Tips for Moving Your Classes Online Featured.jpg

Tips for Moving Your Classes Online

Businesses in many different industries could benefit from offering online classes.

A handful of states are starting to reopen, but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to start offering online classes. Even though people will soon be able to go out in certain states, many people will still prefer to do as much as they can online, and that will likely be the case for the foreseeable future — at least until some sort of vaccination becomes available or testing becomes more widely available.

It’s easy to see how fitness centers, martial arts centers, music instructors, and other businesses, that already offer classes, could benefit from moving them online. But, businesses in many different industries could also benefit from offering classes for the first time in a digital format.

Restaurants, massage clinics, barber shops, and other businesses that largely operate face-to-face are likely to see a reduction in in-person business, even in states that have reopened, or will soon. These types of businesses could all make up a little bit of that revenue by offering online classes in cooking, DIY hair care, how to ease sore muscles on your own, etc. They could even offer package deals where customers could pay for a class, along with a kit that contains the ingredients or products they need to make the most of it.

Offering online classes is an easy way to stay connected with your students or customers, as well as to keep your business top of mind.

How to Get Your Online Classes Quickly Up and Running

#1. Build a “Subscribe” page.

No one is going to sign up for your online classes simply because you’re offering them. Like every other service or product you offer, you need to give people a reason to sign up for your online classes. That’s what your “Subscribe” page is for.

This is the page where you’ll give a rundown of the what and why of your online classes. This should include a rundown of what to expect in the class, what your customers need in order to fully participate, and, most importantly of all, the benefits that will come with taking the class. You should also include the subscription options you’re offering and any testimonials you may have.

#2. Choose a payment processing system that allows for recurring payments.

Online classes are awesome because you can offer a whole series of classes for your customers. For instance, if you own a beauty salon, you could do a whole series on hair color, with one class on how to color your hair at home, how to properly mix colors, how to maintain your hair color, how to keep your hair healthy after coloring, and more.

If someone is interested in one class, chances are, they’re going to be interested in more of the classes you’re offering. Make it easy for them to keep enjoying your classes by choosing a payment processing system on your website that allows your customers to make recurring payments.

It’s important to offer your customers many different subscription options, but one of them should absolutely be a recurring subscription that allows them to take advantage of all of the online classes you’re offering in a series.

#3. Choose between live-stream or pre-recorded classes, or offer both!

Will your classes only be available while you’re recording them, or will they be available for your students to access at their leisure? There are pros and cons to both live-streaming and pre-recording your classes.

Live Streaming allows you to interact more directly with your students, and it’s much more reminiscent of a traditional classroom. However, having specific class times means that your classes may not fit in your students’ schedules, which could potentially limit the number of people who sign up.

Offering pre-recorded classes allows students to access them whenever they want to, opening your classes up to a wider audience. However, without the ability to interact during class, they may walk away with unanswered questions. Of course, you can always follow-up by answering questions later on, but it’s not quite the same as a real-time response.

The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to choose either live-streamed classes or pre-recorded classes – you could do both by recording your live-streamed classes.

#4. Find the right video conferencing tool.

Video conferencing tools have become the saving grace of teachers across industries and across the world. They make it possible for teachers to host online classes that allow them to respond to students’ questions directly, share their screen, teach multiple people at once, and send files.

There are many great video conferencing options out there, including Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Skype. Choosing the right option for you will depend on your needs and goals. Here are a few things to consider when making the decision:

  • Participants - How many students do you expect in your online classes? Make sure to give yourself some room to grow so that you can provide your students with a great experience even as your classes fill up.
  • Cost - What does your budget look like and how much are you willing to spend on a video conferencing service?
  • Mobile-friendliness - Not everyone has laptops or desktops these days, and any video conferencing service you use needs to be able to provide your mobile users with the same experience as everyone else.

Before you start offering online classes, you need the right website.

Your website will play a huge role not only in your ability to provide online classes for your students in the first place, but in the visibility of your online classes. If you don’t already have a business website, or your website isn’t what you need it to be, start building your own with the Websites 360® website builder.

The process of building your own website has never been easier, and it starts with picking one of our beautiful, customizable website design templates. Each template is designed to be responsive, mobile-friendly, and set you up for SEO domination. Find the right template for your business website today!