Udemy

FrankKane · ‎03-22-2019

What a great story. It's wonderful that you're not only preserving these memories for your own family, in a modern format that they will enjoy, but are showing others how to do the same.

FrankKane · ‎03-19-2019

@Hypnodan should totally do this. Join us...

FrankKane · ‎03-14-2019

Not automatically. You'd have to create a new course or expand an existing one, adding in the new sections and lectures and re-uploading the videos. Then unpublish the smaller courses you consolidated if you wish. Students seem to like comprehensive courses, so this isn't a bad strategy IMO.

FrankKane · ‎03-14-2019

No. We're just here to help if you need us!

FrankKane · ‎03-14-2019

If you have a script, why not just copy the script for each slide in the notes area of Powerpoint. If you have two monitors, you can read the notes while capturing the slides from the other monitor. Much quicker that way. You can even give yourself little reminders in the script of when to click to activate an animation or something. If you don't have two monitors, consider just printing out the script on paper.

FrankKane · ‎03-14-2019

I don't think you should blame Udemy for local customs laws.

FrankKane · ‎03-13-2019

Well, let me pivot this one to something relevant to Udemy 🙂 As a full-time Udemy instructor, I've gone from feeling like I need a vacation in my old corporate job (and feeling guilty while actually taking one) to viewing actual vacations as "work" and looking forward to returning home! I'm typing this from a hotel room overlooking a beach right now, and kind of looking forward to just getting back in my office and finishing up my next course. Becoming a full-time Udemy instructor is not easy to achieve, though. It requires persistent, hard work, and a fair amount of luck too. If I had to guess, somewhere between 1 and 5% of instructors are able to do it. But the freedom it gives you can change your life, and it's worth working toward in a responsible manner. If you want to get all philosophical, though, I'd say there's a difference between happiness and contentment. I'm not happier. People seem to have a set level of happiness that they adapt to, no matter the circumstances. I'm just way more chill than I was in corporate-land, and content with the lifestyle Udemy has made possible.

FrankKane · ‎03-12-2019

#1 is to create a big new course by the end of April (with a co-instructor) #2 is to refresh my top 4 courses with updated and re-recorded content before Black Friday 2019 #3 is to grow my Udemy revenue by 10% year over year (which will hopefully happen as a result of #1 and #2!)

FrankKane · ‎03-12-2019

Teaching to a global community kind of forces you to become open-minded; you encounter students from all sorts of different cultures, backgrounds, and lifestyles. I'll tag @StephaneMaarek for this, though. I've been working with him as a co-instructor for an upcoming course. He's from France and traveled the world, while I'm a somewhat typical American who hasn't traveled abroad very much. He's given me some valuable insights into why some students behave the way they do. For example, in the US it's generally considered rude to expect someone to do something for you for free. Time is money here, and if you don't make money, our system is perfectly happy to let you starve on the street. We have an "everyone for themselves" attitude because of that. But other cultures don't work that way - they depend on each other to help each other out, and give their time freely. When they ask you to "guide them" on some project outside of your course or to mentor them, it's a compliment. He's seen this first hand, and it's opened my eyes.

FrankKane · ‎03-12-2019

I've been using this one lately: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJ1JX3A It comes in a bunch of different colors. You'll need a lighting stand and a clip for it as well; both are available in the "frequently bought together" widget on that page. These "pop-out" backdrops are good because the metal frame creates tension on them, pulling out most of the wrinkles. I like to shoot a light straight up at it from the bottom to create a nice glow around me.

FrankKane · ‎03-09-2019

Discipline! It's a lot of work to produce a course, so make sure you're carving out some set amount of time every week to work on it. Even if it's only a few hours, eventually it will get done. Slow and steady wins the race! My other main advice is to research the topic you're planning to teach using Udemy's Marketplace Insights tools. I'd hate to see you put all that effort into a topic that is already saturated with excellent courses that will be tough for a first-timer to compete with. You want to identify a niche that you're an expert in that isn't already flooded. Beyond that, the resources you'll find offered on Udemy's instructor dashboard as you create your first course are great and you should read and watch them all. Many top instructors also offer courses of their own tips and tricks on Udemy (search for "course creation") that you might find helpful. But, the main thing is to just do it. Your course will have zero value until it's released, so just keep marching toward that goal. Oh, and don't expect massive success with your first course. Things have a much better chance of taking off when you can cross-promote between students of two or more courses, and your first course will largely be a learning experience for you. So, don't quit too early.

FrankKane · ‎03-07-2019

My very first course had a pretty janky setup. I used my Android cell phone as a camera, propped up on some books. For a key light, I put a computer monitor near my face with a white, blank document on it and the brightness turned up. My backdrop was the white wall in my office. For screen recording, I used freeware called BandiCam, and for editing, I used the free Windows Movie Maker which doesn't even exist anymore. The only non-janky thing was my microphone because I already owned a Blue Yeti. But you know, it worked - that course still has a 4.5 rating today. If I could go back in time, I would at least have invested in Camtasia and a webcam, as it would've made production go a lot faster. But even with a budget of nothing, it was possible to get passable A/V quality with the stuff I had lying around anyhow.

FrankKane · ‎03-06-2019

You could recreate that video using any webcam, such as a Logitech C920, and Camtasia with its PowerPoint plugin. I suspect this particular video was done using Open Broadcast Studio and a cell phone, but Camtasia is better suited to course creation in my opinion (it's just not free.) You'll also want to make sure you are well-lit so the video of you doesn't look grainy. You can also sound a lot better if you use a microphone and not just the one built into the camera or phone. USB microphones such as the Blue Yeti are easy to set up and use.

FrankKane · ‎03-06-2019

Udemy really needs to offer 2FA for instructors. Seems like more and more criminals are smelling money here. Meanwhile, everyone needs to make sure you have a strong password that's not used anyplace else on your Udemy account.

FrankKane · ‎03-05-2019

It's all about perspective. It's easy to let the latest brutal review or demanding student get you down. But just take a step back - go filter your review dashboard for 5-star written reviews and bask in them a bit. Go look at LinkedIn and see how many of your students have gotten better careers or more fulfilling lives - thanks, in part, to you. Visualize how big of a room you'd need to teach all of your online students in person, and reflect on the impact you're having. And if you're lucky enough to be making courses full time, remind yourself what corporate politics and commuting was like, and feel thankful to have left that behind. Just remember you're helping people out at massive scale, sharing your knowledge, working on your own terms - AND getting paid for it. I mean really, an online instructor can't complain.

FrankKane · ‎02-27-2019

There are some good green screen tips to be found on here, such as: https://community.udemy.com/t5/A-V-Solutions/How-I-improved-my-green-screen-setup-with-some-easy-steps/m-p/791#M64 Usually it comes down to having even lighting on the green screen, which is a lot harder than it sounds - and making sure there's enough space between you and the screen. In a typical home office, it can be hard to find enough space to set everything up the way it needs to be. My own tip is a bit contrarian: don't use green screen. It's a fun gimmick, but do you really have to look like you're someplace that you're not in your course? I've personally moved to just using nice backdrops used for portrait photography behind me instead. I can still overlay text and images on top of it while editing if I need to.

FrankKane · ‎02-26-2019

I mean, everyone likes free stuff. But that would be really, really expensive for Udemy to do. There are over 42,000 instructors on Udemy. Let's estimate that it would cost around $15 to print, package, and ship a shirt... given how many global instructors there are and the costs of international shipping, that's probably a low estimate. Let's see... $630,000. I'd prefer they spend that money advertising our courses! However... opening a swag store where we can purchase T-shirts at a reasonable price... that would be cool 😉 Also Udemy Live attendees historically have received a "swag bag" if you can attend. One year an amazing handcrafted wooden Udemy lapel pin was in there. Still one of my favorite objects.

FrankKane · ‎02-26-2019

Wow, I mean there is no way anyone can match a story like that. That is awesome. But it's definitely true that one key to success on Udemy is persistence, and not being afraid to teach yourself before teaching others. See this huge stack of books? Before I so much as wrote an outline for one of my courses, I read every one of these books cover to cover to ensure I was up to date on all of the latest technologies related to what I was teaching. It took a month to get through it all. Then I spent another month playing with these technologies hands-on to get a better feel of how they really work. By doing it, I was able to create a course that was more comprehensive and more current than the other offerings on the platform - and the result was a course that's earned almost $300,000 over the past two years. Sometimes, it's just about being willing to put in more effort than everyone else - and convincing yourself you can "be able" to do it.

FrankKane · ‎02-23-2019

I don't know that Udemy has ever said anything about the specifics, but based on the variable turnaround time I'd say there are real humans somewhere checking new course submissions. Mainly I think they are just making sure you are not blatantly violating any of Udemy's policies; otherwise they will approve the course.

FrankKane · ‎02-21-2019

I'm not a Udemy employee, nor a lawyer, so my advice doesn't really count. You should email policy@udemy.com if you have specific questions about what is or isn't allowed.

FrankKane · ‎02-21-2019

Well, there are two entities that might object: Udemy and the owner of the brand. Udemy only cares that you're not trying to sell this product to your students. So don't say "you can buy this at my website" or whatever. You can only sell stuff in your bonus lecture. The owner of the brand probably publishes guidelines on what they consider fair usage of their trademarks, so you should read that first to be safe. Beyond that, you're getting into legal territory people on this board aren't qualified to provide advice on. There's a reason brands are usually blurred out on TV shows, but people post videos reviewing specific products all the time, so it seems like a gray area.

FrankKane · ‎02-17-2019

It's awesome that so many (Udemites? Udemy-ers? Udemians? What *do* you call yourselves?) "eat their own dogfood" by creating courses of their own. Hope you enjoy creating your course, and congrats on working in such a high-growth area.

FrankKane · ‎02-17-2019

Udemy is my main source of income; as such my main goal is to keep that income at a level where it can comfortably provide for my family. But that's not what I love about it. It's the personal freedom you get by being able to create courses on your own schedule, from anyplace you want. It's knowing you're helping huge numbers of people around the world learn valuable skills at an accessible cost. It's the constant learning you experience yourself as you keep yourself updated on the things that you teach.

FrankKane · ‎02-12-2019

Yes! It's a long story - but basically it's a joke birthday card. I use it, taped to a lighting stand, as a stand-in for myself while focusing the camera. The text and images on it are useful for dialing in the focus just right.

FrankKane · ‎02-12-2019

Takes some getting used to, but it's a lot easier to find content here and to write better-formatted posts. Personally I'd much rather be here than Facebook. I actually deleted my Facebook account once I heard this new community for Udemy was launching.

FrankKane · ‎02-12-2019

Ha, me too! No fancy studio here either - I just clutter up my little office with recording gear when it's time to do talking head segments.

FrankKane · ‎02-12-2019

Self-employment isn't easy, but easing into it with freelancing is how I did it too. If it works out you'll find it very rewarding. Good luck.

FrankKane · ‎02-11-2019

Yes! Udemy automatically provides a certificate of completion to any student who views 100% of a course's content. You don't have to do a thing.

FrankKane · ‎02-07-2019

About 3 years, David.

FrankKane · ‎02-05-2019

I do all the standard stuff with YouTube, mailing lists, social media, and my own website - but it's all a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the sales the Udemy platform itself brings in. It really comes down to wise topic selection, perseverance, and a fair dose of luck. I have another post on here about topic selection you might want to check out.

Udemy

Sundog Education by Frank Kane

FrankKane •
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Founder, Sundog Education. Machine Learning Pro

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Sundog Education by Frank Kane

FrankKane • Community Champion

Founder, Sundog Education. Machine Learning Pro

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FrankKane •
Community Champion