Verkkovalmentajat

Verkkovalmentajat is a Finnish-language online course platform for trainers, coaches and experts who want to build a course and sell it without setting up their own technology. The site calls it "Suomalainen verkkokurssialusta" (a Finnish online course platform) and sums up the offer as "Muuta osaamisesi selkeäksi verkkokurssiksi ja myy se samassa palvelussa" (turn your expertise into a clear online course and sell it in the same service). A subscription covers the course builder, protected video hosting, a sales page, a shop for selling courses, Paytrail payments, and help and customer service in Finnish. The online course is the core of the service, and creators can add digital products, services and a blog under the same brand.

Building a course

Courses are built from study modules, lessons and topics in what the site calls a clear course builder. A lesson can hold text, images, audio, video, links, downloadable files and embedded content, plus tasks and quizzes. Tasks and quizzes cover questions, assignments that students hand in, and tests that measure what they have learned. When a student meets the completion criteria the creator defines, the platform issues a certificate for finishing the course.

Video goes through the platform into a shared, protected Vimeo service, so the creator needs no Vimeo subscription of their own. Lessons can open immediately, on a set date, or a set time after the student enrolls, and a creator can release everything at once or schedule it to follow the student's progress. A course can also be built and published in stages; the FAQ advises telling buyers on the sales page what they get straight away and when the rest opens. Students can work at their own pace without the teacher present, unless the course design calls for it. A course can be kept out of the public course directory and shared only with a chosen audience.

On the student side, the course view adapts to phone, tablet and computer, and students see their progress and find the next step in the course structure. The FAQ says basic computer and browser skills are enough to build a course, with no coding needed. There is no server project to run either: the site describes one service that carries a course from building to the first purchase and on to the student's completion.

Selling courses

Every course gets a public introduction page where the creator explains who the course suits, what it contains and what the student will gain, and the platform includes the shop needed to sell it. The buyer goes from that page straight to checkout, and the course opens once the order is paid. The creator does not need a website or webshop of their own: the FAQ says the service provides the course page, a shop page and a ready purchase path.

Payments are processed by Paytrail under a separate Paytrail agreement and price list. According to the FAQ, the selection includes Finnish online banks, cards and other payment methods. The terms of the plans, the annual options and Paytrail's own costs are listed on the separate pricing page.

Beyond courses, the Verkkokauppa (webshop) service sells downloadable products and services in a ready-made shop without the creator maintaining a shop site, and the Blogi (blog) service helps a creator build an expert brand, be found in search engines and send readers on to courses or the shop. The site also runs a partner program.

Plans and prices

The site lists three course packages, priced per month plus VAT, and suggests starting with one course and moving up as content and sales grow. The service fee on course sales falls as the package grows.

• Starter, 29 €/kk + alv, for testing a first course idea: 1 course, a 10.8% service fee on course sales, Vimeo videos and the blog platform.
• Basic, 49 €/kk + alv, marked as popular in the growth stage, for creators with several courses who want a smaller service fee: 3 courses, a 6% service fee on course sales on the monthly subscription, and discount coupons.
• Pro+, 99 €/kk + alv, for a larger course business that wants advanced tools: unlimited courses, no service fee on course sales, the Verkkokauppa Maxi webshop, and groups and the creator's own visitor tracking.

The service fee is the main cost to plan around. On Starter, 10.8% of each course sale goes to the platform on top of the monthly fee, so a creator whose sales grow will want to compare that against the higher fixed price of Basic or Pro+. Paytrail's processing costs come on top, under the creator's own Paytrail agreement.

Help for first-time course makers

Support comes through a comprehensive help center and Finnish-language customer service. The site lays out a four-step path to a first course: narrow down the course's promise and audience, build the content in lessons, prepare the sales page with a price and availability, and then publish, direct the audience to buy, follow feedback and improve the content. The FAQ also gives practical advice on picking a first topic, talking to potential students before building, and pricing a course by weighing the benefit, the scope, the personal support offered and the alternatives, including comparing a monthly fee, a one-time price and installments from the buyer's side.

Subscribers to the company's newsletter get a 16-page guide to growing an email list, tips once or twice a month and news of new features. A free workbook, "40 verkkokurssi-ideaa" (40 online course ideas), offers 20 topic areas with 40 starting ideas, a scoring model for picking the strongest ones, and three light ways to test demand. One customer, Eliisa Saarinen of Valostamo, says the course was easy to start building through the clear instruction videos and that the platform has worked well and been clear from the customer's point of view as well.

Who it suits

Verkkovalmentajat suits a Finnish-speaking trainer, coach or expert who wants to sell an online course to Finnish buyers with everything in one service: builder, video, sales page, checkout and support in Finnish. Starter is a low-cost way to test a single course, while creators with several courses or growing sales will find Basic or Pro+ cheaper per sale. The site, the help center and customer service are all in Finnish, so a creator teaching in another language will find less of the service aimed at them.