Start Your Own Online Training Site

This really isn't as hard as it sounds, and can be extremely profitable. Let's start by sorting out all those things that you probably think are hard to do. If you can't (or don't want to) design and construct a website from scratch, you can get desktop publishing software that makes it easier, or go to www.nvu.com where you can download free open source web authoring software. I use this myself and can tell you it's pretty much as good as dreamweaver or frontpage, with a few less bells ad whistles, which you don't need anyway.

Or you can have your website designed by a professional. They don't have to cost the earth, and furthermore you will have guarantees that your website will do what you want it to and not suddenly develope unwanted glitches.

The first thing you need to do is to determine just what kind of instruction you will give in your website. You should theme your website to your topic of instruction. For example, if you have a website instructing mechanics then you could have some pictures of tools, or maybe a tire included in the background wallpaper or in the video instruction section of your site.

Next, of course, you will need those instructional videos for your customers. Begin by writing a script. Divide your script into the stages, or levels, of your instruction topic. Don't worry, if you are not happy with writing just go to www.elance.com where you will find dozens of writers who will do this for very little cost.

Determine the price you are going to charge for your educational video service. You can research this on the net and decide where you want to fit in with your competition. Beware of going in too cheaply. Pitch yourself in the top half of what others are charging. Don't undervalue yourself and others wont either. Once you are done you can embed the video into your website and check the final product.

If you are happy with what you have, you can then search for a website hosting provider/service. Some providers will design your site for a fee if you wish. As well as hosting fees you will have to pay for your domain name, and maybe incidental fees. Ask your prospective host provider about bandwidth. The higher the better when streaming video on your site. Shop around, I use www.dreamhost.com and find them helpful and reliable. Check out several and find one that suits you.

Now you are ready to sell, you need a means of receiving your payments. There are several ways to do this, one is to open a merchant account with your bank and have the hosting provider configure your website so payments are forwarded to that. Or you can use services such as PayPal or WorldPay. Again, shop around and find what's good for you.

Don't panic, yes, this will cost a few dollars, but not as much as you might think, and we have to speculate to accumulate right? And if your business does not perform as you want, you can research, adjust, apply various advertising strategies with little effort.

Don't think of this as a pioneering venture. Video streaming for education and instruction on the net has been in use for a while now. Even so, most instructional websites do not have video in their pages. The great advantage of using video is that people can see the action as they hear the words. Far better than just reading a manual.

It is commonly said that our future lies with our children. Well, we need to educate them first. What better way to teach than to have instructional videos ready for them to learn from and enjoy in the process. There, I think I've just given you an idea for another business!