I often see new instructors posting in social media groups with the ever familiar sentence: "So, I've just finished my course, how do I get my first sales?" – if only this question could be answered in a simple Facebook comment!

When it comes to marketing, promoting and selling our online courses, there is a lot more to do than many people think, and the most important thing that online instructors need to learn, is that selling a course is a long term game that requires a careful concoction of multiple marketing efforts (targeted to your audience).

Just like any good business, nothing works in isolation; and when it comes to marketing online courses, there are many moving parts. There is no 'one' strategy to marketing and selling online courses – successful course marketing involves the strategically engineered juggling of many different components.

The top online instructors have thorough marketing plans for their online courses before they're even built – just as any successful business would for their products and services. If you haven't done this yet, don't panic – it's never too late to start.