Celebrating 500k and Some tips
I wanted to take the time thank Udemy and Share some insights. A couple of weeks we passed the $500K mark. To be honest with you we never could have imaged that our journey in Udemy would have brought us to where we are today. When we first started we had basically sold all our furniture and where on the cliff of financial ruin after becoming ill and being bed ridden for a year. At the time the 5 companies that we where running came crashing down. We started on this adventure as a way to leave a legacy and to follow our purpose and if we made money it would be a bonus. Now we can not believe the type of numbers that we see. It has taken time to get here and continual growth and learning, and improvement to create the success that we have created. We genuinely believe that the world needs the information that you have to share and remind you that the best thing you can do is create semi passive income through udemy so that if you have any emergency you do not find yourself in the same place that we found ourselves in when I got sick. I also believe that Udemy’s best days are still ahead of us and that this is the perfect time to commit to being in this new economy. Below are some pointers:
Keep creating content for your audience: once you have an audience that knows, likes, and trust you ask your self what problems do they still have that I can solve. We always ask ourselves after a person takes this course is there still a related problem that we can help with. This may be another course or partnering with another expert to provide their expertise.
Find ways to give value: One way that we provide value is by doing live Q/As. We also have a private facebook group that we are active in and in turn others in the group have followed our lead and it has become a thriving support system for everyone in the group. We also try to answer questions the students that we can within 24-48 hours on the Udemy Platform. If you care about your students they will care to help you grow.
Use Udemy insights to learn about your market and what is the need if any in your space. Also to know what key words people are using to search. Learn what gaps there may be and if there is a smaller sub market that can make it easier for you to break in the larger market.
Think of Udemy as a long term strategy: Don’t creat just one course and think that it will just take off, udemy is not a get rich quick scheme. Reality is that that it takes time to build an audience and build momentum. At the beginning every student, there engagement, reviews, and feedback are essential. There is an exponential growth curve so that every time you create a new course it feeds the other courses and it accelerates your growth. With that said you have to be passionate about what your are teaching and what you are doing if you are not then it will be impossible for you to maintain the long term game.
Don’t personalize critics: Yes you will get bad reviews and people that act in bad faith. However, if you are getting feedback ask yourself if any of it may be valid and if this feedback can help you grow.
If others can do it so can you. Those people making money on udemy are not more special or talented than you they have just taken more time to learn the market, improve their content, and learn the udemy game.
Incremental improvements: As you grow always ask yourself in what ways can I improve, it does not have to be a major improvement. If you improve by just 5%-10% it would make a big difference in accelerating your growth. We started with a point and shoot cheap camera that shot in 1080 and using the iPhone headphones and an iPhone app to record the audio. As we made money we reinvested it to improve our equipment.
Let go of perfectionism: Perfectionism holds many people back, like the founder of Linkedin states if you waited for your product to be perfect than you waited to long. Put your product out there and continue to improve from the feedback that you get. Keep in mind that it will never be perfect.
Your mental state is crucial: Ask your self what are you doing on a daily level to stay inspired and be in a peek state to be able to create the life you want to create? What is your motivation and your big why? That big why can not be money because money wont be a long term driver. What money and freedom can facilitate can be though.
What experiences will money and freedom allow you to have? In what ways will creating success impact your life and the life of those that are around you? In what ways will sharing your knowledge impact the world or the students that take your class?
Have a why that gets you fired up and helps you get up ready to take on any challenge.
Thank you Udemy!!!
Wishing you many blessing and success!
Joeel
Comments
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Congrats on $500K @Joeel-Natalie
and thank you for sharing your advice!4 -
@JocelynH
thank you for everything you do to support all of us as instructors to help us reach a world audience and create freedom.2 -
Congrats @Joeel-Natalie
- you two are wonderful and inspirational - rock on!3 -
Wow...Hearty Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience.
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@SharonRamel
Thank you! We think the same of you and everything that you do!3 -
Huge congratulations @Joeel-Natalie
One of the first posts I saw in the Instructors Facebook group when I had just started was you saying that you had just hit the 100,000 mark and that inspired me!
This is another inspirational moment that will drive me to keep working and keep helping the students that come my way.
Wishing you continued success.
My Very Best Wishes
Graham
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@GrahamNicholls
Thank you, that means a lot to me. It has been a wild journey since we have been on Udemy.I wish you much success and looked foward to celebrating your milestones as well.
Joeel
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@saifshk85
Thank you!1 -
@Joeel-Natalie
hey guys, can I ask a favour?Woukd you be ok with me using this picture to go on my Vision Board pls?
I didn’t want to use it without your permission!
thank you 😁
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Congrats @Joeel-Natalie
on your success at udemy!
And thank you for the tips... lot of gems in this post.2 -
Thank you!1
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Congratulation @Joeel-Natalie
and Thanks for sharing and inspiring us!!!...2 -
Congratulations @Joeel-Natalie
. It's a real inspiration for me.And thanks a ton for the tips.
Vinod.
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Way to go! I really like your way of thinking about motivation, money and mental state.
Keep up the good work!2 -
Of course! We love vision boards.
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Thanks you!0
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Thanks you!
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Thank you very much for taking time to write these tips ! And Big Congrats!
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Congrats you guys! This phrase really sticks out to me. I think this is a big thing holding a lot of people back. Feeling like what they put out has to be perfect. Mine is far from perfect, but it is out there for the world to see. You miss 100 precent of the shots you do not take!
Let go of perfectionism: Perfectionism holds many people back, like the founder of Linkedin states if you waited for your product to be perfect than you waited to long. Put your product out there and continue to improve from the feedback that you get. Keep in mind that it will never be perfect.
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Congrats and thanks for sharing!
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Great post!
Question: How do you make sure that your course gets sale once it has been released for a while? Usually, I see a good sale period at the time of the release of course but then it dies out. I guess it is kinda normal but I wanted to see if you have some words of wisdom to make the course sell even after few years.
PS: I do provide frequent updates for my course every few months.
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Thank you! We apreciate it.
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Thank you! Hope they can be of use.
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@LindsayMarsh
Thank you! We completely agree, perfectionism can be a great excuse to never follow your dreams or discover what is possible. The great thing is that by putting your product out there you can get feedback and know what areas you can improve and people can watch you grow and develop. I am still amazed that some of our courses from 3 years ago are still our best sellers and have great ratings even though I look at them and I feel it’s embarrassing.1 -
Thank you!
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It is normal for us to see a big jump during the launch and then have it slow down to about 1/3 to 1/4 moving foward. Some things we do are:
Make sure that we key optimize the course as it gets more reviews
Tweek the order of things if we see that people are not engaging in the beginning
Lauch the course and send the second reminder in two weeks so that we have almost a month of traction
A few months down the road we will re-up it as a “bonus” course to buy at the end of another promo for a new course.
Hope that helps,
Joeel
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That's an amazing journey and I can feel your excitement, thank you for sharing your story and you've motivated me to really go for it. Thank you
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Congratulations @Joeel-Natalie
and thank you for all that you do! Your courses are helpful, engaging and inspiring - I'm on my way to publishing my first Udemy course soon. Wishing you continued prosperity, happiness and success!2 -
Thanks, glad to hear that I wishing you much success! Just keep taking the next step and moving foward and enjoy the ride.
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Thank you, that really means allot to us. Congratulations on your journey to publishing your new course. We wish you much much success with it. Looking foward to hearing how your journey into course creation goes.
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