Webinars can do more than just deliver value once. They provide a repeatable and structurally defined platform. This means that any time in the future, students may purchase your webinar as a learning product that will give them immediate access to this valuable material.
With this article, you will have a clear and structured plan of action on how to accomplish this task.
Review the Webinar Content
To get started developing your course from the webinars, you need to watch the webinar from the point of view of a beginner to gather important information about the way that you present the information in the webinar. Also, gather information on how you can improve upon that presentation once it has been converted to a full-fledged course.
Look for three key pieces of information:
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Clarity – Are the key concepts easy to follow, or do they seem to jump from one idea to another without any relationship?
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Depth – Does the presentation contain enough material to construct a full course, or do you need to expand upon the key concepts?
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Engagement – What questions were asked most often during the presentation? What elements of the presentation caused the audience to respond positively?
If the webinar presents a full solution to a problem, then the structure is probably adequate for converting to a full course. If the webinar only introduces a single concept, then additional lessons or examples will likely be needed. The goal at this point is to evaluate the content before implementing it as a full course.
Break the Webinar Into a Course Structure
A webinar will be a single long presentation. A course will require short, focused lessons that build on each other. Your assignment is to divide this large talk into a series of short lessons.
To do this, first, you have to break your webinar into main blocks. They will naturally appear in most cases: introduction, main ideas, examples, errors, tools, and Q&A. Next, split each main block into a series of lessons with a length of 5–12 minutes.
A simple structure may have this form:
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Module 1: Core Idea
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Lesson 1: What the Learner Needs to Know
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Lesson 2: Why it Matters to Many People
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Module 2: Steps or Methods
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Lesson 1: Step One
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Lesson 2: Step two
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Module 3: Examples & practice
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Lesson 1: Case Study
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Lesson 2: Common Mistakes
Look for missing pieces. Some concepts require additional definition. Some steps require additional transition. Add these to your outline. The idea is to design your content to lead your learners from confusion to understanding efficiently.
Rewrite and Expand the Lesson Content
Once you’ve created your course framework, start converting each lesson to written material. There are three things to focus on:
Clarity
Longer explanations need to be distilled into short, concise statements. Eliminate extraneous material (e.g., tangents, filler, and irrelevant stories) that might have worked in the context of a live webinar but detract from learning when used in a course.
Support materials
Workbooks, templates, checklists, and step-by-step guides should accompany each lesson as practical tools to support student learning and application of concepts. Even the most straightforward support material (e.g., a one-page summary) adds significant value to the course.
Visual aids
Visual aids (e.g., screenshots, diagrams, short slides) can simplify complex concepts and assist in the comprehension of new information. If you created a slide deck for the webinar, use the most effective slides from the deck and refine the others before including them in the course.
Add Practice and Assessment
A paid course requires more than mere information. Students will remain engaged with a course if they can immediately put into practice what they have learned. Therefore, simple practice components can be added to each lesson in a course. This need not be complicated.
Here are good options:
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Mini-tasks – A quick activity that can be accomplished in 5–10 minutes.
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Reflections – A few questions that help them connect the idea to their own situation.
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Checklists – A checklist to follow when completing a task.
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Quizzes – Mini-quizzes given to reinforce main points.
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Mini-projects – A practical assignment that integrates a series of lessons.
Format your presentation appropriately for your topic. The objective is not assessment but learning. Based on your experience with your online webinar, if you did a Q&A part, your questions will show you where practice activities will most benefit students.
You can include a final project or template towards the end of your course, too. This gives learners a tangible goal to complete and a sense of accomplishment when they reach the end of your course.
Produce the Course Materials
Now that you've completed your content outline and drafts, it’s time to create your courses with two methods: You can either use parts of your webinar or create new recordings (or a combination of both).
Using clips from the webinar
If your webinar series has pictures, good sound, and no long off-topic sections, you’ll be able to take the footage and break it into multiple parts. Just remember to add some transitions and re-record an introduction to help indicate transition points or changes in modules.
Re-recording lessons
Some modules can be captured better by recording a polished video of you explaining them with focus. Re-recording allows you to decrease any distractions from the video, refine your explanations to improve pacing, and achieve uniformity across your course.
You’ll also want to include additional material supporting each video lesson, including:
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Slides to help visualize the points you made
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Worksheets/templates
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Summary of the video
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Transcripts with captions
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A downloadable resource list
All of the above help your student experience feel complete and add value to your course. Keep in mind that students prefer to see clear presentations, rather than having a lot of flashy designs.
Package the Course
After gathering your teaching materials, it is now time to package everything up into an organized structure that allows your learners to have a clear learning experience. This is where the course actually starts to look like a real product.
The first step in the course packaging process is selecting a platform where you can upload your videos and worksheets and put together the course modules. Many platforms allow you to set rules for access, drip out the lessons over a period of time, and add any certificates needed.
Next, set up a simple but authentic course page that contains three key components:
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Promise of outcome – What is the result for the student?
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Structure of course – Provide a summary of the modules and lessons.
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Course details – Define who the course is for, what is included, and how long the course takes.
Use a simple, straightforward style when writing this course page. Don't overhype it. Students are looking for the facts about what they are purchasing.
The course pricing should be commensurate with the number of modules and depth of course content, and the value of the transformation being provided. Optional bonus items such as templates, a Q&A conversation recording, or a private community can be added. All of these extras add value to the course and entice customers without requiring a lot of additional time or effort.
Launch and Market the Course
The audience who has already viewed your webinar is the best setup to begin a new course. You have already introduced this audience to the topic and the instructor's teaching methods, so these people are likely to be interested in the offerings of your new course.
Additionally, once you have this warm audience, this is a good place to launch the course to others.
The following are quick ideas for launching your new course:
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Send a follow-up email to everyone who registered for your webinar and include information about the course and how it will build off the webinar session they attended.
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Use questions that were asked during the webinar as marketing pieces. If the same question was asked a number of times, highlight that the course contains information specific to that point.
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Create a small, early-bird discount for the first group of students who sign up for the course.
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Utilize clips from the webinar and/or your course lessons on social media to give potential students a peek into your teaching style.
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Provide a quick-action bonus for anyone who signs up within a specific timeframe, such as a checklist or mini-guide.
You do not need to worry about complex marketing campaigns. If your content is strong, then a simple and direct announcement about your new course will suffice. Once the first launch has occurred, you will want to continue promoting your course on a regular basis. Repurposing a previously held webinar allows it to be utilized as an ongoing product and a consistent source of income.
Conclusion
A webinar can go beyond being an online event. With a simple addition of structure and resources, a webinar can be developed into a full course, which can be purchased by students anytime they want. The most challenging part of creating a course is over because you have already accomplished this when you presented your webinar.
The steps are simple: examine what you have, put your lessons into bite-sized nuggets, fill in the blanks with additional explanation, refine your content, assemble your course, and deliver it to an audience that already trusts you. With a well-executed strategy, a single webinar can make a sustained asset that continues to educate and produce income with no additional time pressure.