Boost Your Online Course's Value with Bonus Material

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If your online course offers high value to your target audience, you're assured that the course will be a success. One way to add more to your course is to add supplemental bonus material.  

Add More without Going Too Long 

The ideal length for an online course is five to seven modules. If you make it much bigger than that, you're going to overwhelm your participants and your course may lose focus. It needs to be just long enough to tackle one learning task completely. Adding bonus material allows you to add to the course without extending it. The bonus material is a supplement. 

For example, you might find that you have too many modules. You can then look at your modules and pick one that's a bit of an odd man out. Remove this module and offer it as a "bonus report."  

A Little Off-Topic 

Bonus material allows you to add more something to the course that's not strictly on-topic. Good courses proceed in a logical order and help a student learn how to do one specific task. Your bonus material can offer something extra that's related, but not related enough to be part of the course. 

For example, you might offer a course on setting up and managing a successful blog. The modules start with the technical aspects of setting up the blog, and then cover how to come up with ideas for content and write, and finally some tips on driving traffic to your blog. If adding an audio version of your blog posts is a technique you've used to great success in the past, you might offer an additional report on creating audio posts. 

An Extra Bonus! 

Bonus content adds value to your course. It has a powerful psychological effect. If you have a course with seven modules versus a course with six modules and a bonus report, the latter will be perceived as having more value. The idea that it's an extra bonus makes the buyer feel like they're getting something extra, even if the volume of information is actually the same. 

Differentiate Yourself 

Finally, adding extra bonus material is a good way to set your course apart from other similar courses. It gives you just a bit extra over the competition and can be a unique selling point for your course. 

If you want to add bonus material, anything that provides valuable information or helps the buyer will work. The material can be: 

• Workbooks or worksheets to go along with the course 
• Checklists for tasks from the course 
• An eBook or report on a related topic 
• A quick-start guide that helps the student apply what they've learned in the course 
• Resource guides with online resources related to the course content 
• Access to a private online community (students can discuss the course content and share ideas) 
• Live Q&As 
• One-on-one coaching 
• Expert interviews with people in your niche 
• Graphics to help with the information from the course 
• Templates for tasks from the course 

It takes some work to create additional content, but it can be a great bonus for your course participants. It doesn't have to be anything involved, but just something valuable.  



​About The Author  
 
Pat Simes is a Business Strategist, blogger and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions and Innovate Academy. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs to transform their vision to reality.  

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