With the Internet expanding far beyond what it once was, it’s no surprise that plenty of people are turning to the web to sell their services. One sector that’s booming is e-learning, which offers plenty of opportunities for you to make some cash online.
No matter your niche, you can create an online course and sell it. But before you begin, you need to find a platform that helps you build an audience and maximizes your earning potential.
In this article, we’re taking a close look at Telegram. This platform has plenty of possibilities for selling online courses. But is it the one to go for, or is there a stronger alternative? Read on as we cover everything you need to know.
What is Telegram?
Telegram is essentially a messaging app, but it is also a social media service that is cross-platform and cloud-based. The app allows users to do what you’d expect from a messaging service, such as sharing files and private chats.
According to Telegram’s FAQ section, the platform has “over 950 million active users” and is “one of the top 5 most downloaded apps in the world.” Don’t just take their word for it, though!
According to Statista, Telegram is currently the most popular messaging app worldwide by monthly downloads.
The social media features of Telegram include the ability to post stories and share updates with audiences through various channels.
Why Should You Sell on Telegram?
There are plenty of places to sell your online courses - so why would you choose Telegram?
It's a free platform
Telegram is free to use, so you don’t have to worry about any fees sneakily piling up on you.
Any applied costs will depend on the platform that you choose to manage your Telegram channel, so it’s not a fee that you’ll need to pay through Telegram itself.
Whop is a great example of a platform you can use to manage your Telegram channel that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. With Whop, there are no immediate or upfront costs.
It is security and private
Telegram puts your privacy and security front and center, so there’s no need to fear any scary, dark web interference! The platform does this in a few ways. For example, end-to-end encryption is available in secret chats.
According to Telegram’s privacy policy, this encryption ensures only you and the recipient can read any messages. The messages won't be stored on the Telegram servers either. Check out Telegram’s privacy policy if you want to learn more about how your data is used and kept secure on the platform.
Telegram has hundreds of millions of users
As mentioned, Telegram has a huge audience. If you can attract only a small fraction of them to your online courses, you’re looking at a substantial profit.
Of course, that’s much easier said than done, but it’s encouraging knowing that the audience is there. No matter how niche your course is, you are sure to find the right audience for what you are selling with the huge numbers found on Telegram.
Telegram is community-driven
One particularly important feature that makes all the difference when trying to sell on Telegram is the ability to create public groups. These groups can house up to around 200,000 members, so there are plenty of opportunities to attract customers.
Telegram also implements other features that encourage building communities, such as the aforementioned social media integration.
It has plenty of useful bots
Bots are a particularly enticing feature for those looking to sell via Telegram, as they can help you significantly during the process. All sorts of bots can be used on Telegram, such as intricately detailed news bots, merchant bots, or more simplistic chatbots. Processes that would once take manual time and effort on your end can now be entrusted to these handy bots, allowing for a more streamlined process.
There is, of course, something to be said for the human touch, but the bots can help with that too. Certain bots can direct users to contact you directly if they need to.
Planning Your Online Courses
Before you go full steam ahead, you’ll need to ensure that you have your courses all set up and ready to go.
Let’s have a quick look at some handy tips to remember when creating your courses so you don’t have to go back to the drawing board further down the line.
Pick your niche
Take a moment to think about what your niche is and whether you have the skills and knowledge to deliver an entire course about it. Are you a gardening hobbyist or an avid plant parent with enough knowledge on the subject to fill an encyclopedia? Are you covering one or two topics or the entire spectrum of gardening-related subjects? Either way, you can still create your course.
Assess your experience and skills with honesty and integrity, and know where your shortcomings are, and you’ll be well on your way to creating your online course.
Find your audience
Finding your target audience is also a necessity when creating a course. Let’s go back to the gardening example. Do you want to hone in on beginners, such as young homeowners who finally have the chance to try gardening for themselves? Or are you going for experts in the field (pun intended)? Maybe you want to target retirees looking for a new hobby to fill their newly found free time.
It doesn’t matter who you choose as your target audience. However, if you are thinking of advertising and selling on Telegram, you might want to look into the age demographics, such as the ones below.
As you can see, the 25 to 34 age range is the most popular on Telegram, but not by a massive margin. However, to get the most out of Telegram, consider utilizing these statistics to get as many of your target audience's eyes on your course.
Perfect your plan
Make sure you have planned out everything you intend to do with your course. The content is the most important element, so figure out which content best suits your chosen niche.
Getting back into the gardening example, you’ll find that it’s easier to engage audiences with images, video content, and tutorials. There’s always a place for other forms of content, such as written and audio content, especially if you want to attract a broader spectrum of people (some of whom might have disabilities that limit their learning styles). However, gardening is a skill that is easier to learn when you have visual guidance.
Plan your course schedule, and content format and have at least some idea of where you intend to go with it in the future. Doing so will save you from some rather large headaches as you begin the process.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Courses on Telegram
Let’s now get into the nitty-gritty of how to go about selling a course via Telegram with our handy step-by-step process.
1. Create a channel for your course on Telegram
The best way to go about selling an online course on Telegram is to create a group and invite users to join. Once your group has been established, you’ll be able to post links to courses, vital information, and even payment methods.
Open Telegram and navigate to the three lines in the left-hand corner. Click on them and the menu above will appear. Click on “New Channel” to start setting up the channel.
2. Pick your channel’s name and description
It might seem like an easy task, but deciding on the proper name and an accurate description is incredibly important. This is what potential customers will see before they join your group. You’ll want something that captures their attention while also clearly defining what the group and your course are about.
Gardening 101 is a pretty basic example. It does its job, but you could go for something a little more bold and captivating. The description is also crucial, as this is where you will describe what you offer. If you can fit it in, drop the link to your course in the description box too. Having the link in a place where the audience's eyes are immediately drawn to can attract more clicks and views.
Include a relevant profile picture too. People will be more drawn to your group if you have an image to draw them in, but don’t forget to make it relevant to you and your course. Your cousin’s poodle might have gotten a cute new haircut, but using them as your profile picture might mislead and confuse your audience! Save the puppy profile pics for your personal social media.
3. Set your group to public or private
You’ll get more attention if you make sure that your channel is a public group. As mentioned earlier, public groups can hold up to 200,000 members. If you’re trying to cast the widest net possible to attract attention to your online course, public is the only way to go.
Create the link for your channel and click “Create” to open it up to the public. You’ll now have a link to go alongside it to start sharing with friends however you want.
4. Start inviting and building your audience
When you first set up your channel, you’ll have the option to send out the invite link to your contacts on Telegram. This is why it’s useful to have multiple contacts on Telegram – whether they’re friends, family, work colleagues, or business associates – before you set up the channel.
If you have plenty of contacts you want to invite, you can do so straight away. Otherwise, use the generated link and start doing some networking by sending out the link. This could be via email, social media, or via instant messaging.
5. Post your course and create engaging content
Don’t wait to start building your channel, post content straight away! Post links to your courses and all the information that potential buyers will want and need. Don’t forget to include some images, as pictures can be particularly engaging.
Some ideas include screenshots from videos, fun GIFs related to your course subject, or a relevant image, such as a blooming flower for a gardening course. Try not to make images generic. You’ll convince your audience of your legitimacy and experience if you post content that shows off your skills.
Keep the content as engaging and as relevant to your target audience as you can. You'll also want to take note of what you post so you know what content is getting the hits and what isn’t quite as popular. Create offers, respond to queries, and maintain the channel by updating as often as you can, and your audience are sure to stay engaged.
You can add your chosen payment method to your channel too, as this can help audiences know how and where they can buy your course.
Should You Sell Courses on Telegram?
Selling courses on Telegram can be beneficial, as there is the potential for plenty of eyes on your course thanks to the millions of users. It’s easy to use and set up, and you can create a public channel for just about anything.
However, it’s not without its flaws. Telegram is mostly a simple messaging service, so there is only so much you can do to attract people to your content. You can’t create or host your own courses in Telegram. It's all about promotion rather than creation.
Therefore, despite its growth as a platform, Telegram isn’t the optimal choice when it comes to selling your services. This is especially the case if your focus is mostly on the creation and distribution of your courses. While you might be able to get a lot of eyes on your work with Telegram, the actual creation process has nothing to do with it.
Alternatives to Telegram for Selling Courses
If you want to be able to make your own courses to sell online, there are other, more suitable choices that you’ll want to check out.
Whop
Whop is the number one choice here, as there is so much to offer in terms of creating and selling your online courses. With a course builder and the ability to create private communities and sell a whole range of digital product add-ons, Whop has tons of tools to help you create and monetize your course. Everything is all in one place too, so you can create, distribute, and promote within the same platform.
Financially, Whop is also the top pick, as you can launch your course for free. It costs nothing to create your own whop, and when you start selling, you get to keep 97% of your revenue, with Whop taking a small 3% cut.
Whop even has a Telegram-specific feature where you can manage your Telegram channels and sell access to your Telegram group in one place. So if you're certain that you want to use Telegram to sell your courses, then use Whop to manage paid access to your Telegram channel, and host your courses on Whop.
Skillshare
Skillshare is one of the most well-known platforms for online learning, and for good reason. The website features thousands of courses with videos from creators around the world.
Courses created on Skillshare can earn royalties every month, though the amount you earn is based on how many minutes of your classes are watched. Skillshare also has an Affiliate Program that can increase earnings made from created courses. Unfortunately the barrier to entry is high as you must apply to become a teacher on Skillshare. Plus, Skillshare keeps 80% of platform revenue, with 20% shared between teachers based on how much of your course has been 'watched'. So with Skillshare you only get to keep a percentage of 20% of the platform's subscription revenue.
Udemy
Along with Skillshare, Udemy is another of the largest and most recognized online learning platforms. Released in the same year as Skillshare – 2010 - Udemy offers more than 200,000 courses on a range of subjects.
To sell courses on Udemy, you’ll need to sign up as an instructor and create a profile. When your profile is complete, you can start setting up your courses and trying to sell them.
This is another platform where you make money with the courses via a revenue-sharing model, so your earnings will come from how many times your course is found by potential students. Of course, you’ll also get revenue from sales, though Udemy will take a share of the profits.
Create, Promote, and Monetize your Online Courses with Whop
Telegram is a good option for promoting your online courses, but Whop offers all the tools necessary to create, monetize, and promote your online course without the stress of costly fees. The 3% charge on any sales is a huge difference compared to the revenue sharing methods of other platforms. No monthly fees, no upfront payments, no hassle!
Not only can you tailor your courses and build your audience through Whop, but you can also expand your business in various ways. This is because Whop has plenty of other ways to sell and promote yourself. From coaching materials to ebooks, there is so much that you can do with Whop, and it can all be managed under Whop’s all-in-one platform.
Start your journey with Whop today and join the millions of weekly customers making a name for themselves in the world of online entrepreneurship.
