How to start an online school

How to start an online learning platform.

With the onset of a boost in learning online, there has never been a better time to start an online education business, running and starting your own online school or membership site has always been challenging.

Most platforms are designed to be easy and tech-free, but there are a lot of choices out there, and making the right decision is key to your business, of course, we say to you to use Zenler and we will explain why during this article, with countless reasons why it will be the best decision you have made all year!
Let us jump into how you can create your very own online school.

Create online school free

With Zenler you can start your online school for FREE yes really your own School for FREE, this will give you the time to see if what Zenler can offer you will expand and cover all your needs, it is true key features are not available to you unless you use the PAID PLANS but still Zenler offers you the ability to get started and simply upgrade when you realise it's the only choice for an online business for your School or Membership!

So what are the choices for your very own online School?

We have written many comparisons between Zenler and other leading Learning management systems, I have hot linked to these below:

Kajabi Alternative

Kajabi offers a great choice as a learning management system but you will see how we compare to this online course platform - Visit the Post

Teachable Alternative

Teachable is another platform that is a great choice as your first course platform we have written a great article on this and how it compares to Zenler - Visit the Post

Thinkific Alternative

This platform could be a great fit for you, but make sure you check out how Zenler compares and what features you get with Zenler above and beyond Thinkific features - Visit the Post

Systeme Alternative

This Funnels type system offers a great price although not intuitive and feels a bit cheap it still might suit you as their pricing at this stage is competitive, see our blog on this - Visit the Post

No Alternative just Zenler

We have no alternative if you want a platform that has it all and addresses the number one pain point which is marketing there is only one choice for an all-in-one platform, you might have seen post comparing to Zenler but often they will leave out features that Zenler has just because it really is a best choice for you - Visit the Post

Bottom Line no Jargon Straight talk

We of course recommend you to use Zenler for your membership, coaching and courses why because its the only true all-in-one platform built around the number one pain point marketing, built from the ground up around marketing and no need for any additional subscriptions.

Understanding your Audience and school needs

The key to starting a successful easy-to-use school or online course is to plan the student's journey, I am assuming you understand your audience and who they are, this is a critical step often overlooked.

It's not just a matter of knowing your audience but also knowing their needs and pain points once you have determined these you need to plan the student's journey

Planning online school educational site

By mapping or graphically showing the path of your students you will probably for potential stop points in their journey, by producing student flow you can avoid these and provide a smooth flow to your online learning platform it is so important to map their entire journey from check out to flow through the school's course or courses.

Part of the planning process you will want to look at is time allocation for you as the teacher, do you have the time to commit to all the assignments you set, is there ways to speed up your time as well as the students?

Your School needs a Branding pack and Design

You may already have a logo for your school and even a branding pack to work to this will include Logos, Assets, Colours and Fonts that you should follow, it might also have a theme or particular look and feel.

If you do not have these please get a pack together, if you're doing it all yourself see other sites that ensure you can pull the best from each, even a complete beginner can generate their own brand kit quickly and remember at this stage it may change later! if you have no logo it is definitely worth getting one done by a designer, make sure they give you a transparent one for laying on other colours.

Implementing your Online Course Platform Site

In the case of Zenler, you can easily implement your School site using The Zenler Quick Start guide this get you started course can get you up to speed in a few hours

Many new creators tend to think they need everything done at the same time, this is wrong you want to build your site first and then you fill it out later, by building your site now you create a marketable product where you can share and add enrol now forms into it.

It might take you a long time to build your course content fully so start the process early! and remember to add signup forms!

Your Content for Your New School

By far the longest part of creating an online school is the content.

We want to get your content out there and not hold up enrolments so if you can have early enrolments or even drip content out then this means you can start the business early.

Think seriously about this, I know what you are thinking but it is not finished how can I release it and why would I?

Let me give you some reasons why you might think about releasing it while the content is still being created.

Pre-release before you have finished the course:
Don't think of it as unfinished think of it as fresh!
You might change the content based on user feedback
You can start making money in advance
You can see how people are finding your course and identify areas of improvement
You can drip content so you have time for the next module
It will motivate you to finish it!

Of course, there are negative points you are forced to work hard to get it done and cannot be lacking.

Testing your online course with a cohort

It's often a good idea to test your whole site and get feedback before full release this is called the Beta release or pre-release phase.

So think about taking a small cohort of people through the course at a discounted price.

Some features you can use in an Online School

Let's look at features that you will want to or might think of using for your online school.

I can't speak for all the other platforms but I can say to avoid extra subscriptions Zenler is the only way forward all of the features below come as default for all our paid plans and most are available on our free plan (10% transaction fee on free plan 0% on paid plans).

Let's look at key features you might want to use for your online school:

Dripping content
New Zenler allows you to release course content gradually over time, helping to maintain student engagement and prevent overwhelm.
Unlimited courses or memberships
There are no restrictions on the number of courses or membership programs you can create, giving you the freedom to expand your offerings.
Community area and lesson discussions
Foster student interaction with dedicated community spaces and lesson-specific discussion areas.
Coupons for group discussions
Create discount codes to incentivize group enrollments or special promotions.
Assignments graded or for feedback and marking
Set up assignments that can be graded or provide detailed feedback to students, enhancing the learning experience.
Live Broadcasts via Zoom built in no subscriptions
Conduct live sessions using the built-in Zoom integration without needing a separate Zoom subscription.
Videos uploads and viewing
Easily upload and share video content with your students, a crucial component for many online courses.
PDF and new ebook flip-style
Present PDF documents and ebooks in an engaging, flip-style format for improved readability.
Powerpoint viewer
Share PowerPoint presentations directly within the platform, maintaining their original formatting.
Audio Player
Incorporate audio content into your courses with the built-in audio player.
Easy peasy text box
Quickly add text content to your courses with a user-friendly text editor.
Downloads
Provide downloadable resources to supplement your course content.
Free preview, sections and lessons
Organize your course into sections and lessons, with the option to offer free previews to attract potential students.
Compulsory lessons
Designate certain lessons as mandatory to ensure students complete critical course components.
SCORM and or HTML Packages
Support for SCORM and HTML packages allows for integration of complex, interactive e-learning content.
Quizzes and Surveys
Create assessments and gather student feedback using built-in quiz and survey tools.
Full reporting and student purchases
Access comprehensive reports on student activity, progress, and purchases to inform your business decisions.
Email automations and broadcasts
Set up automated email sequences and send broadcast messages to keep in touch with your students.
Logged in and out pages
Create different experiences for logged-in students and potential customers by customizing page visibility.

These are the main features you will use for your online School, but Zenler has many more options built in by default.

Don't complicate your first offering for your School!

Many new course creators and for that matter even experienced ones overcomplicate their offerings by keeping things simple you can grow and actually tailor further courses built from a simple structure be conscious of overcomplications as you design your offerings.

WOW so now you Have your Own School online a business to be proud of!

So what now?

Well now we need to get the word out, you might already have an audience or be ready to contact a school or institute to offer your solution so get out there and do it.

Y0u know your audience find where they hang out and post, make sure you have set up social sites and you start spreading the word

At Zenler we have a series of free courses to learn all you need to know to get your business noticed, make sure you do our training it really does work and we give it all to you for FREE even if you do not use the platform.

Zenler belief is to make everybody successful not just our users its just who we are.