Blog show

June 8th, 2017

How To Choose The Right Online Course Builder

online course builder

Today’s episode is a question from YOU! Recently I received a request to help someone figure out which online course builder to use…so I decided this was a great question to share with everyone who listens to the podcast.

If you are an online course creator looking to get their courses launched asap, this might just be your ticket…

An online course builder or learning management system allows you to pull together all the content you’ve created for a course, put it in a protected space, and then invite your customers and audience to join.

If you aren’t terribly techy and have heard there are some easier ways to get your digital product created, don’t have a team or work with one person – then finding the right course builder could be just the thing to kickstart your business.

So, if you’re ready to kick tech overwhelm to the curb, start creating online courses and digital products more easily, stick around.

In this episode we talk about:

  • Why you might be considering either switching to or looking for a place to house your product
  • Your options for creating an online course – plugins, done for you, oh my
  • Questions to ask before you settle on one platform to be your permanent product home
  • Some deeper considerations when looking at companies that offer course creation software or plugins.

After you listen to the episode, check out some of the articles we’ve gathered from around the web. You’ll probably find many more by going over to Pinterest and doing a search for specific plugins or by doing a simple search for online course builder.

Mentioned In This Episode

Access Ally*

Wishlist Member*

Teachable*

Thinkific*

Kajabi*

online course builder

Additional Resources + Articles To Help You Choose Your Best Online Learning Platform

I was surprised to NOT find more about these platforms…even wishlist member, access ally…ones I use and have used didn’t have the type of dynamic content I was hoping to share with you! If you’ve written a review or article about your experience with a platform, please send it to us and we’ll add it to this list! We'll be adding more resources here too – so look at this as a living, breathing collection of useful decision making articles…

Ruzuku

I’ll be honest. I don’t have a ton of experience myself using this platform, but what I do know is they have a proven track record. They’ve been around. Some of their early adopters and stand out case studies include author/teacher Jennifer Louden and also author Jenny Blake. The owner (Abe Crystal) really cares about their clients and customers of Ruzuku. I sat down and talked to him last summer and this was my immediate impression.

Teachable

You’ll find lots of great education, resources, and support over at Teachable. I’ve got my launch toolkit there as a free course — if you want to check it out, click here to take a peek.

I was initially drawn to Teachable because of friends and notable girl boss inspirations Melyssa Griffin and Think Creative Collective. My only piece of advice before you sign on is to look at what’s included and what’s not included. If you want analytics and to get paid instantly, you’ll need to grab the Professional membership.

Thinkific

I’ll say what Thinkific probably wishes I wouldn’t – this feels similar to Teachable. Pricing is comparable, but where they diverge and differ is simply reputation…and reliability. Word on the street (and I’ve asked) is that you’ll get a lot more support from Thinkific if things go wonky. Plus, you get instant access to your funds EVEN with the free membership level. In addition to that, you also get access to detailed analytics too in all levels…

I’ll be putting up a test course here soon so you’ll be able to check out this platform too!

    • How To Create A Killer FREE Online Course With Thinkific

Udemy

Okay, my experience with Udemy is NOT comprehensive or current. I worked to put one of LKR Social Media’s courses up on the site several years ago. Here’s what I know and remember. The process was thorough… and took us much longer than we anticipated. That might be seen as a dealbreaker for you, but what it tells me is they are detail oriented, want all courses to follow a specific structure, and any “nit-picking” is done to make a course fit in with the Udemy brand and FOR the benefit of its students. Check out LKR’s course here to see what the platform looks like.

Kajabi

My experience with Kajabi has always been from a customer’s perspective…and I’ve loved every minute. While I don’t house my own courses or content on a site using Kajabi, I do think this is a viable option for anyone who wants a little more customization, a lot of support and education, plus the marketing expertise of a company like Kajabi running things. Kajabi is an online course builder on steroids with lots of extras. There’s great integration support for a variety of tools you might already be using…and I can’t speak highly enough based on my experience in multiple courses using Kajabi. It’s a little higher priced but still worth a try!

Update: I'm currently using Kajabi as my membership platform and LOVE IT LOVE LOVE IT!!! Try it out for yourself.

Misc. Online Course Builder Platform/Plugin Comparisons

Wrapping Things Up

This is NOT an exhaustive list of resources and we’ve left some out here and there depending on how much was available in terms of reviews and case studies.

Got questions about these platforms? Leave a comment below and I'll answer them for you!

Are you a course creator or coach who wants to launch soon and you could use a little guidance to keep the process smooth and SIMPLE?

Check out my on-demand masterclass to learn the exact 4-part process I teach inside my program Fearless Launching. I'm sharing all the goods in this free training: https://annesamoilov.com/masterclass

See ya there!