What to Post on YouTube if You Have an Online Course

As an online course creator, you may wonder how much free content to share on YouTube versus what to include only in your paid programs. On one hand, YouTube is a powerful way to build your audience and establish your expertise. But you also don’t want to give away all your best content for free, leaving your paying students feeling short-changed. So what’s the right balance?

In this post, let’s explore strategies for creating free YouTube content that provides value, attracts your ideal customers, and makes the case for your paid courses – without revealing too much of what’s inside them.

Why Free YouTube Content is Essential

Before diving into what to post on YouTube, it’s important to understand why free content is so crucial as an online educator:

Builds your audience: YouTube helps you get discovered by your ideal customers who are searching for answers to their questions and challenges.
Establishes your expertise: By providing helpful content, you position yourself as a knowledgeable resource and thought leader in your niche.
Makes the case for your paid programs: Your free content can outline the problems your courses solve and the results they help achieve, priming viewers to want to go deeper with you.

It’s not about choosing between free or paid content, but using free content strategically to attract the right audience and promote your paid offers.

What to post on your YouTube channel

One effective approach is to create YouTube content focused on the Mistakes, Obstacles, Problems, and Alternatives (MOPA) your ideal customers face as they try to achieve the result your course helps them get:

Mistakes: Common errors people make when trying to solve the problem on their own
Obstacles: Challenges that arise as they implement imperfect solutions
Problems: Pain points and struggles they experience around the topic
Alternatives: Other tactics or tools they may be using that are ineffective

By addressing these MOPAs in your free content, you attract people actively searching for this information while positioning your course as the comprehensive solution. Just be sure to focus on MOPAs your audience actually knows to search for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Another easy win is to monitor the questions that come up repeatedly in relevant Facebook groups, Reddit threads, Quora, etc. If multiple people are asking, it’s a good bet even more are searching on Google and YouTube.

Basing YouTube content on frequent, recurring questions ensures you’re covering topics your ideal customers are hungry for more information on. You can provide valuable answers without going as in-depth as you do inside your course.

The “Save Me” Series

If you don’t yet have a course and are building your audience from scratch, consider creating what I call a “Save Me” series. This is a series of 3-5 videos that searchers will discover when looking for help solving a specific problem.

Think about if you only had 45 minutes to teach a total beginner how to get started achieving a result in your niche. What key things would you tell them to do? Those are great topics for a “Save Me” series – valuable and actionable for newbies, but not giving away the farm.

Not Everything Needs to Be Educational

Finally, keep in mind that not every YouTube video you make needs to directly teach something from your course curriculum. You can also share:

Industry news and updates
Case studies and student success stories
Commentary on trends or current events in your niche
Your unique perspective and opinion on relevant topics

The key is that your free content, no matter the format, should lead viewers to conclude that their next best step is to go deeper with you via your paid offers.

Using YouTube to Sell Courses

Ultimately, your YouTube content should work as part of a “YouTube Funnel” that generates sales of your course on autopilot. The strategy is:

Create discovery-focused content that attracts your ideal customers
Provide value that establishes you as a trusted resource
Make a compelling case for why your course is their next logical step

By balancing free content with promotion of your paid programs this way, your YouTube channel becomes an evergreen sales machine, no launches or aggressive marketing required. Focus instead on serving your audience and customers.

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Conclusion

As an online course creator, your free YouTube content and paid offerings should work hand-in-hand. Provide genuine value and solutions to your ideal students’ challenges. Establish yourself as a knowledgeable, trustworthy expert. When you do, promoting your courses becomes a natural next step rather than a hard sell.

Strike the right balance between free and paid by utilizing frameworks like MOPA, creating “Save Me” series, and addressing frequently asked questions. Not everything you teach has to go on YouTube, and not everything on YouTube has to come from your course. Aim to inform, engage, and lead your audience to the amazing transformation your paid programs provide.