This document outlines 7 ways to use SlideShare to grow an online course audience and generate revenue. It recommends repurposing existing content into visually appealing slideshows that tell a story and include calls to action linking to the course. Key steps include choosing relevant categories and tags, carefully designing the first slides to hook viewers, linking to the course site throughout, and including a free link in the description. Tracking links and analytics can show how many SlideShare views convert into site visits and customers. Examples show how decks generated over 75,000 views and $6,500 in revenue.

1. 7 WAYS
TO GROW YOUR
ONLINE COURSE
WITH
SLIDESHARE
(and even make $6,000)
@teachablehq

2. So, you’re trying
to grow your
audience for your
online course…

3. This deck was
taken from an
online course.
It generated
over 75,000
views and
over $6,500 in
trackable
revenue and
growing…

4. (Even Tim O’Reilly found it
and dug it)
This deck was
taken from an
online course.
It generated
over 75,000
views and
over $6,500 in
trackable
revenue and
growing…
Check out the deck here

5. Let’s go into the 7 steps of how you
can do this too

6. Let’s go into the 7 steps of how you
can do this too
Wanna build a course for free?
Click here to check out

7. BUT FIRST,
WHY SLIDESHARE?
0

8. It’s actually 121st
largest website in
the WORLD

9. 3 billion presentation views per month
averaged over a seven-year history

10. Repurpose your existing
presentations without a
huge investment

11. (This SlideShare was
actually repurposed from
this blog post)

12. This could
be you!
Do it right and
SlideShare will
feature you on
their homepage,
which collects a
couple thousand
views the day it’s
featured

13. Plus, Twitter promotion to their 200k+ followers

14. Although this data is for
online course results, it works
on almost any product

15. NOW FOR YOUR 7 WAYS TO
USE SLIDESHARE TO GROW
YOUR ONLINE COURSE…

16. USE YOUR
EXISTING CONTENT
1

17. Pick one piece
of content you know your
audience loves &
turn it into a slideshow
Lectures In-person presentationsBlog posts

18. MAKE YOUR
SLIDES
TELL A STORY
2

19. Focus your SlideShare on
one actionable takeaway
Use it as the starting point

20. Stick to one point per slide

21. Fill in the gaps
from the in-person presentation
with extra slides and images
to show your points clearly

22. Make your story engaging
with cool visuals
What stands out?

23. CHOOSE
CATEGORY & TAGS
BASED ON KEYWORD
RESEARCH
3

24. When you upload
your deck to
SlideShare, you’re
given the option to
select a category
for the presentation

25. All SlideShare
presentations are
organized by
these categories

26. All SlideShare
presentations are
organized by
these categories
Choose the category
based on your
content and target
audience

27. Tag your deck with specific keywords
potential students may be searching for

28. Research relevant keywords

29. See how people are talking about your subject

30. Use Google’s
Keyword Planner
(it’s free) to see
what the audience
wants to learn:
https://adwords.google.com/
KeywordPlanner

31. 7 Ways to Grow Your Online Course with SlideShare
Tags and the deck title are all searchable on Google

32. 7 Ways to Grow Your Online Course with SlideShare
SlideShare will help you rank for and produce a
stream of views and clicks to your site over time

33. When your deck is shared
on Twitter, the first few
tags are automatically
made into #hashtags

34. Notice how
these two
keywords got
added? #growthhacking
#internetmarketing

35. What’s cool is
the entire
presentation is
viewable in your
Twitter newsfeed

36. And the links
remain clickable,
even when your
deck is shared

37. CAREFULLY DESIGN
YOUR FIRST FEW
SLIDES TO HOOK
YOUR AUDIENCE
4

38. Devote someextra thoughtto your firstFIVE slidesGRAB YOUR READER’S ATTENTION

39. The cover
and first
few slides
hook the
reader
Make them look great!

40. Use
high quality,
compelling
images

41. We’ve created a great
image resource here
Use
high quality,
compelling
images

42. Create a
descriptive &
catchy title
Check out the SlideShare presentation here

43. The image is
colorful &
humorous.
It immediately
catches your eye

44. The title reinforces
humor, while
clearly stating the
presentation topic

45. Anyone who wants to
learn about writing a novel
would be hooked to read more

46. Michelle Richmond’s
strategy paid off
The presentation was in
the “Featured SlideShares”
section and generated
4,200 views in 2 months
and brought leads back to
her online course

47. LINK TO YOUR
SITE & MEASURE
RESULTS
5

48. Inside the Keynote presentation,
include a link to your site
When adding a link to an image, the
arrow doesn’t show up in the PDF

49. Want to know how
many people came
to your site from
your SlideShare ?

50. No problem. You can actually track
exactly how many people came to
your site and became paying students

51. The tracking code varies
based on the web analytic provider
“/?src=”
vs
“/?utm_source=“

52. Create an ID on the backend of your
course website, like
“/?src=SlideShare” = tracking code
http://academy.teachable.com/?src=SlideShare

53. In Mixpanel (the analytics tool for this example),
you can see how many pageviews came in
with this tracking code

54. In Teachable, you can track how many
folks join your course using an src code

55. Sign up for Teachable
to create your own
online course
for free!
In Teachable, you can track how many
folks join your course using an src code

56. The code will carry all the way through the signup process
In Teachable, you can track how many
folks join your course using an src code
Sign up for Teachable
to create your own
online course
for free!

57. In this case, anything with the exact code “slideshare”
brought in 114 sign ups and $6,500 in revenue
for the online course

58. In this case, anything with the exact code “slideshare”
brought in 114 sign ups and $6,500 in revenue
for the online course
It’s admittedly not perfect. A lot of folks directly type in the link to the site,
but it’s helpful to know to adjust future efforts

59. INCLUDE
CALL TO ACTION
TO DIRECT TO
YOUR SITE
6

60. Place course
tracked links in
multiple places
throughout your
presentation

61. Make sure the
link is in the
center area of
the slide
If the link is too close to
the edges, the navigation
panel overpowers the link

62. And avoid
placing the
link too close
to the bottom
for the same
reason

63. Try a soft sell link in
the first 4-6 slides
(we have ours on slide #6)
(PS, this image is linked too)

64. Why can’t I
include a link in
the first three
slides?
SlideShare does not
allow it

65. Include link in
the body of your
presentation

66. Include link at the
end of your
presentation.
We’re featuring a
piece of free
content, like this
marketing course

67. FREE LINK TO
YOUR SITE IN THE
DESCRIPTION
7

68. Link your course in the
description field and
in your SlideShare bio

69. Stay actionable and
compelling by linking
to a free product,
like a free course
Free!

70. Use a URL shortener
(e.g. bit.ly) to
shorten your link
or write it
out fully

71. This example is from
Juliana Crispo’s Startup
Sales Bootcamp
presentation, which
includes a full link

72. Juliana picked up
over 5,300 views
since it was posted
two months ago.
Pretty sweet!
This example is from
Juliana Crispo’s Startup
Sales Bootcamp
presentation, which
includes a full link

73. REMEMBER…

74. When it comes to
growing your
audience,
free content
brings in views
AND
targets an
interested
audience

75. Create a
useful and
visually
appealing
deck

76. TRACK
YOUR
CONTENT

77. Link back to your course to convert
SlideShare users into
CUSTOMERSYAY!

78. Want to learn more
about how to grow
your course (and
make money)?
Sign up for a free
marketing course
by credit for visuals
slide 19: paint image
slide 52 : thumbs up icon
slide 78: tag image
various icons
other images: Unsplash & Gratisography