In the end of April we launched our freemium version of Daily Bits Of. This means that it is free for anyone who has something to teach to do so via our service. Since I made my first course for the site we have launched som +90 courses. Our process always looks the same:

1. The course creator sign-up for a free or for a business account here.

2. If he or she run into some trouble or need som inspiration they contact me and I will ask our network of course creators and copywriters for some feedback.

3. Once the course is finished we do a last review of it using our peer review process. If they give the thumps up we launch the course with a bang!

As easy as these steps might sounds there is potentially a lot of work between each step. Luckily we have gathered some insights over the past year which will make it easier for you to make an instant hit on Daily Bits Of. Just follow our five steps.

The 5-steps for making a great course

1. Define your target audience The first step for your subscribers is always to visit your course’s landing page. People will come to your landing page through channels like search, social, recommendations from friends or perhaps via our blog. This tells us that it is crucial to have a landing page that clearly describes what the course is about, what it aims to help the subscriber with and first and for most who the subscribers should be, i.e. what’s your target audience.

We have noticed that some of our courses have a conversion rate of 20–50 percent, that is nearly half of the people who find the course will convert into a subscriber. Courses with a conversion rate this high all have one thing in common: they clearly state who the course is for. In other words it is much better to have a course like “Sleep better — a course for parents with small children” rather than “Sleep better”.

2. Decide on a specific goal Once you got your target audience all sorted out you should take a moment to figure out what you want to achieve with your course. “Tell people about my topic” is to vague. To make it easier you could divide you goals into two parts:

• What do you want the user to know, do and feel once they have finished your course?
• In what way will you benefit from people taking your course?

Creating goals like these is hard, but if you really take the time to do so you will see that writing the course will be much easier. Most of our course creator have some sort of commercial goal in mind. If they are authors they want to sell more book, if they run a company they might want the subscriber to have a more intricate picture of the problem their company is trying to solve.

3. Be personal and friendly In a survey we did in April we asked our subscribers why the use Daily Bits Of and how the describe our service to their friends. A majority of our subscribers say they turn to Daily Bits Of to get inspired and to learn more about their favorite subjects. They describe us as laid back, funny and inspiring.

This view also reflect our most successful courses. Here’s a few tricks to get that personal and friendly voice:

• Always sign off with your full name
• Start your course by saying a few things about yourself. Could be a paragraph about why you decided to create the course
• Include personal examples here and there through out the course

Keep in mind that the most important thing is that the voice of your course is your own. If you are not comfortable with being laid back you shouldn’t force it. Always be yourself, never be a douche bag.

4. Add relevant tasks for each bit Looking at our courses with the highest engagement (overall open rate) it is easy to see a pattern. The courses with the best open rate are those courses who’s bits always end with a task. Now this might sound more extensive then it actually is. Here are a few ways to write a task:

• “Time to reflect: have you ever experienced this?”
• “Discuss with a coworker”
• “Do: try todays lesson”
• “Write a list: take three minutes and write down x, y and z”
• “Share your solution on our Facebook group” (some course creators also creates a Facebook group for those who subscribe to their course)

5. Include links for further reading When we created Daily Bits Of we wanted to give free learning to those who rarely have time for learning. One thing that struck us was how many people associate learning with stress and anxiety (ourself included). We didn’t want to become yet another service for personal development that makes people stressed about everything they should, but can’t find time to, learn. That is why our lessons is short enough to go down with your morning coffee or while waiting for the bus.

That being said we see that the courses that get the best feedback are those who always include reading suggestions in each bit. A reading suggestion is just a short link at the end of the bit, it could be to:

• a blog post that you or someone else have written
• a TED talk
• an episode of a podcast or a soundbite
• a pdf or an image (some course creators have made specific forms that their subscribers can download)

If you’re intersested in creating a course just sign up for our free account here.