10 Things I've Learned Throughout my 2.5 year Udemy Career! [Tips & Advice]
Hey guys!
Filip Kordanovski here. I'm very much enjoying this new community and what a better way to start than with some valuable tips I've learned through my relatively short, but amazing, Udemy career.
1. Be consistent with communicating with your students.
Send out promotional announcements whenever you have something new to sell or upcoming course release. Send out educational announcements with related course content, at least once per month and provide even more value to your existing students.
2. Gather your exsisting students within a community group.
I prefer Facebook Groups, Discord chatrooms or anything other, really. Let this be a hub for your existing students and connect with them. Students like when they are receiving attention from their instructor and 1-on-1 communication with them may be crucial for that student to enroll in your new course!
3. Respond to private messages, reviews, Q&A questions and assignments.
Student engagement is by far the most important thing you can achieve as an instructor. Engaged students are likely going to enjoy your upcoming courses based on how you treated them in your previous ones!
4. Research what your existing students are interested in, besides your course topic.
This is important because you get to know what your audience would like to learn next and what a better way to surprise them than with creating a course they are simply dying to watch! Udemy provides in-depth statistics of this matter.
5. Quality over quantity
Always focus on delivering high quality content, catchy visuals, crystal clear audio and always improve on your delivery. Don't rush to create course that is not perfectly made or even not finished completely. If you want any specific tips about the things I mentioned in this tip, feel free to ask away!
6. Quality courses equals high selling price
Don't set your courses at 20$! A carefuly crafted course is worth way more than that. Always aim for the 100$+ price mark, so when Udemy has a sale, the student will be excited to see that the course they want to purcahse is 90% off!
7. Learn from the big guys
Always research your competition before creating a course on a particular topic. I'd say, research about 10 competitor courses in your niche, and start listing out things that their courses are missing and make sure to include them into your courses! This is the best tip I can give you to win on Udemy.
8. Free coupons is a risky move!
Most students who enroll in your premium course for free are not interested in your topic as a person who would pay for your course. Be cautious with this, since this may lead to low review ratings, overflooding your course with inactive students and thus resulting in incorrect statistics like engagement, analytics and more. I'd say just give 10-15 free coupons to close friends and let them criticize your course!
9. Bite sized lectures are the way to go!
Don't make your lectures long videos that the student may feel overwhelmed by watching! Let them grasp a concept in a short video and make them feel like they've learned at least something throughout that short lecture! They are also more likely to watch a shorter lecture, thus, increasing your engagement!
10. Never stop learning
I've been an instructor for 2.5 years but I'm still learning new things daily. Always research delivery techniques, learn from more successful instructors than you, visit this community hub at least 1 hour per day and learn and contribute! It will return ten times higher in your journey to become the best instructor you can be.
Don't forget that you're changing lives of students daily throughout your courses. You help them land their dream job, get an internship or simply learn a new skill!
Feel free to talk and share your ideas on how to improve on any field! Let's make this thread the ultimate go-to for any newcomer and seasoned instructor!
You're awesome, keep rocking!
Filip Kordanovski
Comments
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Thank you for your tips Filip, I have a question how can I see what the other instructors are doing now
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thanks for your tips , it's really helpful for me , specially i'm kind of a new instructor here.
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@AhmedAhmedHassa
wrote:thanks for your tips , it's really helpful for me , specially i'm kind of a new instructor here.
Very welcome Ahmed!
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very helpful
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Thanks!
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Thank you, Filip, for your insights!
I have just started recording videos for my first course and I am so excited to get it up and published! I think recording it perfectly is the hardest part because I'm using my cell phone right now for video as my cash flow is not great at the moment to purchase better equipment. Sometimes it takes me like 10-15 takes to get it right!
My question for you is do you know of any free or nominal fee software out there that I can use to edit my videos? Like cropping or cutting something out of the middle of a film? Right now I can only edit the beginning and ending of my videos and this can be quite time consuming to get the middle content just right. If I fumble a word or something I have to start all over again- noooo!!!
Anyways- thank you so much for being part of this community! I am super excited for this next adventure in my life!
Regards,
Dawn Sisti
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10 very good points. Thanks.
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Thank you very insightful
@FilipK
wrote:Hey guys!
Filip Kordanovski here. I'm very much enjoying this new community and what a better way to start than with some valuable tips I've learned through my relatively short, but amazing, Udemy career.
1. Be consistent with communicating with your students.
Send out promotional announcements whenever you have something new to sell or upcoming course release. Send out educational announcements with related course content, at least once per month and provide even more value to your existing students.
2. Gather your exsisting students within a community group.I prefer Facebook Groups, Discord chatrooms or anything other, really. Let this be a hub for your existing students and connect with them. Students like when they are receiving attention from their instructor and 1-on-1 communication with them may be crucial for that student to enroll in your new course!
3. Respond to private messages, reviews, Q&A questions and assignments.Student engagement is by far the most important thing you can achieve as an instructor. Engaged students are likely going to enjoy your upcoming courses based on how you treated them in your previous ones!
4. Research what your existing students are interested in, besides your course topic.
This is important because you get to know what your audience would like to learn next and what a better way to surprise them than with creating a course they are simply dying to watch! Udemy provides in-depth statistics of this matter.
5. Quality over quantity
Always focus on delivering high quality content, catchy visuals, crystal clear audio and always improve on your delivery. Don't rush to create course that is not perfectly made or even not finished completely. If you want any specific tips about the things I mentioned in this tip, feel free to ask away!
6. Quality courses equals high selling priceDon't set your courses at 20$! A carefuly crafted course is worth way more than that. Always aim for the 100$+ price mark, so when Udemy has a sale, the student will be excited to see that the course they want to purcahse is 90% off!
7. Learn from the big guysAlways research your competition before creating a course on a particular topic. I'd say, research about 10 competitor courses in your niche, and start listing out things that their courses are missing and make sure to include them into your courses! This is the best tip I can give you to win on Udemy.
8. Free coupons is a risky move!
Most students who enroll in your premium course for free are not interested in your topic as a person who would pay for your course. Be cautious with this, since this may lead to low review ratings, overflooding your course with inactive students and thus resulting in incorrect statistics like engagement, analytics and more. I'd say just give 10-15 free coupons to close friends and let them criticize your course!9. Bite sized lectures are the way to go!
Don't make your lectures long videos that the student may feel overwhelmed by watching! Let them grasp a concept in a short video and make them feel like they've learned at least something throughout that short lecture! They are also more likely to watch a shorter lecture, thus, increasing your engagement!
10. Never stop learningI've been an instructor for 2.5 years but I'm still learning new things daily. Always research delivery techniques, learn from more successful instructors than you, visit this community hub at least 1 hour per day and learn and contribute! It will return ten times higher in your journey to become the best instructor you can be.
Don't forget that you're changing lives of students daily throughout your courses. You help them land their dream job, get an internship or simply learn a new skill!
Feel free to talk and share your ideas on how to improve on any field! Let's make this thread the ultimate go-to for any newcomer and seasoned instructor!
You're awesome, keep rocking!
Filip Kordanovski0 -
Thanks for sharing your tips! Your fellow instructors really enjoyed the post, so we're featuring it on our homepage -- check it out here!
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Hello Dawn, thank you for your contribution to the e-learning world.
My tip for you is; you have to find a way to optimize the recording time and lowering any chances of screwing up your script while mid-talking. This can be achieved in couple of ways... Try to summarize your script in some bulletins that would be placed around you somewhere that you can always take a look and remind yourself of the content.Maybe, move the recording platform to a monitor where there'll be a presentation of your talking. This way you can easily do it in one take while reading a script that you've previousely written.
There aren't many good free video editors out there unfortunately. Movie maker is the default windows software for this, but I'd suggest going with OpenShot. Its available for Windows and Mac as well.
In case you're using a Mac, try the iMovie, which is free.
Good luck!2 -
Thank you for sharing this info Filip0
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Thank you Filip for your advice. Do you think is it a good idea to publish a course free for some time and convert that to paid? Specially for new instructors.
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Filip,
In #8 you talk about free coupons. How do I just create a free coupon and select who I give them too? Doesn't the free coupon go public?
Thank you,
Dawn
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Really informative. I am new to Udemy as an instructor. Thank you for your Tips Filip.
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Great tips Filip!! What has also helped me is defining my style and niche. While I think this is difficult to do when you haven't started yet, it's something that will help you along the way and it's better to start sooner rather than later.
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I couldn't agree more with point 8. Had my course on free for almost a year and the reviews were just random as people would click on a any of the stars (usually in the middle) whenever Udemy asked for a review.
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Thanks for the great advice. I am close to publishing my first course. It's very exciting.
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Thank you so much for these valuable tips, it is really helpful for us as new teachers on Udemy
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Me too, i am very close to publish my first course, i am still working on the last 5 sections.
It will be published soon
I wish you good luck @Lizzy
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Excellent advice thanks for sharing
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Thank you for the tips. It's really helpful
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Brilliant tips - thank you Filip!
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i LOVE THE PART OF NEVER STOP LEARNING! That is one of the resons I love teaching Digital marketing becuse you always have to learn even more to be able to teach...
@FilipK
wrote:Hey guys!
Filip Kordanovski here. I'm very much enjoying this new community and what a better way to start than with some valuable tips I've learned through my relatively short, but amazing, Udemy career.
1. Be consistent with communicating with your students.
Send out promotional announcements whenever you have something new to sell or upcoming course release. Send out educational announcements with related course content, at least once per month and provide even more value to your existing students.
2. Gather your exsisting students within a community group.I prefer Facebook Groups, Discord chatrooms or anything other, really. Let this be a hub for your existing students and connect with them. Students like when they are receiving attention from their instructor and 1-on-1 communication with them may be crucial for that student to enroll in your new course!
3. Respond to private messages, reviews, Q&A questions and assignments.Student engagement is by far the most important thing you can achieve as an instructor. Engaged students are likely going to enjoy your upcoming courses based on how you treated them in your previous ones!
4. Research what your existing students are interested in, besides your course topic.
This is important because you get to know what your audience would like to learn next and what a better way to surprise them than with creating a course they are simply dying to watch! Udemy provides in-depth statistics of this matter.
5. Quality over quantity
Always focus on delivering high quality content, catchy visuals, crystal clear audio and always improve on your delivery. Don't rush to create course that is not perfectly made or even not finished completely. If you want any specific tips about the things I mentioned in this tip, feel free to ask away!
6. Quality courses equals high selling priceDon't set your courses at 20$! A carefuly crafted course is worth way more than that. Always aim for the 100$+ price mark, so when Udemy has a sale, the student will be excited to see that the course they want to purcahse is 90% off!
7. Learn from the big guysAlways research your competition before creating a course on a particular topic. I'd say, research about 10 competitor courses in your niche, and start listing out things that their courses are missing and make sure to include them into your courses! This is the best tip I can give you to win on Udemy.
8. Free coupons is a risky move!
Most students who enroll in your premium course for free are not interested in your topic as a person who would pay for your course. Be cautious with this, since this may lead to low review ratings, overflooding your course with inactive students and thus resulting in incorrect statistics like engagement, analytics and more. I'd say just give 10-15 free coupons to close friends and let them criticize your course!9. Bite sized lectures are the way to go!
Don't make your lectures long videos that the student may feel overwhelmed by watching! Let them grasp a concept in a short video and make them feel like they've learned at least something throughout that short lecture! They are also more likely to watch a shorter lecture, thus, increasing your engagement!
10. Never stop learningI've been an instructor for 2.5 years but I'm still learning new things daily. Always research delivery techniques, learn from more successful instructors than you, visit this community hub at least 1 hour per day and learn and contribute! It will return ten times higher in your journey to become the best instructor you can be.
Don't forget that you're changing lives of students daily throughout your courses. You help them land their dream job, get an internship or simply learn a new skill!
Feel free to talk and share your ideas on how to improve on any field! Let's make this thread the ultimate go-to for any newcomer and seasoned instructor!
You're awesome, keep rocking!
Filip Kordanovski0 -
Filip,
I took some of your suggestions, especially the bullet point notes in front of me and what a world of difference that made! I just ad-libbed the rest and I have published my course! I haven't made a ton of money from it but that wasn't the goal for me- just a bonus if and when it happens
. I just wanted to actually publish my course and it gave me a great sense of accomplishment and was a fun project! Thinking of what I might teach next. Regards,
Dawn
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Great tips. Thank you.
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Thanks for the great tips!
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I must confess that I am really learning a lot from this community. Filip, these tips are great. Thanks very much for sharing. I expect more tips from you.
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Hi Filip. Thank you for taking the time to write down your thoughts. However, I think it's also important for people to realize that there are many paths to success, and what worked for you is not necessarily "the only" or even "the best" strategy. For example, I would like to politely disagree with 4 of your 10 points:
2) Gather students in an off-Udemy group. I'm not on facebook and I don't direct my students off Udemy. This has not hampered my success. And I think it's ethically questionable whether Udemy does (or should) allow you to make your students feel compelled to register or sign up elsewhere. Your students have paid to be part of the community here; why do they need to make additional investments off the platform? That leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
6) Coming from the world of technical textbooks, I think >$50 for an online course is ludicrous. I have a 600-page textbook that costs $50. Very very people actually pay $200 for an online course (I wouldn't). In my opinion, this whole business model of 90% off feels like a marketing scam, and you don't have to search hard to find opinions on the internet about how $200 for a 2-hour course is something to avoid. I don't like it, and I price my courses on the lower end, even my courses that are 30-40 hours of lecture (and each lecture has an exercise, so my courses are actually closer to 80 hours if the student does everything). Again, hasn't hurt my success. As far as I can tell, students ignore the "original" price of a course. See other recent posts about experimenting with lower course prices having no effect on sales.
8) Free coupons are great. Free courses are another matter. I give away lots of free coupons, to my "real-world" students, to my Udemy students who leave nice reviews or who just message me. When a student posts a Q&A about something I address in a different course, I will give them a free coupon to that other course. Those are my most loyal students, and always leave glowing reviews. I would say that free coupons has been a big contributer to my success, particular when I first got started and had few students and few courses. Sometimes I even give someone two free coupons and ask them to share one with a friend.
9) There is no optimal length for lectures. I've had complaints about 5-minute lectures because the students felt I didn't go into enough depth (several times I've had to make additional videos because the students were right), and I've had many students mention in their public reviews that they appreciate the longer (20+ minutes) videos because I take the time to explain everything in detail, which is sometimes missing in other courses. A lecture should be as long as it needs to be. If the lecture topic is simple, then maybe a 3-minute lecture is perfect. But if you cram a 15-minute concept into 7 minutes, you are taking value away from the course and decreasing the quality for the student.
Again, I don't mean to be antagonistic here; I believe that your suggestions worked for you. But I think it gives a misleading impression to make the case that your points are a formula for success, because in my cases my success has come from doing the opposite of what you write.
Mike
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@MikeXCohen
Thanks for this Mike. I agree with your points.I like your approach in 8) (Sending free coupons to selected Students via private message).
So far, I rejected this as I considered this to be at least "Grey Area" with regard to Udemy Rules.
Anyone with a clarification on this? IMHO it´s a Business Decision by an Instructor that should result in long-term benefits for the Instructor and Udemy. No need to regulate this.
Thanks in advance.
Alex
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