Have you ever wondered: what does it cost to create an e-Course?
One of the biggest misconceptions that I hear from my community when it comes to e-Courses is…
“Oh, I could never afford to create my own e-Course”
Yes, there are definitely some entrepreneurs who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in creating and refining their signature programs. These are probably e-Courses with gorgeous branding, customised websites and sales videos so fancy you wouldn’t blink if they popped up on Netflix!
But there are plenty more who have had restricted budgets, who have invested a fraction of what the big-timers have… and who are still making an excellent profit.
Of course, when you’re on a budget, you’ve got to be smarter with your money. You’ve got to know where to spend, where to save, and how to get the most ‘bang for your buck’.
So in this blog post, I’m going to show you how to create an e-Course on three different budgets, and why creating an e-Course doesn’t have to be expensive!
How to create an e-Course with less than $500
What if I told you that the cost to create an e-Course was $500? What would you spend it on? Here is what I’d suggest!
Basic logo design
No matter your budget, it’s important for your e-Course to have its own brand identity. And to do that, I would start with a logo!
Some ways that you can get a basic logo design include:
- Hiring an affordable graphic designer
- Purchasing a pre-designed logo on a platform like Creative Market
- Creating your own logo on a platform like Canva
Once you have a logo concept, you’ll be more clear on the different fonts and colours that you can use throughout your e-Course.
Platform
A great way of creating an e-Course on a budget is by using a platform like Thinkific (which you can get for free with paid upgrades). This will mean that your e-Course is hosted on their site but it also has lots of great functionality and is easy and quick to set up.
Sales Page
When you create an e-Course, you need a platform that allows you to sell it. That is, your sales page!
With a budget, you might want to consider purchasing a domain name and website theme to create your own sales page. Alternatively, you can use a platform like Lead Pages (which has great templates that you can use).
Resources
It’s likely that you will have resources to include in your e-Course. This might include workbooks, worksheets, templates or guides.
When you’re creating an e-Course on a budget then you will have to create most of these resources on your own. So I suggest working to your strengths!
For example:
If you know how to film and edit your own videos then you might want to focus on video content for your e-Course.
Or if you’re a pro at DIY design in Canva then you might be able to create your own workbooks and worksheets.
And if you already have a microphone and audio recording equipment then perhaps you can deliver your e-Course through audio.
Remember, you don’t have to do it all. You just want to get started – and you can improve later down the track!
<$500 Case Study with Laura Trotta of Home Detox Bootcamp
Want to know how others have done it on this budget? Here is a case study from ECLF graduate Laura Trotta and her Home Detox Bootcamp.
Laura created her first e-Course with DIY design and a Mailchimp integration – and got 32 participants and made $7.5k revenue!
With this revenue, she invested in Wishlist, a membership site and a custom designed rebrand which results in 169 participants and $25,000 revenue (over two launches).
The third version of Laura’s e-Course included an upgrade to Ontraport and the last time I caught up with Laura, she was rebranding and upgrading to Access Ally.
See how you can turn your DIY e-Course into a profitable and premium offering over time?
Here is what Laura had to say about her experience:
“Businesses change and your business right now may be quite different to what it may be in two years time. Incremental upgrades spread the investment risk over time. Once market and concept is proven, it makes sense to invest more then.”
How to create an e-Course with less than $1000
What if I told you that the cost to create an e-Course was $1000? What would you spend it on? Here is what I’d suggest!
Brand identity
If you have a little extra cash then I highly recommend investing in a full brand identity including a logo, fonts, colours and textures. These elements can then be used throughout the sales page, membership site and e-Course resources.
Platform
In the previous section, I recommended using a platform like Thinkific. If you want to upgrade your platforms then you might consider purchasing a membership plug-in to create your own membership site (this is where your brand identity will come in handy). To help you do this, I recommend Memberpress or Wishlist. You might even invest in something like Beaver Builder to help you design it!
Resources
Depending on where you invest, you might be able to upgrade your resources with a little bit of professional help.
For example:
You might be able to hire a VA who can help you to edit your video or audio files.
Or maybe you can work with a graphic designer who can create workbook templates in Canva or Microsoft Word.
While you’re not at the stage where you can outsource all of the work… there is still some space for more support!
<$1000 Case study with Eva from Simple Life, Peaceful Home
Want to know how others have done it on this budget? Here is a case study from Eva and her e-Course Simple Life, Peaceful Home.
With her first launch, Eva invested just over $1000 on the following tools:
WordPress and Divi Theme ($69/year)
Wishlist ($99)
Logo ($750)
Tips n Tricks HQ ($60)
Tech Support $350
Her list was only made up of 150 people at the time and she got 16 enrollments and made $2,752 in revenue.
Eva has now had 46 people go through over three launches and upgraded her sales page in the third launch.
How to create an e-Course with $2,000+
What if I told you that the cost to create an e-Course was $2000+? What would you spend it on? Here is what I’d suggest!
Premium brand elements
A picture speaks a thousand words and visual elements are incredibly important when it comes to your e-Course. So if you have a larger budget, you might want to consider some premium brand elements that you can get designed (on top of your logo and brand identity).
For example:
You might be able to get your graphic designer to create some professionally designed graphics that can go onto your sales page.
You could get more support in designing and creating your sales page and membership site.
You could upgrade your opt-in pages with professional designs.
Or you could get support with your e-Course resources and worksheets.
This is the stage where you start to make your e-Course appear more premium so have a think about what you could get created that would help to portray that.
Platform
So we’ve spoken about Thinkific, Memberpress and Wishlist already… but if you have an increased budget then I highly recommend a premium platform like Access Ally.
Copy
With the previous budgets, it’s likely that you will need to write your own copy. But with a bigger budget, you might want to look at a copywriter who can support you with writing copy for your sales page, sales emails and even your social media posts.
$2,000+ Plus Case Study with Tejal Patel of The Mindful Mama Experience
And if you want an example of going pro then here is a case study from Tejal who created The Mindful Mama Experience.
When creating her e-Course, Tejal invested in:
Wishlist ($197)
Vimeo membership for videos ($10 a month)
Zoom for group coaching calls ($14.99 a month)
Sales page custom designed with membership site ($6,000)
Branding
Copywriting for sales page
Facebook ads ($2,000 includes management and FB ads budget)
Physical gifts ($8 per person = $104)
This meant ongoing costs were $24/month (plus $2,000 on Facebook ads) and capital costs of $6,197.
This resulted in 13 mums signing up in the first launch with a revenue of approximately $4000!
By now, I hope you can see that it doesn’t have to be a big cost to create an e-Course. Remember, you can choose to start small and upgrade along the way!
Do you want to know more about creating an e-Course? Click here for the e-Course Launch Formula which is now enrolling!
