Knowing how to sell online courses has become one of the most valuable skills a teacher, tutor or trainer can have. Thousands of educators across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and the wider Arab world now earn a serious share of their income from courses they recorded once and sell again and again. But there is a big difference between selling through a marketplace that keeps a large part of every sale and selling from a platform you own. This guide is for educators who have decided to run their own online school and want to sell from it intelligently: from choosing the first course to landing the first ten sales and keeping students coming back.
Why sell from your own platform instead of a marketplace?
Large course marketplaces give you access to an audience, but that access has a price. Udemy's official support pages, for example, state that instructors receive 37% of the revenue on sales that come from the marketplace itself, without the instructor's own coupon or referral link. Other cases carry different shares, but the principle is the same: the marketplace owns the customer and sets the rules.
On your own platform the picture changes:
- The revenue is yours, minus only the payment gateway's fees.
- The student is your student. You have their name, email, phone and purchase history, so you can offer them your next course.
- You set the price and decide when and how to discount.
- Your brand grows, not the marketplace's.
The trade-off is that you are responsible for bringing students in. We compare both routes in detail in Own course platform vs Udemy and other marketplaces.
How to sell online courses in six steps
The steps below follow the order a real launch takes, from the idea to repeat buyers. Work through them one at a time.
Step 1: Choose your first course wisely
Your first course sets the tone for everything that follows, so pick it with evidence rather than guesswork.
- Start with what students already ask you about. The questions you answer every week in class, on WhatsApp or in comments are the clearest signal of demand.
- Promise a measurable result. "Memorise Juz' Amma in 60 days" is far stronger than "Tajweed lessons". "Pass your IELTS speaking test in 6 weeks" beats "English conversation course".
- Validate before you build. Ask your audience directly, or run a short free workshop and watch how many people sign up and stay until the end.
A focused course for a specific audience almost always sells better than a broad course for everyone.
Step 2: Build a sales page that persuades
Your course page is a salesperson that works 24 hours a day. A visitor who lands on it should find clear answers to five questions:
- Who is this course for? And, just as important, who is it not for.
- What will the student achieve? Put outcomes before the list of lessons.
- Who are you? Your experience and the results of past students.
- What is included? Number of lessons, total duration, downloadable files, quizzes, a certificate.
- What does it cost, what is the guarantee, and how do I pay?
Add a short introduction video and at least one free preview lesson. Letting people watch you teach before they pay is one of the strongest persuasion tools you have.
Here is a ready-to-use template for the sections of a course page that sells:
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| Headline | Result + timeframe: "Master English for job interviews in 6 weeks" |
| Who this course is for | 3–4 descriptions of your ideal student, plus one for who it does not suit |
| What you will learn | Measurable outcomes, not lesson titles |
| Curriculum | Modules, lessons and the length of each |
| Your instructor | Your experience and your students' results |
| Student reviews | Real reviews, with names, shared with permission |
| Price and payment | The price, the payment methods and the refund policy |
| FAQ | The objections you hear most often, answered honestly |
Step 3: Set the right price
Do not price by the number of video hours. Price by the value of the result. A student preparing for a final exam or a job interview is not buying "ten hours of video"; they are buying a pass, a job, a skill. Compare your price with the real alternatives, such as private lessons or competing courses, and consider offers like a time-limited launch discount or a bundle that combines several courses.
Pricing deserves a full article of its own, and it has one: How to price an online course.
Step 4: Offer the payment methods your students actually use
A student in Cairo may not have a credit card but will happily pay through Fawry or a mobile wallet. A student in Riyadh expects mada and Apple Pay. Every missing payment method means lost sales, often at the very last step after the student has already decided to buy.
- Egypt: cards, mobile wallets, Fawry and InstaPay transfers.
- Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: mada, Visa, Mastercard and Apple Pay.
- International students: card payments in USD through a gateway like Stripe.
- Everyone: a bank transfer option with receipt upload as a fallback.
The full breakdown, including fees, settlement times and refunds, is in our guide to choosing a payment gateway for online courses.
Step 5: Land your first 10 sales
The first sales rarely come from ads. They come from people who already know and trust you.
- Send a personal message to past students with a special early offer. A personal note converts far better than a broadcast.
- Publish genuinely useful free content related to the course topic, with a link to the course page, on the channels where your audience already spends time.
- Use a time-limited coupon for the first subscribers rather than lowering the base price.
- Ask the first students for written feedback, and with their permission, use it on your sales page.
Ten paying students with real feedback give you something no ad budget can buy: proof.
Step 6: Increase the value of every student
Once someone has bought from you and had a good experience, they are the easiest person to sell to again. Build a path for them.
| Method | Example |
|---|---|
| Bundles | The core course plus the revision course at a reduced combined price |
| Monthly membership | Access to all courses plus a monthly live revision class |
| 1:1 sessions | Personal follow-up sessions or a session package after the course |
| Digital products | A downloadable workbook or question bank |
| Cohorts | A group programme with a start date, live classes and a shared schedule |
After the sale: keep the student
The real selling starts after the purchase. A student who finishes your course and gets a result becomes your best marketer and the easiest buyer for your next course. Make finishing easy:
- A welcome message that sends the student straight to the first lesson.
- A friendly reminder if they stop watching for a week.
- Short quizzes that create a sense of progress, and a certificate at the end.
- A special offer on the next course once they complete this one.
How to measure whether your course sales are working
You cannot improve what you do not measure. Watch four numbers:
- Conversion rate: how many visitors to the course page does it take to get one purchase?
- Abandoned checkouts: how many students started paying but did not finish? The cause is very often the payment method.
- Completion rate: a course nobody finishes will be hard to sell later, because there are no results to show.
- Traffic source: which channel did each buyer come from? Put more effort into the ones that work.
If you have not built your platform yet, the fastest route is a ready-made platform you can set up without code, so you can apply these steps straight away. To bring visitors to your course page, read our plan on how to market online courses.
Start selling from your own platform with Tamkeen
With Tamkeen you launch your own branded platform and sell recorded courses, live classes, 1:1 sessions, memberships, bundles and digital products, with coupons and local payments that go straight to your own account. Students pay through Fawaterak in Egypt, Tap in the Gulf, Stripe internationally, or bank transfer and InstaPay with receipt upload, and Tamkeen takes no commission on your sales. Plans start with a free trial. Create your platform now and put the six steps above to work this week.
