How To Create An Online Course (The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide)

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Get a step-by-step breakdown so you can follow along and build a course that creates passive income and financial freedom (once we scale it up)

The online course industry is booming — and for good reason.

As a coach, mentor, or service provider, creating an online course is one of the fastest ways to package your expertise, serve more people at once, and unlock monthly recurring income (MRR - which you’ll hear me talk about a lot as it’s the foundation of building financial freedom)

But let’s be real: the idea of creating an online course can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? What tech do you need? How do you actually make it sell?

The good news is, I’ve built and sold multiple courses myself (with sales funnels that have generated over £507,000 in revenue), and I’ve helped hundreds of clients launch their own profitable online programs.

So in this guide, I’ll walk you through the exact step-by-step process of creating an online course that not only changes lives but also brings consistent income into your business.

Step 1. Choose the Right Course Topic

Your course idea needs to tick three boxes:

  1. You’re passionate about it (you’ll be creating content around it for months/years).

  2. You have expertise in it (you don’t need to know everything, but you do need to be a few steps ahead of your students).

  3. It solves an urgent and important problem (people will only pay if the problem feels high-impact enough to fix).

💡 Pro Tip: Ask yourself “What question do people ask me all the time?” That’s often your most profitable course idea.

Step 2. Validate Your Idea Before You Build

Don’t spend weeks creating a course only to discover nobody wants it. Instead:

  • Post problem-led content on Instagram to gauge engagement.

  • Run a poll in your stories to canvas opinion and get people voting.

  • Offer a beta version at a discounted rate and see if people buy.

Validation isn’t about perfection — it’s about proving people are willing to invest in the result you’re offering.

👉 When I launched my first £5K 1:1 package, I sold it with a “book a call” post before I even had 200 followers. That validation gave me the confidence to build out the offer further.

Step 3. Map Out Your Course Transformation

Every course needs a clear promise: where your student is now → where they’ll be after completing your course.

To map it out:

  • Write down the starting point (the problem).

  • Write down the end point (the transformation).

  • Fill in the steps in between (these become your modules).

Example:
Start: Struggling to sign coaching clients
End: Consistently booking clients every month
Modules: Niche, Messaging, Content, Sales Strategy, Funnels

💡 Think of your course as a bridge — each module is a stepping stone that gets your students across safely.

Step 4. Decide on the Delivery Format

Your course doesn’t need to be 50+ hours long to be valuable. The goal is clarity, not overwhelm. Popular formats include:

  • Video Lessons (recorded on Zoom, Loom, or your phone camera)

  • PDF Workbooks (created in Canva)

  • Audio Trainings (great for mobile learning on-the-go)

  • Swipe Files / Templates (huge value with minimal effort)

👉 Remember: people pay for speed and simplicity, not volume. A concise course is often more powerful than a long one.

Step 5. Choose the Right Tech Platform

The tech can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t need to be. Platforms like New Zenler (best for simplicity and price), Kajabi, Teachable, or Thinkific allow you to host your course, take payments, and deliver content seamlessly.

If you’re just starting out, keep it simple:

  • Record your videos on Zoom or Loom

  • Host them on a private platform (or even a hidden YouTube playlist at first)

  • Upload to your course platform as you go

💡 Don’t wait for the “perfect setup” — launch messy and refine it later.

Step 6. Price Your Course

Pricing depends on the transformation you’re offering and the level of support included.

  • Low-ticket course (£17 - £147): Great for building a large audience and making passive sales.

  • Mid-ticket course (£297 - £997): Ideal if you want depth and transformation without 1:1 time.

  • High-ticket course (£1,500 - £9,997): Usually includes group coaching, Q&A calls, or VIP support.

👉 My advice? Start with a lower or mid-ticket offer to build momentum, then scale up. This tutorial will help.

Step 7. Create a Sales Funnel (So Your Course Sells on Repeat)

Your course won’t sell just because it exists. You need a funnel to consistently bring new buyers in.

A simple funnel looks like this:

  1. Lead Magnet (a freebie that solves a small part of the problem)

  2. Nurture Emails (build trust + showcase your expertise)

  3. Course Offer (present your program as the next logical step)

This is exactly how I’ve scaled my sales — my love of funnels means I’ve built over 20 lead magnets that drive clients into my courses on repeat, and it’s the reason I’ve been able to make £5,700 from my sun-lounger in Crete, sell £212,000 in just 5 months and call in new customers on Christmas Day (yep - really)

Get started with my simple funnel building checklist

online courses and passive income sales funnels

Step 8. Market With Evergreen Content

Once your funnel is live, you need traffic. This is where you content becomes vital as a way to constantly attract, nurture and convert sales.

  • Pinterest Pins drive long-term SEO traffic.

  • Tik Tok expands your reach and brings in a new audience with every post.

  • Instagram Reels stop the scroll and start conversations.

  • Blogs establish authority and help with Google ranking.

  • Lives / Masterclasses build trust quickly.

And I’ve created my F.A.N.S Framework to help you distinguish between the 4 different posting formats — it helps you balance follower growth, authority building, nurturing, and sales content so your audience naturally moves toward your course.

Step 9. Launch Girl Launch (Messy Action Beats Perfection)

Don’t wait until everything feels “perfect.” When I started, my course videos weren’t polished, my graphics were basic, and my funnel was scrappy — but it still sold.

A simple “book a call” or “doors are open” campaign can get you those first buyers, and then you can refine with feedback.

Remember: a course that’s live and imperfect will always outperform the course that’s stuck in your head.

The fastest way to launch, is using my Lazy Girl Sales™️ System.

Step 10. Scale and Optimise

Once you’ve proven your course sells, the fun begins. You can:

  • Add upsell offers (memberships, group coaching, masterminds)

  • Run paid ads to increase traffic

  • Split-test your funnel pages to improve conversions

  • Repurpose content across platforms for wider reach

This is how you turn a one-time launch into a consistent income machine. And I teach it here.

So to summarise all this;

Creating an online course is one of the smartest moves you can make as a coach or mentor. It allows you to:

  • Consistently bring in buyers to nurture and upsell

  • Package your genius once and sell it on repeat

  • Serve more clients without burning out

  • Create true financial freedom and flexibility

And the best part? You don’t need thousands of followers or perfect tech to make it happen. My first sale came with under 200 Instagram followers - proof that it’s about strategy, not audience size.

So if you’re ready to take the leap, follow these steps and start building your course today.

👉 Want help fast-tracking your online course and accelerating your sales? Join myInfinite Abundance Collective and get a 1:1 Strategy Session, Live Group Mentorship and Q&A Calls and a Course Curriculum to sky-rocket your success as a coach or course creator.

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