Knowledge is power.
Though cliché and repeated to no end, that statement is one of the truest things in the whole wide world. It’s why people put such great stock into education, into learning, whether it’s in a classroom or in the comfort of their own homes.
Online courses are gaining more and more traction nowadays, most notably in a Covid-19 world. So what better time than now not to just learn new things, but to actually go out there and share what you have and teach something online?
How hard can it be?
Unsurprisingly, it’s extremely hard.
Aside form the technical logistics of setting up a fantastic camera set-up and getting great sound, you must fix your courses, plan out every lesson, edit your classes into something engaging and not at all boring and ultimately get it out there.
You can have the best classes in the world, but if it can not get it into the hands of those that need it the most, then what is the point right? And that is where Thinkific comes in.
Thinkific is an online course platform which will allow you to create, market and sell online courses on your website. If you’re the teacher in this situation, Thinkific makes sure you have a school full of paying pupils eager to learn.
You guys work hand-in-hand to change lives.
So is Thinkific any good? Let’s find out.
WHAT CAN IT DO FOR YOU? Small Business Sarah Thinkific
Thinkific excels in its features.
Not only is it easy to use, friendly to those even with hardly any experience in this type of thing, it has everything you might need.
They have a wonderful Site Builder you can use to house your educational content. Though you can’t install your own style sheets, it is still a fairly versatile tool which allows you to make a pretty good looking home page and as many custom pages as you need, for all of the information you might need.
For now there are three themes for the website to select from, and under each theme are a number of variants to choose form, providing you with a wide range of options. Apparently, they do plan on expanding the number of themes eventually.
Additionally, there are pre-built sections you can insert into your site as needed, if you ever need to, and there’s also a blank slate”Text and Media” option if you want to build from scratch. It all boils down to you needs.
If you wish to build your entire website on Thinkific, you can! It is equipped enough to allow you to do that.
A far more shining aspect of Thinkific is its course creator, not because its elaborate or anything, but due to its beautiful simplicity. A mostly drag and drop editor, it allows you to stack up whatever you need, making the process all very painless. If you wish to mess around with the code though and really get into it, you can do that as well. You can make it as unique and customized as you want
However, for most people, they would happily lean into the drag and drop editor.
In terms of the kinds of lessons you’ll be able to make, Thinkific’s got you covered. You can whip up Video Lessons, Multimedia Lessons, Quiz Lessons, Survey Lessons and Audio lessons to name a few. It’s all there.
Communication with your students is also a breeze. You can send individual emails to your students or start a conversation with the entire community. They even remember to concentrate on the small things that people tend to gloss over: Visual Management. Each pupil’s picture can be seen, names, contact information and how far they are into their class is visible.
To sum it up, Thinkific is quite easy to use and offers you everything you might need in creating your program. We should never forget how important it is to have the right tools and software for our business.
But now that you have created your platform, how can you fill it up with students?
MARKETING MADE EASY Small Business Sarah Thinkific
Occasionally, some online platforms kind of skimp out on the promotions area, which is honestly a key failure on their part. After all, what is the use of an online course with no students right? It doesn’t matter if you have the best course in the world if nobody will ever hear of it.
Thinkific understands this and therefore, built their promotional tools and programs into their platform in a really smart and powerful way. That and it’s automated, which makes it even easier for you.
If you want to introduce a particular content to your pupils, wherein they’ll be informed of particular courses that will be released over time, Thinkific can accomplish this.
If you want to target specific people who may be more inclined to go for what you are offering, Thinkific can send out automated emails to them. It may even be scheduled if you would like! And you even have the power to be compensated immediately once someone signs up for your course, so that’s a good added bonus.
If you’re looking for an affiliate program so that you can request help of other people in getting more students, Thinkific has that too. You can even have coupons prepared so you can easily entice potential new students with wonderful deals.
If you want to be able to track where these students are coming form, informing your possible next steps in terms of marketing, you can do that from the dashboard as well. You can see and track coupons, affiliates, and link up your Adwords, Facebook and other social networking accounts for a better view of the traffic. In other words you can set up a simple sales funnel!
In terms on integrations in marketing however, Thinkific was smart enough to focus on 6 key points: E-Commerce, Automation Tools, Analytics (which is very important), Email Marketing, Student Success and Growth Tools. The level of which you can access these integrations though are dependent on which specific plan that you have, so that is something you have to remember.
They are very versatile when it comes to this aspect, so that is always a great thing to have on your side.
And speaking of those that are on your side.
> > Click here to try Thinkific for Free Now! < <
CUSTOMER SUPPORT Small Business Sarah Thinkific
Thinkific includes a Help Center that’s going to be very helpful, particularly when you’re starting out. It has a getting started, training and community section. The community section is of particular note, because here you can interact with, ask support from and just generally talk to other Thinkific users.
It’s nice to have a guide, but it is really different being able to speak to another person about particular things.
There is also a resource page with all kinds of product demos to introduce you to the platform, and to give you a hand. A blog filled with very helpful tutorials is also available, and there’s even a free training video ready for whenever you feel you want it.
Sadly, Thinkific doesn’t really have a number you can call for assistance, and that’s honestly one of its failings.
> > Click here to try Thinkific for Free Now! < <
WHAT’S IT GONNA COST ME?
Their pricing is divided into four plans, one of which is Free and ideal for those who sort of just want to dip their toes in the water first.
Starter
This is the aforementioned free plan, which offers you the most basic core features of Thinkific. It’s got a fairly high 10% transaction fee, and gives you what you need to begin making, advertising, selling, and upselling your classes. It even has the basic integrations, Stripe/PayPal support (which will always be useful) and access to all the funds.
Essentials Small Business Sarah Thinkific
At $49 per month, this is where things get a little more interesting. Aside from the core features, the transaction fee is now 5%, and you also get new things such as promotions and coupons, monthly subscriptions, class packages, a higher degree of integration, basic Zapier, drip content, affiliate reporting, a bulk student emailer, custom domain and additional course prices.
This is for those that want just a little bit extra, but are not going all in yet on their online learning platform. This could be ideal for smaller courses.
Business
To access the Business Plan, you’ll need to shell out $99 a month. Apart from getting all of the features in the previous plans, you’re now supplemented with no transaction fees, completion certificates, private and hidden courses, site white labeling, a host storyline, intermediate Zapier, webhooks, three-course accounts, advanced HTML/CSS editing, priority support, instructor payout reporting, an onboarding call, payment plans, and a direct Infusionsoft integration.
Advanced
And lastly, for $279 per month, you can go all in. You get everything in each of the prior plans Plus a single sign-on (SSO), three site admin accounts, 10-course admin accounts, an onboarding specialist, onboarding bundle, public API, advanced integrations, and advanced Zapier.
If you want to go big, Advanced is the best way to go.
Overall, the pricing for Thinkific stands at a pretty fair price, with what’s competitive as compared to other similar platforms.
> > Click here to try Thinkific for Free Now! < <
IS Thinkific FOR YOU? Small Business Sarah Thinkific
So now that that we have run down the fundamentals of what Thinkific offers, do you think it’s the right platform for you?
Honestly, we feel that it could very well be. We love what it offers, and we truly believe that it’ll empower you to truly be an education entrepreneur that can go to another level. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner, or that you’ve already started in this particular industry.
Thinkific can help take you to another level.
You do not have to think that hard about it.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Small Business Sarah Thinkific
Q: Is Thinkific’s Free plan a kind of trial?
A: No, it is an authentic free plan. If it suits your needs, you can use it for as long as you desire.
Q: Is there a MoneyBack guarantee with Thinkific?
A: Yes, Thinkific does provide a 30-day money back guarantee!
Q: Is Thinkific considered as an LMS?
A: Yes Thinkific is considered as an LMS (Learning Management System)
Q: Is Thinkific friendly to people without technical expertise?
A: Thinkific was created so that anyone can come onboard and start their online education business, whatever the degree of experience of experience.