Well hello there and welcome if you’re new and welcome back if you’ve been here before! Last time we talked about launching products. You can find that post here.

Today I want you to grab some sparkling water (I’m currently sipping on some Strawberry Bubly) and let’s talk about the platforms you can use to build a course.

 

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The questions you have to ask yourself

I could literally talk systems ALL day long. But I want to get hyper focused today and just talk about building and hosting your course.

There are a ton of options but the first choice you have to make is this…

Are you going to use a platform or host your course in wordpress?

Today we are going to assume the answer is a platform. I will create a whole post just on hosting a course in wordpress at another time.

The next decision you have to make is whether you will be using just a learning management system (lms) or an all in one platform?

What's the difference?

A learning management system only does exactly that. It only houses the course. It would not be a replacement for a website and you won’t be able to create other content like a blog in it. Think of it like a storefront.

 

LMS Platforms

Teachable is an example of a learning management system. Their prices begin at $29 if you pay for the whole year or $39 if you want to pay monthly. Teachable is one of the easiest platforms to learn and offers a pretty simple plug and play user interface. You can upload video, audio, and pdf style content.

Another platform I love is Membervault. It’s an amazing option for the beginner course creator. They have a free plan that allows you to have up to 100 people move through your course before you have to sign up for a paid option. It’s a clean and easy platform to understand as well.

 

All in One Platforms

All in one platforms allow you to replace your website and often offer email marketing and webinar platforms in addition to the LMS capabilities. I have 2 favorites when it comes to all in ones: Kartra and Kajabi. Podia comes in at a close third.

Podia 

Let’s start with Podia as it is the least expensive option. It’s a really cool platform for beginners. It will allow you to house digital products, courses, webinars (this is HUGE), and so much more. If you go to their site they feature folks who are using the platform so you can see exactly what your site has the potential to look like. The pricing is crazy reasonable at $39 a month. If you also want to use it as a blog the cost jumps to $79 a month.

Kajabi

Next is what I consider to be the king of the all in ones and that is Kajabi. Kajabi will house your website, blog, lms, webinars, and offers plans that do not charge a transaction fee. the plans are a bit on the pricey side of things though as they begin at $119 billed annually or $149 for monthly billing. I will say that this platform is, again, incredibly easy to use and very plug and play. It is best for people who are NOT looking to do custom CSS or html.

Kartra

Last but certainly not least is Kartra. I’ve worked extensively with Kartra and find its page builders to be very similar to Leadpages if you are familiar (limitations and all). It offers a very easy to use LMS and while it doesn’t have a native blogging capability built in…I’ve found a workaround to this that I’m happy to talk about later in a more in depth Kartra post.

Kartra will allow you to do email marketing, funnels, lead and sales pages, upsells, and house courses. It definitely comes in at a competitive price too!  Pricing begins at $99 per month. It’s definitely worth looking into!