Share your 2020 instructor experience — and hopes for 2021

[Abbie]

From homeschooling the kids while working on courses to hoarding toilet paper, 2020 presented some unexpected challenges. But we also saw people turn to online learning in record numbers — and you stepped up to satisfy the demand. In fact, here’s some of what you did:

Hours of video published in 2020: 190,000+

First-time published instructors: 19,000+

Questions answered: 1,750,000+

Since numbers only tell part of the story, we want to know how 2020 was for you. What challenges did you confront, and what hopes do you have for the future? Please share here.

[video]

[FedeGaray]

Great video! What a year!

Thank you so much, my Udemy friends, for inviting me to be part of this video, but most specially, for helping me so much to change my life. Udemy is a dream come true for me.

Great 2021 for everyone!

[yilmazalaca]

When I recorded my first video in 2020, I was thinking that why did I do this. It’s awesome to be an instructor at Udemy. Hopefully, 2021 will be better for everyone!

[AnnalisaAlb82]

Anche se sono successe tante cose spiacevoli quest'anno ed il mondo ne è stato devastato, per me è stato un intenso anno di crescita professionale, personale di risveglio e di consapevolezza. Se non fosse stato l'anno prima del lockdown e poi della mia quarantena, forse non avrei mai avuto il coraggio di sperimentarmi come insegnante online. Spero che il 2021 non sia quello del ritorno alla normalità ma sia ancora occasione di crescita e di evoluzione

[OrnaBen-Sho516]

2020 was my first year as an instructor on Udemy.

I have published 4 courses, and the number of students is increasing constantly.

I feel privileged  to have my teachings exposed to so many students around the world.

Starting with my first course was a real challenge, because my English is a second language for me, and I was concerned that students will not understand my foreign accent...

I teach courses in Kabbalah and spirituality and have to convey ideas and concepts taken from Hebrew.

I was amazed to realize that the topics I teach, which are in a narrow niche , have so much appeal and students from so many cultures are curious to learn about them.

I am very please to be part of this large group of instructors, and wishing everyone a fruitful and scholarly 2021.

[Miriam007]

Great Video!  What a wonderful impact Udemy has done!

Of course with the great efforts of all its very talented instructors!! I got my first course published in Udemy around March 2020 and now I have 5 published courses!  I love Udemy's platform, the software we use to upload our courses and all the support I personally got from the very helpful Udemy Team.  To me, true 2020 was very challenging,  but it also enabled me to accomplish so much!  I created a lot of content, courses and workshops for my students and clients.  I got certified in many topics I never had the time to study for before and was able to focus more on my company especially since the whole family is home.  So no more driving around, running around, being super busy and not having a break. I love that my boys are home, studying online and so is my husband, working from home.  I feel blessed and grateful to spend quality time with them. I do miss traveling  though and sooooooo miss socializing with our friends ( we are taking it very seriously and are NOT going out at all except for grocery shopping lol)  Hopefully, life will go back to normal soon.

Wishing all of you a blessed 2021 filled with health, light and peace... Stay safe

[Nihan Demirkapi]

What a year! It’s been a challenge for everybody for sure; but it’s also been really difficult as a freelance cellist & tutor. I decided to become an online cello tutor as soon as the restrictions started and it was April 2020 when i started filming my first lesson for Udemy community. Udemy was like a safe harbor when the storm started which I am so grateful for it. I met amazing people from all over the world who share the same passion and dedication of music. Thank you for everything!

[AngelaCh8888]

Thanks, Udemy for a great video...those stats...on one hand they are exciting, on the other...daunting

I launched my first Udemy course last year. Covid had just hit and I said to a friend - let's try and make at least one good thing to come out of this difficult time. She decided to get fit and lose weight and I asked her if she would help me make a Udemy course. Udemy - you've definitely been one GREAT THING to come out of this period. It's led to so many opportunities we didn't foresee and it's lit a fire to continue to produce more content. THANK YOU, UDEMY. Wishing you and everyone kindness, courage, compassion and good health in the year to come.

[Gopi P]

Thanks for the great opportunity & great video Udemy. I'm a technical trainer who went to many colleges and universities for training. 2020 I tried to become an online trainer by uploading Python course on Udemy which now has 10000 plus students. I'm working still hard for my setup and for other courses. thanks once again to Udemy team.

[in28Minutes]

Great video. Thanks for the opportunity Udemy. 

Let's continue to dream together and make all of our dreams come true!

[ggul2009]

Hello, I am very glad that God gave me the opportunity to go to your Udemy website. At first I got acquainted and became a student, took the courses I needed at a very affordable price. I learned a lesson about certificates remotely. Spsayo, instructors are really professionals in their field. Then she began to develop her own course. But I am a beginner, have been working since November 2020. And I will continue to work as an instructor and student together with your team! Thank you for being there! Good luck to everyone next year, new beginnings, interesting courses, necessary knowledge and skills.

[MohamedEzat422]

2020 wasn't good for me at all

-lowest profit return

-all courses leaked even though I reported all links to google and linkbasters they didn't make anything

-the most negative feedback although Most working in terms of adding lectures, updates and answering questions so I decided to unpublish one of my most selling courses to stop negativity spread in this course although it's the first, original and most powerful content online in my field

I think the criteria are changed

and more...

[Rahul Iyer]

Hello All,

Pleasure to meet everyone. I am based in Pune, India. I have completed 4 years on Udemy (but have been actively involved in online course creation since 2018).

Year 2020 was special for me because:

1. Crossed $100,000 in earnings on Udemy in October 2020
2. Crossed 45,000 unique students and 65,000 enrolments
3. Achieved earnings of five-figures each month since Nov 2020
4. Retired in October 2020, at an early age (36) from my full-time job (as a Vice President of a large U.S. based Investment Bank)
5. Achieved the necessary financial freedom by prepaying (in full) my mortgage, car loan, and other loans
6. Now, I am a full-time Udemy instructor (wooohooo!)

Expectations from 2021 are:

1. Cross a personal benchmark of 150,000 (paid) students on Udemy
2. Achieve USD 300,000 in earnings by December 2021

I want to take this opportunity to thank Udemy for providing a wonderful platform for online instructors. Your marketing muscle is mind-blowing. I can finally do what I love doing. 2021 is going to be an amazing year for Udemy and for all of us as instructors.

Regards,

Rahul.

[Abrar B.Elmalik]

When I published my first course in March 2020, I was afraid to share my skills and information with the world. After I have lived the experience and received a lot of positive feedback and support, I have a strong motivation to continue what I started.

Greetings

[JeffSharman592]

What a year 2020 turned out to be. Globally, we have never had anything like it. As far as Udemy is concerned, I published my first course in 2017 and have published 6 more since. In 2020, a lot more people went the Online learning route due to travel restrictions everywhere.

I love passing on my knowledge and I am so pleased to be part of this amazing Udemy team.

I am learning all the time as far as course creation is concerned. I remember the first course I did was a real challenge as I had no idea what I was doing half the time.

The thing is, you learn and improve. If you know your subject, you have every chance of success. My sales are gradually increasing and I will continue to add valuable content both as new courses and additional lessons. Any sales/marketing tips would be gratefully received. Thank you so much Udemy for giving me the opportunity to share my expertise with so many people from all over the World. 

[Aneliya_Karim]

I like 2020 for many reasons, including my first online course on the Udemy platform. I wish everyone to have the energy to find positive things in any situation, even most dramatically from the first sight.
I believe that any tutor, especially online, creates a great deal of sharing Knowledge and Confidence in humans' power to be the best versions of ourselves.
Thank you, Udemy, for providing such a valuable opportunity to be useful for others.

[Anass Erraidi]

Happy to become instructor with udemy, I was learning on udemy, Now I am an instructor who shares knowledge I learn. Thanks Udemy.

[Mahomed939]

2020 was a Test - hope we are better equipped for more tests in 2021

With Covid 19, Hawa and I were unable to continue with our free SELF EMPOWERMENT THROUGH SELF AWARENESS Workshops (SETSA)  so we decided to publish all 30 modules in a single comprehensive course on Udemy. SETSA program represents thousands of hours of work over 4-5 years, compiled specifically to address the needs of the people we counselled and trained on a voluntary basis.

Our aim is to continue making a difference in people's lives, through Udemy, as we did in the face-to-face workshops.

In 6 months,we have 14000 UDEMY registrations in 148 countries but we made $40. Our philosophy is simple: do what you can to help, with passion, make a difference in just one life out there. The money will follow if it's meant to.

As an aside we now offer free SETSA zoom sessions to not-for-profit community organizations which are really well received.

We hope that in 2021

-we can (somehow) supplement the Udemy SETSA program with supplemtary online/zoom sessions to registered students...subject to UDEMY POLICIES

- reach people who have real need and desire for self empowerment (who may not necessarily be registered Udemy students as yet)

In Service.

Mahomed and Hawa

[SuprabhaP636]

The year of 2020 was something that none of us had ever imagined before, even in our wildest dreams. While the concept of working or studying from home felt like a blessing in disguise to many, a lot of people suffered in many unexpected ways. Being as it was, 2020 brought some good news too!  I come to know about Udemy and I launched my English Speaking Course.  I have decided to develop many more such Course. Many of them are in the pipeline and will be launched shortly. 

My New Year resolution  I announced that I will mentor many more people in 2021. I received over 100 requests from across the Country . This is more than I had imagined. I am honored, humbled...  

Change and transformation in our lives. 2021 is a year full of promises and challenges and we are all set to take on these challenges head on and Dig Discover our Gifts and Derive our treasures.....with our stakeholders...together.

Thanks Udemy. 

[VijayKumarY475]

I am new on Udemy. I started on Udemy in January 2020. In 2020, 8 courses, 150+ Countries, 13000+ Total Students, New Students Enrolled 27000+ on Udemy and only some earnings ($). I hope that 2021 will be good.

[JomsMRodriguez]

God is still good!

As we move forward to this brand new SEASON let us be encouraged and be motivated to the things that instored for us. 

This year will going to be much more exciting and way more inspiring, especially fo us Instructors here at Udemy. This platform helped us to treasure the creativity and  challenge our critical thinking skills in providing a quality and fun learning experience  to our students at the same time. 

Let the passion and innovation be with us all. 

Happy 2021 to everyone. 

To God be the glory!

[Michael_D_Nwaogu]

Udemy is sent by God, I can't lie. I have been teaching my peers right from my University days. Now as an Oracle APEX Developer, I have the grace to share my knowledge globally and meet friends of like-minds, which we might be forever friends and partners.  I have learnt many stuff here which wouldn't have been easy for me to come accross if not for a platform like this.

Thanks to Udemy team and eveyone around the world that we have been able to be of value to each other.

God bless us all.

Happy 2021!💪

[HadeelDhair266]

Big love for this video and for Udemy to let us be part of this awesome platform . It is my first time to teach on Udemy ,and I am about to finish my first course.  I strongly believe that 2021 will be a year of achievements for all  people around the world, and it will be a bright future for teaching online, especially since 2020 was a year full of challenges. 

God bless us all 

Happy 2021! 💪

[Jack_Bosma]

I want to meet a beautiful female Udemy instructor and create courses together!

[AlokKumarPa324]

There is many people are trying to proof him self as a bater then other people but they don't have anything about knowledge

---

@Abbie wrote:

From homeschooling the kids while working on courses to hoarding toilet paper, 2020 presented some unexpected challenges. But we also saw people turn to online learning in record numbers — and you stepped up to satisfy the demand. In fact, here’s some of what you did:

Hours of video published in 2020: 190,000+

First-time published instructors: 19,000+

Questions answered: 1,750,000+

Since numbers only tell part of the story, we want to know how 2020 was for you. What challenges did you confront, and what hopes do you have for the future? Please share here.

---

[SFS]

Great  Video,

Thanks to Udemy for opportunity 

and encouragement.Year 2020,no doubt, was a year of discovery .It was the year I joined and discovered how to make standard video. This year hopefully will be better.

      Thanks once again.

[KarolyNyisztor]

2020 deserves to be forgotten for so many reasons. (I'd actually suggest prefixing it with a big fat F. :))
Yet, it proved that we're able to look after each other, stay creative and sane even when the world seems to collapse.

[HadeelDhair266]

Really you are great 

Wonderful news at the beginning of this year . I'm sure that this year will be amazing to all of us.

Thanks Udemy.

[EshantGarg]

I started my journey as an Instructor in Feb 2020 after pandemic lockdown. And I see that after 1 year I was able to help around 24,000 unique students (A total of 45,000 registration). And 10 million minutes were consumed by students.

Thank you Udemy for providing such a wonderful platform.

[JeffSharman592]

Great video. It is amazing when you think about it. As instructors, we have made a huge difference to peoples lives all over the World. We will continue doing so. Thank you Udemy.

[ThaisSouzaA450]

Great video!

I just joined the community, I am very excited and full of desire to do better. I hope I learn from you all!

Best regards.

[IngTomasMoravek]

For me, everything changed in Christmas 2018. My dog was sitting next to me and then my Facebook Ads student wrote me that he has signed client for 800 dollars a month. It was such a meaningful feeling. He has been 20 years old student and he has managed to understand Facebook Ads and get such a greatly rewarded job as student. Since then everything has changed and giving value to my students has become my passion. As COVID time has arrived, I have shared a lot my courses for free. I really have a believe I can help people to get better life with digital marketing skills. I have never ever regret this and I have always had a good feeling about this. I have been learning a lot every day. I am still unable to understand why sometimes students leave negative review and other students leave many positive reviews. Negative reviews make me crazy. Truly crazy unhappy. Positive reviews are really bliss for soul. I have been still doing this during weekends, nights and holidays. My wife is shooting me on iPhone. The upgrade to iPhone 11 Pro has helped me a lot. Especially with wireless Go microphone. My friend has invested into courses quality development and now I can also invest. So, we have a tiny small team of people creating animated videos to make the courses more fun. I focus mainly on introductions and screen recordings. The benefit for students is heart beating essence of our efforts. I truly wish you all magnificent 2021. May you reach great success and may you help many many people. May you become financially independent and Udemy is your path to help people and also your path to freedom. Stay blessed. Help people. Serve people. I am learning every day. I do mistakes. But I always remember that moment from Christmas 2018. This was game changing feeling. Knowing I can help and change the life of other people positive way, having positive impact on the world, this makes great difference in my life. Stay blessed 🙂 Have the best 2021 🙂

[PoojaSharma616]

Yes. It was good experience for me n I learned new ideas to work with new version. 

[debra1111]

Udemy offered me the ability to bring in money without risking any personal money on ads which was a relief in 2020. I appreciate that the process of loading videos is so efficient- your engineers do great work. I enjoy the creative outlet of making courses.

[JeffSharman592]

I am also earning Udemy money which has been invaluable during the Lockdown we are suffering in South Africa. Udemy is a great platform. Like anything  else, it may be improved here and there but overall it is excellent. The ability of an Instructor to communicate with a real, live Udemy support person could certainly be improved.

[AlokKumarPa324]

There are so many chang in comen life I as a Individual can't able to explane an no one can imagine