Ask Me Anything - Phil Ebiner, long-time instructor

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Ask Me Anything - Phil Ebiner, long-time instructor

Go to solution

 

Hi, 

I'm Phil Ebiner. I'm a long-time Udemy instructor - been here since 2012. And I'm excited to be a part of this community. Please feel free to ask me any questions!

 

Since 2012, I've made over $1.5 million from Udemy. And I don't say that to brag, but to show you what a normal guy like me can do... someone who started like many of you without an audience, experience teaching, experience selling, email list, website... nothing.

 

It has taken a lot of hard work and time to do this, but I believe you can achieve your goals if you have the right mindset and put in the right amount of effort!

 

Screen Shot 2019-02-05 at 10.41.53 AM.png

I love Udemy, and hope to help you out on this amazing platform!

Cheers,

Phil

19 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS

Go to solution

Twins! Congratulations!

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Woow. That is impressive 🙂

View solution in original post

Go to solution

I teach creative skills like photography, photo editing, video editing, motion graphics. 

 

Great question about how long a course should be. I always say that they should be 'as long as it takes to teach the topic.' I wouldn't focus on just simply trying to reach a certain length of course... just focus on teaching a topic in an efficient and easy-to-digest manner. You don't want to drag on and on about a topic.  On the flip side, I've seen longer courses do better on Udemy. So adding additional topics/content, and making the course comprehensive enough to be 5+ hours is generally my rule of thumb.

 

In terms of finishing the course - do it! Just get the course done and launched!

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Wow. That's impressive. I have been procrastinating with my courses. They are written but I've not taken the first stepl to launch. What advice do you have as to making it grow once i launch the first course.

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Hey Phil, thanks for doing this. Big fan of your Online Course Masters podcast.

 

How many Q&A's do you get per day? How long do you spend managing that? How big is your TA team?

 

How many people work with you in course production (if it's more than just you)?

 

Jose

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Hey Phil! Congrats on your success on Udemy. Along with being an instructor, I'm also a student of some of your courses. I wanted to ask about your marketing. I noticed that a decent portion of your earnings come from self promotion (basing this on the screenshot you've posted).

 

What do you do to market your content? Which platforms do you use? Do you do Facebook advertising? I would love to know your strategies. Thank you for doing this AMA!

View solution in original post

Go to solution

That's all becasue of hard working and your consistency 

U Simjee

View solution in original post

Go to solution

I definitely think free courses are a great way to build your brand and student base. Not only should you put that free course on Udemy, but also on YouTube and potentially on your own website so you can use it to build your email list that you will send the paid course to when it's done. 

You'll have to pay attention to the rules on Udemy though, because you can't send free coupons to students in a free course via an announcement. This would have to be done with your own email list or on a website/YouTube channel to your own audience.

View solution in original post

Go to solution

At the end of the day, what ends up making more money is making more great courses. So while I truly believe building your brand (website, YouTube, social media) is super important for the long run, I also think if just starting out, you might want to just focus on creating as many good high quality courses as you can.

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Great question! What I've learned is that those ups and downs are just the normal trends across Udemy for all instructors. November, January, June, August... those are usually peaks. Other peaks will be when I launch a new course. 

 

As for when it's a new month, and it's going slow... I just want to ask what you are doing to improve it? Are you working on a new course? Are you building out a website? Are you growing an email list? Are you growing a YouTube channel? Are you testing out new ways to promote? 

 

What are you doing to grow?

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Thank you for being selfless and sharing with us. What do you have to say about the many sites that promote udemy free or discounted coupons? Is it worth a try? If it is, which sites are recommended?

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Hi,

Do you think using Google Ad is uesful for marketing my courses?

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Hi Phil,

You have done so well for yourself and for that I say congratulations to you.

Please am new on this platform and really don't know how to start up.

Is there a way you can help me?

 

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Hello Phil!

 

I am Pramod from India, a brand new instructor raring to go. Your story is amazing & inspiring.

 

I need your suggestions on - how to reach where you reached or better it. I give a few details about me and my class.

 

 

My class name: Stock sutra

 

What does it teach? Stock trading, currency trading, commodity trading.

 

Total class length - 3.45 Hrs

 

Total videos - 101

 

Design - Powerpoint slides and me talking in the background. The class is engaging with pictures and examples. The class is in such simple words that even a 15-year-old child in any part of the world can master stock trading and benefit from it.

 

Current status - Class is completed. Instructor verification on.

 

 

 

About me: I am from India. I have been trading stocks for the last 15 years. Also, I have many years of work experience in other fields too. I am now 60. This is my 1st class ever anywhere online. I am a passionate teacher and love teaching. I have worked for over a year on this class and invested all my money and loans from friends and family. I would like to return the loans as early as possible with handsome returns. I want to make my 2nd class on - Simple Yoga & Meditation.

 

Could you please give 5 tips to success that I should be looking to act upon.

 

Best wishes.

Pramod

View solution in original post

Go to solution

I see you haven't published a course yet. 

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Hello Phil, how can we talk in person about your offer? 

View solution in original post

Go to solution
Amazing job Phil... I'm really impressed! I hope I can make my first $1.5 🙂

View solution in original post

Go to solution

Hello,My name is Panos Hadjigeorgiou.I am a personal trainer coach,am trying to create my first video on udemy.I want your help....What video editing do you recommend to me.I thinking to make one big video about 30 minutes and then small videos for the explanations of every exercise and the to combine them together.Or is better to write them in a slite before every exercise?

View solution in original post

192 Replies

Go to solution

Great!

Go to solution

Thanks

Go to solution

Twins! Congratulations!

Go to solution

Thanks!

Go to solution

Woow. That is impressive 🙂

Go to solution

Thank you!

Go to solution

Hi Phil,

very inspiring, what kind of courses you are doing 

I just joined Udemy I am an Artist and art instructor for many years I want to start a cours but don’t know how .

can you guide me to start 

how many hours should a cours be is it like continued courses ,

should a cours or a project be finished in one course and continue doing another project ?

Thank you 

Go to solution

I teach creative skills like photography, photo editing, video editing, motion graphics. 

 

Great question about how long a course should be. I always say that they should be 'as long as it takes to teach the topic.' I wouldn't focus on just simply trying to reach a certain length of course... just focus on teaching a topic in an efficient and easy-to-digest manner. You don't want to drag on and on about a topic.  On the flip side, I've seen longer courses do better on Udemy. So adding additional topics/content, and making the course comprehensive enough to be 5+ hours is generally my rule of thumb.

 

In terms of finishing the course - do it! Just get the course done and launched!

Go to solution

Amazing ! 

I am a new instructor on Udemy and I am so excited about this experience.

Do you have some advices to be well-known on Udemy and most of all how to attract new clients ? 

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. 

It's really motivating !

Go to solution

Thank you. You were an inspiration and great help for lunching my first Udemy course. 

Go to solution

Hi Phil, 

 

Congrats on your babies!! 

 

Just want to share it's my first day here on Udemy and I seeing your message is super inspirational, I look forward to sharing here on the platform and learning new ways of doing things! 

 

Much love and success!

Go to solution

Thanks Phil, I'm a new instructor, not yet published and that is super helpful. 

Thanks for sharing your experience! 

Go to solution

Wow. That's impressive. I have been procrastinating with my courses. They are written but I've not taken the first stepl to launch. What advice do you have as to making it grow once i launch the first course.

Go to solution

Honestly, he best thing is To create multiple courses - some free and some paid on Udemy. 

 

At at the same time, you should be building your brand off of Udemy with weekly YouTube videos, blog posts, and building a social media presence.

 

but my biggest success is by creating more and more courses that grows my audience on Udemy, which helps when I promote my new courses.

Go to solution

Hey Phil, thanks for doing this. Big fan of your Online Course Masters podcast.

 

How many Q&A's do you get per day? How long do you spend managing that? How big is your TA team?

 

How many people work with you in course production (if it's more than just you)?

 

Jose

Go to solution

 Great job Phil. Thank you for being so open to answer any questions! 

Go to solution

Great questions!

i now have one TA who answers questions, and two others who help with assignments.

i also have a 20-hour per week virtual assistant who helps with replying to reviews and other non-Udemy things.

 

for courses, it’s just me unless I co-instruct courses, which I do a lot.

Go to solution
Thanks Phil! Appreciate the reply. Keep being awesome!

Go to solution

Hello Phil,

 

Do you ever bought any advertisement for your course on other website or social media ?

Go to solution

Hey, I haven’t had any success with ads. I think since the price of courses is so low on Udemy, it’s hard to make a profit advertising your Udemy Course. If you spend money on ads, I’d suggest sending that traffic to your website or somewhere else you can try to ‘capture’ that lead. 

 

I focus on other free free ways to promote my brand - YouTube, website, social media

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Introductions
Create a video to introduce yourself and watch other videos from instructors to get to know them. We recommend including your name, what you teach, and what you hope to learn in your video.
Top Liked Authors