Diversify Your Income: 10 Revenue Streams to Expand Your Online Education Business

Growth

Mar 24

You’ve surely heard the old saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

But when you’re starting a business that’s often exactly what you have to do to gain momentum. It’s hard enough to get one revenue stream off the ground.

For example, at Forte Labs, the main revenue source for years was two cohort launches of Building a Second Brain per year.

But in the long-term, it’s risky to have all revenue come from only one source. If this source dries up or if one launch doesn’t perform as expected, you’re in trouble.

So before that can happen, diversify!

Here are 10 different revenue streams you can add to your online education business, starting with the ones that are the most straight forward to implement.

Online Courses

That’s likely where you started. A new revenue stream could be self-paced version of your cohort-based course. Or a course on a new topic, complimentary to your main course.

Coaching

Why not offer 1:1 coaching as an add-on service to your course? This would increase the average order value.

You could also offer a small-group coaching program as a step up from your course. This is for students who want more personalized support.

Digital Products (e.g. Templates)

These days people build six-figure businesses selling Notion templates. Digital products like templates are still super popular and can stand on their own or be bundled into your course offer. Making implementing your course easier through templates is a great way to add value to your offering.

Affiliates

Become an affiliate for software you use and love and/or courses you've taken and would wholeheartedly recommend. For every sale that comes through you, you'll get a commission. Depending on your audience size, this can become a lucrative revenue stream.

Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income has written extensively about affiliate marketing. Check out this guide.

Speaking

You're an expert in your field, so take your message on the road (or Zoom)! Speaking gigs, even if they're not immediately paying well, can help grow your audience and generate new sign-ups for your course.

If this is a route you consider following, check out Advance Your Reach by Pete Vargas.

Books

A book is the perfect, low-cost way for people to get to know you and your expertise. And self-publishing has never been easier thanks to Amazon KDP. That way, you can leverage Amazon as a search engine to let more people find you organically. When you strategically place calls-to-action in your book, you can also help people take the next step by signing up for your course and other offerings.

If you’re considering writing a book on the side, check out this guide by Hassan Osman.

B2B

Assuming your offer is currently B2C, B2B is a whole new market to explore since companies always need to train their employees. While B2B training pays well, expect a longer sales cycle and more upfront effort to close the deal.

The last three options involve monetizing existing assets such as a large email list, YouTube channel or established podcast. The bigger the audience sizes already, the bigger the revenue opportunity.

Creating a paid subscription offer or selling ads in your newsletter are options to explore here. ConvertKit’s Sponsor Network is great place to start experimenting with newsletter ads.

YouTube

Similar to ads in your newsletter, you can let companies sponsor your YouTube videos. YouTube also pays you directly for automatically showing ads to your viewers via AdSense.

Podcast

Lastly, you can also place ads in your podcast by letting companies sponsor different episodes.

Which revenue stream would you be excited to exploring? Remember that it can take time until a new revenue stream takes off. But you have to sow the seeds at some point.

Julia Saxena