We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: selling digital products is one of the best ways for creators to make money, diversify revenue, grow communities, and create new business opportunities. And microlearning courses — or mini-courses — are some of the finest digital products a creator can sell.
If you identify as a creator educator, odds are that you’re already sharing your knowledge with your followers, whether on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram or a different platform. You know that doling out content in bite-size form keeps your audience captivated and helps them absorb the information best.
You might not have thought about it yet, but the type of content you’re creating could be packaged as microlearning courses that you could sell online. Essentially, you’re putting together short-form educational content to teach something very specific. And when they are built thoughtfully and marketed strategically, these mini-courses have the potential to help you make bank online.
Read on for reasons why you should consider creating mini-courses, and some of the best microlearning platforms for selling them.
Why create mini-courses?
You’re already sharing what you know with your audience through free content. So why not take it further and start monetizing by creating mini-courses? As a creator, building and selling microlearning courses are a great way for you to:
Capitalize on your knowledge
You learned it, you earned it! Now share what you know and love with the world, and start filling your coffers.
Build your brand
Whatever your thing is, offering up branded courses that prove your knowledge runs deep will help you affirm your status in your niche.
Grow your credibility
Show your audience — and brands that may be watching — that you’re the real deal. When you consistently demonstrate solid knowledge, your followers’ faith in you grows, which could have a halo effect for important partnerships and sponsorships.
Engage your audience
With mini-courses, you’ll be able to speak deeply and directly to your audience. Some microlearning platforms even offer event hosting, instructor interaction, and social learning features that allow you to connect with your audience on an even deeper level.
Build your community
Many microlearning platforms offer community spaces for your followers to meet and interact. By fostering a community, you’ll also increase your interactions and engagement rate. It’s a win-win.
Generate passive and recurring revenue
Once you’ve created a mini-course, your work is pretty much done. Market your course to your audience, sit back, and watch the purchases (and cash) roll in.
Share what you love
This may sound cheesy, but it’s true: When you love something, you want to see it grow. There’s nothing more exciting than getting people into what you’re passionate about.
Today, social media apps like TikTok have become bona fide launch pads for creators looking to monetize their knowledge. These platforms provide creators with access to audiences eager to purchase mini-courses to learn more about different topics. However, to actually sell your courses, you’ll have to create them using a platform that has payment capabilities — and, ideally, better teaching tools than popular social media apps.
That’s where specialized microlearning platforms come in.
What are microlearning platforms?
In short, a microlearning platform is the software you’ll use to create the mini-course you’ll launch and sell.
These platforms allow you to put together short online courses in the format of your choice, using media integrations like videos and images. They also provide you with specialized microlearning tools, meaning you can ask followers open-ended or multiple-choice questions, engage learners with games, or converse with them in social learning or community settings. Many microlearning platforms even come with options for assignments, assessments, quizzes, course notifications, automated email reminders, and, of course, paywalls.
Different microlearning platforms will be appropriate for different types of users. As a creator, you’ll need a mobile-friendly platform that allows you to fine-tune your mini-course’s look and feel to match your brand. You might want live hosting capabilities, or features that let you interact with your followers. And you’ll certainly want upsell options and paywalls for private-access content.
However, it’s not just creators who are using microlearning programs to build out mini-courses. A number of businesses are also looking to these platforms as digital solutions for their corporate training programs. Naturally, businesses will need a more robust learning management systems, with features like assessments, automatic training notifications, student scoreboards, and detailed analytics.
How to select the best microlearning platform for you
As you may have guessed, there are a number of microlearning platforms to choose from. Let’s dive into the things you should consider when choosing the option that best suits your needs.
As a creator, you’ll want to think about:
- Where your mini-courses need to be integrated. (e.g. Do you have a WordPress site? Is the platform mobile-friendly?)
- How you’ll distribute courses to followers. (e.g. Will they need to download an app or sign in somewhere?)
- How you’ll charge for courses. (e.g. Does the platform provide paywall options? Are there upsell solutions?)
- How you’ll get repeat business. (e.g. Can you sell subscriptions? Will you be able to host a course gallery? Can you send automated follow-up emails?)
- Whether you want to use your courses as a way to build your community. (e.g. Are there social learning or community discussion options? Do you want to host live events?)
If you run a business, your needs will be different — and so will your microlearning platform. You’ll want to consider:
- The kind of training you’ll need to provide (onboarding, upskilling, etc.)
- Whether the platform offers training notifications and email reminders.
- Whether the platform allows you to test and assess learning.
- The types of analytics you’ll need.
- Your KPIs and how the platform can help you reach them.
- How your employees typically interact with technology (mobile devices, desktop, etc.)
- How many employees you’ll need to service.
The 8 best microlearning platforms
With that said, we’ve put together a list of our 8 favorite microlearning platforms, so you can narrow down your options and make the choice that best suits your needs, whether you’re a creator or you run a business.
The best microlearning platforms for creators
1. The AI option: The Leap
Looking for the ultimate creator monetization tool — and one that’s free to use? Then you’ll want to get in on The Leap.
The Leap is the latest tool from the leading creator educator platform Thinkific. This all-in-one platform functions as a link-in-bio tool, an online storefront, and an easy, versatile digital product builder, allowing creators to create and sell digital products all from one place. Designed with lead generation and sales in mind, The Leap helps creators transform their knowledge into digital products and their followers into paying customers, quickly and easily.
An AI-powered digital product builder, The Leap enables creators to bring their product ideas to life, whether it’s a tutorial, a mini-course, or a guide. Because it’s so easy to use, The Leap’s zero-cost, user-friendly authoring tool empowers creators to turn their products into lead magnets, which helps them grow their email list — and their pile of cash.
The platform also offers creators an array of audience analytics, including sales and leads reports, that give them the insights they need to create the digital products that will fly off the (digital) shelves.
The Leap is designed for creators looking to jumpstart their monetization journey. And if you leverage all of its features in tandem, you’ll have yourself an income engine that’ll power your business and earn you even more money over time.
The best part about The Leap? It’s all free!
Key features:
- Mobile-optimized link-in-bio storefront.
- In-app payment processing.
- AI-powered digital product builder for mini-courses, tutorials, guides, and challenges.
Very cool features:
- Email list builder
- Audience analytics
- It’s free!
Pricing: Free! Try The Leap now.
2. The gamified option: LifterLMS
Create your own digital training portal with LifterLMS, a learning management system designed for quick-launching your micro lessons through WordPress. It works with gamification, and it’s made to help you create customizable social learning experiences with associated communities.
Key features:
- Built-in marketing capabilities.
- One-time or recurring revenue pricing models.
- Course-building support.
- Automated content like enrolment, membership, and quiz delivery.
Very cool features:
- Gamification.
- Personalization.
- Instructor interactions.
- Community spaces.
Pricing: $149-$1,200/year.
The best microlearning platforms for creators and businesses
3. The community-building option: Thinkific (Thinkific Plus for businesses)
Thinkific is an online course platform designed for both creators and businesses. Whatever your size or objectives, it helps you deliver courses that match your brand — all while helping you build a community that’ll keep coming back for more. With the potential for live lessons and events, Thinkific provides you with the opportunity to make your learning centre a hub for your employees or followers.
It’s also built to help you scale. Thinkific provides detailed learner analytics so that you can upgrade your content to match their interests and improve their experience, making monetization easier. For businesses, that means creating great learning experiences that help your employees and customers learn faster and stick around for longer.
Key features for creators:
- Custom themes and domains that blend your courses with your brand.
- Thinkific App Store, with hundreds of products to customize further.
- Community spaces.
- Live lessons and events.
- Automated emails (think: upselling).
- Bundles, coupons, and cross-selling.
- Made to scale.
Key features for businesses:
- Quizzes and assignments.
- Training for customer activation and retention.
- Onboarding, training, and development for employees.
- Lead nurturing.
- Detailed analytics.
- Automated emails (think: marketing and follow-ups).
- Onboarding support and dedicated customer success manager.
- Unlimited capacity for growth.
Pricing: $0- $199/month. Request pricing for Thinkific Plus.
4. The gamify and get paid option: LearnDash
LearnDash is a microlearning platform built specifically for WordPress integration. With customizable designs that will help you match your courses to your brand, simple drag and drop building tools that make creation fun, and flexible pricing that will help you grow revenue, LearnDash is a great option for both creators and businesses.
Key features for creators:
- Custom design.
- Groups and sub-groups for students (think: community building).
- Paywalls.
- Subscription, membership, one-off and limited coupon options for customers.
- Capacity to run promotions and deals on course bundles.
- Checkout options like PayPal, Stripe, WooCommerce, Razorpay, and 2Checkout.
Key features for businesses:
- Certificates, quizzes, and assignments.
- Student submission approvals and instructor comment features.
- Points, badges, and awards.
- Groups and sub-groups for students.
- “Focus mode” to eliminate student distractions.
- Automated notifications and reminders for students.
Pricing: $199 per year.
The best microlearning platforms for businesses
5. The quick-start pption: 7taps
7taps is a mobile-first microlearning platform known for speed and ease of use. Its claim to fame is that it can help you produce a bite-sized lesson in just 15 minutes, providing you with pre-designed templates that optimize microlearning.
Key features:
- Content editing on-the-go.
- Easy creation of drip learning campaigns.
- Mobile-friendly.
- Automated content delivery.
- No apps or logins for learners.
Very cool features:
- Deep analytics.
- Embeds with a long list of platforms including Miro.
- Open-ended and multiple-choice question creation.
- Deployable to any device.
- Automated content delivery.
Pricing: $0-99/month.
6. The 5-minutes-a-day option: EdApp
EdApp is a corporate learning tool designed to help employees upskill in under 5 minutes a day, with gamification as its hook. Modules are broken down into bite sized chunks that increases speed of learning and knowledge retention, without wasting too much working time.
Engagement and interactivity take center stage on EdApp. This platform makes learning fun by encouraging peer learning and peer-to-peer discussions and letting each learning earn their own ranking on a leaderboard.
Key Features:
- Invite links and reminder notifications.
- Separate portals for admins and learners.
- Assignments and practical assessments.
- Multiple device support.
- Customer support.
- Offline mode.
Very cool features:
- Gamification.
- Peer and social learning.
- Videoconferencing.
- AI translation.
- PowerPoint conversion.
- Document storage.
- Integration with Microsoft, Okta, Canva, Zapier, and more.
Pricing: $0-$5.95 per user/month.
7. The employee journey option: iSpring Learn
iSpring is an employee training platform designed to take employees from onboarding all the way to compliance training, upskilling, and performance evaluations. This microlearning platform is designed to help improve employee performance and workflow by helping instructors identify employee training needs.
Key features:
- Training notifications, assignments, and assessments.
- Instructor interaction.
- Points, badges, certificates, and leaderboards.
- Detailed analytics.
- Multiple admin roles.
Very cool features:
- Creative content integration including role play, video lessons, and long reads.
- Smart user groups.
- Learner newsfeed.
- Course feedback.
- Automated progress reports, notifications, and deadlines.
- Automated enrolment for repeat trainings.
Pricing: $2.87-$4.08 per user/month.
8. The under-2-minutes option: OttoLearn
Gamification and true bite-sized learning (lessons must be under 2 minutes!) are at the heart of this employee learning management system. OttoLearn also helps businesses boost learner engagement with features that help admins track learners’ progress, participation, and success.
Key features:
- Mobile-friendly.
- 2-minute lessons.
- Easy progress tracking.
Very cool features:
- Contests and badges.
- Customizable analytics dashboard.
- Intuitive data visualization.
Pricing: From $250/month.
Choose the right microlearning platform
Creating your first mini-course doesn’t have to be complicated. You simply have to start by choosing the right microlearning platform and coming up with your course content, and the software will help you do the rest.
Remember that as a creator, you’ll want to stay true to your brand and give your audience the content they already love you for. Once you’ve created your mini-course, be sure to promote it to your audience across your social media and marketing channels.
Want to build and sell your first mini-course today? We have the tool for you! Try out The Leap’s AI-powered digital product builder for free.
Bonus: Need help selling your first mini-course? Download our free digital product launch checklist for more useful tips.
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