One of the most useful things a brand could do is teach. There are so many benefits. It is huge for SEO as you will be seen as an authority with a possible, if not probable, huge lead on backlinks and outreach opportunities.
It's not easy though. It takes a pretty big commitment to create an educational suite, but if done right, it could reap huge rewards for a long time. Once built and running smoothly, there is no reason it can't be a fairly good passive income.
You should be able to create one, tune it well and once it is self-sufficient, start another.
Platform Comparison
The number of Learning Management System (LMS) options out there to choose from today is growing steadily.
Lets take a look at the biggest players on the market today and discuss the pros and cons to get a better idea of what might fit your needs best.
I have listed the three types of platforms from easy and less control to more difficult and more control.
Platforms
1. Market places
Third-party marketplaces like uDemy and SkillShare are easier and more supported. They will do some or all of the marketing for you and they take care of the technical side of things.
Although you may loose some control, you get access to their existing marketplace.
Pros:
- No upfront expense
- Easy to use
- Marketing included. More if course excels.
- Existing audience
- Payment collection and taxes are managed
Cons:
- No marketing collection (email addresses)
- Little to no control on pricing
- Little to no control on branding
- They take a cut
- Must comply with course style requirements ie: certain % of video
2. Course Hosting Platforms
Platforms such as Teachable, Thinkific, Zippy Courses and Zenler offer a unique opportunity.
They do the technical stuff, but you do the marketing and other stuff. They do tend to offer a host of marketing tools to use, but leave all the options and work up to you. There is a lot of flexibility with these options. Some of them even have the ability to set up schools or courses using your subdomain ie. school.yourdomain.com
Pros:
- Little to no upfront expense
- You can collect emails
- Control your branding
- Control your pricing
- Control format
- Your own library of content
Cons:
- You must market your own material
- More work to setup
- You in control of payments and taxes
- You must build social proof (no reviews, etc)
3. Self Hosting
You can install software such as Moodle on your own web host or even your own server. Generally, it would be installed on a dedicated subdomain to separate it from main (root) site.
There are also several plugins for Wordpress such as Learndash, Sensei, WPCourseware, CoursePress, and CourseCat
Pros:
- Maximum control
Cons:
- Can require a lot of technical savvy
- Plugins can be expensive
- Streaming videos can be a hassle
Which is best for you?
Third party platforms are good for those that don't want the technical and marketing hassles, but of course you will also be limited by what the third party platforms provide.
You will also get valuable feedback from platforms like Udemy that have high standards for content. By complying with those high standards you will become better at producing higher quality material.
Mix and match
Sometimes it might serve you well to use your own platform for high ticket items and use the reach of a third party platform.