Digital Marketer, AI Consultant, Published Author, ClickFunnels and Kit Specialist
My Udemy Life Book interview with online instructor Joe Parys. Joe now has over 63 courses he teaches by himself and with others on Udemy and Skillshare. Those courses are being learned by over 180,000 students around the world. Browse and enroll in one of his courses today. BROWSE JOE PARYS COURSES WATCH MY LATEST INTERVIEW WITH JOE PARYS
The Revenue Road Starts It took me awhile to finish writing this post as July of 2016 marked my 2nd year on Udemy as an instructor now with 9 courses. The post I wrote back in September of 2014 on hitting my first $100 on Udemy continues to be popular. I thought that I would take the time to talk about my journey along the way and what I have been doing since then. I’ll break down my Udemy related revenue streams at the end of this post. I like many others starting on Udemy wondered what my next step was after publishing my first course which was about WordPress marketing. I started digging around and came across websites that allowed you to promote your course by submitting a coupon to the site. That gave me an idea and in October of 2014 I started the website Online Course Coupons which is a site to help instructors promote their courses. It was a place that instructors could get their courses promoted and I would take a small cut of the revenue as an affiliate of Udemy. I also compiled a list “Course Marketing Checklist” that remains popular to this day and is a list of other sites like mine and started the Facebook Group “The Online Course Promotion Group: Featuring Udemy, Skillshare and more!” where instructors can market their courses and learn about other marketing advice. The checklist became so popular with other instructor that I decided to turn it into 2 courses “Udemy Course Marketing: Increase Your Success” which is a starter course and “Udemy Marketing: Where to Promote Course Coupons”. Both courses offer instructors information on where to share their course coupons and how and have great reviews. “Udemy Live” Road Trip To San Francisco I took a road trip in late June to San Francisco from Idaho to attend Udemy Live and came back full of lifetime memories. I arrived into San Francisco on a Thursday evening a little earlier and picked up Dragoş Ștefănescu who came in from Romania. It was the first time meeting him in person but felt like we knew each other for years. We had a fun adventure getting lost on the streets of San Francisco on the way to pick up Jack Wilson at San Francisco International Airport and not knowing the GPS was set in biking mode. I had a great time sharing a room with friend and Udemy Fitness instructor Jack Wilson. Both Jack and I hung out the first night and stayed up late enjoying Idaho beer with popular TOGAF Udemy instructor Scott Duffy. If you are new to Udemy make sure you check out his Udemy SEO course and his course on protecting your own courses from piracy. Meeting new instructors like Ravinder Deol the “Bitcoin Expert” I think has helped me build relationships that go way beyond online course creation and Udemy. Plus I got to meet instructors I knew through Facebook and Skype for the first time in person. That included Brandon Hakin, Dave Espino, Diego Davila, Jeremy Deighan, Jasper Ribbers, Joe Parys, Laurel Papworth, Phil Ebiner “Video School Online” and several others. These are people that have a common goal in life and that is enjoying teaching others their passions so we can change the world and at the same time change our own lives. Keeping Focused On The Road Like a lot of Udemy instructors my revenue has dropped since Udemy’s price change back in April of this year. However I have been trying to remain positive by being creative by generating new revenue sources, creating new content while interviewing instructors and sharing their stories, answers instructor questions with “Ask Dennis“, grown my YouTube Channel to 660 subscribers, marketing my current courses and building my mailing list with ConvertKit. I had to completely shut down my website One Buck Courses which generated a lot of traffic and revenue as you would expect. I got the idea for the site after seeing several website that promoted Kindle books for a buck. I thought why not do the same with courses since we as instructors could discount down to one dollar. I already knew several instructors because I had also started a popular Facebook Group “The Online Course Promotion Group: Featuring Udemy, Skillshare and more!” with almost 4,000 members that allows instructors to promote their courses. That meant it was easy to build site that offered hundreds of courses for just a dollar. But I lost that revenue since after April the lowest price an instructor could discount their courses was $10. But still that’s not a bad price when you consider the value one gets from learning a new skill online. However it seemed like the bottom fell out and Udemy revenue came to what seemed like a halt. I have to fight off procrastination and even had to start a job which I quit because I couldn’t deal with people on the phone. But I have found a seasonal job to help cover the bills as I continue working on finding my path. I might not be rich at this point but I’m rich from the experiences I have experienced and the people I’ve met along the way. That is what I am most grateful for because we all work together to make our lives more rich. [convertkit form=4900669] The Revenue Streams I will admit that there are other instructors that have earned more revenue on Udemy than I have by far. But I’m in it for the long haul while others have already left looking for the next shiny object. Here is a little background of where my revenue related to Udemy comes from. There are a few places my revenue comes from and one of those is affiliate marketing through several websites, social media and email marketing. The biggest stream of revenue is the affiliate marketing through Online Course Coupons and Free Course Daily which I started after shutting down One Buck Courses due to Udemy’s price change.…
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Interview Questions for Phil Ebiner: These are the questions I asked Phil during our interview and his answer are in the video above. Let’s talk about Video School Online. Would you share with me and those who will be watching what it is? How do you keep coming up with course ideas? Do you think it’s worth it to refresh older courses or create a new course with updated information? How are you preparing for Udemy’s Black Friday Promo? How did the Udemy April price change affect you? Have you seen changes since they rolled back some of the changes recently? We did a course together on ConvertKit which is for email marketing and I know you have done courses with other instructors. What do you like the most about doing courses like this and what advice would you give those considering co-instructed courses? Let’s talk about email marketing. How important do you think it is for an instructor? What one piece of advice would you offer instructors who are in it for the long term? Phil’s Courses DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE UDEMY INSTRUCTOR RESOURCE GUIDE
We are all in this together! Does the recent Udemy price change have you and your revenue down? I have heard from many instructors and follow the discussion in the Udemy Studio and Udemy Faculty Lounge. Revenue is down in April after the new price change went into effect and instructors are frustrated. I get it because I am an instructor too and I have had both good months and bad months. That’s why I’m always trying new stuff and always coming up with ways to promote courses. I have success with some ideas and others fail then I move on to something new. But here’s what I know what works and what you should consider. Taking advantage of the resources that are there for you, some free and others that are affordable. Here’s a few things to help you get through the storm and on your way to success: Submit Your $10 Course Free! – I started Online Course Coupons for you back in 2014. It’s always been free for you to list your course on the site. Traffic to the site continues to grow. The site had over 4,000 visitors in March and that number continues to increase. I work hard at promoting courses utilizing my social media networks like Facebook and Twitter to bring even more exposure to courses. I just approved a bunch of new $10 listings today if you want to see what other Udemy instructors are offering. Start Here to add your own course. I recommend $10 courses because that’s what I promote the most but the discount is up to you! Watch Past Blabs and learn from others – I host a popular show on Blab with Matt Bernstein who’s earned thousands on Udemy. Matt and I bring guest on the show who are successful in their area of expertise so they can share valuable information. Like Gabby Wallace (TED Talk) with over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. Are you using YouTube to promote your Udemy courses? If not you are missing out on opportunities to bring in new students and more revenue. I suggest you take the time to watch “How to create a video course, market with YouTube, and travel with Gabby Wallace” this week and use her advice to grow your YouTube channel. I am committed to adding a new videos each week on my own YouTube channel. Get More Exposure! – Do you want even more exposure for your course without the added expense? My motto is “It takes money to make money” which in turn helps getting you out in front of others. But it doesn’t have to drain your checking account. I’ve been there! That’s why I use tools like Fiverr and look for gigs that work. I even offer one myself for exposure on the homepage of Online Course Coupons. Many instructors have found success and made their money back or even a little more. It doesn’t work for everyone but it’s a small investment and I am even willing to give you your money back if you aren’t satisfied. That hasn’t happened so far so and there’s almost 70 positive reviews! Here are some “Udemy” related Gigs I have bookmarked. Udemy Life – I love Udemy so much that I wrote my 2nd book about my experience and the experiences of several successful instructors and some new. There’s a lot of great information about Udemy course marketing in the book and even a survey I did last year. Download a copy on Amazon Kindle for just .99 Cents. It’s worth way more than that but I want to make sure everyone has access to the information. Don’t wait though because the price increases on May 1st. I have to pay for my move to Seattle later this spring. 
Let me know if this helps or if you have some tips I can share with others. If you want to be on the show with Matt and I we’d love to hear from you. Be well and thanks for allowing me into your inbox! Dennis Udemy Instructor and Author “Udemy Life” Udemy Instructor? Add your Udemy course listing and join the mailing list. START HERE!
Udemy Instructor Syed Hassan Bukhar Udemy Life Interview Do you remember when you first came across Udemy? Were you doing online courses before Udemy? Yes, I remember. I started in summers of 2014, but I was not able to get approved on Udemy. So, I temporarily stopped doing it and started working again in September, 2014, and got approved. Well, I was totally new to online course teaching. I wasn’t doing any other online courses before Udemy. When did you launch your first course on Udemy? I launched my first Udemy course in September, 2014. How many do you have now? I’ve got 5 courses What’s your most popular course? My first course is still the most popular one. Do you have a course creation tip? Yes, I guess. We should first record all the lectures, and once that all is done, then we can do the editing stuff. It saves me a lot of time and I have even filmed courses within 2 – 3 days. How about advice on marketing Udemy courses? Udemy does the marketing pretty good for us, but for our own promotion social media (specially Facebook) is a very good way to promote, also you can do this by distributing your coupons on coupon sharing sites. What tools do you use to stay productive throughout the day? Well, there is no such thing that I use to be productive. Well, when I want to note down something or want to write instructional details about something. I do it on Microsoft word. Moreover, if I want to create a detailed article about a particular topic before creating an actual video course. I do it on my blog admin panel (WordPress). What advice would you give to other Udemy instructors? I would like to advise instructors to make courses with unique ideas, they sell the best. What advice would you give to newbies? In my opinion, newbies should first thoroughly study the topic that they are teaching. It is good to use a script, but it is even better if you have all the contents inside your brain and you can speak it without using a script that looks more realistic and awesome. I do that. Once you’ve researched on the topic completely it won’t be very difficult. It is obvious that we always have to review that information that we know and further research so we can teach with more practical examples and teach people the right thing, so it is a good idea to do research. Are you able to share with others what your monthly revenue is? Well, I don’t do promotion on my own, Udemy does that for me and I earn a couple of hundred dollars each month which is good enough. I don’t want to share the exact amount. What are some of the things Udemy has allowed you to do? Udemy has allowed me to interact with the world in an efficient way. I don’t think I would have been able to reach such a big number of students from so many different places. I’ve got thousands of students from 130+ different countries and the entire credit goes to Udemy that helped me provide my courses to these people. Any upcoming courses? Right now, I’ve got upcoming exams. So, I’m working for that. The exams are coming a few months. After that I’ll have enough time to work on my courses. How about one last thought or piece of advice? Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts over here. It really feels great to share what I feel; it might help someone. In my last words, I want to say best of luck to all the people who have plans to make courses on Udemy, and want to encourage them that it really is an amazing market, go for it. That’s it, thanks again. Udemy Profile: https://www.udemy.com/user/syedhassanrazashah
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]September 2016 Update: Since I wrote this post I have been busy on Udemy and just launched my 9th course on “ConvertKit” which is a powerful tool I use for email marketing. I also published my 2nd book “Udemy Life” which is how others like myself earn 100’s and 1000’s each month teaching on Udemy. I hope you check them both out and read the post below on how I got to my first $100. I am now approaching $30,000 from everything I do revolving around Udemy including OnlineCourseCoupons.com. Read my latest blog post “On The Road To $30K In Udemy Revenue“. Dennis CONTINUED BELOW…[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] Save On My Udemy Courses [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][convertkit form=4900669][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]My “Udemy Life” Book Now Available on Kindle! Discover how Udemy Instructors are making 100’s and 1000’s each month by teaching skills on Udemy! Buy On Amazon Today [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][divider][/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” google_fonts=”font_family:Oswald%3A300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][vc_column_text]I have been working hard the last few months to grow my income through laptop lifestyle. Hoping that I can make enough money to live on my own again and not have to work for corporate America. My dream is to travel around the United States and the world while run my business on my laptop and a Wi-Fi connected. My courses on Udemy.com are just my latest stream of income. I recently posted about my latest accomplish of hitting $100 in revenue this month in the Udemy Studio group on Facebook. I’m always impressed by the praise and support of others in the group and by those like Alun Hill, (How I Make $4,000 A Week From Udemy Courses – And No Filming) and Benjamin Wilson (Double Your Udemy Course Sales (In Just 2 Hours!) Guaranteed) who share how they have been successful with others in the group through courses they created. Several people in the group asked me how I am marketing my courses and I thought this would be a great way to share that since blogging is one way that I promote my courses. Watch The Google+ Hangout I Did With Udemy’s Top Instructors – Including One Who Did $35,000 in November I launched my first Udemy course “Marketing Your Business With WordPress” (Course Coupon Offer) back in the middle of July 2013. Being that it was a new platform for me I didn’t know what to expect. I had a launch party and created a Facebook event and invited friends and followers to show up at 8 am to grab a coupon code to take the course for free. I am admitting this now but I overslept that morning and was late to my own launch. But I was able to recover and had over 13 take advantage of the launch coupon. Lesson learned. I also promoted the course on several of my Facebook Fan Pages, my personal Facebook profile, sent several tweets on Twitter and pinned it on my Pinterest Pinboard so I have my courses in front of several hundred followers. This is what I call “Be Everywhere” on social media on getting your product in front of those who want to learn. I had 4 other students redeem coupons that month and after Udemy’s cut I ended up earning $14.80 for July which I received payment for the first week of September. Not much but it gave me encouragement to keep going. Update: I ended the month of September at $109.41 and just received my payment of $40.85 for the month of August. The month of October is already starting off well for me and I am getting ready to do another cross promotion with other Udemy instructors.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] Save On My Udemy Courses [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][divider][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] Would you like to experience a course on Udemy.com and learn something new? Take my 5-star “WordPress Marketing: Profits With Powerful WordPress Plugins” FREE by entering your first name and email address in the form below. Save $20! In August I added a 2nd course “MailChimp: MailChimp’s Forever Free Email Marketing Plan” to the mix. That month I saw 9 purchases mostly my “Marketing Your Business With WordPress” course and mostly from “Udemy Organic”. Which according to Udemy is “Purchases of your course driven by either organic traffic on Udemy’s site (typically at full price), or by Udemy email marketing campaigns to existing Udemy users (often at a discount).” August was also the first month that I distributed “Free” coupons in the Facebook Udemy Studio group which has almost 19,400 active users. You can learn a lot about Udemy course creation and marketing by actively participating group and the Facebook Udemy Facility Lounge once you are an active instructor on Udemy. I ended up with over 2,259 new students which gave me social proof and several 5-star reviews for the course. My book “Promote Your Business or Cause Using Social Media – A Beginner’s Handbook” has over 25 reviews with an average of 4.5—stars. I have sold almost 1,000 copies of the book since its launch 2 years ago so I know the importance of good reviews. It gets those who are on the fence on board with buying your book or taking your course. I also had a free webinar “Building Your Online Audience” in August and have a link to my Udemy course that displays in the replay of the webinar. Webinars are a affordable way to build your email marketing list and get your Udemy course out in front of fresh eyes. I use RunClick which is a premium plugin that works with WordPress. I finished up the month of August with $40.85 and should be receiving that the first week of October. Most likely I will reinvest it and try promoting my courses with Facebook Ads.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][divider][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text] Right now I am in my 2nd full month of having my courses on Udemy and I continue to promote my courses on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and my website. I also came across the courses I mentioned in the beginning of this post by Alun Hill and Benjamin Wilson. I’m starting to try their suggestions and toying…
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