Creating a General 'Lifting Weights' Udemy Course

[Brett Beckwith]

After recently discovering Udemy, I've utilized the resource quite a bit, as I'm sure many of you have as well. However, after being on this forum and reading TMF (working on unscripted ), my entrepreneurial mindset gave the basic idea of starting my own Udemy course. I figure the nice 'passive' income could help work on capital for my eCommerce business.

The course would be over a general introduction to working out and the fitness lifestyle. Some topics would be:
- General health
- Beginner mistakes
- Common misconceptions
- The science behind muscle growth / nutrition
- How to perform movements / lifts properly
- Proper goal setting
- Meal prepping
- General macro information
- Naturally manipulating hormones
- Carbohydrate manipulation to lose fat and maintain / gain muscle
- Transitioning into powerlifting / bodybuilding
- How to properly program for yourself (in-depth)
- Supplementation
- Water intake
- Advanced / specific miscellaneous information
- On and on and on, I can go on forever. This right here is my shit.

I should note that I'm not your average gym bro who just chases an arm pump on Friday nights before hitting the bars. I'm only 19, but I have been lifting for about 9 years now. For many years, I was trained by a world champion powerlifter in my area on general strength training. About 3 years ago, I, myself, switched into powerlifting. In my first powerlifting meet, I set 3 national records (in the respective federation). Currently, I plan to easily break 4 more national records in November, then switching to a more renown federation. From this point, I plan on taking legitimate Collegiate National Records. I should note that one of these records are held by the person currently representing my weight class on Team USA, who will be competing for the world title in a few days. Oh yeah, and I'm going to take some World Records too.

The point of all that above is to not gloat but prove to you all that I know my shit and have qualifications to justify my claims (unlike the looks of other courses), which will help with marketing and my course display.

I will be looking at all other courses offered on Udemy to see what they lack or need improvement on. Gotta surpass the competition!

If this goes well, I could then move into making a powerlifting only course, considering that's my niche.

It may be helpful to note that my current coach is a world-renown powerlifter with world records and an impressive Instagram social media following (108K). He also makes educational lifting videos on YouTube (31k followers). Considering this kind of thing is his job, I wouldn't doubt that he would get involved in this somehow. However, I should note that him participating is definitely not a key variable to the success of the project, just an additional piece that could be helpful.

For as the reason to why I'm posting on here:
- It would be neat to post my progress of the project to keep me motivated
- I want your input
- I'm offering the course to all of you for the price of your feedback (prior to being on Udemy)

If a course like this interests you, type "I'm interested" below. I'll send you the course when it's complete.

Might as well plug my lifting instagram @buffbrett . Will be taking efforts to increase the following for more opportunities!

 

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[jon.M]

Will be following. Actually come from a similar background -- been doing weight training & powerlifting since I was 13. Got introduced by stepdad with several gold medals from the IPF Worlds. At one point I got coached by one of the world's top benchers (IPF). So it will definitely be interesting to see how you're moving forward.

Why are you going for Udemy?

As far as I know, you don't have much control. For example, I think you can't send students over to your personal website, YouTube channel etc. from within your courses. You can only include a "bonus lecture" on the end of a course, to give students a sneak peek at a new course you're launching.

You mentioned that you'd cover topics such as naturally manipulating hormones and carbohydrate manipulation to lose fat and maintain / gain muscle. These are quite advanced subjects and a lot of the information about it online is "bro". What qualifies you to teach about this?

Who will you be building the course for? Average Joes? Will they care about a complete, in-depth course on fitness, or do they really want a simple solution such as Weight Watchers, BodyPump or the newest diet fad? Is it a course they want?

Just a few questions to make you think. You need to think about your prospects, what they want and are willing to pay for. Not only about that you're qualified and know your shit. Maybe you, as a long-time fitness person perceive the curriculum of your course as way more valuable than the XXX type of person you're targeting.

If I were to do this, I'd personally aim to build a personal brand on all popular social media platforms and create multiple courses on my own ground. Then I could sell however I want. I'd build an email list. I'd upsell students to take more courses. Maybe incorporate some kind of paid subscriptions. I'd target people who are just like myself, because then I'll know what they want.

It'd require some more legwork but then I'd at least play to win, not to make $260 a month.

 

[JacobJ]

Hi Brett,

Take a look on this page on how creating a Wordpress e-course. With Udemy you have a broad audience but limited control and limited revenue. I saw a YouTube video on a top instructor lately who is making an average of $5 profit on each sold course. This might be okay if you sell a lot but within your own control you can make a lot more.

Good luck!

 

[arfadugus]

I was also coached by champions in powerlifting and natural bodybuilding. (3Dmusclejourney) And you really need to stand out and offer something that isn't already out there. Yes there is plenty of good health and fitness information out there you just have to find it. I'm catering my nutrition and powerlifting knowledge to vegans and helping vegans who want to build muscle and/ or lose fat. I think a Udemy course could be a good idea if the same info isn't already on there. Not sure if you could make much money from that alone though. You may want to Target people who want to become elite lifters and have already been lifting for a while. It could be a less crowded space and you could charge more for your expertise.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Udemy sucks for the most part.

It generates passive income if you have a topic people are thirsty for AND if your course is one of the best.



The top monthly revenue for weight lifting is $31 and Udemy takes a big cut of that. Does that seem like a "nice passive income" to you?

It gets a little better if your courses are about "body building" at $117. But again, that's the TOP monthly revenue -- which goes to the BEST courses with the BIGGEST audiences who spend time doing NOT passive things to get people to their course.



If you go this route (and this is based on experience) you can expect:

1) To make a little bit of passive income
2) To spend a lot of time producing course after course if you want to grow
3) To spend a lot of time building an audience and promoting courses if you want to make money
4) Giving most of your money to Udemy if you want it to be passive
5) Not making much money for the first 1-2 years, and then making a lower middle-class income after that assuming you built an audience during that time.

I have 3 courses generating passive income with over 300 students. But I have 1400+ YT followers, 500+ people on my mailing list, and a bunch of people around here recommending those courses. I make $300 - $350 a month passively from all of that and my courses regularly rank higher than Seth Godin's on the same subjects. Also I published over 200 videos on YT and spent the last 3-4 years getting better at talking on camera. The courses take a minimum of half a month to create.

So if you're going to create courses, I would seriously ask yourself if Udemy is the best use of your time. Because it can just as easily trap you into a lot of work for very little return.

But if you just want to make a couple hundred bucks extra each month, it might be worth it for you. Especially if you can tap into that audience of 31,000. But if you do that, you should expect to give up an additional portion of your profits to the promoter, even if he is your instructor. That's how you create value.

Still, if you really believe you can create an awesome training on this subject, I personally wouldn't recommend Udemy as the way to go. Put it on teachable, set the price higher, tap into the power of social influencers, and share some of the profits while making both yourself and others a much higher return than you'll make on Udemy.

 

[Brett Beckwith]

You mentioned that you'd cover topics such as naturally manipulating hormones and carbohydrate manipulation to lose fat and maintain / gain muscle. These are quite advanced subjects and a lot of the information about it online is "bro". What qualifies you to teach about this?

Who will you be building the course for? Average Joes? Will they care about a complete, in-depth course on fitness, or do they really want a simple solution such as Weight Watchers, BodyPump or the newest diet fad? Is it a course they want?

Just a few questions to make you think. You need to think about your prospects, what they want and are willing to pay for. Not only about that you're qualified and know your sh*t. Maybe you, as a long-time fitness person perceive the curriculum of your course as way more valuable than the XXX type of person you're targeting.

If I were to do this, I'd personally aim to build a personal brand on all popular social media platforms and create multiple courses on my own ground. Then I could sell however I want. I'd build an email list. I'd upsell students to take more courses. Maybe incorporate some kind of paid subscriptions. I'd target people who are just like myself, because then I'll know what they want.

It'd require some more legwork but then I'd at least play to win, not to make $260 a month.

On manipulating hormones, it wouldn't be as much "here is the superfood that naturally increases your testosterone 300%!" but rather talking against that and providing the reality behind it. I naturally myself don't make an effort to manipulate testosterone levels, and as you said, a lot of info online is "bro." With this said, it may be best to leave it out.

On carbohydrate manipulation, that is simply manipulating the insulin hormone, which is a different story. I do know more about this and it's more of a credible topic online.

However, both come back to your next point of who will I be building this course for. Depending on who I actually decide on targeting, I may or may not even need to bring up the complexity of insulin manipulation. Most likely, it would be for beginner / intermediate lifters, for I feel that my knowledge on advanced subjects still have some holes (which can be filled eventually). Not to mention, I know a lot more people who want to lift or do lift but not correctly, than people who actually know what they're doing.

When it comes to building courses on my own grounds, as I read other people's replies on here, I believe that would be a better idea.

These are all very helpful points. Thanks!

 

[Brett Beckwith]

Hi Brett,

Take a look on this page on how creating a Wordpress e-course. With Udemy you have a broad audience but limited control and limited revenue. I saw a YouTube video on a top instructor lately who is making an average of $5 profit on each sold course. This might be okay if you sell a lot but within your own control you can make a lot more.

Good luck!

I've skimmed through this quick and it looks incredibly helpful. Thank you!

 

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[Brett Beckwith]

Udemy sucks for the most part.

It generates passive income if you have a topic people are thirsty for AND if your course is one of the best.

View attachment 19711

The top monthly revenue for weight lifting is $31 and Udemy takes a big cut of that. Does that seem like a "nice passive income" to you?

It gets a little better if your courses are about "body building" at $117. But again, that's the TOP monthly revenue -- which goes to the BEST courses with the BIGGEST audiences who spend time doing NOT passive things to get people to their course.

View attachment 19712

If you go this route (and this is based on experience) you can expect:

1) To make a little bit of passive income
2) To spend a lot of time producing course after course if you want to grow
3) To spend a lot of time building an audience and promoting courses if you want to make money
4) Giving most of your money to Udemy if you want it to be passive
5) Not making much money for the first 1-2 years, and then making a lower middle-class income after that assuming you built an audience during that time.

I have 3 courses generating passive income with over 300 students. But I have 1400+ YT followers, 500+ people on my mailing list, and a bunch of people around here recommending those courses. I make $300 - $350 a month passively from all of that and my courses regularly rank higher than Seth Godin's on the same subjects. Also I published over 200 videos on YT and spent the last 3-4 years getting better at talking on camera. The courses take a minimum of half a month to create.

So if you're going to create courses, I would seriously ask yourself if Udemy is the best use of your time. Because it can just as easily trap you into a lot of work for very little return.

But if you just want to make a couple hundred bucks extra each month, it might be worth it for you. Especially if you can tap into that audience of 31,000. But if you do that, you should expect to give up an additional portion of your profits to the promoter, even if he is your instructor. That's how you create value.

Still, if you really believe you can create an awesome training on this subject, I personally wouldn't recommend Udemy as the way to go. Put it on teachable, set the price higher, tap into the power of social influencers, and share some of the profits while making both yourself and others a much higher return than you'll make on Udemy.

After reading this and the other replies, I've started to realize that Udemy is not a very good site to use for this. I will be looking into teachable and using my own platform.

Thanks for your input! Definitely an eye opener on the true profits around this sort of deal.

 

[SoftStone]

From what I‘ve heard, udemy is not a great option when it comes to online courses that you really want to profit from. I want to state that I have no experience launching on udemy, just reciting what I have heard about it.

Have a look at this video:

View: https://youtu.be/NobQXZxjIvs


Maybe building up an audience, while you would make a low income in the first one or two years, as stated by @Lex DeVille would pay out later (That’s what I chose to do).

Anyway, good luck and keep us updated on your progress!

 

[rogue synthetic]

Selling fitness information is never about selling fitness information. It isn't even about getting people results.

Information is cheap, generic, and widely available. The odds that you're bringing something new to this space are zero.

Results? How many personal trainers get results? Most all of them. (This is because hardly anyone measures results and most everyone who works with a trainer is "happy" enough to leave a glowing review.) You say you aren't a personal trainer? Your market doesn't feel that way.

For these reasons plus all the reasons mentioned above, this probably isn't a great idea, with one exception.

Making it in "fitness" is 100% about brand and image. If you forget that for one second you will crash and burn.

If you're using the course as part of an audience-building strategy, well, it might work, but you might have more luck just using the usual social-media and blogging/podcasting routes.

 

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[SoftStone]

Selling fitness information is never about selling fitness information. It isn't even about getting people results.

Information is cheap, generic, and widely available. The odds that you're bringing something new to this space are zero.

Results? How many personal trainers get results? Most all of them. (This is because hardly anyone measures results and most everyone who works with a trainer is "happy" enough to leave a glowing review.) You say you aren't a personal trainer? Your market doesn't feel that way.

For these reasons plus all the reasons mentioned above, this probably isn't a great idea, with one exception.

Making it in "fitness" is 100% about brand and image. If you forget that for one second you will crash and burn.

If you're using the course as part of an audience-building strategy, well, it might work, but you might have more luck just using the usual social-media and blogging/podcasting routes.

Yes, information is cheap and widely available, but oftentimes very spread throughout websites, books and podcasts. Few people take the time to go through all of them. When selling an online course, you‘re not selling the long road, but the shortcut and the convenient packaging of that information.

 

[Brett Beckwith]

Yes, information is cheap and widely available, but oftentimes very spread throughout websites, books and podcasts. Few people take the time to go through all of them. When selling an online course, you‘re not selling the long road, but the shortcut and the convenient packaging of that information.

The exact thought I had. Most resources I find online are incredibly varied. I find these resources valuable because I have a base to work off of, avoiding confusion or more questions stemming from the blog or video. This is not the case for people that don't know anything; they read one thing and don't understand that, so they have to go research that, which leads to to more unfamiliar and intimidating diction, and an eventual "f that." If I can make the process of transitioning into the fitness world as easy as possible, while being legitimate, I feel it would be a valuable resource to others.

 

[lowtek]

Udemy sucks for the most part.

It generates passive income if you have a topic people are thirsty for AND if your course is one of the best.

View attachment 19711

The top monthly revenue for weight lifting is $31 and Udemy takes a big cut of that. Does that seem like a "nice passive income" to you?

It gets a little better if your courses are about "body building" at $117. But again, that's the TOP monthly revenue -- which goes to the BEST courses with the BIGGEST audiences who spend time doing NOT passive things to get people to their course.

View attachment 19712

.....

How did you find the average revenue for the topic?

I'm doing a paid course for a publisher now, and their process is grueling. I'm looking into other options for my next course and was considering Udemy, but your advice makes me think twice.

 

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[Raoul Duke]

How did you find the average revenue for the topic?

I'm doing a paid course for a publisher now, and their process is grueling. I'm looking into other options for my next course and was considering Udemy, but your advice makes me think twice.

https://business.udemy.com/pricing/

Enterprise Plan. Udemy Insights.

 

[Brett Beckwith]

Update:

I've thought a lot about this project, I've listened to your input, and I've read farther into Unscripted .

Creating a course like this would require a large time devotion. Even though it is summer time for me, I have plenty of productive things to do all day--things that I wish I had more time in the day for. Primarily, it would be working on my eCommerce business, learning as much as I can about that industry, and reading for general knowledge, such as Unscripted and other books from the fastlane bookstore. Not to mention, I do have an online course to attend to and other general stuff that no one will care about. For as what you can draw from this, the biggest struggle for creating this course would be time--time that I am not currently ready to trade for making a fitness course. In terms of opportunity cost, I feel that my time invested into my current endeavors would prove a larger beneficiary than working on the course. The eCommerce business has a much larger potential to generate high income than the course. If I were to spend the time making the course instead of growing my eCommerce business, I feel that I would be losing out on possible money.

It is also VERY important to mention that I am incredibly busy during my time at college. I am definitely busy enough as is with my classes, research, and lifting. Throwing in a business to manage during the school year is going to prove a challenge as is, but trying to make a course on top of that just wouldn't work out purely on the factor of time. So, I would rather make sure my eCommerce business is ready and up to go, selling product, by the time I get to college, than working on a course that would just get postponed to another time.

I should note that I was originally making the course for two reasons: to build capital for the eCommerce business, and to satisfy selfish needs of somehow being involved in the fitness industry. For one, my capital is fine as is. Obviously more is better, but I have more than enough to launch a few products. Secondly, succeeding in the fitness industry is a shot in the dark. You truly need to brand yourself to make any indent in the market. I feel that I could not brand myself successfully in current time. As of now, I do have impressive lifts, and in the future I will have some very prestigious titles. Emphasis on in the future because I don't have the credentials yet! How am I supposed to advertise "future world record holder." People may be able to draw the connection that "hey, this kid is going somewhere," but that doesn't happen often. All in all, I feel that doing this in the future for pure enjoyment and not worrying about income would prove more rewarding to me than ruining the love I have for the lifestyle to make a quick buck.

With this being said, I do not plan on making the course in current time. However, I do plan on doing it eventually, when the time is right! So in the meantime, I plan on starting some type of blog for the sake of enjoyment and relief from everything else in life and to build my brand to be better prepared when the time comes.

Thank you all for your input so far. Hope to hear what you have to say about this.

 

[Michael Bavarian]

Didn´t read all the answers here, but you remind me exactly of the anecdote of MJ in UNSCRIPTED where a young guy wants to be a fitness guru. Find this passage in the book and let his message sink in.

 

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[The_Saphir]

I think that @Lex DeVille put it well for you.

If you want to reach a specific audience and get yourself known, Udemy might be a good fit.

If you're doing it for a steady and juicy income, your return on time and effort won't be satisfying.

What about giving some kind of intro to your course through Udemy's audience (people that are eager to learn) so they know and search for you?

By doing so they will find a more detailed and complete course on another platform where you can have more control and of course money .

Hope it helps.

P.S: I'm interested in the manipulating hormone stuff

 

[Brett Beckwith]

Didn´t read all the answers here, but you remind me exactly of the anecdote of MJ in UNSCRIPTED where a young guy wants to be a fitness guru. Find this passage in the book and let his message sink in.

Read my last update. I feel being a "fitness guru" wouldn't be an appropriate title for what I'm trying to do-all gurus are "teachers" but not all teachers are "gurus." If anything, the course would have an aim of knocking down the views of fitness gurus and correcting them. However, I know what part you're talking about, I just got to it last night. As I state above, it would likely work better to save for a time in which the success of the course wouldn't matter as much as just the joy of making it.

 

[Rawseed]

So you're the dude in Chapter 35 of Unscripted . Nice to meet you.

All jokes aside, your course is not needed.

Information is not the problem. Everyone knows how to get swole or get lean. It's just that nobody wants to do the work.

Instead of the course you want to do, come up with a course, system, process, service, or product that gets people to execute. If you can get people to eat properly and workout consistently, you'll be a billionaire.

Teaching => Commodity (Unless you have a great brand)
Behavior Change => Productocracy

 

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[Brett Beckwith]

Please read above, I've already made a comment in regards to Chapter 35. Just because it's something that everyone wants to do, it doesn't mean it should be avoided entirely. If I can build my presence in the fitness community, and not just be a gym bro, then I will have credibility and a large following to sell what I end up on deciding (leaning away from an online course), which is why I'm waiting to do anything until my brand is built. If you can make your service, product, etc. better than everyone else's, then saturation should indicate an opportunity rather than a closed gate.

I disagree that "everyone knows how to get swole or lean," but I do agree that getting people to execute is a solid idea. Imagine if the system I sell has not only 'everything you need to know to get started,' but also a portion in the beginning as to why one should listen and act (the behavior change). People love easy things, so I would try and make it as easy for them as possible to get into the fitness lifestyle by providing them with everything they need.

I like that idea, thanks for the input. I think making it more about "why" rather than "how" is a good approach.