My long-term dream and essentially all I thought about when I wanted to build my first e-learning course many years ago was to make a lot of money, follow up the course with another course, and make even more money.
And, if at all possible, I'd like to leave my day job and work as a full-time online teacher.
While I was as experienced as anybody and had the ability to formulate a detailed lesson plan and potentially teach information to music theory newbies, I had just a cursory understanding of the technological aspects of eLearning.
You may be forgiven for believing that (from the tutor's perspective), online learning is all about getting the right talent, experience, and a decent webcam.
That, it seems, is just a small part of what is necessary to set up a good eLearning program.
In this post, I'll give you an overview of Thinkific, go through some of its key features and functions, and explain why I choose it over the other choices available.
1. What is Thinkific, and how does it work?
Thinkific is an educational forum that helps tutors and companies to develop classes and exchange their expertise with their viewers.
From video-based YouTube-style videos to informative textual lessons to multimedia content classes, the framework has been developed to serve all types of learning programs.
And it can be used by almost anyone, regardless of their chosen mode of communication.
2. What are Thinkific main features ?
I've been using Thinkific as a music teacher for at least six years, and I've built the majority of my courses on the website.
Here are some of the features that I believe placed Thinkific on par with some of the most well-known channels on the market:
2.1. Site builder
I didn't have a website before I launched my first course in 2014, and I wasn't able to spend a lot on a project I wasn't sure would pay off.
Fortunately, I was able to offer lessons to my first students without having to construct a primary site first, thanks to a Thinkific subdomain.
Of course, I now have my own website, which I believe suits me better than the brand.thinkific.com subdomain, so don't worry if you haven't yet created one; Thinkific has you covered.
The platform recently launched its Site Creator tool, which helps you to develop a course site with as many pages as you want.
It doesn't provide you as much flexibility as a WordPress-level content management system, but it does have ample customization options to enable you to build a site that stands out from the crowd.
It took some time for me to work out how to use the mini-CMS, the theme customization process, and tools like the countdown timer and calls-to-action (CTAs), but I finally got it all worked out.
Even better, Thinkific has a professional and readily accessible support network ready to assist you if you get lost.
2.2. The course creator
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| Thinkific course |
Thinkific clearly did their homework here, as they have one of the most smooth course-building environments I've ever encountered.
Through their drag-and-drop editor, you can easily import files from various places on your device and see a real-time preview of what your course would look like.
The platform also makes customization quick and enjoyable, as you can organize your images, PDFs, audios, colours, and logos without leaving the panel or wasting too much time doing simple tasks.
2.3. Thinkific sales and marketing
The aim of designing a course is to get people to sign up for it, to distribute awareness to as many people as possible, and to make a profit in the end.
In the administrative panel of Thinkific, there is a "Market and Sale" segment that came in handy for me when I was searching for new students.
I used the "Coupons" feature to advertise my current and upcoming courses, as well as the sales widgets to connect my main website to the Thinkific courses.
2.4. Thinkific Affiliate Program
On Thinkific, affiliate marketing is also simple and transparent, as you only need to go to the "User Roles" option and add your affiliates as members.
The app monitors all customers immediately so you know where they come from, but it has no say on how you divide your income with your affiliates.
2.5. Student assistance
One of the things I appreciate about Thinkific's service is that they are open to your students just as much as they are to you, which saves you the trouble of having to interpret the site from a student's viewpoint.
Furthermore, the app offers features and metrics for the students to monitor their progress and see how much coursework they have left to do.
I also found that I could monitor how many times registered users could view unique content – a feature I had never used before.
However, if you want to reduce plagiarism, inspire concentration, and speed up course completion, this is a valuable tool.
2.6. Monitoring and recording (students reviews)
One of the reasons teachers prefer online course portals over standard websites for their eLearning programs is the opportunity to monitor their students and see who has finished the course and who has dropped out.
Thinkific's "Progress" feature helps you to do more than just categorize students.
Based on the package you apply to, it helps you to track and control each individual student as well as tailor courses for them.
The student's name and email address, the number of courses accessed and finished, the last sign-in, the date of course activation, and the date of course completion are all variables you can monitor.
Although there are no built-in analytic tools to aid in data interpretation, I believe that the ability to track any single student compensates for this shortcoming.
2.7. Thinkific quizzes
Thinkific is one of the few online course sites I've come across that takes self-assessment seriously.
Rather than haphazardly typing questions at the conclusion of a course or lecture, the quizzing tool allows you to create multi-choice tests and choose whether there will be one or many correct responses for each question.
2.8. Unlimited Hosting options
You can upload as much graphic content as you want without worrying about hosting, whether you have a main website or just use a Thinkific subdomain.
If you have your own domain, however, the Thinkific pages may be forwarded to it.
3. Rivalry vs. Thinkific
Teachable, Kajabi, and Systeme.io are three of Thinkific's major rivals.
Both thinkific and teachable have a lot in common, and unless you have special needs, either can do it.
Pay gateways, shopping carts, free options, and good customer service are all available on both sites.
Thinkific, in my view, has a marginal advantage over Teachable in the Thinkific vs Teachable controversy because it does not incur processing costs on either schedule.
Teachable takes a 10% cut on all purchases made from its free plan classes.
In a side-by-side contrast, Systeme.io is another online course framework that I think will outperform Teachable.
The software is newer and therefore less common, but it has a wider range of features and has been characterized as a cross between a customer relationship management (CRM) system and a learning management system (LMS).
Systeme.io is perfect for entrepreneurs and small online companies who can't afford to budget for a CRM like ClickFunnels and a learning management system like Thinkific independently.
Kajabi has as many features as any other platform, but using it can necessitate advanced technical knowledge. It does, however, provide fairly consistent chat service, and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the higher plans.
I've never had any trouble reaching Thinkific help, and I've never heard anyone lament about Teachable, so I don't think this is a factor you can exclusively use to differentiate the channels.
Overall, Kajabi is a professional and comprehensive platform, but it is pricey, with the standard package costing $149 per month or $119 a month if paying monthly.
Teachable has the best user interface in my opinion. Users have a more streamlined experience with the platform, and it is much easier to grasp than Kajabi.
It also has a fantastic free subscription package that offers you more and just takes 10% of your revenue.
It's a good idea and run the numbers to see which is cheaper: foregoing a tenth of the total sales income or sticking to the regular package for $39 per month (or $29 a month if paid annually).
For certain users, Thinkific offers the best free plan so entrepreneurs don't have to pay processing costs as Teachable does.
However, their premium plan pricing is close, and consumers must consider the small variations in the feature packs of each platform in relation to their needs before determining.
4. Pricing and plan option offered by Thinkific
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| Thinkific pricing |
Thinkific has four payment options, including a free package and three premium subscriptions that you can pay for annually or yearly.
If you want to familiarize yourself with the app before subscribing, I suggest signing up for the free account, though you will not have access to all of the platform's functionality.
4.1. The unrestricted schedule
The free package includes the following features:
- Capabilities for designing websites
- Hosting in the cloud
- Hosting of content
- Notices to students
- The course editor is a drag-and-drop gui.
- Support for e-commerce
- Groups for discussion
- Surveys and quizzes
- SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
- Several accounts of instructors
- There are no limits on the number of students who will
- 3 Mind-blowing classes
4.2. The underlying approach
The simple package costs $49 a month, so you can save money by signing up for an annual membership.
I've always thought the alternative was best for teachers and entrepreneurs with a small customer base or who are just starting out.
This is because it has the majority of the premium capabilities at half the price of the pro package.
The standard plan includes the following features:
- All is included in the free package.
- Enrolling students by side
- Email choices for a custom domain
- Integrations of email
- Thinkific courses are limitless.
- Marketing and reporting for affiliates
- Vouchers
- Course material is delivered in stages.
4.3. The Pro Plan
The pro plan is the most common among Thinkific users, and it's easy to see why.
It is not only substantially less costly than the Premier strategy, but it also addresses the demands of the bulk of online education SMEs, which are the primary focus of Learning Management Systems (LMSs).
The below are some of the advantages of the plan:
- All features are included in the standard package.
- Priority assistance
- There are five course managers.
- responsibilities
- Certificates of completion
- Customization options are extensive.
- There are two site administrators.
- Courses with advanced options
- Choice for a private course
4.4. The Premier Plan
This is Thinkific's most advanced strategy.
It allows you access to all of the platform's functionality and is perfect for tutors and company owners with a broad customer base or who want to start an eLearning academy.
The Premier plan includes 50 course admin spaces, an onboarding kit, sign-on functionality, and 5 site administrators in addition to the Pro plan's features.
The Premier package is five times more costly than the Pro plan, costing $499 a month ($399 for an annual subscription).
Even so, if you can find a way to use any of the features, it's worth the cost.
5. Payment Portal
Thinkific receives payments from students by PayPal and Stripe.
Apart from what the payment mechanisms require, there aren't many other withdrawal requirements, in my experience on the website.
This ensures that the money will be available in your account within a day or two of getting it.
6. Conclusion
All has benefits and drawbacks, and e-learning is no different.
To ensure that your course is properly planned and delivered, you must first choose an acceptable online course portal and familiarize yourself with it.
Thinkific is actually one of the most prominent players in the LMS industry, and hopefully this analysis will help you better appreciate it and address any questions you might have.
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