How to Position Yourself as an Expert to Sell Online Courses

5 minute read

If you want to sell online courses, you need to be recognized as an expert in your niche.

For many course creators who are just starting out, this may seem an impossible task. While positioning yourself as an expert is not hard and can be achieved quite easily, it does take time and dedication, and it won't happen overnight.

In today's article, we will share our top tips on how to be recognized as an expert by complete strangers and increase your online course sales by demonstrating your expertise.

While you are reading the tips below, don't get discouraged if you think that you don't have all the tools necessary to succeed in positioning yourself as an expert, or you don't have a big enough audience, enough sales or past customers and so on... Just start taking small actions today and building your credibility step by step.

So without further ado, let's see what you can do to appear as an expert in your field:

#1: Tell Your Full Story

Every online course and every business has a story behind it. Don't forget to tell your unique story to your audience.

By sharing your motivation behind starting your business, what kind of obstacles you experienced and how did you get to the point where you are now, you are demonstrating to your audience that you did go through a learning curve and you have what it takes to help them.

It is important that you don't skip any obstacle or pitfall you experienced in your journey, as these stories help your audience relate to you and truly understand your passion. Once you did tell your full story, without skipping over the bad parts, it's time to show off what you have achieved, which brings us to our tip number two:

#2: Show Off Your Achievements

Make sure your audience is aware of any professional achievement you have reached during your career or learning process.

If you got certifications or won awards - that's great, add them to your website and let your audience know. However, you don't need to have fancy awards or be certified to sell online courses, so if you don't know what to show to demonstrate your expertise, simply talk about your personal achievements, and what you are proud of.

Make sure to share the story that led you to these achievements, so your audience can relate to you and better realize your value (plus it won't sound like you are bragging).

One of the most effective ways to demonstrate your expertise is to create content and share it for free with your audience.

This means recording informative YouTube videos, writing valuable blog posts, creating a podcast and sharing all of this content on social media.

Content creation is a fantastic way to position yourself as an expert in your niche, grow your audience and following, and increase website traffic and sales.

A lot of creators are scared of giving away too much free content while also selling paid online courses at the same time, if you feel the same way, check out this blog post: Why Creating Free Content Won't Hurt Your Online Course Sales [Plus How to Do it]

#4: Show up as a Guest in Podcasts or Interviews

If you are the only one talking about yourself, your potential customers are going to have a hard time positioning you as an expert. When someone is thinking about purchasing your online course, chances are that they are going to Google your name to learn more about their future mentor - especially if your online course is sold for a high price.

Now imagine that when someone Googles your name, many articles or videos appear about you and how great your business is. If this sounds like a dream, then you have to start applying to speak as a guest in podcasts or interview shows in your niche.

Many times you can do this for free as it is a win-win situation for you and the show host, plus it gives you a chance to explain everything there is to know about your business and communicate your unique values.

To give you an example, in our show The Creator's Adventure we interview business owners and creators every week. So look out for similar shows in your niche and ask the host if you can be a part of it.

#5: Write a Guest Blog Post

Other than writing blog posts for your own site (tip number three), try asking popular blogs in your niche if you can write a blog post for them.

If their audience is the right one for your business, this can be a great opportunity to promote your online course to your target market and demonstrate your expertise.

#6: Showcase Your Reviews

Once your online course becomes more popular, you will start getting more and more reviews from your customers, assuming you have set up a place for them to write their feedback.

Reviews are a great way to show off your expertise and demonstrate to new potential buyers the value of your online course.

To showcase your glowing reviews, you need to set up a way where customers can leave a review easily on your site or online course. Check out this blog post to learn all about this: 7 Quick Tips to Collect Reviews Easily and Increase Social Proof in Your Online Course

#7: Polish Your Website

Your website is the storefront of your business and is the place where most new customers learn about you and form an idea of your brand.

So make sure that you are clearly communicating your value proposition on your website, you are answering all the most common questions, you are transparent about your services and so on...

The design of your website also plays a role when it comes to showing off your expertise. That said, don't worry too much about making everything perfect before you launch your online course.

#8: Write a Book

Writing a book or eBook can help you establish your authority as an expert in your field in the eyes of potential customers.

You don't necessarily have to be an experienced writer in order to publish your first book, and things are much easier when it comes to eBooks instead of the physical version.

eBooks can also help you grow your audience and attract more leads when offered as a lead magnet: How to Write an eBook as Lead Magnet to Promote Your Online Course

Among other benefits, sharing content on social media to promote your business can help you grow your audience, improve your image, position yourself as an expert in your niche and connect with potential customers.

The more you share and interact with other users on social media, the more visibility and new followers you'll get. A higher number of followers can help you establish yourself as an expert in the eyes of new leads.

If you are looking for a way to make the process of posting on social media easier and faster, check out this blog post: How to Streamline Your Social Media Marketing Strategy and Content Creation

#10: Keep Learning!

Even if you are an expert in your niche, it doesn't mean that there is nothing left for you to learn.

So keep learning, keep watching videos about new topics, interact with other industry leaders and generate content about the new things you learn.

Have you found a way to position yourself as an expert in your niche already? Try implementing the tips in this article, but don't forget to launch your online course in the meantime!

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Post Topics: Build and Promote Your Course