Did you know? Creating a training course on a subject you love and are knowledgeable in, is the next big thing. So, why not make an online dog training course?
The online course industry is booming for some years now – even before COVID-19 made its appearance, and now it’s bigger than you can imagine.
Statistics show the e-learning market will reach 374.3 billion by 2026 and it is a number you cannot ignore easily. A lot of factors have contributed to this immense growth, like the emergence of new technologies, the increasing demand for remote learning, and upskilling ourselves to stay relevant in the job market.
But what does this have to do with a dog trainer like you?
Well, just like the rising popularity of online courses, the interest in dog training is increasing and is more likely to continue from 2023 onwards.
The strict lockdown measures had a lot to do with this increase because people started looking for alternative ways to compact loneliness, like adopting a new dog buddy.
To learn how to train their four-legged friends, more people are turning to dog training to help them raise a well-behaved dog that can live around people.
According to the National Pet Owners Survey, about 66 percent of the US population owns a pet and over 65 million families currently are dog owners, which makes dog training a lucrative market, to begin with.
If you have some dog training experience and want to create a course for it, this article walks you through the process step-by-step.
How To Create Your Online Dog Training Course In 7 Steps
Just like with any new venture, you will need to come up with a plan that will help you accomplish your goal. Creating an online course is easy provided you have a strong internet connection, such as Earthlink internet, a laptop, some creativity, and a lot of passion. But if you want to make sure people are going to be signing up for it, there are a few things to consider.
Step 1: Research Your Topic
As a dog trainer, your chosen subject is dog training, but you have to get more specific than that. Dog training covers many areas from training selected dog breeds, teaching commands and general obedience, training therapy or service dogs, to helping puppies learn tricks or overcome separation anxiety.
So first, research some of these topics and decide which one(s) you want to focus on. You can choose those who have the biggest demand – like general obedience and training puppies, or those which you are most comfortable, to begin with.
Use Google and Quora to search for popular topics people are more interested to learn more about and build a course that answers their enquiries.
Step 2: Come Up With A Working Title
Once you decide on your niche, make sure your course title works well with it. Coming up with a title that effectively describes what the course is all about in just a few words, will get more people interested in it.
Using the right keywords that apply to your industry will also increase your chances altogether.
For example, if you want to create a course on how to potty train your dog you may try:
- How to Potty Train Your Dog in 7 Days
- Potty Training a Puppy: Everything You Need to Know
- X Easy Tips to Potty Train Your Dog
- X Myths Holding Back Your Dog’s Potty Training
Catchy and attention-grabbing titles like these work not only for articles that need to perform well on SEO but also for online courses. Use buzzwords that your target audience will relate with and respond to but make sure you keep the title simple.
Step 3: Create The Course Content
Creating the course content is the most time-consuming part of building an online course, yet the most enjoyable task. It requires some research and putting together every resource you have.
If you already have a blog, get your articles organized in a folder and check whether you can reuse this content inside your course. Also, search for any videos, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations you have on your computer, webinars or talks that you took part in, or any graphs you created as part of an assignment or a project you led.
Any type of content you can find is useful at this point and can be used to an information piece of content.
Then again, if you are starting from scratch, you can always start with what you know already, searching for and citing information from any credible source you can find.
Step 4: Give Structure To Your Course
Decide if you want to offer lessons and which type e.g. one to one, or groups.
To help you out, think about what type of content you want to use. For example, would you be creating a course that has written material like – PDFs or ebooks, or would you be flexible to use YouTube videos or conduct live webinars?
Webinars are great for both private and group sessions with dog owners and they are handy if you are not available to meet up with your clients.
Then you can come up with a dog training syllabus to help you structure your content.
Normally you would start with a course outline and then structure it by lessons – ‘Lesson 1, Lesson 2, 3’, chapters or sections.
Apart from the actual contents of the course, create a brief description of what your course is about and list the benefits that people – and their favorite pets can get out of it. You can do this for each section as well to offer more insight to people who are interested in buying your course.
Step 5: Choose The Tight Course Platform
Once the content is ready, you will need a platform to host it. While there are plenty of online course platforms out there, the best course of action is to choose the one that works best for you and your business needs.
This means that you will need to look into the services, the features each platform comes with, and pricing. Each component is important here, so take your time to explore your options while also paying attention to the learning experience and marketing capabilities it offers.
Step 6: Decide On The Price
Your online course can come at a price, or you can offer it for free. A free course can be used as a lead magnet when building an email list, or an incentive to encourage more people to engage with you.
When selling a course, the best pricing strategy is to research your competitors’ prices. Find the lowest and the highest prices in the industry and charge the price in the middle. For example, if your competitors’ price ranges from $40 to $80, yours could be at $60.
Besides that, calculate how much time you need to create your course. Define its long-term value and put an hourly pricing rate that helps you cover the production costs and meet your profit goals.
Lastly, if you are planning to create a series of courses or a training program, you may also consider adding subscriptions or offering premium courses as part of a package or bundle.
Step 7: Promote Your Course
Once you get everything in place, think about how you will promote your course.
If you already have a website, you can create a dedicated landing page for your courses, where potential customers can browse your courses.
When it comes to dog training, setting up a YouTube channel can help you gain exposure and become an expert in your field. Apart from that you can always network with key professionals in the pet care industry, use social media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, to reach out to dog owners, run paid ads or engage in community groups to build a following from there.
3 Of The Best Online Dog Training Course Examples
Each dog training course is different. No online course is the same because you get to build it the way you think it’s best for your learners while giving a structure that works for you and filling it with informational content that is easy to read through and makes sense.
Below you will find three different online schools offering dog training courses, that can help you get some ideas and inspiration when creating yours.
1. The Dog Genius
The Dog Genius helps dog guardians and professionals offer the best care and training to their pets. The school structures its pricing with package courses with tiers that are suitable for dogs according to their skills and learned behaviors. Course topics range from behavioral training to pet sitting, choosing the right dog, weight management for dogs, elderly dog care, and many more.
On their dedicated course page, the business offers a range of courses that vary on the level of training offered to dogs starting from foundation to intermediate and advanced levels.
This shows potential customers which course is more appropriate for their dog because it makes it easier to match it with their needs. Each course comes with an instructor who specializes in training. Usually, these are the point of contact and they are responsible to oversee the training progress.
2. Instinct Dog Behavior & Training
Instinct Dog Behavior & Training offers practical advice and training help to anyone who simply wants the best for their dog. Since 2009, this online dog training school educates its customers on dog behavior training that is approved by certified trainers, behavior consultants, and board-certified veterinary behaviorists, giving people access to a handful of resources and online courses.
This dog training school offers its courses for free. Offering free courses is an effective strategy, especially at the beginning, as it helps people get to know you better and become familiar with the training you provide.
3. Dog Sport University
The Dog Sport University offers exclusive online courses, webinars, blog posts, and podcasts, to help you ease your journey to sports-training a dog. Their course programs promise that any dog can learn some exceptional skills focusing on agility, barn hunt, canine fitness, canine parkour, treibball, and learning new tricks.
What’s exceptional about this school is that it offers gift certificates and dedicates a webpage for each online dog training program it offers to explain what their clients can get out of it. It does so by dividing the online dog sports courses into a larger curriculum that outlines its contents.
Ready To Create Your Dog Training Course?
The post-covid area is slowly rising on the horizon, and even though it is hard to predict what’s coming, the best way to make the best of the future is to prepare for it.
Helping others learn more about dog training or giving them the chance to become certified in the field, is not only inspiring but can also help you position yourself as an industry expert.
Whether you already have a business that can support this kind of initiative or not, creating and selling courses is a step forward you need to consider.
How are you going to go about creating your own online course? Let us know!
Kyriaki Raouna is a Content Creator for LearnWorlds, writing about marketing and e-learning, helping course creators on their journey to create, market, and sell their online courses. Equipped with a degree in Career Guidance, she has a strong background in education management and career success. In her free time, she gets crafty and musical.
