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Building a 'teaching' business: From slowlane to fast(er) lane.

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Jiersk

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Hey there!

Thanks for opening this thread, I hope you are doing well.

With this thread I wish to track and share my progress in a new project of mine: Becoming an online teacher/information spreader.

What subject will you teach about? Who is your audience?
The broader topic can be best classified as 'social science': a collection of scientific disciplines that study humans. This includes psychology, organizational science, sociology etc.

Roughly, the info can be divided into three categories
1) substantial topics, e.g. specific psychological concepts or organizational models,
2) methodology, e.g. how to do proper survey research or analyze your data,
3) further practices, e.g. writing papers.

(Please note, I realize that amongst academics the exact classifications of scientific disciplines is often contested and that one may be critical about my explanation of 'social sciences'. However, I used this explanation with the aim of providing an easy to understand idea of what my topics will be.)

University students that study social sciences are currently my main target demographic. I do not wish to directly compete with university, since I am not able (yet) to provide students with bachelor/masters/PhD certificates. Rather, I am aiming to provide 'supplementary' info that can help social science students at university.

What makes you think you can do this?
I have some soft and slightly harder evidence that I am at least decently good at teaching and presenting about the chosen topics. ( Whether this also carries over on video, we'll see :clench: )

My (former) fellow students would regularly ask me for advice about their assignments, some friends have even asked me for help on their thesis. I was always happy to help and really enjoyed it. A quick shoutout to @Andy Black is in place here, as he often mentions helping people in relationship to building as business.

Furthermore, I have some professional teaching experience. I have worked as a tutor for a private organization, where I taught bachelor students about the same information that I want to build this project around. The feedback I received from my students and supervisor was very positive. One compliment that really stood out to me involved one of my students saying: "why don't we get class like this at uni?".

However, now that I think back to this job: there was a huge gap between what each student paid the organization for the classes, and the pay I received.

In a way, I am moving from slow lane teaching at a job (with time-based pay etc.) to eventual fast lane teaching.

The current plan
My current plan is to do the following:

- Create informative and engaging/entertaining video's about related topics and post these on YouTube. Quick shout out to @Valier , whose incredible YouTube journey has inspired me to work on creating a YouTube as well.
- Create streamlined courses that take the students through related processes step by step. I'm planning to post these on Udemy and Skillshare first (and any other suitable platform), but with the end goal of my own website in mind.

I will attempt to create a personal brand, basically to become the go-to guy for the topics I teach.

I'll update this thread whenever I make progress, I am currently completing the collection of gear to shoot my first YouTube video. Microphone has just arrived.

Hope you guys found this first post interesting!

P.s. if you want to talk about any topics related to this, don't hesitate to shoot me a message! :)


P.p.s I mentioned the names of some other forum members. If you guys don't appreciate that, please let me know.
 
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Andy Black

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Hey there!

Thanks for opening this thread, I hope you are doing well.

With this thread I wish to track and share my progress in a new project of mine: Becoming an online teacher/information spreader.

What subject will you teach about? Who is your audience?
The broader topic can be best classified as 'social science': a collection of scientific disciplines that study humans. This includes psychology, organizational science, sociology etc.

Roughly, the info can be divided into three categories
1) substantial topics, e.g. specific psychological concepts or organizational models,
2) methodology, e.g. how to do proper survey research or analyze your data,
3) further practices, e.g. writing papers.

(Please note, I realize that amongst academics the exact classifications of scientific disciplines is often contested and that one may be critical about my explanation of 'social sciences'. However, I used this explanation with the aim of providing an easy to understand idea of what my topics will be.)

University students that study social sciences are currently my main target demographic. I do not wish to directly compete with university, since I am not able (yet) to provide students with bachelor/masters/PhD certificates. Rather, I am aiming to provide 'supplementary' info that can help social science students at university.

What makes you think you can do this?
I have some soft and slightly harder evidence that I am at least decently good at teaching and presenting about the chosen topics. ( Whether this also carries over on video, we'll see :clench: )

My (former) fellow students would regularly ask me for advice about their assignments, some friends have even asked me for help on their thesis. I was always happy to help and really enjoyed it. A quick shoutout to @Andy Black is in place here, as he often mentions helping people in relationship to building as business.

Furthermore, I have some professional teaching experience. I have worked as a tutor for a private organization, where I taught bachelor students about the same information that I want to build this project around. The feedback I received from my students and supervisor was very positive. One compliment that really stood out to me involved one of my students saying: "why don't we get class like this at uni?".

However, now that I think back to this job: there was a huge gap between what each student paid the organization for the classes, and the pay I received.

In a way, I am moving from slow lane teaching at a job (with time-based pay etc.) to eventual fast lane teaching.

The current plan
My current plan is to do the following:

- Create informative and engaging/entertaining video's about related topics and post these on YouTube. Quick shout out to @Valier , whose incredible YouTube journey has inspired me to work on creating a YouTube as well.
- Create streamlined courses that take the students through related processes step by step. I'm planning to post these on Udemy and Skillshare first (and any other suitable platform), but with the end goal of my own website in mind.

I will attempt to create a personal brand, basically to become the go-to guy for the topics I teach.

I'll update this thread whenever I make progress, I am currently completing the collection of gear to shoot my first YouTube video. Microphone has just arrived.

Hope you guys found this first post interesting!

P.s. if you want to talk about any topics related to this, don't hesitate to shoot me a message! :)


P.p.s I mentioned the names of some other forum members. If you guys don't appreciate that, please let me know.
Cool.

Maybe this chat might interest you:
 
D

Deleted74925

Guest
Hey there!

I also work as an online educator although my audience is very niche. It's a business course that people are required to take.

University students that study social sciences are currently my main target demographic. [\QUOTE]

It sounds like you already have a target audience. What worked for me was answering questions on reddit and on a professional forum. Find these people and help them now.
 
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Jiersk

Contributor
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Jun 3, 2020
36
43
Netherlands
Hey there!

I also work as an online educator although my audience is very niche. It's a business course that people are required to take.

Hey Sam! Thanks for responding to my threat. Apologies for the late response, Ive actually been spending almost all of my time creating my firat course.

How are you experiencing the online education business?
 

Jiersk

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Jun 3, 2020
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Quick update: Course is being evaluated by Udemy right now. I'll write down a longer update after it's officially posted.
 

BaiAnrui

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Hello Jiersk,

We just launched a online teaching platform on gaming an parenting.
I teach and train for some time now in real life. But by making it digital scaling is much easier.
For now we focus on the Netherlands. We are selling to consumers and working together with mental health, & welfare institutes. This to build some steady cash flow.

Our goal is to go international next year. We use the Dutch market as a test market.

Please look at our site, it is in Dutch but you maybe you get some ideas. We also have a facebook community to build our brand, very important!

 
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Jiersk

Contributor
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Jun 3, 2020
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Netherlands
Hello Jiersk,

Please look at our site, it is in Dutch but you maybe you get some ideas. We also have a facebook community to build our brand, very important!


Hey Andre,

Thanks for the reply to the thread. Quite an interesting niche you are in!

Oh, and the Dutch is no problem. Ik ben ook Nederlands (I am Dutch as well) :).

I like the look of your website, it is similar to what I have been envisioning/sketching for my own website. Would you be willing to tell me what services/softwares you used to built it? I'm a complete neophite in the realm of website creation but have looked around for some website-builder services (e.g. Thinkific, Podia etc.). If you rather keep the information to yourself I will ofcourse understand.

The facebook community is a good idea, I'll try to make a Facebook account again.
 

BaiAnrui

Bronze Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
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Jul 30, 2019
154
195
The Netherlands
Hey Andre,

Thanks for the reply to the thread. Quite an interesting niche you are in!

Oh, and the Dutch is no problem. Ik ben ook Nederlands (I am Dutch as well) :).

I like the look of your website, it is similar to what I have been envisioning/sketching for my own website. Would you be willing to tell me what services/softwares you used to built it? I'm a complete neophite in the realm of website creation but have looked around for some website-builder services (e.g. Thinkific, Podia etc.). If you rather keep the information to yourself I will ofcourse understand.

The facebook community is a good idea, I'll try to make a Facebook account again.
No problem. Let's pm
 

Jiersk

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Jun 3, 2020
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It’s been a long time since I posted here and I can finally say that

The course is finished and uploaded on Udemy.


Man, that took longer than I thought and still I’m seeing many areas where I could improve. However, it was quite a fulfilling experience.


Maybe it’s nice to lay out a bit of a chronological story of how things developed after my last post.



Gathering the gear

So, I received my microphone and started to assemble the rest of the hardware. My brother was kind enough to lend me his boompole, camera and camera stand. I only had to order a pair of softbox lights from amazon. After that it was time to build a ‘studio’ in my bedroom, which came with a complete rearrangement of the room. Eventually I settled for a shot of myself in front of my desk and a bland wall. Certainly looking to improve this.


It took some time to figure out which software packages would be best to use. Eventually I settled for OBS to do the screen recordings and Adobe premiere pro for the editing.


Recording the course

I started out doing screen recordings, just recording the screen and talking over it. This ended up in the screen recordings being done before the talking head videos were even recorded. This was not by deliberate planning, but just ‘happened’. I’m uncertain how (and if) it impacted the quality of the course.


Then, when I wanted to start recording the talking head videos, a heatwave hit. I wanted to power through it, the discomfort was worth it. However, when I looked at the test-recording, I saw that the sweat was literally pouring off of my red face. I looked like a tomato that just got rinsed. So, I decided to start editing the screen recordings I already made. The editing process was nothing fancy, just cutting out mis-spoken parts and blurring out a few parts of the screen etc. My brother also took care of the sound, making my voice sound a bit more podcasty. (I’m really thankful for his help).


After the heat settled down and the screen recordings were edited it was time to shoot the talking head parts. I have to admit that it was a bit hard to get into. At the beginning I mis-spoke a lot, to the extent where a 15 minute video could be edited down to 3 minutes. It was honestly a bit frustrating lol, got quite annoyed at myself. But, eventually it became much easier. I also learned a ‘trick’ that helps when editing: If you mis-speak, remain silent for a long time (about 5-10 seconds), that way it is easy to recognize it in the editing software because the sound ‘line’ will be flat.


The editing took longer than expected (this is a bit of a trend in this project). I think it’s mainly because I still need to learn optimal efficiency in the softwares.


One thing I really liked about Udemy so far is that they offer quite a lot of feedback to instructors. As an instructor it’s possible to send in test videos, which they then evaluate based on video quality, audio quality and delivery. So, I did that two times throughout the creation of the course.


Uploading the course

I uploaded the course earlier this week. Udemy has an evaluation process which they use to decide whether your course will be allowed on the platform or not. I nearly passed it the first time, except for one ‘issue’: my thumbnail contained text which is not allowed on the platform. So, I edited out the text and uploaded it. And yesterday the course was finally definitively approved.


Promoting the course

I am currently learning how to promote my Udemy course using coupons. One important lessons here: If you aspire to upload your first course one Udemy and also want to enroll in their newcomer challenge. Enroll BEFORE your upload the course, otherwise you are not allowed to enroll at all.
 
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Jiersk

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
119%
Jun 3, 2020
36
43
Netherlands
Small update

I have done some spreading around of free coupons. Posted them on some coupon sites, free udemy coupon facebook groups and sent them to friends.

Currently at 1133 free enrollments.

So, no revenue yet. But I believe this will help as social proof. And it's pretty cool to see to be honest. I was expecting to hit 100 at the end of the day if I'd be lucky. Guess I underestimated it.
 

Jiersk

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
119%
Jun 3, 2020
36
43
Netherlands
Finally created the Youtube channel today and added the first two videos. Still kinda figuring out what's best to do. I currently have an outro for my videos thats about 50 seconds long in which I talk about the course. Uncertain if it's too much.
 

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