Ten years ago, blogging was just a hobby meaning cute pictures on your social media profiles or posts in your cooking blog. Now, an influencer is a full-time job.

Before, bloggers earned their living by cooperating with brands and doing affiliate marketing. But they, like everyone else, want more freedom. Today, influencers don't need to promote products they probably don't even like. They have a privilege to influence people and sell their personal brand. Their persona and their knowledge can make a bomb!


If you are a blogger, you definitely need to create your online courses.

Why do I need online courses

You might be confused and ask a question: "Why do I ever need to create online courses if I already have my blog?". Wait, wait, wait. A blog and online courses do not contradict each other. They perfectly work together. Developing your e-courses will boost your monetization strategy. And there are several reasons for it.

Total control of their income

People usually become bloggers as they love freelancing and want more independence. But then they end up with working for others: promote beauty products, tell people about trendy places, cooperate with local cafes and shops. Content plan for the next several months controls their lives. And their income depends on the number of collaborations they have. They leave office jobs to a freelancing "office" with other managers. That's exactly not they were dreaming of!

Online courses are a perfect way out. Now, your income is up to you. You don't need to meet all the deadlines, to constantly create new content for various brands, and promote everything to make ends meet. You can be your own CEO with online courses.

Of course, creating e-courses requires a lot of energy, ideas, and self-organization. But your own business makes you more independent. Now, you are the only one responsible for your income — you earn as much as you want and ready to work.

You have the audience

Every blogger has an advantage over other people wanting to start online courses. Yes, we talk about the audience ready to follow and support every activity of an influencer.

Getting an audience ready to buy your course is one of the major headaches. But experienced bloggers already have a pill. If you have an Instagram blog, and people react to your content positively, your online course has a lot of chances to succeed. You don't need to analyze your target audience, search for it in Facebook Business Manager tool.
Your blog audience is potential online course buyers. If they enjoy your content on Instagram or any other platform, why would they refuse to learn more via your e-courses?

You already worked a lot to get your fans and now use them as a privilege!

Ready content to share

Not only your audience is ready for your e-courses. What's more important, you have the content to share.

Your blog is usually built around some topic. Why not develop your idea even more? Let's suppose you practice fitness, adore healthy cooking, and have a 100k audience interested in this topic. It's a perfect match to start your online courses.

Kayla Itsines is one of the most vivid examples. She was a personal trainer, but then she created her fitness brand. First, there were e-book and desktop courses with pictures, then she started creating fitness videos. Today, her mobile app is popular with 30 million people in total. What's more, she sells her branded fitness products. A great example to get inspired!

Expanding your blog to online courses and mobile app with a fitness and nutrition program can make you a millionaire. Isn't that what you want?

Don't be afraid to start. Your posts are a solid base — use them as scripts for your future videos. Having some drafts releases you from time-consuming research and content planning and creation. You already did it for your blog!

Content lasts forever

The main drawback of the Instagram blog or any other blog is you need to update it regularly. You can not allow your audience to forget about you. But everyday post generation will inevitably lead to the loss of motivation and inspiration.

Online courses can be a real salvation. You need to create them once, and they will last forever. Or at least, for a long period. Sure, creating a course requires more resources than a small post, but then you're able to get a passive income reaping the benefits of the work done before. Of course, you cannot sell the same course for years. You will need to update the info and create new engaging materials. But your content will last forever — even the oldest courses can be bought by people joining you for the first time.

Easy to validate your idea

Sometimes choosing the topic is exhausting. It's challenging to be 100% sure that your idea will pop. But bloggers don't need to get nuts thinking about a specific narrow idea for their courses. They already have Google Analytics data on their side.

The numbers always speak better. You will see what subject people are interested the most. Just choose 5 best performing topics and make the course based on them. Analytics can make you rock the e-course market as you know for sure your ideas will work out!

Blog helps to promote your courses

Creating a course doesn't mean the end of your blog. Vice versa, the blog will be your second hand in promoting e-courses. Your audience is your dedicated fans. They will love to get your branded product. Especially if you offer your followers a special price for the first lesson.

Your blog can help you to sell out the first online courses you create.

Ok, now you have almost no doubts you need a course. To be totally convinced, you want to know how to start creating them. We got you covered here! Gurucan team knows a lot about the course creation process.

How can I launch an online course

Online courses are not a one-minute task, not even a one-month. Before launching your e-project, you need to work a lot. The most important steps include a finding target audience, defining your course topic and going public. As a blogger, you already have the first two steps.

The third stage is an essential one. To release, you need to choose a platform helping to manage online content. It's better if it's an all-in-one platform. Mostly, bloggers are not tech people, so they don't want to dive into software specifics and have tech-headaches. They just want to upload their content, get a website and take their money for sharing their knowledge.

Gurucan is a perfect space for influencers to start their online course business. The main advantage is a personalized mobile app provided by Gurucan team. Branded blogger mobile apps are going to take over the app stores. So, why not to be among the first?

… and some useful tips for your first try

Don't try to put everything into one piece of content. Make your course outline and divide your knowledge into equal parts. People will not watch a 2-hour video — it's better to give them several 20-minute videos. It's easier to learn new information in parts, not to swallow one huge piece of it.

Think about cooperating with others. You have your audience as a blogger, but cooperation with other influencers can bring you new fans. Let's say, you're a fitness blogger, collaborate with a nutrition specialist. Sport and healthy food cannot be separated. So, take advantage of your colleagues' followers as well.

Go offline. Online marketing is on top today. But it's not the reason to forget about traditional methods. Please, don't underestimate them. The conferences and meetups can make a real boost to your course sales. Public events can attract a lot of people — and it's your chance to get the name. People will get to know you and your project.

Bloggers don't need to work for others now. They can grab their blog audience and go cruising in the online course ocean. Don't be afraid to start your own business. Just choose a great team and dive into your e-course idea.