Online Course Creation Learning Path – Udemy, Teachable, Amazon and More

I created my first course about Udemy in July 2014 – it made $1,000 in its second month.  I have not looked back.  This LEARNING PATH shares with you the key information about my courses about Online Courses to help you identify the courses that will be serve your needs to help you take the next step towards your goal of being a successful Online Course instructor.

I have courses selling on Udemy, Teachable, Thinkific, Amazon and Skillshare and you can too!

Check out the courses below.  Review their content and key sections.  Take a look at the testimonials from 5 Star Rated Reviews.  Find the courses you need and click on the links to enroll.  The links will take you directly to the course in Udemy and include a GREAT DISCOUNT built right into the link.

Enjoy the Courses and I wish you great success!

Essentially, there are four key stages to creating an Online Course:

• PLANNING
• PRODUCTION
• PUBLICATION
• PROMOTION

Over the past five years I have created more than a dozen Courses about Online Course Creation which I have published on Udemy, this Learning Path is designed to help you to find the content which is most helpful to you.

Online Course Creation For Beginners: Your 1st Online Course

This course offers the absolute novice a brief introduction to Online Course Creation, with sections focusing on each of the four stages.  Its the ideal starting point if you want a quick overview of online course creation.

• Lets Get Started…
• Stage 1 – Planning
• Stage 2 – Production
• Stage 3 – Publication
• Stage 4 – Promotion

Students have made the following comments in their Five Star Reviews:

“I enjoyed the course because the information provided was direct and to the point. The information will be very useful in developing courses.”  Loretta A.

“Very precise and practical tips in planning your Udemy course” Wade C.

“This course is very in depth for beginners. Very well presented. Thank you.” Bobbie S.

You can find out more here:  https://jbdcolley.com/LP1ST

PLANNING

Lets take a look at the Planning phase in a bit more detail.  The ideal place to start if you are planning to publish on Udemy is to master the Udemy Marketplace Insights which can be found inside your Instructor Dashboard.

Online Course Creation Udemy Insights Made Easy (Unofficial)

My detailed course covering Market Place Insights is exactly what you need to fast track this process.  The main sections of the course are summarised below:

• Initial Insights – Lets Find Udemy Insights and look at the Opportunity Overview
• Understanding the Balance between Course Supply and Student Demand
• What is the Value of Your Topic and Opportunity?
• Enrollments by Channel and Conversion Rates
• Inside Udemy Marketplace Insights: Course Competition and Market Opportunity
• Inside Udemy Marketplace Insights: Understanding Keywords
• Inside Udemy Marketplace Insights: Why are Related Topics Helpful?
• What Can You Learn From The Top Earning Courses?
• Udemy Marketplace Insights – Updates and News

Many of the courses students have left 5 Star Reviews, these are also some of their comments:

“Excellent insights into the use of Udemy Insights for improving an existing course or planning a new one.” Andrew M.

“Really helpful information for someone in the planning stages of creating a course. The process is a bit overwhelming and there’s a lot of information available, and this instructor really breaks it down into manageable pieces to clarify what’s important to look at if you want to be successful.” India D.

“Great instructor with a wealth of experience. The insights from John’s course has really helped be not only to decide on which courses to create for the future, but also on how I can use the SEO to my advantage. Very much recommended!”  John H.

If you would like to discover more about my Market Place Insights course, please follow this link: https://jbdcolley.com/LPINSIGHTS

A deeper understanding of the competition on Udemy can be found in my course which includes my Udemy Course Directory.

Online Course Creation – Udemy Directory (Unofficial)

This is a unique course in Udemy.  I am very data centric and like to understand a market place in detail.  This course was designed by me with this goal in mind.  Providing excel spreadsheets to cover all the Udemy Categories.  I also show you how to carry out competitive analysis which will help you to design and create even better courses.

The main sections of the course include:

• Why You Need This Course – Students and Instructors Alike!
• Getting Started: Download the Visokio Omniscope Viewer and Data File
• December 2015 Update
• April 2016 Update
• March 2017 Update
• October 2017 Update – Now With Excel Spreadsheets too!
• November 2017 Update with Best Sellers
• Visokio Omniscope Tutorials – Discover How to Get the Most Out of Omniscope
• Discovering Visokio Viewing Options
• Basic Search Functions
• Discovering Categories
• Udemy Market Place Leader Boards: Instructors
• Udemy Market Place Leader Boards: Courses

Some of the 5 Star Review comments include:

“Very thorough information and over the shoulder views of how to use a complicated tool to get outrageous results for students and instructors-to-be (like me). If you don’t understand what is in this course, then you are working at a GREAT disadvantage. The worse part is, without this course “you don’t know what you don’t know.”” James L.

“John has done an incredible job of compiling this information. An essential tool for anyone who is planning or promoting a course on Udemy.” Joan S.

If you would like to explore Udemy in your search to become a best selling instructor, you can find the course at this link: https://jbdcolley.com/LPDIRECTORY

While we are exploring Udemy, I would like to share another free course with you.  This is again introductory and helps you with some skills in all four areas of course creation.

Online Course Creation Udemy 10 Qs Free Training Unofficial – FREE

These are the main sections:

• Udemy Course Planning
• Udemy Course Production
• Udemy Course Publication
• Udemy Course Promotion

Explore the course to see the lectures in each section. You can find this course here: https://www.udemy.com/online-course-creation-udemy-free-training-unofficial/

When you are ready to really deep dive into Online Course Creation, you should consider enrolling in and working through my main Udemy Course which offers over 20 hours and nearly 200 lectures covering the subject thoroughly.

Online Course Creation – Udemy MasterClass 2018 – Unofficial

The course is well organised into clear sections and topics,  as you can see below, making it very easy for you to find the topic you need when you need it. The sections include: 

• PLANNING: Positioning Yourself As An Expert
• PLANNING – What do you know about Udemy?
• PLANNING: Plan Your Udemy Course with the Udemy Database
• PLANNING: Understanding Your Competitors
• BONUS SECTION: EQUIPMENT AND RESOURCES CHECKLIST
• PLANNING: Topic Selection
• PLANNING – Getting the Details Right First Time
• PRODUCTION: Create Lectures in under 30 min
• PRODUCTION: Key Production Steps For Your Udemy Course
• PRODUCTION: Master Essential Copywriting Skills
• PRODUCTION: Promotional Video Optimisation
• PRODUCTION: Six Essential Udemy Lectures
• PUBLICATION: Choosing Your Category
• PUBLICATION: Evaluating Udemy Pricing Strategies
• PROMOTION – Marketing Introduction
• PROMOTION – Marketing Channels and Strategies for Udemy Instructors
• PUBLICATION: How to Price and Sell Your Courses
• PUBLICATION: Udemy SEO – Search Engine Optimisation
• PROMOTION: Promotion Strategies
• PROMOTION: How to Optimise Udemy Organic Sales in 2018
• PROMOTION – Tactics to Accelerate Sales
• PROMOTION: Create a Lead Funnel
• PROMOTION: Using Images and Automation
• PROMOTION: PROMOTING YOUR COURSE OUTSIDE OF UDEMY
• MANAGEMENT – How I Structure & Plan My Udemy Courses Business

This course has consistently been ranking at the top of udemy organic search for Online Course Creation.  With over 2,700 students enrolled and over 103 ratings, the course has been instrumental in helping instructors create and sell online courses on Udemy and elsewhere.

Some of the review comments in the many 5 Star reviews include:

“Based on what I have seen till now,it’s the best course in this area.Thanks John,for creating such a wonderful course”  Haritha R.

“I found the course to be very detailed and informative. John is engaging and obviously is very knowledgeable in the field. His explanations are clear, concise and to the point. I’m looking forward to putting this information into practice. Thank you John!” Tania M.

“Engaging! This course motivates and helps me to understand Udemy landscape and prepare to create successful courses. The instructor wants students to succeed. That is very encouraging!”  Sam O.

If you are ready to really deep dive into online course creation, then this is definitely the course to enroll in.  You can find out more by clicking on this link: https://jbdcolley.com/MASTERCLASS

Lets digress into Course Production for a moment.

Audacity Software: Audio Editing for Online Course Creation

One of the best free software packages out there for handling audio is Audacity.   As I am sure you have heard, nothing kills a course faster than poor audio tracks and Audacity is your insurance policy to prevent you falling into this trap.  It is the work of a few minutes to export your audio track from your video, optimise it in Audacity and re-import it into your video.

The course also has the advantage that it shows you how you can create an audio book or stand alone audio track of your course for your students.

• Get Started
• Getting Your Audio Book Set Up
• Get Your Chapters From Your Video Course
• Transforming Your Video Chapters into Your Audio Book Chapters
• The Importance of a Prologue
• Creating Your MP3 Chapter Files for Your Audio Book
• Compile Your Audio Book into a Single File
• The Importance of an Introductory Video
• Audacity Technical Files – Improve Your Audacity Skills

• How I turned a Course into Podcastable Episodes Easi;y

The course is consistently one of the best ranked Audacity courses in Udemy.  Among many 5 Star reviews, students have commented,

“I was looking specifically for the basics on Audacity that he covered so quickly and so well.” John W. 

“Mr John is an amazing instructor and his instruction delivery is very engaging. The course is full of valuable information which is helpful for emerging and existing instructors alike. I learned so many new things. Highly recommend this course.” Faisal Q.

“This course is well organized. The instructor speaks clearly and explains step by step which easy to follow. Recommend for the beginner.” Art

If you would like to find out more about the course, you can follow this link:  https://jbdcolley.com/LPAUDACITY

The biggest challenge of Online Course creation for instructors seems to be the PROMOTION segment of the process.  I am continually asked by other instructors how they can get more sales for their courses.  This has prompted me to create a series of specialised courses in the recent past about PROMOTION. 

The first of these is:

Online Course Creation Master Promotional Emails Fast & Easy

Udemy enables instructors to post two promotional emails a month.  So many instructors fail to take full advantage of these and when they do, their emails are not written to convert well.  This course was written to address this specific issue.  The main sections are shown below:

• The Basic Structure of a Promotional Announcement
• Learn from the Best Instructors – How Many Different Ways Can You Promote?
• Creating Effective Titles for Your Promotional Announcements
• Tips, Tricks and Tactics for More Effective Promotional Announcements
• Creative Use of Images in your Promotional Announcements
• How Effective Are Your Promotions?
• Key Questions To Answer About Promotions
• Educational Announcements – the Little Brother of Promotional Announcements
• Lets Create the Promotional Announcement For This Course
• Promotional Announcement Tests And Results

The course is full of templates and real examples of high converting emails so that you can follow these and not have to write your own from scratch.  This feature of the course is worth the cost of enrolment.

Students who have bought the course have really loved it.  Among the many 5 Star comments are:

“Another great course you made John! I am glad I got the opportunity to see more examples of educational and promotional announcement to engage more with my students. Thank you”  Samantha C.

“Lists a whole slew of terrific promo techniques and how to make them work even if you are a complete newbie to creating course promotions!” Bart H.

“Yet again, John delivers another amazing course. Very easy to follow lectures. Very responsive when it comes to student engagement. Cannot wait for his upcoming courses.” Khalid H.

If you want to supercharge your promotional emails to increase your promotional sales (97% of promotional proceeds are retained by the instructor don’t forget), then check the course out here:  https://jbdcolley.com/LPPROMOEMAIL

If you would like a taste of the course, you can also enroll in the LITE version of the course here: https://www.udemy.com/master-promotional-emails-lite/

One of the best ways to increase your income from your course sales is to sell your courses in other market places and my joint course with Dave Espino shows you how to do this on Amazon.

One of the challenges for new instructors is getting their first sales.  I have seen this question asked in Facebook groups repeatedly.  How do I get my first paid sales?

This prompted me to create this course to address the issue:

Online Course Marketing 10 Steps To First/More Paid Students

The course makes no assumptions about expertise, experience or social media presence.  It is designed to provide actionable steps for the new instructor (or an experienced instructor who wants to give his courses a boost).  The main sections include:

• Strategic Coaching – Some Initial Guidance to Set Your Course Compass
• Level 1 – Making the Pain Clear To Your Potential Student
• Level 2 Identify Your Course Keyword
• Level 3 – Getting Your First 5 Star Reviews
• Level 4: Optimising Your Automated Messages
• Level 5: Discover the Importance of Student Engagement
• Level 6: Engage with Educational Annoucements
• Level 7: Organise Your Rating and Review Engine
• Level 8: Plan Your Next Course to Discover Cross Promotion
• Level 9: Create Your Youtube Channel
• Level 10: Influencer Marketing on Facebook
• Getting on The Honour Role
• Udemy Instructor Updates and News

The course also includes an activity for every section to ensure that the instructor takes action!

Of the many 5 Star reviews, these are some of the stand out comments:

“I learned so much from this course. John is a great teacher and he really is giving very important and fantastic information that you can use to get more paid students. I recommend this course.” Kareem I.

“Helpful, valuable tips, great teaching style. My favorite course for sure!” Hannah M.

“An excellent, systematic approach to managing your course and your interaction with your students.” Mark M.

If you would like to give your course sales a boost, then definitely enroll in this course.  Don’t forget you also have to go through the lectures and complete the activities to be successful.  https://jbdcolley.com/LP10STEPS

One of the keys to success with Online Courses is to make sure that your business is organised and systematised so that you can measure and manage your portfolio of online courses.

To help you to do this, I have shared my systems and spreadsheets in this course:

Online Course Creation Systems and Strategies For More Sales

They say, if you measure it, it moves.  That is the philosophy behind this course.  I provide you with the tools I have created for managing my courses, including all the spreadsheet templates you will need.  This really is the ultimate PROMOTION course.  The main sections include:

• My Essential Udemy Key Performance Indicators
• Why You Need Daily Sales KPIs and How to Manage Them
• Discover How I Optimise My Udemy Courses to Maximise Sales
• Make The Most Of Announcements for Maximum Sales
• The Essentials of Course Structuring for Creating Courses Students Want to Take
• How to Use Sales Analysis to Sell More to Your Students
• How to Improve an Underperforming Course
• How to Increase Organic Sales by Improving Your Courses Organic Ranking
• How to Get More Ratings and Reviews – Legitimately!
• Improve Your Courses Ranking with Basic SEO
• What Happens to Private Courses?
• Creating an Effective Promotional Video
• Free Courses vs Paid Courses – Whats the Best Strategy?

As this course was only launched last week, I do not yet have any reviews.  You could be the first to rate and review the course.  All I know is that the launch is going very strongly and I am really excited about this course.

You can find out more here: https://jbdcolley.com/LPSYSTEMS

In conclusion

This Learning Path is the culmination of nearly five years hard work mastering online courses.  What I would have given for this as a resource when I was starting out.  These 13 Courses and over 130 sections.  There are over 580 lectures which contain the best content I can create for you based on my experience of creating best selling courses enjoyed by over 59,000 students.  

Don’t wait another day. Find the courses you need to become an even more successful Online Course instructor or launch you new career path today!