One thing that many online course creators on Thinkific struggle with is finding a way to incorporate a sense of community into their course. Why? Because many online course creation platforms simply do not have good (or any) community building features.

But a great way to add a community to your online course on Thinkific is pairing up with an online community platform. Pairing Thinkific and Mighty Networks together is a great match if you’re looking for a robust community experience for your business.

Ahead, we’re looking at what each platform does well and the benefits of pairing Thinkific and Mighty Networks together. Then, we’re showing you just how easy it is to transition your online course to an all-in-one platform like Mighty Networks.

Community is key for online courses

It’s no secret that one of the most memorable parts of any learning experience is the people you meet along the way.

If you’ve been teaching online courses for a while, adding a community component to your business might not immediately resonate with you, but there are concrete benefits to investing in community building for your courses.

Community is a key component in building a sustainable business for yourself, especially if you’re in the online course sector. Why? Because when you solely rely on building online courses without communities, then you will be tasked with continually creating new courses and content to keep your business afloat.

Using Thinkific and Mighty Networks together allows you to focus less on an endless production of content, and instead of creating a learning environment where your members continue the conversation around your content long after you’ve posted it. And better yet, they’ll create their own content, ideas, questions, and resources that sustain engagement within your community without the need for you to facilitate it.

When you incorporate an online community platform into your business model you open up the capacity to create your own network effect. That means, every new member that joins your community adds additional value by sharing their own perspective and expertise to your business. If you’re only using Thinkific, this network effect won’t be possible, but by pairing Thinkific and Mighty Networks you can.

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The benefits of using Thinkific

Thinkific is a great online course platform if you’re focused on creating content alone. Creators can build their courses to be released in a dripped format or all at once which gives major flexibility, especially if you’re starting out. Additionally, Thinkific hosts your course on their platform, so they handle many of the development woes that come up when building your own website or online course.

Creators building online courses on Thinkific have access to features for designing text content, uploading videos, surveys, discussions, and more. On top of that, Thinkific’s free plan offers unlimited courses and is great for getting your toes wet in the online course world.

Another enticing element for using Thinkific is the ability to offer memberships and subscriptions for your online courses, in addition to discounts. Creators can charge for their course in multiple currencies and receiving payment is easy.

But unfortunately, Thinkific doesn’t have any tools in place for creating a community where your students can interact and grow together. Using Thinkific and Mighty Networks together, however, will help fill that void.

The benefits of using Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is an industry-leading community platform that has changed the way creators think about online community building.

Our platform gives creators the tools to create beautifully designed community spaces all utilizing your own personal branding and made instantly available across web, iOS, and Android devices. We also offer creators detailed analytics and member data so creators can make the best decisions possible for their businesses.

But a Mighty Network can be much more than an online community space. In addition to robust tools for community management, creators can also host virtual events, create mastermind groups and sub-groups, paid memberships, and offer online courses. In fact, we’re the only platform on the market that allows you to do all of these things under the same roof completely under your brand.

So, if it’s not apparent yet using Thinkific and Mighty Networks together is a powerful combination for your business.

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How to use Thinkific and Mighty Networks together

Using Thinkific and Mighty Networks might seem daunting, but they actually complement each other well. As we mentioned earlier, Thinkific is a good platform for online courses if you’re just starting out, but they don’t have the tools to build a thriving community around your brand.

Enter: Mighty Networks!

Utilizing a Mighty Network for your community needs is easy to get started and it grows with your needs. You can start building your community in a few simple steps. But before you start using Thinkific and Mighty Networks together ask yourself why you’re starting an online community.

We call this your community’s Big Purpose. You can think of this as the motivation behind your community. Since you’re already offering online courses on Thinkific, think about what your students can’t achieve simply by taking your courses. What can bringing your students together in one place as members of a community help them accomplish?

Here’s a short prompt to get you thinking:

After you’ve gone through the steps of nailing down your Big Purpose, you’ll need to spend time informing your students about the community you’re building. Great ways to reach out to your members are through building an email list from your online course students.

Some challenges to consider when using Thinkific and Mighty Networks

The biggest hurdle for using Thinkific and Mighty Networks together isn’t the platforms themselves, it’s juggling the messaging and directions of sending your members to two different places for online courses and community interaction.

As you gain more members in your Mighty Network, you can start experimenting with new experiences to offer your community. Some things that we love are hosting virtual events such as a meet and greet or Q&A. And this can all be done directly in your network with native livestreaming and live chat. But you can also create a paid membership, and even create online courses. You might be thinking, why would I offer an online course on my Mighty Network when I have one on Thinkific?

While it’s easy to pair Thinkific and Mighty Networks together, ultimately separating your efforts between two platforms isn’t the ideal solution. A Mighty Network allows you to build an online community, online courses, and virtual events, all under the same roof, so why use multiple platforms when you can use one?

Ahead, we’ll look at how you can transition your Thinkific course over to a Mighty Network.

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Bring your course and community together on a Mighty Network

You may be wondering why you should move your courses over to Mighty Networks instead of using Thinkific and Mighty Networks together. The simple answer is that making it as easy as possible for your members to interact with you, your content, and each other is the best route to take and a Mighty Network allows you to do that.

But there are practical reasons for using one platform too. It’s much cheaper to use one platform as opposed to two because you’re not paying for multiple subscriptions. Additionally, when you have your online course and online community in the same place it’s a much easier transition for your students to become members of your community because they are already invested in the platform’s ecosystem.

Finally, at Mighty Networks, we believe in creating a platform that is constantly evolving to best serve our users. And the most beneficial way to accomplish that is by creating native features designed to work with our platform effortlessly.

If you’d like to know more about transitioning over to a Mighty Network we’ve created a great step-by-step guide.

Mighty Networks is the best place to build a community and online course

Thinkific and Mighty Networks are a good pair for online course creators looking to integrate an online community into their business. But once you’ve got a handle on your community, it would make the most sense to fully transition over to an all-in-one solution.

On a Mighty Network, you can create an online course, online community, host virtual events, and offer paid memberships. Additionally, our platform emphasizes the importance of great native features and a native mobile app experience that is available across web, iOS, and Android devices.

When you choose our premium service, Mighty Pro, your brand will be with your members no matter where they are. And on Mighty Pro, you get all of the features offered on a Mighty Network in addition to a white-label branded app. That means, your app will have your branding across push notifications, events, icons, and more. It will also be directly downloadable from the App Store and Google Play Store. Best of all, you can launch your community app in as little as 3 weeks!

So, let’s get started building an awesome community space for your online courses!