The Online Course Show

On this short and sweet solo episode, I’m here to tell you about mastermind groups and why I am such a big fan of these types of groups. Not only that, I’ll tell you how to join a mastermind if you haven’t already (something which I used to be quite confused about myself). Enjoy! In This Episode, We Talked About: (1:54) What is a mastermind, anyway? (3:29) How to get involved in masterminds if you’ve never been in one before (4:53) The different masterminds I’m in today and how they motivate me (8:45) My recommendations for course creators considering getting involved in mastermind groups That about does it for today! Are you in a mastermind group? Are you interested in starting one? Drop me a line to let me know – plus don’t forget to subscribe and join me for the next episode of The Online Course Guy podcast. Links Bonjoro Free Trial Success Alliance Zoom Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Welcome to the box! (Once you play the audio you’ll know what I mean.) Today’s episode is one of two that I’m recording as I do a whole bunch of online course brainstorming with some other awesome course creators. Lots of cool stuff is in the works, and for now I’m excited to share how I outsource course creation on today’s solo episode. Enjoy! In This Episode, We Talked About: (2:10) My experience with outsourcing entire courses so far (4:13) How a poll of my existing students led me to my third outsourced course (5:44) An exciting new resource I’m currently working on (7:20) The number one lesson I’ve learned about outsourcing courses (8:48) Two important boxes to check before deciding to create a new resource (9:54) How to identify the best outsourcing candidates (11:17) Vetting your best candidates (11:56) The importance of collaboration during the outsourcing process (13:32) How to keep the process both efficient and on track with your desired outcome (14:22) Who to blame if your outsourced course doesn’t turn out the way you hoped (15:08) The importance of fair compensation (16:12) How I can help if you’re not quite sure how to take your course to the next level Thank you for listening in – drop me a line and let me know whether you’d ever outsource a course of your own! I’ll be back with another episode soon. Links Bonjoro Free Trial Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Just about a year ago, fellow course creators Tim Geiss and Nate Dodson were on the podcast with me talking about a book I just finished: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. It sparked a great discussion about handling some very important aspects of having your own business, and since I’ve now been using the profit first system for a year, I wanted to revisit this topic with you. "Sales are a vanity metric. They don’t mean anything unless you put them into context." -Tom Geiss As evidenced by my continued implementation of what I learned from Profit First, I am a big fan of this way of accounting. It works, and it’s relatively simple to begin using. I hope you enjoy this blast-from-the-past episode – and maybe even consider changing your accounting system as a result. Let’s jump in! In This Episode, We Talked About: (1:48) The accounting system I use (2:54) The underlying concept behind putting profit first and what that means on a practical level for my business (4:16) A recap from my conversation last year with Nate and Tom about Profit First (5:10) Tom’s reasons for implementing this accounting method and how he feels it benefits his business (7:39) How long it took for me to start implementing profit first and how often I initially was revisiting my system (10:28) The business credit card that all three of us have found useful (11:46) Why you can still use this system without rigidly following every single guideline (12:55) Nate’s question about how Profit First actually benefits businesses and my early takeaways (17:59) The minimum percentage of profit that this system has you start putting aside each month for emergencies (19:44) How putting profit first helped Tom feel less uptight about spending money on growing his business (21:36) The way this process allow for a steady personal income and regular bonuses despite monthly profit fluctuations (25:38) Tax implications for different types of business structures (26:44) The difference between being an employee and an investor (29:42) How using the profit first system affects operating expenses (31:17) A mistake I probably wouldn’t have made if I was using this system earlier (32:03) The role of a business emergency fund in Profit First context (35:21) “The Vault” - an advanced profit first technique (36:12) Why this system keeps profit and tax accounts separate (38:10) How putting profit first could benefit one of Nate’s other business (42:23) Moving from the owner-operator role to being an owner working on the business rather than in it (43:18) A quick look at FICA accounting (47:14) How the profit first concept works as you initially implement it (48:36) The percentage of revenue to set aside for taxes and other categories (52:33) The main point of Profit First (53:18) A tip from Tom on operating expense decisions (56:08) The best type of bank accounts for profit first accounting (57:56) How the profit first concept could work for businesses beside online courses We discussed all that and much more, so don’t forget to leave a comment and let me know what you enjoyed about today’s flashback episode! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Profit First Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Welcome back to another episode of The Online Course Guy podcast! My guest today has over 20 courses – and I’ve even taken one of them. Scott Duffy is all over Udemy and his name has come up time and time again in the Facebook mastermind groups I’m a part of. So it was only natural that I’d want to have him on my podcast. The conversation that followed covered a lot of ground and it was great to hear Scott’s advice for course creators. "What is that these people are trying to become?… There is room in this market for so many topics. There are thousands and thousands of topics, but you have to start by thinking about what your students will be or what they will do by the end [of your course]." -Scott Duffy Scott provided some great food for thought and shared some interesting perspectives on all things course-related. Enjoy! In This Episode, We Talked About: (3:25) Scott’s tagline and why he emphasizes making learning complex topics accessible for his students (4:25) What more advanced students are looking for and his thoughts on supply/demand for more in-depth courses (8:44) The platforms where Scott makes his course content available (12:15) His reasoning behind the recent switch he made in his pricing model (14:55) How his business has evolved since his early success on Udemy (16:35) Scott’s perspective on his approach to business (18:25) How online courses have enabled him to quit his day job and be his own boss (20:39) The leverage that building your own successful business provides (22:10) Scott’s advice for anyone interested in getting started in the world of online courses (26:02) The difference between creating an interesting course and a transformative course (28:10) What Scott would do if he was starting over today (30:40) His thoughts on how Udemy could have factored into my course’s success if I had gotten started there earlier (33:35) The odds of supplanting a top-rated course on Udemy these days (34:23) Scott’s new work-life balance after quitting his job (37:08) His favorite part of course creation (38:16) How the biggest struggle he faces with his business also gives him a competitive advantage (41:43) Scott’s encouragement for aspiring 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! Until next time… Links Bonjoro Free Trial Udemy Stack Commerce Scott’s Membership Site Scott’s Website Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

If you’ve listened in one other TOCG episodes, you already know that a question I almost always ask during interviews is related to how different online course creators would handle getting started today if they didn’t already have a successful brand and business. I think this is a great experiment to work through not only for those of us who already have courses, but for new course creators to hear our thought process. "What kind of people do you help or want to help… and how are you going to help them?" -Jacques Hopkins It was fun to think through what I’d do to get started if I had to do everything basically from scratch all over again. I’ve learned a lot over the course (pun intended) of developing my business, so while I hope I never do have to start over, I think there’s plenty of widely-applicable info here that you can learn from if you want to start your own course. ???? In This Episode, We Talked About: (2:44) A thought experiment with some very limited parameters (3:58) What I’d do first if I was just starting out and what I definitely do early on (5:59) The top two books I want to read if I had to start from scratch (6:14) The basic tech I couldn’t do without (6:43) Niche-specific gear I’d need (7:27) The three services I’d sign up for right away (8:04) How long I’d be able to stay under-budget with this setup (8:39) The very first steps I’d take to record and create my course (9:55) How I’d set up my funnel and build my email list (11:06) What I’d do to develop an online presence and branding (13:38) How I’d try to build authority as well as get people into my funnel (16:23) Getting from the point of sales to course launch (and what I’d pitch in the meantime) (18:39) The most important things I’d be putting my time and effort into in those early days of my course setup (19:34) How I’d use YouTube starting out (20:36) Building out the actual course and how that can affect the sales funnel (21:22) Why so many people seem to struggle getting started with their course (22:10) How I can help you avoid reinventing the wheel when it comes to course creation Thanks for listening in as I went through this little thought experiment today. Stay tuned for another TOCG episode coming soon! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Name Cheap Expert Secrets book Story Brand book ClickFunnels Free Trial Active Campaign Free Trial Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

ClickFunnels – you’ve probably heard of this tool before if you’ve started or are interested in starting an online business. I am a huge fan of ClickFunnels, and I use it for both my piano course and here at The Online Course Guy. There are some big pros and cons that come into play with this popular marketing funnel tool, so get ready to hear what I love (and don’t love) about it!One more thing: this episode is not sponsored by ClickFunnels. So what you’re getting here is my unbiased opinion. Ready?     In This Episode, We Talked About: (3:08) How ClickFunnels originally got onto my radar and why it appealed to me (5:43) My initial impressions of ClickFunnels compared to tools I had been previously using (7:18) What I use it for today and my favorite features (9:39) The three biggest reasons I love using ClickFunnels (10:07) A feature that I’m not so fond of (11:36) Pricing considerations and comparisons with another favorite tool of mine (12:58) My thoughts on ClickFunnels’ membership site features (13:32) An upcoming experiment I’ll be doing that course creators should find VERY interesting (15:36) My recommendation if you’re interested in  marketing funnel tools for your business (link below) That wraps it up for today! Please feel free to shoot me an email anytime and let me know what kind of marketing funnel tools you use, or any questions about what I’ve shared on this episode. Until next time! Links Bonjoro Free Trial ClickFunnels Free Trial Active Campaign TOCG Episode #53 Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Continuing with the theme of peeking behind the scenes of my online course, today I’m sharing my recent chat with Caleb Ulku of Ulku Logistics, someone who’s been really helpful to my business on the SEO side of things. This episode went a bit long, simply because we covered so many relevant points when it comes to this important topic! "If your domain is less than 3-6 months old, it’s extremely hard to rank [high in Google search results]. As soon as you have a brand name, buy a domain and throw a website up. Get that clock ticking." -Caleb Ulku Caleb had some awesome tips for people starting out with SEO and provided a lot of insight into how SEO can really bolster your business. I hope you enjoy what you learn today! In This Episode, We Talked About: (4:18) What Caleb does for PI21D and how his service has impacted my course (6:12) Why SEO can be so tricky (7:27) The main ways you can earn the favor of Google’s search algorithm (9:00) Google’s end-goal for SEO (9:53) How Caleb has improved my site’s search rankings in spite of evolving Google algorithms (14:28) Distinguishing between SEO strategy and sites that seem to rank high with no apparent strategy (17:27) A fascinating phenomenon that happens when you start ranking on the first page of search results (18:09) An example of how SEO strategy sometimes needs a lot of tweaking (20:54) My early SEO mistakes and why Caleb’s pitch to my business really stood out (22:06) How he first got started in SEO (25:07) Split-testing as a tool for identifying SEO strategies (26:00) Caleb’s company and the types of services they offer (27:38) Where my business is at currently in terms of SEO these days (29:50) What terms like “white hat,” “gray hat, and “black hat” actually mean (31:30) Caleb’s take on link-building practices (33:49) How his company stays up-to-date with Google’s search algorithms and his thoughts on why updates are so challenging to navigate (36:57) Alternative search engines and whether it makes sense to try to rank for their algorithms (42:24) Caleb’s extensive advice for new course creators on a budget We covered a lot of ground today, so I hope you’ll drop me a line and let me know the most surprising thing you learned about SEO! Links Bonjoro Free Trial Ulku Logistics Moz Majestic Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Today’s episode is quite different from those I’ve done before, but I think you’re going to find it helpful nonetheless! One of the questions I hear the most is about how I outsource a lot of my online course business emails, social comments, and more. So for this episode I’ve brought on Emily, a part-time contractor who’s been working for me on these and other kind of tasks for over a year now. "Clearly outline your expectations and provide a vision of what you think [the work] will look like long-term." -Emily Z. It was awesome to get Emily’s perspective on another side of my business, as well as hear her advice for people looking to hire remote contractors like her. In This Episode, We Talked About: (3:29) When and how Emily got started working for me (4:13) The kinds of jobs she was considering when she saw my job post on Upwork (7:31) Why I was looking to outsource certain aspects of email/comments and writing/editing (8:09) What drew me to Emily’s application compared other contractors (8:57) The job vetting-process from both our perspectives (12:22) Her thoughts on her initial one-month trial period of working with me (14:05) What her daily tasks and some other more sporadic things she helps me with (16:57) Her current daily schedule and weekly hours (19:36) A unique aspect of her schedule (20:39) How Upwork works not only for hiring but as a platform for communication and payment (25:45) Emily’s advice for people looking to get into remote freelancing work (30:10) What she would look for if she was on the hiring side of the equation I hope you enjoyed this relatively unconventional podcast episode of The Online Course Guy! I’ll be back in a couple days with more great info for course creators. Links Bonjoro Free Trial ClickFunnels Free Trial Upwork Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

I’m back with another piano-related episode, this time with Tim Topham! Tim’s focused on the piano teacher niche, a departure from the other piano course creators I’ve spoken with so far. We had a great conversation that you’re sure to benefit from if you’re a new or aspiring course creator yourself. "Get yourself out there. If I’m going to follow you [online], I want to see your picture and know more about you." -Tim Topham Tim shared some great perspectives on creating online communities, building authority in your niche, and more. I hope you enjoy what you hear! In This Episode, We Talked About: (4:50) When and how the idea to create an online course first came to Tim (7:26) What the transition from blogging successfully to building traffic for his course looked like (9:04) Market saturation and how to set niche content apart from competitors (12:35) The steps Tim took to make his online course a reality (15:02) What he would (and would not) do differently if he was starting over today (17:33) How observing the way students use Tim’s content led him to switch to a different pricing model (22:42) Tim’s emphasis on building community for piano teachers online (24:26) How many active subscribers he currently has (25:28) His perspective on how to become an authority in your market (27:09) How Tim has developed a professional-looking presence on the web over time (29:27) His advice for aspiring course creators (30:29) His current biggest struggle in his business (34:10) Tim’s final thoughts and advice That’s all for today, but I’ll be back soon with more cool tips and great insights from fellow course creators – don’t forget to subscribe! Links Bonjoro Free Trial ClickFunnels Free Trial Tim’s Website Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guy

Not too long ago I had the pleasure of having Arantxa Mateo come on the show to discuss her online course business. There are a lot of weight loss plans and diets out there, but she has a different approach to the concept of weight management. Arantxa is very invested in her students’ success, and it was great to speak with her about her online course. Along the way, we chatted about some challenges specific to her niche and some advice that will be useful no matter what you plan to teach in your own course! "People are not looking for perfection. They are looking for you to solve their problem." -Arantxa Mateo Arantxa had awesome tips about weight management and an interesting approach to teaching. Though you may not be in her particular niche, there’s still plenty to be inspired by as you listen in to our interview! In This Episode, We Talked About: (3:15) Why Arantxa decided to create her own online course (4:15) What makes her weight-management program unique (5:57) How she teaches people to lose weight without imposing a specific diet (8:46) Her educational philosophy (9:07) Arantxa’s unique program name and how she came up with it (12:11) The steps she took to create her course (14:33) How she uses scarcity - and why she vetts her course enrollees before allowing them to sign up (16:50) Why her sales strategy is based around building long-term rapport with potential students (18:55) Arantxa’s email list (19:25) How she generates traffic to her website without a very aggressive SEO strategy (20:34) How she uses personal calls to determine whether people are good fits for her course and make sales (24:42) The way Arantxa incorporates one-on-one training into some of her course options (25:52) Her advice to people who are just getting started in the online course world Thank you for listening in today – I hope you enjoyed what you learned! I’ll be back with another episode soon. Links Bonjoro Free Trial ClickFunnels Free Trial Arantxa’s Website Piano in 21 Days The Online Course Guyli>