Build Your Online Business on a Learning Management System (LMS)
Build Your Online Business on the Learning Management System
One of the most common questions I get asked by people who are interested in starting an online business is, How can I build my business on a Learning Management System? Here’s the answer. If you’re planning to start your online business, building it on the Learning Management System has some advantages over building it from scratch or using WordPress. Let’s look at the details of why this might be a good choice and what you need to do in order to do it correctly.
What is a Learning Management System?
A learning management system (LMS) is a digital platform or software that allows you to create, deliver and track training. An LMS may include features like collaboration tools, reporting, e-commerce and certifications. While every company needs a way to train its employees, choosing an LMS is about more than finding a cool online tool—it’s about finding one that helps your business succeed by aligning with your business strategy. There are plenty of considerations when it comes to choosing an LMS for your company, including cost and compatibility with existing systems and processes. Use these tips for choosing an LMS for your business
Why Use An LMS?
One of most important things to know when it comes to online learning is that customers can take your courses whenever and wherever they want. So while an LMS may seem like an unnecessary expense, it’s actually one of your most important investments because you can use it for years to come. Here are a few great reasons why having an LMS will help you build a successful business: You Can Offer Courses Anytime, Anywhere: An LMS means students can access their courses from any computer with internet access, 24/7. With an LMS, all your students have to do is log in and get started.
Who Can Use an LMS?
Not everyone can use a learning management system. If you’re looking to build a small business and only have one or two employees, then maybe an LMS is too much of an expense for you. However, if you have more than five people working for your company, it may be time to look into implementing an LMS. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. If your team already has Slack, Google Docs or another digital collaboration platform in place that they use regularly and efficiently, an LMS may not add any benefit and may simply cause confusion. Think long and hard about whether or not your team would actually benefit from having an LMS before investing in one because those costs can add up quickly!
Adding The Course Section
The main difference between adding a course to WordPress and creating it in your LMS is that you have access to one-click updates in WordPress. If, for example, you’re using Clever any changes made from within your account are instantly available to you in WordPress. In other cases, like Moodle or Blackboard for example, changes made in your LMS won’t be reflected on your website until you manually pull them over. Another thing to consider when setting up courses is how they relate to one another. Should they be sequential? Are they completely unrelated but share similar student demographics? Being clear about how all of your courses fit together helps drive traffic and engagement.
Adding The Instructor Section
An instructor is a great way to build an online business. Instructors not only have their own accounts, they are also added to classes in which they are teaching. It doesn’t take much more than an email list and social media presence to be invited to teach an online course, although you may want experience teaching in person or over video conferencing software first. There are many learning management systems for everything from coding languages to cooking classes; once you find one that works for your niche, contact your potential students through social media and let them know about your plan. The great thing about LMS platforms is that instructors get paid whether or not students show up for class!
Tracking Progress
As we all know, you can’t improve what you don’t measure. In order to create a successful online business, it is imperative that you keep track of your progress. You will want to establish metrics for your site’s performance including time spent on page, pages viewed per visit and visitor bounce rate. Google Analytics is a free tool that you can use to track these important statistics and will help you gauge how effective your strategy is over time.
Adding The Marketplace Module
Sales are a key component of any business plan, but they can be tricky to get right. You’re probably not a salesperson by nature—but that doesn’t mean you can’t start making money in your sleep. Before you launch an online business, make sure you have a way to convert your ideas into sales. One of the easiest ways to do so is by adding marketplace functionality to your learning management system (LMS). With it, users can submit products and services that match their skill sets and experiences, then charge for those items through online check-out systems similar to those used in ecommerce stores like Amazon or Zappos.
