The Online Course Show

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

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