Creating and selling online courses is an exciting entrepreneurial prospect.

First, the barriers to entry are virtually non-existent. All you need to do is set aside some time and in a few months your course can be complete (assuming you’re building it on a part-time basis).

The harder part is selling it.

If you haven’t been promoting your course prior to the launch then your journey to the first sale will be a bit longer but it is by no means impossible. Sometimes you just don’t have the time to market your course at the same time as building it, and that’s fine.

There are a slew of possible promotion strategies available to you and the options can all become overwhelming.

There are paid opportunities which can help you test your course concept easily, but in a perfect world you aren’t always paying for visitors. Again, not that there is anything wrong with this. You just have to commit yourself to learning the ins-and-outs of paid advertising.

When most people create a course they are hoping to have a situation where people are finding their course through search engines. The good news is that this is 100% possible with simple content marketing. Yes, that means writing articles and producing other content that people want to read and share.

This takes a lot of time and commitment but it is absolutely doable. The best part is that it works in nearly every-single-industry.

By way of example, political fundraising consultant Lindsey Miller is using this approach for her site Political Head Start.

There is no secret to this strategy (beware of those that claim that they know one). Simply create good content on a consistent basis and more people will be exposed to your course. Use your content to build trust and a relationship first and these visitors will turn into customers.

I know this works because it is how we started LearnDash.

If you are just starting out in your online business journey then try not to over-complicate the process. Don’t waste time looking for a ‘magic bullet formula’. Roll up your sleeves and start producing interesting content around your niche.