How to Create Your First Online Course

The right course topic sits at the intersection of what you already know well, what genuinely excites you, and what people are actively seeking help with. You don't need a revolutionary idea — you need a focused one.

If you're a coach, author, speaker, consultant, therapist, artist, or educator, you've spent years developing expertise that other people want to learn. The question isn't whether you have enough knowledge to teach a course. It's how to channel that knowledge into something focused and valuable.

This might feel like a leap. After all, knowing something and teaching it are different skills. But teaching is one of the most powerful things you can do for your business and your impact. As author and business strategist Pamela Slim has observed, the best thing you can do to be a great businessperson is to be a great teacher. Teaching builds relationships that last. It creates repeat customers, generates referrals, and establishes you as a trusted authority — not because you claimed to be one, but because you demonstrated it.

Why Your Existing Expertise Is Enough

The most successful course creators don't start with a revolutionary idea. They start with something they already know well and care about deeply.

Sally Hirst had been teaching mixed-media art in Norwich, England, for over 40 years — mostly in-person workshops and local classes. When COVID shut down her studio in 2020, she started posting free lessons on YouTube. Within six weeks, she had 5,000 viewers and 3,000 email subscribers. She turned that momentum into structured online courses on Ruzuku, and today she teaches more than 5,000 students worldwide across 10+ courses.

"Ruzuku has changed my life… my income is 10x what it was in 2019!"

— Sally Hirst, Artist & Art Educator

Sally didn't invent a new art technique. She took what she'd been teaching for decades and brought it online.

Wendy Bailye of The Felt Studio had a similar pivot. She'd been teaching feltmaking in person and traveling overseas for workshops. When COVID halted that life, she brought her teaching to Ruzuku — not because she had a grand plan, but because she had students who still wanted to learn.

"Post COVID my teaching life came to a halt… Ruzuku has allowed me to still make an income and get the lovely feeling of connecting with my students again."

— Wendy Bailye, The Felt Studio

And Janae Bower took her expertise in an entirely different direction — she built 30+ courses for three distinct audiences: corporate teams, personal growth seekers, and faith-based communities. All from the same core body of knowledge, adapted for different contexts.

"The flexibility and variation of how I can set up these courses has been wonderful."

— Janae Bower

How Do You Narrow Down Your Topic?

The challenge for most aspiring course creators isn't having too little expertise — it's having too much. Here's how to focus:

• Start at the intersection. What you know deeply + what excites you + what people are actively seeking help with.
• Get specific. "Photography" is too broad. "Product photography for Etsy sellers" is a course topic. "Watercolor painting" is enormous. "Loose watercolor florals for beginners" is something people search for, buy, and complete.
• Look for demand signals. Are people asking questions about this topic in forums, Facebook groups, or Reddit? Are there existing courses? (Competition is a good sign — it means there's a market.) Have at least a handful of people asked you for help with this specific thing?

Would You Teach This for 10 Years?

Here's a useful filter: would you be happy teaching this topic for the next 10 years? That might sound dramatic, but the creators who build the most sustainable course businesses are the ones who chose topics they don't get tired of.

Manuel Puro has been teaching acting and casting mastery on Ruzuku for more than a decade, reaching thousands of students. He chose a topic at the intersection of his passion and his students' ambitions, and that sustained him through thousands of lessons, launches, and iterations.

"It's not an overestimation to say you've transformed my life and the lives of thousands of my students."

— Manuel Puro, Puro Casting

You don't need to commit to a decade right now. But choosing a topic you'd be excited to explore for years — not just weeks — is a strong signal that you're on the right track.

Every successful course starts with a deep understanding of one person: your ideal student. Before you outline a single lesson, you need to know who you're teaching, what they've already tried, and what result they're hoping for.

There's an insight from Danny Iny, founder of Mirasee and author of Teach and Grow Rich, that reframes everything: no one cares what your course is "about" — they want to know how your course can help them get to a desired result. Every decision you make — what to include, what to leave out, how to structure it, how to price it — flows from understanding that person deeply.

What Does the "One Person" Approach Look Like?

Rather than thinking about your audience as a demographic category ("women aged 35-50 who like crafts"), envision a single, specific person. Give them a name if it helps. Ask yourself:

• What do they do for a living?
• What have they already tried?
• What frustrated them about those attempts?
• What would their life look like if your course delivered on its promise?

This isn't a fill-in-the-blank exercise. It's a way of thinking. Every time you sit down to create a lesson, you should be able to picture this person on the other side, wondering, "Is this going to work for me?"

Why Do Psychographics Matter More Than Demographics?

Demographics tell you who someone is on paper. Psychographics tell you what keeps them up at night. For course creators, psychographics matter far more.

What has your ideal student already tried that didn't work? This is crucial — it tells you what objections to address and what differentiation to emphasize. If they've bought a $19 Udemy course and felt lost, they want guided support. If they've tried learning from YouTube and felt overwhelmed, they want a clear, curated path.

What does success look like — in their own words? A new parent doesn't say "I want to optimize my sleep hygiene through evidence-based interventions." They say "I just want my baby to sleep through the night so I can function at work." Your marketing and your curriculum should use their language, not yours.

How Do You Research Your Audience?

The best research happens in conversation, not in spreadsheets. Here's where to start:

• Interview 5-10 potential students before you create a single lesson. Ask open-ended questions: "What's the biggest challenge you face with [topic]?" "What have you tried so far?" "What would it mean to you if you could solve this?"
• Read the spaces where your audience gathers. Reddit threads, Facebook group discussions, and Amazon reviews for competing books are goldmines. The five-star reviews tell you what people value. The one-star reviews tell you what's missing.
• Pay attention to their exact words. The specific language people use to describe their problems should show up in your course title, your module names, and your marketing copy.

Can You Serve Multiple Audiences?

Some creators discover their expertise applies to multiple distinct audiences. Janae Bower built courses for corporate teams, personal growth seekers, and faith-based communities — three very different groups, each with their own language, goals, and context. The core knowledge was the same, but the framing, examples, and outcomes were tailored to each audience.

You don't need to serve multiple audiences from day one. In fact, it's better to start with one. But understanding exactly who that one person is — their frustrations, aspirations, and the words they use — is the foundation everything else builds on.

A great course is defined by the transformation it delivers — the specific change your student experiences from start to finish. Not "47 watercolor techniques" but "you'll go from blank-page paralysis to confidently painting loose florals you're proud to frame." The clearer your transformation, the easier everything else becomes.

How Do You Define Your Transformation?

The simplest framework is Before and After. Describe where your student is right now — emotionally, practically, skill-wise — and where they'll be when they finish.

Example transformations:

• Before: An aspiring author with a half-finished manuscript, no feedback, and growing doubt.
  After: A confident writer with a polished draft and a submission strategy.

• Before: A new manager promoted for technical skills, struggling with team dynamics.
  After: A leader who runs effective meetings, gives clear feedback, and builds trust.

The more specific these are, the more powerful your course becomes. Vague transformations ("learn photography") attract nobody in particular. Specific ones ("consistently take magazine-quality food photos with your iPhone") attract exactly the right people.

What Separates Good Teaching from Information Dumping?

Great teaching isn't about dumping information — it's about designing an experience that creates real change. Great teachers know how people actually learn. They mix auditory, visual, and hands-on approaches. They alternate between instruction and action. And they care deeply about their subject, which comes through in every lesson.

Manuel Puro embodies this. He's been teaching acting and casting mastery on Ruzuku for over a decade. What separates his courses isn't just his knowledge — it's his focus on transformation. He doesn't teach acting techniques in isolation. He teaches people to transform their relationship with their craft and their careers.

"It's not an overestimation to say you've transformed my life and the lives of thousands of my students."

— Manuel Puro, Puro Casting

When you know exactly what change you're creating, you can design every lesson to serve that change — and nothing else.

How Do You Write a Transformation Statement?

Try this template: "My course helps [specific person] go from [current state] to [desired state] by teaching them [your method or framework]."

This isn't a formula to memorize — it's a lens for clarity. If you can't complete that sentence crisply, your course concept might still be too broad. Keep narrowing until the transformation is specific enough that someone could read it and immediately know whether it's for them.

Why Should You Break Your Transformation into Milestones?

Once you have your overarching transformation, break it down into measurable milestones — one per module:

• "By the end of this module, you'll have completed your first watercolor still life."
• "By the end of this module, you'll have written and tested three email subject lines."

Each milestone should feel achievable and concrete, building your student's confidence as they progress. The specificity test is simple: if your transformation statement could apply to any course in your niche, it's too vague.

The best course structure isn't a list of topics you want to cover. It's a carefully paced journey that moves your student from where they are to the transformation you promised — with action built into every step.

What Are the Main Ways to Structure a Course?

Most courses follow one of three patterns:

• Linear structure — builds step by step, where each module depends on the previous one. Works best for skill-based courses where order matters (you can't paint portraits before understanding color mixing). The strength: each completed step creates confidence for the next.

• Modular structure — lets students move through topics in any order. Works for reference-style content or mixed skill levels. The risk: students can feel directionless. You'll need clear guidance on which modules fit different starting points.

• Project-based structure — organizes everything around a tangible outcome the student builds throughout the course. Typically has the highest engagement and completion rates because progress is visible — a finished painting, a launched website, a completed business plan.

How Long Should Your Course Be?

New creators almost always overcreate. They build 20 modules when 6 would deliver the transformation more effectively. The goal isn't comprehensiveness — it's the minimum content your student needs to reach the promised result.

For most courses:

• 4 to 8 modules is a strong range
• Each module should center on one core concept with one clear action
• Video lessons work best at 5 to 15 minutes — long enough to teach meaningfully, short enough to hold attention

Sally Hirst discovered this naturally. She offers both mini-courses and deeper programs — different scopes for different needs. A student who wants to try collagraphy printmaking for the first time doesn't need a 20-module masterclass. They need a focused introduction that gets them to their first successful print.

What Does the Teach-Show-Do Rhythm Look Like?

Within each lesson, a simple rhythm keeps students engaged:

1. Teach the concept briefly
2. Show it in action through a demonstration or example
3. Do — give students an exercise to practice immediately

The "do" step is the most important, and the one most creators underinvest in. Action steps should be specific and achievable. "Practice this technique" is too vague. "Paint one loose floral using only three colors and share it in the discussion" is something a student can actually do — and feel good about completing.

The 30-Day Framework

After working with thousands of course creators at Ruzuku, Abe Crystal recommends a practical 30-day timeline for creating and launching your first course:

• Week 1: Define your audience, hone in on the exact problem you're solving, and craft a title focused on the desired result
• Weeks 2-3: Map your outline, write your lessons, and build in action steps
• Week 4: Open the doors and welcome students

The compressed schedule keeps you focused and prevents over-planning. You don't need everything perfect — you need enough structure that students can take action and get results.

Use our Course Outline Generator to create a professional structure based on your transformation promise.

You don't need a professional camera crew or a six-figure production budget. A smartphone, natural window lighting, and a $50-$100 USB microphone are enough to create course content that students love. What matters is clear teaching, varied formats, and authenticity.

What Formats Work Best for Online Courses?

Great teachers use variety. Some students absorb concepts best by watching a demonstration. Others need a written explanation. Still others don't understand something until they try it with their hands. The most effective courses combine:

• Video for demonstrations and personal connection
• Written guides for reference material and detailed processes
• Worksheets or exercises for hands-on practice
• Discussion or community spaces for peer learning and accountability

Jane LaFazio built her art journaling courses around this kind of variety. Her courses use large images that students study closely, with generous space for commenting and exchanging ideas with peers.

"Ruzuku is soooo visual, with large images and oodles of space below each image for students to comment and exchange ideas. It's an ideal place to learn from each other and interact and, most surprising, to build community."

— Jane LaFazio, Art Educator

Can You Build a Course from Content You Already Have?

Yes — and you probably should. One of the biggest myths in course creation is that you need to create everything from scratch.

Laurie Anderson of Alexander Art inherited a legendary painting instruction company founded by PBS painter Bill Alexander. When she brought the business to Ruzuku, she didn't start by filming new content — she digitized 35+ years of existing VHS and DVD archives.

"I have made 5 figures using this platform in just a couple of months. I have tried several platforms and this is by far the best."

— Laurie Anderson, Alexander Art

You might not have a VHS archive, but you probably have more existing content than you realize: blog posts, workshop slides, recorded presentations, client handouts, email sequences. Don't rebuild from zero when you can build from what you already have.

What Equipment Do You Actually Need?

Audio quality matters most. Bad video with clear audio is watchable. Good video with muffled, echoing audio is not.

Your starter kit:

• A USB microphone in the $50-$100 range (like a Blue Yeti or Audio-Technica AT2020)
• A smartphone with decent camera quality
• Natural window lighting
• Free editing software like DaVinci Resolve or Canva

That's it. You can upgrade your setup over time as your course business grows.

How Do You Stay Consistent Without Burning Out?

Two practical tips:

Batch your recording sessions. Instead of creating one lesson at a time over weeks, set aside a day to record several lessons in one sitting. You'll get into a flow state, maintain consistency, and save the overhead of repeatedly setting up your space.

Be yourself. Authenticity consistently beats polish. Students are enrolling in your course because they want to learn from you — your perspective, your experience, your way of explaining things. A slightly imperfect video where you're relaxed and natural will always outperform a stiff, over-produced performance.

The minimum viable approach: slides with a voiceover. Add talking-head video, screen recordings, and live demonstrations as you get comfortable. Start with what feels manageable, deliver great teaching, and improve your production over time.

The right course platform gets out of the way and lets you focus on teaching. The wrong one adds friction to every step — uploading content, managing students, processing payments. Choosing well upfront saves you months of frustration later.

What Features Actually Matter?

When evaluating platforms, it's easy to get distracted by feature lists. Focus on what you'll use every day:

• Easy content upload and organization — can you get a lesson live in minutes, not hours?
• Reliable payment processing — with support for payment plans, coupons, and multiple currencies
• Student progress tracking — so you and your students can see how they're doing
• Mobile-friendly delivery — because many students learn on their phones
• Built-in communication — the ability to message students and facilitate discussion

Beyond the basics, think about how you want to teach:

• If community matters — look for platforms where conversation is built into the learning experience, not bolted on as an afterthought. Art teachers, coaches, and anyone who values discussion should prioritize this.
• If you want to drip content — make sure scheduling releases is easy, not a workaround.
• If students submit work — check that assignment submission and feedback are supported natively.

How Do Platform Pricing Models Compare?

Course platforms generally use one of two pricing models:

• Transaction-fee model — lower monthly cost, but the platform takes 5-10% of each sale. Seems cheaper at low volume, but costs compound quickly as revenue grows.
• Flat monthly fee — predictable cost, no per-sale percentage. More economical once you exceed roughly $800/month in sales.

Do the math at your expected revenue level before deciding. A 5% transaction fee on $5,000/month in sales is $250 — that adds up to $3,000/year.

What's the Real Differentiator?

Deb Porter, a business coach, tried several platforms before finding one that worked for her:

"Ruzuku is a dream to use. This was the best business decision I have made to date."

— Deb Porter, Business Coach

The best platform for you isn't the one with the most features — it's the one that removes friction from your teaching. If you spend more time fighting your platform than creating content, something is wrong.

Look for a tool that feels simple enough to use confidently from day one, with enough depth to grow into over time.

Not sure which platform is right for you? Take our Platform Fit Quiz for a personalized recommendation. And for a detailed side-by-side analysis, check out our comprehensive platform comparison guide.

Most first-time course creators underprice. Significantly. The fix isn't finding a magic number — it's shifting how you think about the value you deliver.

Pricing is where most creators freeze. You've built something valuable, you know it can help people, but putting a number on it feels fraught with risk. What if it's too high and nobody buys? What if it's too low and you undervalue your work?

What Mental Shifts Help You Price with Confidence?

Three shifts make the biggest difference:

1. Sell the transformation, not the content. Your course isn't worth a certain amount because it has 12 videos and 8 worksheets. It's worth what the transformation is worth to the person experiencing it. A course that helps someone land their first freelance client isn't a $47 product — it's the start of a career change.

2. Higher prices create better outcomes. When students invest meaningfully, they show up differently. They complete more lessons, do the exercises, and get better results. Low prices attract casual browsers. Meaningful prices attract committed learners.

3. Pilot pricing removes the guesswork. You don't need to guess your price perfectly on day one. Offer your first run at 30-50% below your target price to 10-20 founding students, in exchange for their feedback and testimonials. This validates demand, generates revenue, and gives you social proof for future launches at full price.

What Does Pilot Pricing Look Like in Practice?

Jennie Nash, a writing coach, used exactly this approach when she created her first course on Ruzuku. She enrolled 10 beta students and earned $1,300 — enough to cover the cost of the training that taught her to build courses in the first place.

"Ruzuku allowed me to PAY MYSELF to learn how to create an online class, launch it, practice teaching it, and perfect it."

— Jennie Nash, Writer & Book Coach

That $1,300 wasn't just revenue. It was:

• Validation that people would pay for what she was teaching
• Feedback that shaped her next iteration
• Confidence to raise her price for the next cohort

Where Can You Go Deeper on Pricing?

Pricing is a big topic — bigger than one chapter can cover well. We've written a comprehensive guide that walks through pricing frameworks, psychology, tiers, and real-world examples: our Complete Guide to Course Pricing.

Use our Pricing Calculator to get a data-driven starting point based on your specific course and audience.

Your first launch doesn't need to be perfect, big, or even include a finished course. It needs to get your work in front of real students, generate real feedback, and start the cycle that turns a first attempt into a thriving course business. Most successful course creators launched before they felt ready.

Should You Sell Before You've Finished Building?

Yes. The most effective first-launch strategy is counterintuitive: sell the course before you've finished creating it. Build your outline, create the first module or two, and invite a small group of founding students at a reduced price. Then build the rest as you teach it, week by week, incorporating student feedback in real time.

This approach does several things at once:

• Validates demand before you invest weeks creating content nobody wants
• Generates revenue upfront so you're getting paid while you create
• Creates a feedback loop that makes the final product dramatically better than what you'd have built in isolation

Paul Banas, founder of Great Dad, used Ruzuku's Instant Course feature to launch his first fatherhood course in just 10 days.

"Launched my first instant course in 10 days! Ruzuku staff have been super-helpful and almost everything was easy to do."

— Paul Banas, Great Dad

Paul didn't wait until everything was polished. He had expertise, he had an audience that needed help, and he started. That bias toward action is what separates creators who launch from those who endlessly plan.

What Does a 30-Day Launch Timeline Look Like?

• Week 1: Nail down your audience and the specific problem you're solving. Craft a title focused on the result, not the topic. Set your pilot price.
• Week 2: Map your outline, build the first module, and start inviting people. Pull the trigger on invitations before you feel ready — committed students create accountability to deliver.
• Week 3: Write and refine your lessons. Build in action steps that make success inevitable.
• Week 4: Open the doors, welcome your first students, and start teaching.

The compression is the point. You could spend six months perfecting a course that nobody wants. Or you could spend 30 days launching something real and learning from it.

How Do Small Beginnings Compound?

Jennie Nash's first course had 10 students and earned $1,300. Those 10 students gave her feedback that shaped version two. Their testimonials helped her market version three. Each iteration was better, higher-priced, and easier to sell than the last.

Sally Hirst's journey followed a similar arc. Free YouTube lessons built her audience. That audience became an email list. That email list became paid course students. Today: 5,000+ students worldwide, 10+ courses, and income 10x what she earned before going online. None of that happened in a single launch — it compounded over time.

What Should You Do After Your First Launch?

Your first launch ends, but the work doesn't. Two rounds of feedback are essential:

Survey your students:

• What was most valuable?
• What confused them?
• What would they add?

Survey the people who didn't buy:

• What held them back? Price, timing, trust, or something else?

Use that feedback to improve for the next cohort. Tighten modules that felt too long. Expand exercises that generated the most engagement. Revise your sales page using the language your students actually used.

Why Does the Growth Cycle Work?

The creators who build sustainable course businesses aren't the ones who nail it on the first try. They're the ones who keep going. The cycle is simple:

Launch → Learn from students → Improve → Relaunch

Each turn produces a better course, a higher price, stronger testimonials, and a larger audience. Laurie Anderson went from digitizing old VHS archives to earning five figures in months. Ochre Education went from a small nonprofit initiative to reaching 125,000+ teachers across 8,600+ schools in Australia.

Every one of them started with a single course and a small group of students. The launch was just the beginning.

Use our Revenue Calculator to project your earnings across different launch scenarios and see what's possible for your course.