once you're done watching these videos, head over to Twitter and type in those same five keywords that you used earlier: "how to create an online course."  You'll notice there are a lot more people talking about creating courses on social media than there were on YouTube. From here, make sure to follow these accounts and take notes on what they're talking about.Ask people on Twitter  what they want from an online course.  Within seconds, you can expect to receive feedback from fellow Twitter users.  This helps you to tap directly into the pulse of what is important to a prospective customer, in their language. 

• Market Research on Pinterest - If you're considering a new product or service, Pinterest is one of the first places to visit. There are over 100 million active pinners on Pinterest who post and repin every minute. This makes it possible for you to discover what your target market wants before they even know it! Market research doesn't get easier than this! What's more, Pinterest is viewed as a credible source with an average of 50% higher engagement rate than other social media sites.Create a Pinterest board for each topic that you’re considering and look closely at the engagement. Each board you create is equivalent to a question you would ask your ideal client. The boards with a tremendous amount of engagement will support you in determining the topic of most interest to your ideal client.

• Market Research on LinkedIn - As with any new product, service or business venture that you are thinking about launching, it is important to do your homework and research. In this case, the homework is done on LinkedIn. It can only take a few minutes of time spent each day looking for trends in what people post in their updates (also known as “status messages”) and what they share in the LinkedIn groups..When you go to your home page on LinkedIn, click “home” at the top left of any screen that pops up (just below where it says “inbox”). When your news feed comes up, start looking through all the updates by clicking one link at a time. Also visit Linkedin Learning to see which courses are trending. If you have a podcast, reach out to individuals on Linkedin that you can interview. Then watch the engagement to see if that conversation drives engagement and traffic.

Research other people's successes in your market niche

• Researching other people's successes in the market niche you're hoping to tap into (for example: if I wanted to create an eCourse for bloggers who want to make money online, research what successful courses those have been and then brainstorm what you can do differently)

• Gather great content from reading reviews of popular courses  on https://www.onlinecoursesreview.org .

• You'll find what has worked or hasn't worked for other instructors in their own e-courses, which could spark some ideas for your own course. If you're feeling especially creative, give it a try and see what ideas come to mind!

• Read blog posts and the comment section from thought leaders in your niche or industry.

• Check out similar courses on Udemy and Creative Live to see what topics are well received and which ones aren't. This allows you to take a different and unique approach to helping the participant.

Apply what you know best.

• Look at your own favorite courses to see what topics you like and dislike in the ones that you've taken

• Ask yourself, "What could I teach others?" This is a great way to find the topic of an online course. For example, if someone asked me how they should start an online business, I might have enough content for a course!

• Read blog posts from thought leaders in your niche or industry  and think about how you can share your gifts, talents, strengths and abilities and the lessons you've learned from your life and business experiences.

• And finally, ask your email list (click here to learn how to start one, if you don't have one already) what they want from an online course. If you've been running a blog or other site for awhile and are lucky enough to have a following, this is the best way to find out about their needs.

As you can see, there are many different ways to find ideas for your next online course. You may not be able to implement all of these in the next 3 days but if one idea resonates with you and you’re curious about how to go about it, let us know! We love hearing from our customers who want more information on how they can better use their digital marketing strategy.Let us know which tip was most helpful by tweeting at @kadenatate using #greatideas4yournextECourse. We'll retweet some favorites :)

Post Updated 14 August 2021