7 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Buying An Online Course

Whether you want to improve your social media management skills or learn to code, there are so many online courses promising to transform your career and make your dreams a reality.

As someone who’s purchased more than a dozen courses over the last few years, I’ve learned a lot about the online teaching industry and have often learned the hard way that not all purchases pay off.

To help you avoid making the same mistakes that I have, here are 5 questions to ask yourself before buying an online course.

1. Will I have to make any sacrifices to be able to afford this course?

The cost of online courses can vary greatly, with some setting you back a couple of hundred and others costing thousands of pounds. Before parting with your cash, ask yourself whether you’ll have to make any sacrifices to pay for it.

It goes without saying that essential living costs such as rent, bills and food need to be a priority. Take a close look at your budget and assess whether you need to sacrifice any nights out, new clothes or holidays to be able to afford it.

Sometimes this can be an empowering process and it can make you realise how much more disposable cash you have than you think. Let’s imagine you spend £50 on a night out every Friday. If you want to buy an online course for £200, you only have to swap the club for your sofa for one month to cover the cost.

If you’re self-employed, remember that online courses can usually be treated as an expense. You’ll still have to pay for it though. Expenses may save you a little tax and they could prove to be a worthwhile investment, but they still cost money.

2. Does it come highly recommended by any friends or trustworthy influencers?

If you know someone who has already taken the course, it’s probably worth privately getting in touch with them to find out what they thought of it.

Alternatively, check out the reviews and look out for bloggers and influencers who’ve shared their thoughts online. Testimonials shared by the course creator can lure you in, but remember that you’re not getting the full picture from these alone.

It’s worth noting that online course creators often provide students with an affiliate code that allows them to make money by recommending the course to others.

This is something to keep in mind when assessing reviews and recommendations. Personally, I wouldn’t automatically discredit a positive review simply because the reviewer makes money from referrals. I do the same thing and I’m careful to only recommend products and services I genuinely believe in. But I would ask myself how trustworthy this person is before typing in my card details.

If it’s a blogger or influencer you’re unfamiliar with, take a look through their other posts to see what else they recommend. Do they seem honest and legit? Great! I hope you love the course as much as they do.

3. Is the course designed for people with your level of experience?

Before purchasing a particular course, find out whether it’s designed for people like you. The last thing you want is to fork out a month’s rent for a course designed for complete beginners when you already have some experience in this particular area. You equally don’t want to invest in a course that requires tons of prior knowledge of something you’re completely new to.

I’ve made this error myself a few times. In July I signed up for a course that teaches you to pitch articles to women’s magazines. I’d already had some success pitching to editors earlier in the year but, crippled with self-doubt, I was lacking the confidence to really throw myself in at the deep end and put more of my ideas out there. Buying that course was, in a way, a form of procrastination. When I began taking the course, I couldn’t help but feel I already knew many of the lessons that were being presented to me. I’d learned some of them through trial and error myself. This doesn’t make the course bad and I still enjoyed each lesson because I really like the teacher, but I’m not sure I got as much out of it as complete newbies would.

4. How likely is this course to help you achieve your goals?

This might sound like an obvious one but I know first hand how easy it is to excitedly buy an online course only to later realise it doesn’t actually help you get to where you want to be.

For example, maybe you’re a copywriter at a marketing agency and you have dreams of becoming the Head of Content in the company. As tempted as you may be to take a coding course, there are probably better ways to use your time. We all know that learning to code is an incredibly valuable skill to have, but I’d argue that it won’t help you achieve your dreams of becoming a content specialist.

I’ve taken many career side steps over the years but I really regret some of them because they slowed me down, costed me money, and prevented me from achieving some of my goals.

5. What format is the course presented in?

What type of learner are you? Do you enjoy reading big chunks of text? Are you more of a visual learner? Or perhaps you respond well to seeing notes on a screen. Think carefully about your preferred learning style before investing in an online course. It can be really frustrating when a course isn’t delivered in your preferred learning format.

The three most common online course formats are:

• Written lessons
• Videos of the teacher speaking
• Slideshow presentations with accompanying audio

For me personally, I tend to be disappointed when an online course is purely written. It feels too much like a blog post or book for my liking. My favourite format is videos of the teacher speaking or slideshow presentations with the teacher’s voice talking me through each one.

6. How likely are you to actually complete the course?

Signing up for an online course can be really exciting and if you love learning as much as I do, you may even get a bit of a buzz from typing in your card details and waiting for that first welcome email to drop into your inbox. Neerrrrd!

But the excitement can soon wear off and you can be left feeling guilty for not completing the course as quickly as you’d like to.

Before signing up, be honest with yourself about how likely you are to actually complete the course. Do you have time in your schedule to devote to it? If not, can you shuffle some things around and make time?

7. Do you have the confidence to implement the lessons you learn?

It’s all well and good soaking up lots of new knowledge but unless you have the confidence and self-belief to actually jump straight in and implement the lessons you’ve learned, you’re not going to get your money’s worth.

Online courses are only worth the money if you actually put the teachings into practice. Having all that knowledge in your head and never using it isn’t going to get you to where you want to be.

Do a little soul searching and question whether you actually have the guts to make the necessary changes to your life!