The Online Course Show

Well folks, we are on the other side of the new year and I’m back with another podcast episode for you! This time around, Matt Giovanisci of Money Lab joined me to share his course creation process and more. His take on certain topics is a bit out of the box, and it was really cool to have the chance to chat with him. "Find your wheelhouse and know the material inside and out. Don’t script everything to a T, use bullet points, and be authentic." - Matt Giovanisci Not everyone’s course creation process is the same, but many of Matt’s tips could be great food for thought if you’re just getting started on your own online course journey. Enjoy listening in! In This Episode, We Talked About: (2:07) How Matt got into the world of online courses (3:27) Matt’s business experiments (6:37) Transitioning into entrepreneurship after other jobs (7:46) How he created his first course in 6 days (10:03) Why most people take much longer when creating their own first courses (11:02) How Matt make sales with no SEO and little traffic (12:20) Matt’s other courses and pricing strategy (15:36) His advice for people who want to create their own course quickly (20:15) Thoughts on how to balance time between different ventures (22:14) Why Matt has downsized his team (24:10) His “anti-teaching” approach (28:18) Matt’s advice for people who know what they want to teach but haven’t created a course yet That’s all for today, but I’ll be back soon with more cool tips and great insights from fellow course creators. Happy New Year, and don’t forget to subscribe! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Matt’s Website Matt’s Podcast Gumroad Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

It’s New Year’s Eve! I don’t know about you, but I’m super-excited about what’s ahead in the coming year. Chatting with Daria V (successful course creator, speaker, and expert on using LinkedIn in sales funnels) on today’s episode has given me some great ideas that I think will resonate with many other course creators, too. "Create the community… Many times we want to jump right into sales, but it can’t be done if people don’t trust you yet." - Daria V. Daria shared a wealth of insight during our conversation, and I’m still mulling over what I learned in today’s episode. Enjoy listening in! In This Episode, We Talked About: (3:08) How Daria got into the world of online courses (4:07) The ways her courses meet needs within her target markets (7:04) Her Linkedin sales funnels (7:44) The must-have resource that’s inspired Daria’s webinars (9:39) Thoughts on live vs. evergreen webinars (11:35) Her webinar sales script (13:04) An important concept that helps Daria get new email leads every day (15:00) Why her course benefits so many different kinds of freelancers (16:18) Her recommendations for me on how to use LinkedIn for my business (19:30) Daria’s advice on online course tools (21:12) How to stay on track and motivated (25:52) Her best tips for new or aspiring course creators That’s all for now, folks! See you on the other side of 2018. Links Bonjoro Free Trial Daria’s Website WebinarJam MailChimp Thinkific Expert Secrets Book Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

2018 is almost at an end, but I’m here with another episode of The Online Course Guy! This time around I had the pleasure of speaking with Karen Campbell, an online course enthusiast who’s taken what she’s learned over the years to create her own successful art courses. Karen’s entering a new phase of her business strategy, so it was really neat to catch a glimpse of what that looks like and what she’s planning. "Record everything and figure out how to edit it later." - Karen Campbell I really enjoyed my conversation with Karen and hearing about where her online courses are headed. There was a little something for just about everyone in this episode, so I hope you enjoy listening in! In This Episode, We Talked About: (2:28) How Karen got into the world of online courses (5:11) The first steps she took and new skills she needed to develop for her first course (7:19) Thoughts on how initial hurdles can deter new course creators (7:46) Karen’s first videos and how her content has changed over time (9:37) The importance of finding a niche (12:05) What Karen wish she had known about funnels (16:06) Social proof and demonstrating product value (18:41) Where Karen’s traffic comes from (21:05) Getting started with funnel strategies (23:08) Her Amazon offerings and ways to leverage books as part of her funnel (26:12) Karen’s advice for new course creators Thanks for listening and learning along with me today. Stay tuned for another great episode coming soon! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Karen’s Website Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

I’m back with another episode of The Online Course Guy podcast! It was such a pleasure to chat with Kate Bee of The Sober School, and we got to cover some of my favorite topics on building an online course business. "Just doing it is probably the best thing, because you aren’t going to figure anything out just by thinking about it." – Kate Bee I really enjoyed speaking with Kate about what course creation and running an online business looks like for her. I hope you like what you hear! In This Episode, We Talked About: (3:35) How Kate got into the world of online courses (7:01) Her initial course creation process - and what motivated her to make it happen (10:08) How she found her startup funds (11:06) Building her course content (12:30) Kate’s course launch strategy (13:58) Creating community and providing support to students (14:52) How her Facebook group for students provides added value (15:23) What it’s like to run Kate’s course (16:02) Her enrollment numbers and pricing structure (17:20) Thoughts on successful course launches and strategy (23:04) The challenges and benefits of webinar launches (27:34) Kate’s favorite course platform (29:22) How she’s built traffic and grown her email list (34:25) Running a course business without a team (36:00) Her advice for aspiring course creators That’s all for today, but I’ll be back next week with more cool tips and great insights from fellow course creators. So if you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Kate’s Website Ruzuku ConvertKit Expert Secrets book Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

All the way back on episode 29, I interviewed Helena Lui about how she had quit her job after developing her online course. Since then, she’s multiplied her income many, many times over with her course business. I had to have her back on to hear how her business has grown and what has or hasn’t changed for her over this past year. "Scale with ads. Keep at it. Be persistent with your goal. Every day try something new." -Helena Lui Helena and I delved into some very important insights on all things webinar-related and much more! So get ready to take some notes and enjoy listening in! In This Episode, We Talked About: (2:48) Reviewing where Helena was at back in January of 2018 (6:48) Her webinar and sales funnels (8:06) Handling webinar chatlines (12:36) The importance of providing clear information in webinars (13:52) Lessons Helena’s learned through hiring someone to help with her webinar (19:26) How outsourcing is going and how she plans to develop and outsource new content (23.13) Helena’s sales funnel setup (plus why she wants her webinar attendees to join the webinar on a desktop computer) (25:12) How she addresses the four possible outcomes after someone registers for a webinar (28:29) A niche-specific way that Helena offers her students value if they enroll (29:34) What happens if someone goes through her funnel and isn’t ready to enroll until later (31:15) How increases in revenue have affected her lifestyle and business structure (35:07) Tips on optimizing Facebook pages and posts (36:43) Helena’s main business expenses (38:19) Her advice for course creators who want to multiply their business revenue (40:01) Determining what to upsell and what to include in an online course Thank you for listening in – I hope you enjoyed what you learned! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Helena’s Website Content Multiplier Formula Mouse Flow Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Buckle up for another episode of The Online Course Guy – this time covering some topics that I’ve never discussed on my podcast before. Gina Horkey joined me recently for a fascinating discussion on the ups and downs of running an online course business. As a successful course creator, Gina has a wealth of ideas and perspective that is super-relevant to this industry "It’s not all about being the seller [or] all about being the buyer. It’s a relationship." -Gina Horkey It was awesome to hear Gina’s thoughts on online courses and how to handle the business side of things. I’m still mulling over what I learned in today’s episode, and I think you’ll enjoy what you learn, too! In This Episode, We Talked About: (2:56) How Gina first got started in the world of online courses (6:23) The evolution of her courses over time (7:40) Her existing content and what she’s currently working on (10:10) Balancing working on improving old content and developing new content (11:11) How Gina teaches email management processes (14:37) Helping VA’s and entrepreneurs connect with each other (19:02) Why Gina offers workbooks for sale separately from her courses (21:14) Her sales funnel structure and thoughts on scarcity (24:05) How Gina’s different course purchasing options perform (25:50) The pros and cons for Gina’s favorite tools for online courses (29:11) Her perspective on money-back policies (34:23) Considering different ways to handle refund requests (39:52) An unfortunate pet peeve: payment disputes (46:41) Gina’s recommendations for new course creators We covered a lot of ground today, so I hope you’ll drop me a line and let me know your favorite part of the conversation. See you next week for another episode of The Online Course Guy! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Gina’s Courses VA Finder Case Study on Email Management Thinkific   The Online Course Guy Pinterest VA Course SamCart Drip PayPal Stripe Piano in 21 Days

I’m back with another interview episode, this time with Heather Jones, a.k.a. The Brain Trainer. Heather’s built quite a following on Instagram and is teaching her students how to lose weight and much more. Like all the best teachers, she’s teaching topics she cares about and is enjoying sharing knowledge that she’s already applied in her own life. "We get stuck in “It’s not going be good enough, who am I to do this, I don’t have all the certificates, I’m not an expert.”… But there’s going to be people that need you." -Heather Jones   It was great to hear Heather share her thoughts on course creation and Instagram engagement – especially since my wife and I are actually taking a course on Instagram right now! I hope you enjoy what you hear. In This Episode, We Talked About: (3:34) How Heather got into the world of online courses (5:38) Why she’s shifted gears from a completely different profession into her current business (6:37) What prompted her to take the knowledge she acquired and put it into course form on Teachable (7:46) How Heather’s initial launch went (8:31) Her current course offerings as they’ve developed over time (8:57) The role that phone consultations take in Heather’s interaction with prospective students (12:04) Where most of her traffic comes from (13:26) How she’s built her Instagram following (17:05) The strategies she uses to maintain connection with followers and create engaging content (20:40) How the GDPR has affected Heather’s business in the UK (23:12) Some of Heather’s favorite online tools (24:44) Her biggest business struggle these days (25:24) Heather’s advice for beginning course creators That’s all for now, folks! See you on the next episode of The Online Course Guy. Links Bonjoro Free Trial Heather’s Website Teachable Insight Timer TOCG Episode 61 Life as Paper Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

I’m back with a brand new episode of The Online Course Guy! Paul Lipsky has had a whirlwind of a year with his course on drop-shipping: with no formal launch strategy, he’s still managed to enroll 1,000+ students since January! It was so cool to hear what he has learned along the way and about the new era he’s entering into as a business owner. "Create a way to connect with people… and do that before you ever try to sell them anything." - Paul Lipsky We covered a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time, so I hope you like what you hear! In This Episode, We Talked About: (3:05) How Paul initially got into the world of online retail and what his niche entails (4:28) What led him to create his own online course (6:13) Why Paul needed to find an alternative to his previous job - and when he actually felt ready to quit (7:34) How he balances his drop-shipping business and his online course (8:05) The growth Paul has seen since launching his course (9:12) What he’s learned since his launch and how he built initial interest (10:01) How his pricing structure has evolved over time (10:23) The awesome enrollment numbers he’s experienced so far (11:23) What his sales funnel looks like (12:20) How he uses YouTube and the ways his channel benefits his business (13:51) A look at how his YouTube content has evolved (15:44) Paul’s process for content creation (16:56) How he balances all the different aspects of a rapidly-growing online course (18:58) His favorite tools for his business (21:04) What Paul is planning for the future (22:41) Advice for aspiring online course creators That’s all for now, folks! See you on the next episode of The Online Course Guy. Links Bonjoro Free Trial Paul’s Main Website Asana Teachable Lead Pages Proof ConvertKit Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Welcome to another episode of The Online Course Guy! Today’s episode is the first of its kind, because I’m not only speaking with course creator – I’m letting you in on a coaching call.Now, that doesn’t mean my guest is an online course newbie. Quite the opposite: Jason Dion has already done over 6 figures in course sales so far. But he’s been looking to transition from Udemy to his own domain, and that’s what our conversation centered around. In This Episode, We Talked About: (2:57) Why Jason wants to make some changes even though he’s already a successful course creator (4:07) The reasoning behind his initial foray into Udemy and his pricing strategy so far (7:44) How he’s done so far with his numerous courses on Udemy (8:49) Who Jason’s target demographic is and why branching out appeals to him (10:55) Where he’s currently at with building his business off Udemy (12:08) Jason’s business team (12:55) The dilemma he’s facing with pricing and how he plans to differentiate content on different platforms (13:32) How his sales are doing so far without an integrated marketing funnel (14:15) What Jason wants to learn from my approach to online courses (15:10) Some questions that I use to help me determine how to advice course creators (16:56) The simple basics of funnel marketing (19:25) The biggest challenge Jason is facing as he sets up his funnel (20:36) Free opt-in concepts for helping segment his audience (21:46) Email auto-responders and other elements that will be helpful to Jason as he develops his marketing approach (24:24) Thinking through segmentation and different potential funnels (26:27) The types of content to include in marketing emails (26:38) Why and how to implement scarcity (28:31) Where Jason will be focusing his initial efforts during his business transition (29:35) The way he plans to use pay-per-click advertising (31:23) My recommendations for Jason as he works on next steps for his business (32:31) Jason’s perspective for people interested in course creation on Udemy versus alternative methods That wraps it up for today, but don’t forget to subscribe so you can keep up with all the latest episodes. Until next time! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Jason’s Website Lynda Thinkific Right Message Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Today’s guest is one-half of Social Brand School and an expert on building traffic and sales through Instagram. It was great to speak with Julie Cabezas and learn how she and her business partner have been able to create a successful online course in their niche of expertise. "You want to make the course simple and actionable, to drive a specific result… A course that delivers on its promise is going to be successful." - Julie Cabezas Julie shared some awesome tips not only about course creation but on how you and I can be more successful on social media through personal branding and much more. I hope you like what you hear! In This Episode, We Talked About: (2:09) Why and how Julie and her business partner decided to create an online course (3:37) The reason they focus on Instagram for their lessons and resources (4:38) How their business is set up between their agency services and online course (5:28) Who their ideal clients are and what they’re looking for (6:53) Julie’s take on why so many entrepreneurs struggle with social media strategy (8:15) What she would recommend for online course creators who aren’t sure how to use Instagram for marketing (11:06) How Instagram lends itself to building followings and sales quickly (13:10) The passive and active sides of Instagram marketing that Julie and Samantha’s course teaches (14:23) Their course launch and funnel setup (16:54) How Julie and Samantha’s partnership works (18:14) Julie’s take on how to build synergy to maintain effective partnerships (19:25) Where most of their course traffic comes from and how their affiliate options help with sales (20:35) Why their course is always available for immediate purchase (22:23) Why they have intermittent spikes in sales (22:57) The next course Julie and Samantha have in the works and why they want to branch out with their content (24:31) How they bring additional advanced teaching to students through a mastermind group (25:42) Julie’s favorite business tools (28:00) How they process payments without paying a huge amount of fees each month (30:00) Their biggest business struggles these days (31:53) Julie’s advice for anyone thinking about starting their online course That’s all for today, but I’ll be back with more cool tips and great insights from fellow course creators – don’t forget to subscribe! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Social Brand School ConvertKit Teachable Fatt Merchant Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy