Summary
In this episode, Alex talks about finding course creators to partner with when building your online academy. Learn the best approach to prove value to your potential collaborators, and show them the path to sustainable growth through a partnership with you. Get hot tips for building your community and creating an actionable strategy for appealing to course creators.
Links
How to Sell Online Courses with LifterLMS and Siren
One Powerful Way To Grow Your Online Course Business
Keypoints
- Become an online platform owner through strategic partnerships with course creators.
- Partner with other creators to leverage their existing audience for your business.
- Create a learning hub for a larger student base with multiple experts.
- See how revenue sharing opportunities help you build win-win partnerships.
- Build community engagement for lasting relationships.
- Use concrete 90-day goals with partner-creators to ensure success.
- Learn how to balance learning platform quality with course creator autonomy.
- Incorporate automated partnership management with Siren.
Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to Partnership, where your network is the wind in your sails. I’m your host, Alex Standiford, and I’m here to redefine online partnerships for bootstrapped businesses. I believe in working with top talent to expand your sales channels and enrich the lives around you, not just the pockets of big corporations.
[00:00:22] Today, we’re going to talk about one of the most important steps when it comes to building a thriving online course platform, finding the right course creators.
[00:00:33] In a previous episode, I talked about how you can seriously grow your e learning business by going from selling one off courses to running a full blown course platform. So if you’ve already built a successful course business and you’re ready to grow it, the next step could be to bring in other experts to contribute to your content library.
[00:00:51] But here’s the big question. How do you find those course creators who are a good match? How do you find the right people who align with the vision you have for your online course platform in the first place? If you’ve ever wondered about this, stay tuned, because in this episode, I’m going to break down exactly how to find and attract course creators for your platform.
[00:01:10] We’ll talk about why partnerships with the right creators can supercharge your platform’s growth. And I’ll share some actionable strategies for identifying and approaching these people. Not to mention, keeping them engaged over time. Let’s get started. First, let’s talk about why you need course creators in the first place.
[00:01:28] If you’re shifting from a solo course creator to a platform owner, your ability to scale depends on expanding your content offerings. And while you could certainly try to create more courses, the truth is there’s only so much content that you can produce on your own. Not to mention, maintain and change over time.
[00:01:46] By bringing in other course creators, you’re going to get a few key things here. First, it’s going to diversify your content, which allows you to offer a wider range of topics, teaching styles, and expertise that appeals to a broader audience. This can really enhance the value of your platform because it makes it more attractive for learners with different interests and learning preferences.
[00:02:05] And also, inviting other creators onto your platform allows you to leverage their expertise and their unique perspectives as well. Ultimately, this shift frees you from the bottleneck of creating every course yourself, which means that you can focus on scaling your platform and managing its growth.
[00:02:21] Second, you’re able to tap into the existing audiences of other creators, which gives your platform an immediate access to new potential students. And this can significantly broaden your platform’s reach, as each creator brings in a built in network of followers who may not have discovered your courses otherwise.
[00:02:38] Additionally, these new students are more likely to trust your platform since it’s endorsed by creators they already know, which leads to faster growth and stronger community engagement. In other words, those people could potentially end up buying your course or your other offerings on your platform as a result.
[00:02:54] So you’re getting these leads from your other course creators, and it creates an ecosystem that just adds a lot of potential for you to be able to grow your business in ways that would otherwise be difficult to do. Not to mention, collaborating with other creators elevates the perceived value of your platform.
[00:03:10] Rather than being seen as a one person operation, your platform becomes a dynamic, multi expert learning hub. Not only does this attract students who are seeking high quality, diverse educational experiences, but it strengthens your reputation as a trusted, comprehensive resource across multiple fields.
[00:03:27] Peloton is a great example here. They didn’t just stop at creating one or two fitness programs. Instead, they brought in trainers from all these different fitness backgrounds, allowing them to offer a wide variety of classes for different levels, interests, and fitness goals. This keeps their content fresh and appeals to a broader audience.
[00:03:46] By doing this, Peloton transitioned from being just a fitness equipment company to a full fledged platform with recurring revenue from subscriptions. And that’s exactly what you can do by collaborating with other course creators. Even Netflix follows a partnership oriented strategy. They work with all kinds of studios and creators to keep their library fresh.
[00:04:05] That steady stream of content keeps subscribers engaged, attracts new viewers, and reduces churn. Think about the last time that you re upped your Netflix subscription specifically because a new show was dropping that you wanted to see. Netflix stays at the top of the streaming game because they consistently deliver value through partnerships.
[00:04:24] And that’s exactly the approach you want to take with your course platform. But before you start reaching out to course creators, you need to first identify where the gaps in your content are in the first place. This is so important because you want to bring in people who can fill those gaps and really add value to your platform, not just parrot or teach similar things to what you’re already teaching.
[00:04:44] Transcribed As such, you can start by looking at the content that you already have. What are the key areas you’re covering? Now think about what your audience might need beyond what you offer. What’s missing? For example, I’m a programmer and I’ve written a lot of code and I’ve done courses that teach people how to write really good code.
[00:05:03] A really good compliment for me is Could be to find a another programmer who’s focused on writing front end code or interfaces or design or UX, who could help round out my teachings. Uh, another option could be, maybe I find a person who’s focused on SEO and marketing and those kinds of things. So there’s always going to be.
[00:05:24] Businesses and business models that are parallel to what you’re already teaching that probably make a lot of sense to be taught in addition to what you’re teaching, and those are where your partnership opportunities are going to just naturally appear civic niches like portrait photography, or maybe photo editing.
[00:05:39] That’s a clear gap. Or maybe your courses are more theory based and you need someone to create practical hands on tutorials that help students apply what they’ve learned. So in other words, maybe you’re teaching things like rule of thirds and things like that. And you need somebody to teach the ins and outs of a camera, such as the F stops and shutter speed and those kinds of things.
[00:05:59] But no matter what you currently offer, you can learn a lot by surveying your current audience. As always, you should be asking your audience what are the additional topics or advanced content that they’d like to see. This not only gives you valuable insight into their needs, but it also shows your commitment to providing them value, which helps them build loyalty.
[00:06:17] A great way to approach something like this could be to do webinars, or live streams with your audience. I’ve found that if you do like a private webinar, you can actually bring in people to do like a multi day thing and you can teach them a whole bunch of stuff. But between those sessions, you can ask them questions on other things that they want to know, and then kind of teach it a little bit and talk about it a little bit in the next webinar that you’re doing.
[00:06:40] And as you’re doing that, it’s not only going to give you more ideas potentially for your own course content, but it’ll give you several ideas to be able to figure out what kind of content you should be thinking about for. Potential partnerships for things that are gaps in your knowledge. Okay. So now that we’ve identified a couple of different content gaps and ways that you can identify those, it’s time to start looking for the right course creators to partner with.
[00:07:01] But again, it’s not just about finding somebody with expertise. You want creators who align with your brand, your values, and your vision, not to mention somebody who can actually teach because some people just aren’t really that good at it. They can be fantastic at applying and doing the knowledge and doing the thing.
[00:07:16] But. But not everybody is a great teacher. The first place to look, of course, is within your own network. You probably know some of the people who are subject matter experts parallel to what you’re doing. These people are ideal first candidates because they already trust you and are more likely to understand your vision and probably have been following you.
[00:07:34] They might even be your current customers. So it’s definitely a great spot to start because, of course, those people are going to know you, like you, trust you, have a relationship with you, and probably just have this fundamental understanding of what you’re trying to do. And on the flip side of that, you know them, and you trust them, and you probably have a feel for if they’re a good fit already before you even have that conversation with them.
[00:07:56] That being said, it’s entirely possible that you will need to go beyond your immediate network. And there’s some other places that you could look as well. One is online communities. So platforms like LinkedIn, Reddit, or Facebook, the groups in Facebook, specifically, they’re all gold mines for finding subject matter experts who are active in your industry.
[00:08:14] Engaging in these services not only helps you identify potential creators, but it also gives you a sense of their teaching style, their engagement level, and just in general, how well they resonate with their audience by observing how they communicate and how they interact. You can gauge whether they’re a good fit for your platform and your brand.
[00:08:32] Of course, another big one of these is going to be YouTube, of course, because if they’re on YouTube and they’re creating videos and they’re creating content on there, they can probably teach not to mention these communities provide just a natural space for building relationships before you propose a partnership.
[00:08:47] You can start by offering value through interactions or by commenting on their content. Just kind of getting to know them a little bit, try to establish a rapport and build trust before you approach them with some kind of actual pitch. This organic approach leads to genuine, successful collaborations with creators who share your vision.
[00:09:04] In other words, don’t just be a rando sliding into somebody’s DMs, right? You Take some time to get to know them, have conversations with them in a public forum and a space where you’re comfortable with having those conversations before you go diving into their direct messages and having actual conversations with them.
[00:09:19] Now I’m not saying it has to be months and months or anything like that, but you know, at least have a few touch points where they’re seeing you, they get to know you and they followed you and you guys have interacted for a little bit before you go jumping into trying to have a serious conversation about moving that relationship forward.
[00:09:36] And I already touched on this a little bit, but another place to look for course creators is going to be pretty much anywhere where influencers are active. So Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, they’re all really great platforms for finding creators who are sharing educational content in your niche. These platforms are full of influencers who have built dedicated followings by consistently delivering valuable and engaging content to their audiences.
[00:09:59] What makes these influencers particularly good candidates for your platform is their ability to break down complex topics into digestible, entertaining formats. They’re often skilled at presenting information in ways that captivate attention with visuals, storytelling, or creative formats. These are some of the very same elements that make online courses successful.
[00:10:19] If you think in particular about something like TikTok or Instagram or YouTube shorts in the short format where they’re limited on how much time, a lot of these people have really mastered the art of getting things distilled down to the essentials. And that can really help create high quality courses if you take that and you expand that into a more comprehensive set of lessons.
[00:10:41] On top of all that, influencers usually have a sense of trust with their audiences, which generally means their followers are more likely to trust and engage with your platform, since it’s being endorsed by someone they already follow. So, partnering with influencers not only brings their expertise onto your platform, it also introduces your brand to their audience.
[00:11:00] I don’t know if you can hear that or not, so I’m going to redo that one. Partnering with influencers not only brings their expertise onto your platform, it also introduces your brand to their audience. Which effectively widens your reach. This combination of educational talent and marketing power can be a huge boost when it comes to scaling your business.
[00:11:17] Another place to consider is industry conferences and webinars. If there’s a conference or an online summit happening in your industry, Pay close attention to those speakers and those presenters. These individuals are already seen as thought leaders and experts in their fields, which means that they’re probably looking for ways to expand their reach beyond speaking engagements.
[00:11:38] Heck, they’ve probably already done some resources and educational things, and they may already have a course in the back of their mind that they’re thinking about doing. They just haven’t done it because the idea of doing a course on their own is really daunting. It’s entirely possible that maybe you are just the thing that they were looking for.
[00:11:53] Partnering with a platform like yours could be a perfect opportunity for them to repurpose their expertise into structured courses as well. Plus their credibility and established presence in the industry could bring even more legitimacy and recognition into your platform. Are you sensing a pattern here?
[00:12:10] Not only are these course creators able to allow you To generate more course content, but they also help bring that extra value in that extra legitimacy to the platform. And if you’re setting up your program in a way that rewards that behavior, you’re going to end up generating more sales. They’re going to end up getting more sales, not only for their content, but the content that is being cross sold as a result.
[00:12:30] So there’s a lot of opportunity for growth for both of you in these cases. It’s a real win win. Lastly, you can find potential course creators through blogs and podcasts. Many bloggers and podcasters are already producing valuable educational content in your niche, making them excellent candidates to bring their knowledge to a wider audience in a course format.
[00:12:49] Podcasters in particular are already used to the idea of being in front of a camera and talking, much like influencers in that regard. An effective strategy that I’ve talked about a little bit on this podcast in previous episodes that can help, especially with podcasting and blogging is actually using your good old fashioned SEO research tools.
[00:13:06] So SEM rush and or mangles or something like that. These tools can allow you to actually do SEO research for the terms. Related to the subjects that you are interested in having a course for and you can find the leading voices in those different terms using your SEO research tools and figure out who’s the recurring author of that content, who keeps on coming up and who fits your general brand and are a good fit.
[00:13:33] You can find people just by. Doing good old fashioned SEO research instead of finding keywords to potentially write blog content for what you’re doing is you’re finding bloggers, authors who could potentially work with you. I’ve talked about this strategy a lot in finding potential affiliates for affiliate programs, but it also makes a lot of sense in this context.
[00:13:53] If you’re trying to find course creators, just partners in general, usually whenever you’re looking for people who are thought leaders, a great place to start is just doing the same SEO research that you’re probably doing for your own content anyway. By reaching out to these creators, you’re not only tapping into their expertise, but also their established audiences.
[00:14:11] Whether it’s a blogger with a loyal readership or a podcaster with a dedicated listener base, these creators can add depth to your platform while introducing it to their existing followers at the same time. Again, more cross selling opportunities. So let’s say you’ve gone through these options and identified some potential course creators.
[00:14:30] What’s next? Of course, approaching them and making a compelling offer can be a little bit tricky. But the number one priority when reaching out is to make it clear why partnering with you is valuable to them. You really want to focus on what they’ll gain by coming on board. And remember, as I mentioned before, think of this in a lot of ways as a sales process.
[00:14:50] So you’re going to take your time a little bit. You can think of this as a lead pipeline where you’re trying to find the right person, or maybe you can also think of it as like you’re taking applications for a person who’s working at your company, right? So it’s a process and it doesn’t just happen overnight.
[00:15:04] So you want to develop relationships with these people and get to know them a little bit and take your time a little bit, right? Don’t dive right into messaging them on day one, unless you’re really confident that it’s a great fit and you want to just go for it. But if you do that, try your best to make it as personal as you can.
[00:15:19] I find video content such as this goes a long way. Try to make it personalized. Try to make it seem very clear that you’re not just blasting this message out to a whole bunch of people. Ideally, you’re going to warm up that person a little bit by getting to know them before you try to reach out. But once you’re in that spot where you’re ready to have that conversation and send that message, here are a few ways that you can position it.
[00:15:41] First, of course, you could talk about revenue sharing. Just let them know that they can earn passive income through this profit sharing model where they get a percentage of the sales from their courses. This is of course a big draw for creators, especially if they’re used to hustling for every dollar because they’re able to lean on your efforts and your reach to actually generate sales for them.
[00:16:01] Which leads into my next point. I like the opportunity for increased exposure. Your platform isn’t just another place to host their content. It’s a chance for them to grow their personal brand by reaching your existing audience as well. Remember they’re gaining a lot out of this too, for a lot of creators, this is a big benefit because it’s expanding their reach while they’re making money at the same time.
[00:16:21] So it’s flipping that script where they’re getting more reach, but instead of. Them paying an ad company or something like that. Plus dealing with all the hosting and everything. They’re just working directly with you and partnering with you. And for the right person, that’s a great thing. That’s really exciting.
[00:16:36] Lastly, you should emphasize the ongoing collaboration. You’re going to want to position. This is a long term partnership, not just a one off deal. Make sure that they know that you’re committed to promoting their courses and that you want to work with them and help them succeed on your platform in the long term.
[00:16:50] This isn’t just a get rich quick scheme or some kind of one and done kind of thing. You want to treat this as something where it’s a relationship where you’re working together for a long time, creating content together and helping each other succeed. This is really important. So I’m going to bring it up again.
[00:17:04] When you’re reaching out, personalization is so important. Do not do just generic pitches that feel transactional. You know what I’m talking about. You’ve received them all the time in your inbox day in and day out. Do not do that. If you can try to spend a little bit of time researching them, getting to know them, Again, video content is a really big thing.
[00:17:23] And if you’re a course creator, you’re probably comfortable with that. Anyway, get in front of that camera, get in front of that mic, talk about them, talk about what they want and talk about how you can work together. So to expand on that a little bit before you get into that, of course, you’re going to have to research their work.
[00:17:37] Understand their niche and highlight how their expertise would be a valuable addition to your platform. But honestly, if you’re warming them up and getting to know them, that’s going to just happen naturally over time. Right? So this doesn’t need to be a hurry up and spend three hours researching them and then send them an email immediately.
[00:17:53] It’s probably your developing that relationship. You see something in them that you like, you follow them, you see some content that they’re publishing. You like that you enjoy that you think it’s good. And you start thinking about the potential ways you can work together. And eventually that becomes so clear to you that you’re ready to go.
[00:18:09] Once you’ve attracted the right creators, it’s essential to foster a strong, mutually beneficial relationship. This is key because it’s not just about getting creators on board. It’s about ensuring that they feel valued and supported. So they continue to contribute quality content on your platform so that you guys are both benefiting from that.
[00:18:28] Be sure to provide clear guidelines on your platform standards, goals, expectations for course content, use detailed documentation, videos, or personal onboarding calls to make sure that they fully understand how their courses will be published, how they can interact with their students, and finally, how they’ll be compensated in the first place.
[00:18:47] On top of that, it’s also a good idea to think about goals with them. Have conversations on 90 day goals where You’re saying in 90 days, my, I would love to see you get to this point, right? Almost like you’re nurturing a relationship where you’re giving them a clear path to success, right? Because you’re probably a step ahead of them in this regard.
[00:19:04] And you kind of have a feel for what you can do, and you can use that to your advantage to motivate them, right? 90 days from now, our goal is to have this course published. 90 days after publish, our goal is to try to sell the first, uh, 50 things, maybe we’re going to do a launch party or something like that.
[00:19:21] Right? So you’re kind of setting up a roadmap because think about how much more compelling it is. If you’re talking to a person where you say, I have a roadmap to work with you to create this really awesome, engaging, compelling course, you just need to follow the roadmap and work with me and create the content and do it on my platform.
[00:19:42] Does that seem like something that you would be interested in? So instead of. Hey, I have a course platform. You can make some money. Do you want to do that? Because getting people started isn’t difficult. It’s giving them that guidance and that ongoing assistance. That’s going to be immensely valuable to those people.
[00:19:59] There are people who pay a lot of money for coaching and things like Just to find and get that clarity. And if you can give somebody that shortcut where they’re able to just bypass a lot of that stuff and just work with you to get to that point, a lot of people are going to take you up on that offer.
[00:20:14] It’s a very compelling offer if you can do it and you can really hold your end of that bargain. So to that point, though, once you do that, a streamlined onboarding process will make your creators feel valued and it’s going to encourage them to hit the ground running with their first course. It’s going to give them clarity on where they’re at, where they’re going and how they’re going to get there.
[00:20:32] If you can give them that, they’re going to see a lot of success and you will too, as a result. You have to think about this as like you’re their coach, right? You’re the leader in this regard. You are there to guide them and help them succeed because their success is your success. So we’ve covered where you can find your course creators, how to approach them, and a little bit about the onboarding process, but let’s talk about one of the biggest challenges.
[00:20:53] Whenever it comes to running an online course, keeping your creators engaged and motivated to continue creating great content over time. In any platform, consistency is key. But maintaining that momentum isn’t easy as creators grow and they evolve their goals, their priorities, and all kinds of different things may shift, which is going to impact how engaged they are.
[00:21:14] That’s why it’s so important to stay proactive in understanding their needs and offering support where you can. Again, that 90 day window. Keeping that in check and keeping them aligned with that and understanding what their goals are and where they’re moving from here is going to help them understand, but it’s also going to help you understand where they’re at because those check ins, those 90 day goals will also allow you to see what they want.
[00:21:36] What did they need out of this relationship and allow you to pivot? Cause it’s possible that maybe they’re getting enough, maybe they’re getting what they’re needing out of the existing content and they just want to maintain that status quo. That’s okay. That means that maybe you work with them to make sure that they’re staying on top of their course content.
[00:21:52] You’re helping them get the feedback that they need to maintain those courses. While you’re also looking to find another person to onboard them and do the same thing. The beauty of that 90 day goal is that you’re showing them the longterm value that they get in working with you. And that means building a partnership that benefits both sides over time.
[00:22:10] It’s not about offering these competitive payouts, but also fostering a sense of belonging ownership and growth within your platform. Again, you’re giving them something that a lot of people pay a lot of money to have access to coaching and guidance. And again, this is where royalty programs and profit sharing models really do come into play.
[00:22:28] By offering creators a percentage of sales for as long as their course is live on your platform, you give them a continuous incentive to promote their content and stay involved. And really, it’s not overly complicated to do this. You can usually set up royalty programs or profit sharing arrangements right from your WordPress dashboard using Siren.
[00:22:46] There’s no need to manually track every sale. It’s all automated. The plugin handles payments seamlessly, making it simple for both you and your creators. Another way you can keep creators engaged is by creating opportunities for collaboration and community building. Think about hosting live events, webinars, or even virtual summits where multiple course creators can come together and share their expertise.
[00:23:08] These events can add a ton of value to your platform, sparking creativity, bringing in fresh perspectives, and fostering stronger relationships between your creators. When you cultivate a collaborative environment, you’re not just encouraging teamwork, you’re also unlocking the potential for cross promotion and mutual growth.
[00:23:25] Heck, Maybe if you get enough course creators, you’ll be able to create your own complete summit, your own conference where all of the people who run the courses on your site are the keynote speakers, and you’re able to pay them for doing the talks or something like that. There’s so many different ways that you can help promote those people that goes above and beyond.
[00:23:44] What they can do, right? You’re in the position to be able to do those things. There’s so much value that you can offer in those kinds of regards whenever it comes to building that community, fostering it, and setting up the course creators on your platform to be able to use that to amplify their own messages.
[00:23:59] So don’t underestimate the power of community because when course creators feel like they’re a part of a larger network It’s going to increase their sense of belonging and investment in your platform in the first place And this keeps them inspired to contribute fresh content and stay actively engaged over time at that point It becomes so much more than the actual royalty program that you’re offering, right?
[00:24:23] That’s the root of it That’s why they’re there in the first place, but it’s not what’s gonna keep them there You Finally, here are a few more tips to think about if you want to inspire and motivate course creators to help you succeed with your online course platform. Of course, you need to give them a sense of ownership over their content.
[00:24:38] This is normal to oversee the quality of the content, but if you give the creators the freedom to design the courses in their style, you’re going to allow them to foster a deeper connection with their courses. Don’t overthink that. Don’t try to control what they’re doing. Course creators, Would be able to choose their topics, experiment with different teaching formats and offer additional resources, such as coaching or workshops.
[00:24:58] If they want, when creators feel that they have a stake in their work, they’re a lot more likely to continue contributing and promoting their content. Of course, it would be wise to. In your 90 day meetings, work with them to think about when does it make sense to do those things and kind of guide them, maybe offer insight on things that you think that they should be teaching or things like that, but generally kind of let them make the decisions as much as you can.
[00:25:21] If you’re a course creator like this, and you’re interested in this kind of relationship, you probably value autonomy very much, but you would like some guidance. So give them that. And of course, don’t forget to show some appreciation. Highlight successful creators on your platform’s blog, your social media channels, or newsletters.
[00:25:38] You may even have a private Slack community or Discord community specifically for your creators. So there’s some opportunities to highlight things there. A really nice touch that I’ve seen some people do is they’ll actually send swag to the course creators or the people in their program, right? So just like some kind of little gift, just once a year or every once in a while that’s personalized to that person.
[00:26:00] A great example of this, I recently received a hoodie that has the Lifter LMS logo on the front and the Siren logo on the back. I didn’t ask for it. Chris at Lifter just sent it to me because we’ve been working together a lot. That really meant something to me and it sticks out and I think about it all the time.
[00:26:14] But not only that, you could even create incentive programs that reward your top performing creators with bonuses, higher visibility on the platform, or opportunities to take on leadership roles within the community. Remember, building a thriving online course platform is all about finding the right course creators.
[00:26:31] And you can do this by establishing strong partnerships that enhance your offerings and expand your reach. It’s not just about filling content gaps. It’s about creating a vibrant learning community that benefits everyone. If managing all of this sounds like a lot, don’t worry, Siren makes it easy. With Siren, you could automate a lot of this partnership things.
[00:26:51] You can set up royalty programs and manage everything from your WordPress dashboard, which leaves you with more time to focus on growing your platform. So head on over to sirenaffiliates. com if you’re ready to get started. Thank you for joining us in this episode of Partnership. Where your network is the wind in your sails.
[00:27:08] I hope you found today’s discussion, insightful and inspiring. Remember the strength of your business lies in the partnerships you build and nurture. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review. For more tips and insights, visit our website at partnership. fm. This is Alex Standifird, sailing out.
