12 Great Course Examples to Inspire Your Next Idea

Putting an online course together is not one of the easiest tasks. Are you trying to find a unique and engaging approach for your course topic? Do you want to build a course that stands out and can resonate better with your audience? 

In this article, we discuss 12 of the best course examples from seasoned course creators who have improved their courses over the years. You will discover different course formats and find inspiration for your next course to make it the best. 

Types of successful online courses and why they work 

Before we analyze course examples from real-life creators, let’s see some popular formats you can use to turn your course idea into a successful online course. You can start from self-paced courses to live sessions and from single launches to memberships. Here are some examples of what we mean. 

Certification program example

Certification programs are one of the most popular offers in the online education industry. Why? Nowadays, students are more inclined to take courses that have a quicker impact on their careers than to take a 4-year bachelor's program. 

According to the National College Attainment Network, 50% of all undergraduate students are enrolled in certificate programs. 

This means that if you can offer a course on a specific skills development program or career-related course, this can be your next successful online course idea. Based on online course marketplaces, the most popular niches for certification programs include:

• Business
• Sales
• Marketing
• Computer science
• Hospitality
• Arts

When thinking about your certification program, you can consider it from two viewpoints. Your program can either be designed for beginners in their careers or those who are already professionals looking to improve their skills more. This way, you can have two levels of certification. 

An example of a successful certification course example is that of Angel Rodtriguez’s. 

With a 30-year background in the military, Angel decided to turn his expertise into a certification program. He offers an Unarmed Security Officer Guard program. His program for beginners is for anyone who is interested in becoming a security guard. He offers other training programs for security guards as well so that they can get a license or renew their license to be able to work. 

Membership course example

If you are ready for a bigger commitment, the next model you can work on is membership courses. With memberships, your students gain ongoing access to content, resources, and community support in exchange for a recurring fee. Meaning, that you are now able to generate recurring revenue instead of one-time payment for your course. 

Why is this model so appealing? Because your students are not there only to gain some kind of information you provide via your single course. Most of the time, they seek more value and direct support from the expert they trust - you. 

The funny thing is you can work with a membership model for almost every topic and niche. The most popular ideas in the market, as for now, include

• Downloadable resources membership sites
• Coaching membership sites
• Parenting membership sites
• Fitness and wellness membership sites
• Professional and wellness membership sites 

As an example, you can take inspiration from Cathy Heller’s “The Abundance Membership Collective” membership. It is a program for women who are looking to find support and fulfillment and rediscover themselves. 

Why does this membership work?

• This example targets a really specific audience, so the audience is narrow. Cathy introduces the membership in a way that makes women feel related. Their pain points are clearly stated all over the website. By just going through her membership website, they can already think, “Yes, this is so about me. I want to become a part of this community.”   
   
• Besides being presented so well, the membership actually includes diverse formats, and the promised transformation can be achieved. So, it is not limited to just courses and community discussions. There are more masterclasses, meditation sessions, networking events, parties, and exclusive content downloads. 

Yet, starting a membership website does not necessarily suggest you have to create several courses and downloadables or include personal sessions with you. It may not even include your course, rather offer valuable resources connected with your course topic. In this case, your goal is building a community that is highly interested in what you do and suggest your courses as a solution to their problem. 

As an example, let’s look at another membership by Cathy Heller. Her meditation membership is not focused on masterclasses or courses.  Instead, she offers guided meditations that are released every month. 

Live cohort and community-centered course example

Another format you can go with is live cohort courses. If you are not a big fan of pre-recorded courses and prefer to get in touch with your audience more directly, this can become your course approach.    
 

The live course example we can draw takeaways from is entrepreneur and creator Shane Melaugh. The Focus & Action course teaches being productive and reach high-performance with less tension. 

What makes this course a great example? 

• The course is not just a piece of content that the students get over a course of time. Instead, each week the participants get guidance on exactly what to do and which priorities to focus on. 
• The course includes weekly live calls. This makes the course highly practical and more hands-on. During the calls the participants discuss common questions and receive direct feedback. Plus, those calls are recorded, so the participants who cannot join can have access too.
• The program includes accountability check-ins. Once a coach is assigned to a particular team, the team members lift each other up. And the students actually get to work with the coach to work on action plans for their achievements. 

As you can see, the course is focused on ongoing progress. It is not just another course where the students achieve learning objectives only by the end of the program. Instead, the program clearly communicates that the students can actually make a huge step and get closer to their goal every week. 

Yet, the course modules and experiences included in the program are not the only factors. The way the course is presented to potential learners plays a huge role in its success, too. 

So, how can you implement it for your own courses?

The focus&action course presents many video testimonials from the students. Testimonials are one of the most effective forms of advertising your course and building trust. And if you can ask for video testimonials, that will make your marketing efforts even better. In fact, 79% of people prefer video testimonials when considering making a purchase. 

Use storytelling and build a personal brand with your story that potential students can relate too. In the case of Shane, we can observe the “From Zero to Hero” concept.  

Always include all the benefits the students gain from your course. It helps you communicate the real value of the course.  

You can also make your course tier-based and include different products and services in each tier. It gives your students more flexibility to choose the option that fits their needs. 

Microlearning course example

A microlearning course is a perfect way for you to deliver content in short, focused bursts that your learners can quickly absorb and apply. Each lesson within your course focuses on a single, specific topic, making it easy for the students to fit learning into their busy schedules.

What makes this approach greater is that the learners get quick wins, and you need fewer resources in terms of production. 

Let’s break down how you can get the most out of microlearning with the example of Dr Stacy Sims’ courses. She offers several microlearning lessons on different topics in Health and Wellness for female athletes. 

What practices can you implement from this course? 

• Keep the topic of your course highly focused. One of the most common mistakes creators make when it comes to microlearning is choosing a topic that can practically appeal to anyone. When your course resonates with a broad audience, it actually ends up resonating with no one. Dr. Stacy could make her courses for athletes in general. Yet, in this specific case, we see she rather presents solutions to the problems female athletes face on their journey. 
• Include more practical resources and less theory. With microlearning courses, the learners want to focus on a specific skill. And as you offer several 10-15 minute lessons, you should still be able to deliver the value in a shorter amount of time. In this course example, Dr. Stacy included workbooks, glossaries, and a bibliography for easier application. 
• Make FAQs as part of your course content. It is a great way to make your course more inclusive and accessible for everybody. 

Besides the course content, let’s see what strategies she used to make the course appealing to her audience. 

• First, the same courses offered as individual microlearning content are also included in bundles. So, in case a student is interested in enrolling in the lessons for the same topic, they can get the whole bundle. This is beneficial for the creator and the student. On one hand, the students save money by not purchasing the courses individually. On the other hand, you make more revenue per course.    
   
• On the checkout page for each course, she has a teaser video. This gives a better idea of what the student can expect when enrolling and what the course experience is like. Besides, there are testimonials from past students on the checkout page as well.  

Self-paced online course example

If you prefer your courses to be mostly pre-recorded, this next course example is for you. With self-paced courses, you have a smaller instructional load. In the meantime, your learners can access your course materials anytime they prefer and progress through the course at their own pace. 

A great example of such a course is Ali Adaal’s Part-Time Youtuber Academy. The course is almost $1000. And if you have a high-value course that goes beyond this mark, you need to clearly communicate the actual value the students actually get. Let’s see how Ali did it. 

What can you implement for your own courses? 

• By reading the description on your course page your students should not only learn who the course is for, but who the course is NOT for. It builds the expectations upfront. Your students know whether the course is what they are looking for. And you do not experience high churn rates just because the course did not live up to their expectations.    
   
• Make your expertise a part of the course and let your students know about it. When you learn a game-changing strategy through your experience, it takes you years to achieve that success. Let your students know what it was like and what it actually took you to find out that method or approach your students can implement easily.    
   
• Make everything as measurable as possible. If you can put anything in numbers, you are more than recommended to do so. As you scroll through this course’s website, you can observe how tangible every result is.    
   
• Do not just copy and paste the testimonials your students provide. Instead, make the results more visual. In Ali Abdaal’s case, you can see the actual growth of the academy students in beautiful visuals. 

Now, let’s look at this from a marketing point of view. 

In the case of high-value courses, your students usually need more proof before they invest in your course. And if they are not ready to make the purchase decision yet, you still want to capture them. Meaning, you want to nurture your potential students. 

This is why you can include a lead magnet that helps you get emails from all the interested students. It can be a quiz, a guide, a downloadable resource, etc. 

For Part-Time Youtbe Academy, the quiz gives an overview of the areas of potential students’ YouTube channel improvements. And usually, these areas of improvement is what they can find in your course.    
 

7 best course examples for your niche 

Let’s look at other course examples from course creators who sell courses on their platforms as well as on marketplaces. 

PowerDMARC Training Courses 

PowerDMARC Training offers courses about email authentication and security. They made the course available in three languages to make it more accessible for the students. 

What is great about their approach is that

• The course that covers fundamentals is free. While course experts argue offering your course for free is a bad idea, it can actually bring you more good than you can imagine. If you are just starting out as a course instructor, a free mini-course can help you create awareness around your courses. You can use it as a lead magnet to attract enrollments. Plus, once you plan to expand your course offerings, you can test the waters first, improve the course, and make it paid for future enrollments.   
• The course covers two levels of the same topic, which is email authentication. So, the fundamentals are available for beginners, and the advanced course is available for professionals. 
• Besides the courses, the company offers many other helpful resources for the students. They have blog pages to give a practical overview of the main terms related to the course topics.    
   

InPACD Chines courses

InPACD offers educational courses for Chinese learners. They have free and paid courses available for various proficiency levels: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. 

What is great about their approach is being highly specific with their topics. It is not another language where learners can start at a beginner level and proceed gradually. Instead, they target learners interested in learning a certain topic in Chinese. Students get to learn with bite-sized learning packs. 

After completing the course, the students are offered to take a quiz. If they pass the quiz successfully, they will get a certificate. 

Kalm Pilates 

Kalm Pilates has a number of courses and free training available for everyone interested in learning the technique of Pilates and having a healthy and happy body. 

Sarah offers her courses not only in full programs but also in challenges. In her case, the challenge courses take less time to complete than the full programs. The great part is that the students will be motivated to complete the challenge. Once they get that sense of accomplishment, they will be ready to enroll in the whole program. 

The next great thing is that her courses are focused on a specific problem, whether it is back pain, core strength, or other challenges. If you run fitness and pilates programs as well, choose the main problems your students face every day and design your program toward a specific transformation. 

EasyDmarc Academy Courses 

EasyDmarc provides certification courses on email security. As the students progress through the courses, they have the opportunity to earnDMARC certifications that demonstrate their expertise to potential employers and clients. 

As with our previous email authentication course example, this course is also free. Meaning anyone interested in becoming a DMARC specialist could join. The academy also offer other free tools and resources for future specialists. 

The academy also included quizzes throughout the modules and a final quiz, which guarantees the certificate. 

MoMa Art Course 

The MoMa course offers specilization in arts and design. The couse follows a very specific goal. It aims to develop a deeper understanding of artists’ and designers’ materials, processes, and strategies for responding to social and cultural issues.

The course is motivating for the students to be completed. And the completion certificate is not the only reason for this. The successful students get a chance to to start their career at the museum of arts. 

If you run training courses for your company, this can be an excellent chase for you to train and hire employees. 

Calarts graphic design course

Another self-paced course example is a design course by Calarts. 

It is, in fact, a course series that can provide a specialization. What is great about this approach is that it makes the program suitable for both beginners and professionals. How come? 

For beginners, the entire series provides a complete foundational pathway. Each course covers a specific area, ensuring learners receive a gradual, structured education. On the other hand, professionals can pick and choose individual courses within the series to upskill in targeted areas. 

If you plan on creating courses on the same topic, you can make it a course series as well. 

This approach helps you to attract a wider audience and make your offer more versatile. 

Katie Creative Social Media Course   
 

With her example, Katie inspires other creators to use the engagement on social media and build long-lasting relationships with their audiences.    
 

Her course consists of 9 modules that lead students from understanding what the community is to engage the community you build on social media. However, it is not just focused on steps to build a general community. Instead, Katie addresses a more specific problem, which is having to deal with creative burnout. 

Start building your online course today! 

One of the common mistakes course creators make is waiting for the perfect idea to strike or trying to make everything perfect before the launch. 

Yet, you do not have to wait for it to be perfect. All it takes is to start and improve along the way. Your course can eventually become the next example of inspiration. 

And if you are looking for an online course platform that can accommodate your needs, consider Uteach. With Uteach, you can create and sell

• Pre-recorded courses
• Live courses
• Coaching sessions
• Digital and physical products

It offers all the marketing tools for you to package your course offer and present it as a membership, bundle, discounted course, or anything you like. Learn more about Uteach features and start completely for free.