Digital schools and e-learning has seen significant growth over a decade and the COVID-19 outbreak made e-learning more centric to people’s lives. Trainers, experts and educators are coming forward to share their knowledge in the form of online courses. Selling online courses is slowly becoming a game-changer in the way people look at business models. Here are some reasons why:
What are the benefits of selling online courses?
- Source of Passive Income:
You can sell an online course with the same content over and again. It requires less effort but has the potential to generate great passive income. - Sell to Global Audience:
This business model gives you the freedom to expand your audience beyond geographical borders. You can share your course with the global audience. - Operate From Anywhere:
You can work from anywhere with fewer settings when developing your online course. Moreover, all aspects of producing and selling the course are carried out online. - Scalability:
It’s very easy to determine whether and which of your courses are making money online. This allows you to start small but expand and grow based on demand for a particular course. - Kick Start For Free:
You can kick start online selling at no cost. Podia is a platform that gives you a risk-free trial of 14 days to create your free online course on Podia without any hassle.
So, if you are someone that wants to share your content with the world, and make money in this billion-dollar industry, then read on about Podia.
What is Podia?
Turn your passion into income
Everything you need to sell online courses, webinars, downloads, and memberships without worrying about the tech.
Podia is a powerful online platform for creating, hosting and selling online courses. It allows you to create memberships, host webinars and sell digital downloads (PDFs, e-Books, Bundles, Software) and more. Founded by Spencer Fry in 2014, Podia is based in New York. The best part of Podia is that it is easy to use and allows you to create online courses and digital content even if you are a newbie.
Why is Podia the best alternative to other digital selling platforms?
I host many courses including Online Digital Marketing Course and Instagram Influencer Marketing Course. It takes a lot to create the best online marketing course, but trust me it should be that difficult to sell your course, eBooks or other digital downloads. Here is why I think Podia is a better alternative to other digital selling platforms:
Podia is Easy on the Pocket: Podia is cheap when compared to other platforms such as Thinkific. For example, Thinkfic plans start at $49/month, while Podia starts at $39/month, yet comes with great features like powerful email marketing. There is no additional transaction fee no matter how much you sell.
Podia offers Great value for money than alternative Platforms.
Integrates Membership Site: Podia has a dedicated membership feature. You can integrate your membership site to Podia at no additional cost. You can also create individual “Posts” for your members apart from your courses. Other platforms use their subscription pricing option to offer the course as membership content.
Podia is the only platform to host both the membership site and your products.
All-in-one Digital Selling Platform: Podia is truly an all-in-one digital selling platform, which lets you sell “any” digital product. You can create many digital products, bundle them and start selling on Podia. Most other platforms only let you sell e-learning courses.
Podia supports selling all digital products and upsell.
Easy App Integration: Podia lets you easily integrate with other apps and software such as Zapier, AWeber, MailChimp, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign and more. It also gives you the option to integrate your storefront with Google Analytics and Tracking. For payments, you can integrate Stripe and PayPal with Podia.
Podia allows a wide range of integrations options.
Customer Service: Real people are good at customer support, and that is how Podia’s customer support works. They have real people at support assisting you through the process and any query you may have. Many alternative platforms just add a bot and are done with customer support.
Podia offers unbelievably incredible customer support.
Powerful Podia Features: Why I think Podia is the best digital selling platform?
Intuitive Interface: The interface of Podia is very intuitive and easy to use. Once you are on the dashboard, there is a live tour to understand and play around the interface. It is simple enough for beginners and a great option too.
Nine-In-One-Tool: Podia covers everything you need to excel in your business. It covers your website, email marketing, webinars, blog, sales pages, live chat, membership, product pages, and hosting.
Limitless Selling: With Podia this is no limit on how much you can sell. You can welcome as many students and clients, sell as many digital products you wish, upload unlimited videos and never pay any additional transaction fee.
No Migration Fee: Podia lets you build your email list or start marketing your products to the existing audience. You can migrate your customer to the Podia platform for free. Plus, chat in real-time with the customer using the messaging feature.
Email Marketing Options: Podia’s email marketing capabilities are incredible. You can format newsletters, drip campaigns, build funnels, segments lists, track and analyze performance right from the platform.
There are of course many more interesting features of Podia such as secure payment structure, 24/7 customer support, free hosting, easy customization, native live chat and others that you will explore as you play around the platform.
Podia’s Pricing Plans
Podia has two pricing plans – Mover and Shaker.
Mover: $39/Month (Save $78 on an annual plan)
Podia’s Mover Plan Includes:
- Email Marketing
- Messaging
- Additional teammates ($20/month each)
- Zero transaction fees
- Unlimited everything
- 24/7 support
- Free migrations
Podia’s Shaker Plan Includes:
- Email Marketing
- Messaging
- Additional teammates ($20/month each)
- Zero transaction fees
- Unlimited everything
- 24/7 support
- Free migrations
- Memberships
- Zoom integration
- Blog
- Offsite buy buttons
- Affiliate marketing
- Third-party code
One platform, one price.
You shouldn’t need to pay for separate platforms for online courses, memberships, digital downloads, email marketing and affiliate management. Podia replaces 5+ tools for the price of one.
How to Use Podia? Step by Step Guide
As I mentioned, one of the biggest advantages of Podia over other alternatives course selling platforms is how easy it is to use. Everything is right there; so you just need to follow a few easy steps to create and sell courses and other digital products on Podia. Here is a step by step guide on how to use Podia:
Step 1: Create an account
Create your Podia account by “Start your 14-day trial”. It will take you to the dashboard page, where you can take a tour of how it works or just get started.
Step 2: Add a product
Go to “Product Section” on your dashboard to create your online course, digital downloads, webinar or product bundle. To start a membership website visit “memberships” on the dashboard.
Step 3: Course Customization
Now customize your course and content by creating sections for the course you want to offer. Go to “Add Section” and start adding title, description and content to the sections. There are no pre-designed templates, so use your creativity and create a great course.
Step 4: Build Email Marketing List
Once your course is created, focus on selling. Import existing subscribers or create a new list by using the sign-up form on Podia. You can then start creating email marketing campaigns, drip emails and send newsletters right from Podia.
Step 5: Automate Campaigns
You can easily create an automated campaign with Podia. You can send your created campaign to all subscribers or segments of subscribers based on the customer’s behaviour. Here is how to create an email marketing campaign with Podia.
Step 6: Track Your Success
Podia offers complete data to manage and grow your business. You get email campaigns metrics under the email dashboard. You can check which product was purchased/downloaded by whom under the analytics dashboard. It gives you a complete breakdown of your product’s performance.
At any point in time, if you are stuck or need help with something, just contact their customer support. They are prompt, helpful and available 24/7.
Who should use Podia?
Anyone looking to sell e-learning course, digital downloads and webinar can use Podia including:
- Teachers
- Educators
- Digital Marketers
- Website Owners
- Affiliate Marketers
- Blog Owner
- E-commerce Website Owner
- Entrepreneurs
Pros and Cons of Podia:
What do I like about Podia?
- All-in-one platform for digital selling
- Great user experience
- Drag and drop builder
- Easy navigation
- Awesome performance tracking
- Quick loading platform
- Bundle of support resources
- 24/7 real people on customer support
- Affordable
- Unlimited bandwidth, courses, files, sales and students
What I do not like about Podia?
- Limited design options
- Few payment gateways
Will I Recommend Podia?
Absolutely! Podia is an excellent platform for people looking to use their skill and make money online. Podia is one of the best digital selling platforms that I have ever tested.
Whether you are a professional or want to share your knowledge as a hobby, Podia gives you the platform to showcase your expertise and skills and help others become proficient, too.
