Want an Opinion on Your Upcoming/New Course From a Top Seller?

13

Comments

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Hi Sameer,

    Please accept this feedback in the spirit of constructive help.

    I watched the promo video. The confusing thing for me is that most of the promo video has nothing to do with "AI Prompts." You mention the title twice, but less than 30 seconds of a 3 minute video is about the course I'm about to watch. There are a lot of information about each of you as teachers, your background, your company, and your goals in transforming student lives. I would expect a promo video to talk a lot about the benefits of taking the course.

    Since Free courses don't have any "free preview" lectures, I can't see anything more than that! So I have no idea how good your teaching is based on this one video talking about yourself.

    Forcing me to be a student just to get a look at some sample videos is a barrier for people to sign up.

    In your course description, you use the term Artificial Intelligence (AI) a lot. But you don't say anything about what kind of AI you're teaching about. I guess it's "generative AI" because it's about prompts, but you don't use that term.

    Do you teach any specific tool or technology inside the course? Is it ChatGPT? Google Gemini? Something else.

    It's been my experience that students come to Udemy searching for something specific they want to learn. They will search "chatgpt" when they want to learn about that tool, or "Midjourney" or whatever.

    I don't know if they'll get anything useful searching "AI". It's too generic a word. It means 100 things to 100 people.

    My main suggestion is to redo your promo video to talk about the course (or the series of courses you are planning to make), and redo the landing page to use a word other than AI to attract people.

    Good luck,

    Scott

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Hi Tom,

    The title "Social Media Joyride" has me intrigued. A joyride sounds fun!

    Good use of keywords in the title and subtitle. AI and SMM is a hot topic.

    The "3.9" average review score has me a bit concerned. Why do students not love the course? There are only 4 reviews so far, so we need more. Send an educational email asking more of your 2000 students to watch the course. In fact, consider holding some type of contest for the month of February for any student who finishes the course to be entered into some type of draw. You need something to motivate people to watch the course.

    I haven't seen other courses creating these course checklists and guides the way your course has. That's a unique course guide that you provide. Good job on that.

    You have a good energy. You are clearly excited about the topic and it shows in some of your videos.

    Best of luck,

    Scott

  • Hi Scott,

    I like the use of animations for the course. I would pay attention to what the 1st customer mentioned, especially about the Chatgpt plug in not working. Visit to confirm is this is correct and make an edit to the course so that students will feel appropriately compensated for the course.

    I know you will do exceptionally well with this course.! Good vibes.

  • This is awesome, thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

    I had some issues with consistency of the audio so I re-did some of them, I’ll take another look at the ones you’ve mentioned. I now have a dedicated ‘recording laptop’ which I don’t need to use for anything else, so I’ve got my studio set up and it won’t be touched at all! So that will hopefully mean more consistency in terms of audio and visuals going forward

    Yes the course teaches about intuition in general and noticing the signs that are all around you, not just when reading the cards. Tarot reading opened up my intuition massively and I now don’t really need them as I can intuitively read anything! - the colours people wear in their clothing, their symbols that pop into my head, and the signs themy spirit guides send me. I’ve included an introduction to working with spirit guides too so it’s an all encompassing course.

    I hadn’t thought about creating more of an intuitive development course in general, but that’s given me an idea!

    if you’d like any more info on the course please let me know, and thanks again for taking the time to review it! ">️

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Hi Kim, and welcome to the wonderful world of teaching on Udemy.

    I am a bit torn about how I feel about your course title, "Photo Creative." It's short. It's intriguing. It invites the reader to enquire within for more. Like the corner of an old photograph poking out from the middle of a stack, asking the passerby to lift the pile and see the whole photo.

    That said, the title is probably the most important thing about a course in the search results, and I wonder if students will pass over it if they fail to grasp the concept immediately. Sometimes, people need to be hit over the head with "What is this!" to get it.

    I would suggest keeping the intriguing title, but consider expanding it if you're not getting the desired results.

    "Photo Creative: Finding Your Creativity Through the Lens of a Camera" - that loses the intrigue but might yield better results.

    I guess, in the intersection between creativity and commerce, sometimes creativity needs to lose some of itself for the sake of commerce.

    I enjoyed your use of colors in the sections and videos. I was going to comment on the intro to the course being you on a white background. But later in the course, I realized you were color-coding each section, and it made more sense. I expect that a course on creativity would use colors and visuals in an interesting way.

    I like that you have lots of free preview videos. I like that you have a final section of the course called "You Made It" to celebrate the student's completion of the course.

    The course description is well-written and easy to read with plenty of paragraph spacing and bolding.

    I don't have many improvements to suggest.

    * Obviously, the title and subtitle, both being quite short, is a creative choice that I would suggest you keep in mind to change if you don't think the course is getting the attention it deserves.

    * I am not going to suggest redoing all your existing videos, but perhaps in the future, you can expand your video editing to better use the visual element of a video course. This could include text on screen to highlight important points, slides, or even just b-roll video to break up the monotony for the viewer.

    Like if you watch a popular TV show, film, or even YouTube video, what you see on screen changes every few seconds. Now, I am not saying you need to change the visuals every few seconds, but I personally have a rule that I want "something new to happen on screen" once per minute. That could even be changing the framing of the talking head so that you go from being a close zoom to a bit farther and even off-center.

    Hopefully, I am describing that correctly. Just make the videos more interesting for the viewer. You can do some research on typical ways to do that.

    That's my main piece of advice, although it might not be easy to fix on the current course.

    Good luck and wish you the best,

    Scott

  • EliF1
    EliF1 Posts: 15 researcher rank

    Hello, Scott!
    That's just unbelievably that you are ready to help many novice instructors.
    I extremely appreciate it.

    This is my first online course:
    https://www.udemy.com/course/python-basics-e/?referralCode=346A1ADE23A778C8FFEE
    I know how far it is from perfection.
    But I will be very grateful if you take a look at it.

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    My understanding is that Udemy tries to sell your course at many different prices (high and low), to try to find the best price that your course sells at. They run pricing tests on each course to discover what the market will pay.

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Usually this is because something is missing from one of the pages.

    Check which page of the course doesn't have a checkmark.

    Using Siril to Process Deep Space Astronomy Photography _ Udemy - Google Ch.. 2024-02-21 at 3.40.11 PM.jpeg

    Also, for your first course, I believe you have to be approved as a premium instructor which includes tax forms and such.

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    I have a gut feeling that a course on "developing your intuition" would be popular.

  • Thanks Scott! Interested to learn how the Trailhead Academy style sits with a seasoned revenue generating course pro such as yourself. Don't hesitate to google translate my landing page. My first language is English but really passionate about sharing these skills with another culture.close

  • Hi @ScottDuffy
    ,

    I just have launched my first course, could you please review my profile and the course landing page?

    I'm really exciting to know what I can do to improve and reach out more students!

    Thanks!

  • Thanx, Scott!

    This is much appreciated.

    I've already implemented your suggestions.

    Take care!

  • Hi Scott,

    Firstly Great work

    I have new course on Chatgpt for management, kindly let me know your views on this.

    Regards

    Meghana

  • The video is great. I couldn't fully hear the words very clearly, but if I replayed it, I would hear them.

  • Great!Where is the link?

  • EliF1
    EliF1 Posts: 15 researcher rank

    Thank you very much for watching!

    English is not my native language.
    Should I pronounce words clearly and add captions?
    And what can you say about my microphone noise?

  • Hi Scott,

    Thanks for the initiative!

    I would appreciate any feedback regarding my first published course.

    https://www.udemy.com/course/networks-basics-for-decision-makers-and-beginners/

    TIA

    Regards,

    Mo

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    I stopped updating my Udemy SEO course because Udemy updated their search algorithms and it became more difficult for students to improve their search rankings. For instance, in the early days, I could help someone go from page 9 of search results to page 1 fairly easily through SEO optimization tactics. Nowdays, that kind of improvement overnight is impossible.

    Most of my advice is these days around topic selection and improving the quality of the videos. Of course, if I see simple errors such as not being clear in the title or description of what the course is about or if the course image is not great, that can still be helpful.

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Congratulations on launching your course on parenting.

    * I like your title and subtitle. Direct and to the point. The subtitle has an emotional element, and a parent frustrated with their children fighting or being aggressive would certainly pay attention to your course.

    * 5 students, great. But you'll need to get some reviews soon. See if you can find some local friends/relatives who are parents to take your course and leave a review for you. And ask for any negative feedback privately so that you can improve the course.

    * 22 downloadable resources, sounds like you have a lot of resources for the student which is great

    * I like your promo video. The audio is very clear. You talk about your own personal experience. (Great!)

    * The video editing needs some work, however. I am not sure why the black bars in your video shift around so often. The video of you doesn't take up the entire screen and moves around every 30 seconds or so. Maybe you had trouble with the video editor software, or maybe you wanted to add some variety to the video.

    * The audio in your prologue video is very low. I can only hear it in my right ear, and the audio is barely audible.

    * Your story of raising four children in New Zealand is very touching. Thanks for being so vulnerable with your students.

    * The audio in the Positive Parenting video also suffers the "very low" problem. This needs to be fixed.

    Here's a video on how to "normalize" audio using a free tool called Audacity. This needs to be done on your videos I think. I use "-3 dB" as the peak amplitude which is a good talking volume.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLYh4YrkllM

    I think this low audio will hamper the students' ability to learn and will result in lower review scores. So, in my view, fixing the audio is your most important task. And then fixing the promo video black bars.

    I'm going to stop there with my review. Best of luck,

    Scott

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Hi Eshgin,

    I checked out your course landing page and your course free preview videos.

    I don't really have any improvement suggestions except for one. It appears you have 44 quizzes in this course. If I was a student, that would be a bit annoying after a while. You can consider combining quizzes that come after every video into a quiz at the end of the section, and cut this number down.

    Linux is a great topic, but very difficult to compete in. I think your issue will be what makes YOUR course the best and what makes it unique compared to the competition. On Udemy, there's no point in having the 10,000th Linux course that is inferior to at least 20 other courses on the same topic. So you need to have something that makes people choose you over the others.

    This could be your animations or unique teaching style, how short your course is, or how long it is, or you're teaching a distro of Linux that no one else is teaching...

    But you need to identify that and make it clear to students that this course is different than Jason Dion's Linux course. Or Colt Steele.

    Find a way to BE UNIQUE! And find a way to SHOW THAT on your sales page.

  • andyjehn
    andyjehn Posts: 1 observer rank

    That'd be great Scott, thanks!

  • Many thanks Scott, appreciate your time

  • Hi Scott

    I have a new course now live

    https://www.udemy.com/course/bedtime-is-a-nightmare-get-parent-help-make-nighttime-easy/?couponCode=LETSLEARNNOW

    would love for you to take a look

    Thanks

  • WOW! @ScottDuffy

    This is an honor for me, if such an experienced and top teacher like you will look on my course. I have published lately my course about Custom GPTs, which gained a lot of popularity. I'm very curious about your opinion. Thanks for this opportunity!!

    Link to the course:

    https://www.udemy.com/course/custom-gpt-complete-guide-to-build-your-own-chatgpt/?referralCode=ABE468B2B1ECCE75BAD2

    Thanks again for this chance,

    -Krystian

  • Btkrausen
    Btkrausen Posts: 178 specialist rank

    I'll play if and when you have time - https://www.udemy.com/user/bryan-krausen/

    Thanks in advance. Enjoy your upcoming travel.

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Congrats on launching your course. I looked at your course landing page and don't have any specific suggestions. Your promo video is awesome. It really inspires people interested in the topic to join the course. A++ promo video.

    I see some of your videos are filmed in inspiring locations like a jungle. I don't mind the little rooster crowing in the background of one of your videos. Feels authentic. Your audio quality is really good. A+ section intro videos in module 1 and 2.

    I must admit that I don't know much about Tantra besides a few things I've seen in the media. For instance, probably 20 years ago, I remember hearing that the singer Sting practiced Tantra. Maybe what I think I know about it is completely wrong.

    For that reason, I wonder if you have to address what Tantra actually is and dispel some myths even on the landing page or in one of the free preview videos. A little history on it and what I would achieve if I practiced it. Is it tied to a religion, or can you practice it while maintaining your current beliefs? Can you adopt some parts of it and not adopt all of it? I mean, I really don't know much.

    Maybe your ideal student doesn't have those preconceived notions. But one thing that would stop me from joining the course would be that I don't know what Tantra is. Perhaps comparison with other techniques like meditation, yoga, Reiki, and others. See?

    Good job and good luck!

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Hi, welcome to Udemy.

    Cybersecurity is obviously a massive area and there are lots of opportunities for courses on the topic.

    I don't know much about MITRE ATT&CK.

    I see you are currently ranked as the fourth or fifth course when you search Udemy for "MITRE ATTACK". And second when you search "MITRE". So I think you don't have SEO issues at the current time despite the ampersand in the middle of the word...

    I am not sure I like your course image. Solid black background is a bit harsh. Can you get a textured black background for a little contrast? I would suggest you work a bit more on the image to grab people's attention and appear professional. Security is a serious topic after all.

    I guess you used AI to create some of the course images in the slides, but ... is that guy in a suit sitting on the lap of the guy in the hoodie? But he only has two legs. So the guy has two torsos and one set of legs? The course image is a bit distracting if I'm being honest.

    I think you can use the course slides a bit more effectively.

    ScottDuffy_1-1711477115499.png

    I think your course landing page is fine and I can't really comment on the contents because I don't know the topic.

    With 101 students and 15 reviews, you should be able to reach out to some of the students (or interact with them in the Q&A) and ask them for their feedback on how you can improve the course.

    All the best and good luck!

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    Ola e bem vindo.

    Desculpa, meu portugues e mau. Eu moro em Portugal so dois anos. Estou aprender portugues ainda. Eu acho que ha um comunidade portugues onde voce vai perdir suas perguntas.

  • ScottDuffy
    ScottDuffy Posts: 891 rolemodel rank

    A course on motivation? I need that. I have very low motivation in 2024 so far...

    So, I looked at your promo video. I think it can be better. Please accept these comments in the spirit of helping you improve. I want to inspire you to reach a new level in your videomaking, as every person on Udemy has had to do over the years.

    * I find the music in the promo video a bit distracting. Perhaps this can be solved by turning the volume on the music track down a bit while you're talking. Your voice should be much louder than the music, so maybe a 50% reduction in the music volume.

    * There's clearly some echo in the room you're in. If you were to record another video like this, you might have to record in another room or put some more blankets/carpets/furniture down to absorb the sound. For instance, I have these heavy moving blankets in my office at home that reduces echo.
    * Around the 1:00 mark of the promo video, it sounds like someone drops some cutlery in the background.

    * Also, the camera shakes a little bit and I wonder if someone is holding it? A tripod or something stable to hold the camera might be a solution to that. Or if it's autofocus or some type of anti-shake feature of the camera, turn it off.

    The "roadmap" video is much better! No echo, no music.

    All in all, I think you'd be much better off if your promo video was as good as your main course videos. So perhaps you can re-record that, and it will make your course appeal to more people.

    All the best,

    Scott