Unpublishing?

If I unpublish my course I'm assuming my current students will be able to continue working through it..? when I'm only making $3 out of $45, there is something seriously wrong. I missed some fine print somewhere. I'll take my courses somewhere else. This has been SO disenchanting!

Find more posts tagged with

Accepted answers

LawrenceMMiller

@ArtClark533 I understand how you feel, but just consider an alternative view from someone who has been on the platform for nine years and made more than seven figures:

First, you aren't making $3 out of $45 because no one is buying your course for $45. The average purchase price for courses is around $12. The $3 you made is more than you will make if you remove your course(s).

Second, the reason you are on Udemy is because Udemy has been successful at marketing courses in quantity. You need that marketing muscle. The only way anyone makes money from a creative product (courses, books, music, movies) is by selling large numbers of that product. You may imagine that you can do that on your own, but I am willing to bet that you cannot. A lot of us have tried.

Third, those who are successful on Udemy approach it strategically. No one succeeds with one course. It is about creating a catalog of high quality courses in a topic area so that your students buy additional courses from you. You have to build a brand, a following, a reputation, not simply a course. You can then support that brand with your own marketing, website, blog, etc. That is how you succeed.

One other small point: You courses actually have to be better, you have to be a better instructor, than competing courses. This is a competitive marketplace and most instructors do not know how to compete. That is the real world.

Good luck.

SufaniGarza078

Hi Friend. Something to consider is this. There are two types of selling options:

1: Sell a high dollar per unit lower quantity

2. Sell lower dollar per unit, higher quantity

Think of Patreon, they have tiers for $2, or $3 per person, but with a very large following, someone can be making 30K or more in a month. Selling at a higher dollar often means hosting yourself or on a platform that does not provide an audience built in to find you (i.e. UDEMY or Etsy as models) and you pain takingly have to build your audience over years. UDEMY offers an audience and a bulk earning potential. I started with $0 the first month, $14 the second month, $47 the third month and then I got reviews and some action and utilized my coupons and last year I made over $100K. Work at it, every option has its challenge. I chose the challenge with a built-in audience.

Also, when you use your two coupons per course for marketing, you will make approximately $9.50 ish of the $9.99 lowest price because you did the work to sell them. It takes time to learn how it works. You got this!

All comments

LawrenceMMiller

@ArtClark533 I understand how you feel, but just consider an alternative view from someone who has been on the platform for nine years and made more than seven figures:

Good luck.

SufaniGarza078

Hi Friend. Something to consider is this. There are two types of selling options:

1: Sell a high dollar per unit lower quantity

2. Sell lower dollar per unit, higher quantity

ArtClark533

Thank you both for your in depth and insightful responses. I'm a little more calmed down now so it's easier to see your points. Thank you again!

PuneetGupta453

Unpublishing a course should be a last resort; instead, Udemy could reflect on ways to better motivate new instructors. Established instructors who started years ago now enjoy significant visibility with high ratings, reviews, and follower counts.

Meanwhile, new instructors publishing fresh content often struggle to gain similar exposure, even with Udemy’s special roll-over sections on the first page.

For instance, consider two courses: Course A, with a robust following and high ratings, and Course B, a new course recently launched. During discount periods, both are priced the same. Given the choice, most students gravitate toward the more popular option. This is a challenge, as students lack an incentive to try out newer courses.

Although Udemy sends promotional emails for new courses, without specific incentives for students to try them, these new courses may struggle to gain traction.

Udemy could address this by offering combo pricing, bundling newer courses with more established ones, encouraging students to explore diverse offerings and giving new instructors a fair opportunity to grow.

Additionally, implementing instructor and course ranking systems could greatly benefit instructors by providing insights into their standing relative to similar courses or instructors, fostering continuous improvement and healthy competition. Using AI, may be Udemy can suggest few actions on how to improve the course.

ArtClark533

Very good suggestions Puneet!