This is demoralizing

I have been here a full year by now.

At this stage, I am convinced that this platform is not for me. How do I delete my courses and take my toys home?

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Comments

  • MariaG
    MariaG Posts: 2,328 researcher rank

    Hi @drewprof
    , we're sorry to hear about your decision to leave the platform. Have you checked out this compilation of marketing posts from other instructors? It's packed with tips and tricks you may find useful!

    If you're still decided to leave, unfortunately, courses cannot be deleted. This would break Udemy's lifetime access policy. What can be done is unpublish your course. This will remove the courses from the marketplace and prevent new enrollments but the students who are already in them will still have access to them.

  • Monica2021
    Monica2021 Posts: 211 specialist rank

    Hi, I don't think that you should give up. Most times when you are on the verge of giving up that is when the break through comes. Just bear a little more patience and hang on there. Give it another try. Good things do not come easy. Wishing you all the best.

  • I think what's best for you is to find better ways to get sales. Packing up doesn't make you better, it just closes this channel of income and that's not something you'd want.

    So please, search out tips on how to improve your marketing skills so you can get more leads who will inturn transform to students. I'm hopeful you'll find your feet here!

  • @drewprof
    You have over 5000 students for a year plus? I consider this a success, but only you could tell why you want to leave now.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    I could only get those numbers when I offered my courses for free. As soon as I lock them to be monetized, I get a trickle. To this day, since I started with Udemy a year ago, I have accumulated $255. I might as well sell my ware in a bazaar in the middle of nowhere.

    On the other hand, I am getting better results on other platforms... MUCH better results. This is why I am going to stop publishing additional courses here.

    Oh, before I forget, did I mention somewhere else that my courses on Udemy are being pirated? Yep, they were lifted right here from this platform.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    What marketing? Udemy is supposed to do that, that's why they take a huge chunk of the revenu. I had however directed some of my "real life" students to some of my content and published links on facebook and other social media. What else do i need to do?

    There was a reason I picked Udemy, Skill Share...etc. for some of my courses. In the end, Udemy ended up being the least performant for my courses. Maybe my stuff isn't for its audience, or it's utter garbage. I doubt the latter to be true since I am doing well elsewhere.

    As to marketing, on my own, on my platform(my own website), I am doing well there, thank you.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    Giving up on Udemy isn't giving up on my business. Udemy is just not right for my courses or my style of teaching. However, when I offer my courses for free, it's amazing how many people sign up everyday. That would be okay if they signed up for paid courses eventually, but they never do that. This tells me a lot about this platform: it's not for me!

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    @MariaG
    , I am just going to stop adding courses and referring students to this platform. You can read my responses to other posters below to get the idea.

  • RandyMinder
    RandyMinder Posts: 676 visionary rank

    @drewprof

    "However, when I offer my courses for free, it's amazing how many people sign up everyday." These are probably not real people signing up for your courses. There are bots that roam the Udemy countryside looking for free courses. When they detect a free course they sign up. You can get hundreds or thousands of these. Most of these signups will never actually go through your course. There is little reason to offer a course for free on Udemy. Worse yet, if a real person did sign up for your free course, you could never send promotions to that person. Udemy doesn't allow it.

  • What is the particular course you made that you are selling?

    How big is the course?

    Are you a motivating instructor? Do you have energy in your talks?

    Are you advertising enough?

    Have you gotten any feedback from students who take your course?

    Is your course really worth the amount your selling maybe the price is to high?

    There are so many factors that play into the success of your course!

    I am new hear at Udemy and I am excited to get started I am making my first course.

    But I know this is going to be great! This instructor board is pure awesome, a place were anyone can come and ask questions!

    Before you make that decision I would rethink.

    I mean do you depend on the money as income to provide for you or do you have a job because if you do have a job than you are getting a boast in your income from a course you want to totally give up on!

    Let me know if you changed your mind.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    Let's just focus on price and leave the rest for students to judge; go look at my ratings. It doesn't matter what you price your course at, it will most likely sell for $11 and the instructor portion will not exceed $4 at best; none of my courses sold for face value. That is not up to you the instructor, it's Udemy's way of getting volume. You simply provide content for this to happen.

  • I get what you mean your ratings are pretty good although your problem is the sales you get on your course, right?

    I would say this is a marketing issue, you are not getting enough publicity for your course.

    You should not make your course to professional and you should act natural and share some tips in your videos, students will not enroll in a course that they are not engaged in. When they read your intro this is were it will all begin and determine weather they purchase you should add more energy in your speech in your preview course video that the student will watch!

    You and I both know the truth that a student needs motivation and modern day education teaches in games!

    Try adding energy in your voice in your preview videos!

  • Im not sure if I agree with that but I do agree with the choice of leaving if you cannot find a way to be happy with the bussiness you have to leave it!

    This would be the best decision!

    Giving up and failure build you up to success you will never be successful without failing!

    Do you know what Walt Disney said! He says to pursue your dreams even when the dont work out try again!

    Dont give up read some of Walt Disney's Sayings he had faced so many business challenges he almost went bankrupt but his dream made and he made a hit on the Snowhite movie and opened Walt Disney world! Disney is a group of dreamers and they are a huge company so I would say you should pursue your dreams even when things are down because who knows you might never know things might just turn up!!!

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    I am adapting, I find other platforms much more receptive to my content. Udemy only works for me when I offer my courses for free.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    Udemy is not the center of the world for course delivery. I am in other places and the performance there isn't an issue. So, giving up here will simply mean that I don't need to add new courses on this platform, trust me, I will not be missed. All of my new content will not be shared here, and I have a lot of it it. It just a matter of audience; in my opinion, Udemy has steered its ship towards people who want free stuff or real cheap deals no matter what the content. It's not for me.

  • Well thats good to hear and I agree with you! This is a great decision if you are on other platforms!

    I am not sure if you can take your courses though?

    I guess thats the issue now or if you want to leave them I think you can deactivate them and the students enrolled will still be able to work in the course and no more students can sign up!

    I know you can delete your profile!

    If you hit your profile picture in the top right corner you will get a fall down menu and than you click My profile than hit my settings beneath your picture than to the right of your "Username" tab the third tab is close your account hit that and your account is deleted and you can never log in again if you want to ever join Udemy again you would have to re-register.

  • RandyMinder
    RandyMinder Posts: 676 visionary rank

    @drewprof

    "Udemy only works for me when I offer my courses for free."

    No, Udemy is not working for you when your course is free. 99% of the signups you get when you offer a free course are from computerized bots looking for free courses. None of those signups will ever go through your course.

  • RandyMinder
    RandyMinder Posts: 676 visionary rank

    @drewprof

    " Udemy has steered its ship towards people who want free stuff "

    This doesn't even make any sense. How does Udemy benefit when courses are free?

  • I agree with you!

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    It's a numbers game. The more people sign up, the better the odds of getting students to pay for something. Cumulatively it will work for Udemy but not for instructor offering free stuff to entice students towards his/her own paid material. How do I know? it's June 15 and I have two students that signed up for my courses at deep discounted prices. If I open up the flood gate by putting one of my courses for free, I will be getting 100s of students a month. I have tried this scenario, I am not making stuff up.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    @NickolasInd234

    No need to do anything drastic, I just stopped contributing. There is no need on my end to add value to this platform, maybe my stuff is useless after all... Let it be!

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    I realized that... No need to to put stuff for free to get students interested in my ware. That was my mistake!

    I am sure the reviews from these bots were fake as well.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    Cool, since you know everything go and publish your own course then get back with me about how you feel things should be.

  • Your stuff is great I was watching the previews of your course and I was quite interested!

    I like your screen cast how did you do that I was thinking of just recording my screen share through zoom but that is usually glitchy!

    Also dont end your account keep it just dont be so active on Udemy!

  • This proves that your course isint useless!

    It seems students just arent willing to pay. . . I guess. . .

  • I do not know everything I just watched all the beginners tips!

    Everyone should! A good company stays in the competition if they are constantly learning which involves change if they dont they just fade away.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    I am at peace with fading away from this platform. I am just not going to add any new content, unless there is a favorable strategic shift to encourage instructors to be more involved.

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    @NickolasInd234
    now you're getting it!

  • drewprof
    drewprof Posts: 39 trailblazer rank

    @NickolasInd234
    thank you, I know that my actual students get a lot of value from my teaching. Some in here on Udemy were engaging and completed their exercises for my TIMELY feedback, but those were a few compared to what I get on other platforms, including my own.

    I just don't see why I should invest my time here. I would rather do so where it works.