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Who buys courses?

Ing

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There are 1000s oc courses online out there.
About everything.
But do really a relevant amount of people buy them?

As I m at FB sometimes, I m allways annoyed about the courses selling advertisement, I thought about doing that myself.
And offering affiliate courses and apply them only at facebook.

so I ask myself: does really anyone buy these courses? About getting rich, getting girls, getting light...
 
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Andy Black

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If you were to sell a course then what would you do, and why?

Selling courses because ads annoy you isn’t a great reason. What’s your why?
 

Benji90

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I buy Udemy courses, they tend to be great value and a great introduction to a topic to see if you want to commit to said topic before you spend a great deal of time/money.

I bought a Tai Lopez course from Facebook (the guy is a master at omnipresence) as it was $39 I think, other than that no.

If you want to sell a course then I'd suggest you go through the route of getting a Facebook group and offering great value to them, use them as a test group, then sell using ads if you get good feedback on your free value/course.

What is it that you do?
 
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Ing

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If you were to sell a course then what would you do, and why?

Selling courses because ads annoy you isn’t a great reason. What’s your why?

I plead guilty.

well I think, what nickgraham wrote and than thought, if people want it, I ll sell then.
To test affiliates. But I cant really believe people buy online courses.

I know your op, which I share. So wheater its a good idea to offer an affiliate course for growing rich? I don’t know. But 50 % comission lures.

To answer your question directly: to earn money!!
To answer correct it must be : to help people.
So I reformulate my question:
Do these courses really help people or are the mostly scam?
 

Andy Black

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Do these courses really help people or are the mostly scam?
That's a better question, however, I don't know what courses you're referring to, and I don't think it's relevant anyway (i.e. who cares what others are doing, can *you* add value and get paid).


Better questions to ask yourself:
  1. Can I create a course that helps people?
  2. Can I get people to buy it?



Here's the marketplace ad for my course:


Here's @Lex DeVille 's marketplace ad for some of his courses:

If you're an INSIDERS then you can follow 5 pages of Lex's brilliant Udemy progress thread:
 
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Andy Black

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OK... to answer the question in your title...

"Who buys courses?"

People who think the course is worth more than it's price, and who want it *now*.

Why do they think it's worth more than the price? Lots of reasons. I personally like the ROI argument - "pay X for this course and be able to earn Y".

Why now? Lots of reasons. I personally like the reason that they need the results from the course now or soon, and not that some countdown timer or other scarcity tactic nudged them into buying.
 

TonyStark

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Nobody got rich from a course.

I honestly feel like courses are the knew action-faking/mental masturbation model.

You think you’re going to get rich being spoon fed information? Pfft...

Get out there and produce.
 

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If your basics is on point, then no need to buy online course.

Before Buying online courses, make sure your problem has to be Crystal Clear and Be Determine that I will go through of it and dig deep!
Ask yourself: Is it "worthy" to invest in this course? & what is the best possible ROI when I do this?

1 Thing I have learned that, When Buy Online Courses = It helps to get rid of Shiny Object Syndrome (It worked for me)
&
There is One Best Part about Buying Online Courses = You Can get to like Minded People in Community & There is a chance possibly to meet the next business/JV partner or something like that!
 
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Here

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I buy courses. I’ve benefitted tons. But I know how to evaluate them & only buy from an expert who’s truly in it to be helpful.

I own most of Lex’s courses because he ticks the boxes. I didn’t buy them to make Lex wealthy, I bought them to learn new skills.

Courses and action faking aren’t synonymous. Looking to start a business without spending a dime isn’t always a good idea.
 

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Yes I have spent 100$s on particular niche courses related to the different stages and aspects of electronic music production.
The quality of these is variable but its usually quite easy to tell from the promo material whether something is going to be worth your while.

Also one thing i've come to find is that $ doesnt always reflect what you will get from a course as there are always particular aspects of a skill that you may have overlooked.

Anyway yes I would say online courses can still offer good value even in a saturated and variable quality environment like the internet.
 

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I wouldn't be here without courses. If you know how to sell to your demographic - the competition doesn't matter.
 
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Fox

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Millions of people buy courses.

I bought a $5k course last week myself.

Over the last few years, I have learned to video edit, rank YT videos, how to sell, copywriting, create websites, and much more all through online courses.

Most of these would have been much harder/nearly impossible to learn without courses since I don't know anyone offline who could have shown me in person to that level of detail.

Some courses are scams sure but of course not all. It is just information packaged differently.
They get a bad rep cause the percentage of people selling low-quality courses are super vocal about it (ads). But there are 1000s of amazing courses out there if you know how to find them.

How to get value from a course:
- actually have a real problem that needs to be solved
- go find a real expert on the topic who has a great course on this
- take the course and actually finish it
- apply what you learned
- don't expect it to change your life, you still have to put in tons of work

Where most people go wrong is:
- they buy a course they didn't even need
- it isn't made by an expert
- they don't finish it
- they definitely don't apply what they learned
- they expect the act of buying a course to have an impact by itself

Something like only 5% of people finishes your typical course.

As formal education becomes more of an overpriced joke the online course industry will continue to expand. There will be plenty of opportunities there for people who can actually produce great courses that can help in a high-value way and can build the trust and results to market it.
 

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Simple answer is Yes.

I tepidly bought my first online course in April and after putting it into practice I achieved a massive milestone, where I never in a million miles thought would get to. What was paid was way less than the value it gave and I am now a online course junkie.

Since then, my TV contract has been replaced with Udemy courses. They are cheap, concise and really effective.

Personally I love when people say, "yeah but everything is on youtube, online courses are a waste of money". I totally agree with them everything is there. The question is, do you have all the time in the world to do the research, assemble all the information, filter through the shite and sit through all the ads. Thankfully that is not a luxury I can afford anymore.

The online courses do this work for me and teach it in a concise and logical way (80% of the time). Yes I usually end up with more questions than before starting but guess what, there are more courses to build up upon that knowledge. It is the most efficient way to mastery as long as you put it into practice and remain dedicated. What will be a really exciting feeling, is when there is nothing left to learn and yet there are still a mission questions remaining. Then you are on a leading edge and can begin to innovate answers or better solutions to your own questions.

I split online courses into three categories:
  1. Direct impact on what I need to achieve and put directly into practice (Difficult & Challenging)
  2. Direct impact on what I need to achieve and put directly into practice only when I need a break (Easy & Fun)
  3. Direct or Indirect to what I want to achieve but builds knowledge, satisfies curiosity that maybe I cannot put into practice yet but broadens my mind and understanding. (Used during a mong (chill) session on the couch or during a work out).
Tip: When stepping up your knowledge, always read the 3 stars or less. There is a higher concentration of intelligent/experienced people who didn't find the value in what the course promised. Therefore they already talk the talk, and walk the walk before starting a course and can explain better what was missing. Then make your decision.

Conclusion: I could find a course in a local school/evening class and sign up to learn Coding on Monday, Spanish on Tuesday, business administration Wednesday etc. for the next 2-4 years in the confidence that I am learning outdated techniques at a snails pace or....
 
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Ing

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WOW, Thanks!

What do you think about courses about not ecommerce areas? For example, when I make a course how to install a zylinder on a motor? Can this be sold, too?
 

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WOW, Thanks!

What do you think about courses about not ecommerce areas? For example, when I make a course how to install a zylinder on a motor? Can this be sold, too?

Sure I guess haha, but you are entering a niche market as people who tinker around with their cars in that way do it as a hobby or because simply because they like it or want to save money.

Do you know haynes car manuals? Their Online manual services now include videos also.


This site misses the mass market (niche) because most people (like me) do not want to make a problem worse, or are scared about something going terribly wrong at high speed on the autobahn.

So can you improve upon the above website's serivces? Or,
Could you possibly make a set of generic maintenance videos that anyone can do at home, which are low risk and saves them money? If it is easy, safe and cheap people may invest in a course about simple car maintenance techniques.
Again, Yes you can find everything on youTube but has anyone put all the facts and techniques together in a nice bundle, with video teaching, Q&A sections and sold it online?

A quick Google should tell you the rest. Wish I was handier with cars now haha.
 

GrandRub

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I’d imagine it’s a huge market, other wise there wouldn’t be so many ads for them.
Margin is very very high... if you sell 3 or 4 courses per month many people are happy + you have 4 people lured in for upsells,crossells,whateversells.
 
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Millions of people buy courses.

I bought a $5k course last week myself.

Over the last few years, I have learned to video edit, rank YT videos, how to sell, copywriting, create websites, and much more all through online courses.

Most of these would have been much harder/nearly impossible to learn without courses since I don't know anyone offline who could have shown me in person to that level of detail.

Some courses are scams sure but of course not all. It is just information packaged differently.
They get a bad rep cause the percentage of people selling low-quality courses are super vocal about it (ads). But there are 1000s of amazing courses out there if you know how to find them.

How to get value from a course:
- actually have a real problem that needs to be solved
- go find a real expert on the topic who has a great course on this
- take the course and actually finish it
- apply what you learned
- don't expect it to change your life, you still have to put in tons of work

Where most people go wrong is:
- they buy a course they didn't even need
- it isn't made by an expert
- they don't finish it
- they definitely don't apply what they learned
- they expect the act of buying a course to have an impact by itself

Something like only 5% of people finishes your typical course.

As formal education becomes more of an overpriced joke the online course industry will continue to expand. There will be plenty of opportunities there for people who can actually produce great courses that can help in a high-value way and can build the trust and results to market it.

Hey @Fox, do you use Udemy or any platform in particular that you would recommend? Especially for things like video editing and ranking on YT, grow channel etc.
 

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Hey @Fox, do you use Udemy or any platform in particular that you would recommend? Especially for things like video editing and ranking on YT, grow channel etc.

Ya Udemy is decent and there are some great courses on there.

Nowadays I buy directly most of the time though. I look at who is the best within a niche and then who has a solid course/program to offer.

Most of these people actually have a ton of free content already that also works. I would be wary of someone without good free content as it usually means their program is nonsense.

Use as much free content as you like to get a feel for if it's effective and then consider the course. With a course, you are paying more for a system with structure rather than "secret" content. It is just basically to save you time.

So start with a specific problem > find the best sources of free content you can > test the different free content they give out > go with the person who has a good rep + the best free content that you are already getting some results with.

Just don't rush in and don't watch webinars and you'll cut out 95% of the nonsense.
 
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Andy Black

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Ya Udemy is decent and there are some great courses on there.

Nowadays I buy directly most of the time though. I look at who is the best within a niche and then who has a solid course/program to offer.

Most of these people actually have a ton of free content already that also works. I would be wary of someone without good free content as it usually means their program is nonsense.

Use as much free content as you like to get a feel for if it's effective and then consider the course. With a course, you are paying more for a system with structure rather than "secret" content. It is just basically to save you time.

So start with a specific problem > find the best sources of free content you can > test the different free content they give out > go with the person who has a good rep + the best free content that you are already getting some results with.

Just don't rush in and don't watch webinars and you'll cut out 95% of the nonsense.
Lol. I have a friend who has an email filter to delete any incoming email that contains “webinar“.

Good advice @Fox.

I buy the occasional course and have quite a few in my Udemy library now. I sometimes buy courses outside of Udemy, but they’re never that expensive.
 

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Ive bought plenty of courses, some costing thousands of dollars.

Some courses are great and worth every penny, some not so much. Udemy is a mixed bag. Some of the courses on there could sell for hundreds of dollars if they released them on their own, others are horrible.
 

Ing

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Sure I guess haha, but you are entering a niche market as people who tinker around with their cars in that way do it as a hobby or because simply because they like it or want to save money.

Do you know haynes car manuals? Their Online manual services now include videos also.


This site misses the mass market (niche) because most people (like me) do not want to make a problem worse, or are scared about something going terribly wrong at high speed on the autobahn.

So can you improve upon the above website's serivces? Or,
Could you possibly make a set of generic maintenance videos that anyone can do at home, which are low risk and saves them money? If it is easy, safe and cheap people may invest in a course about simple car maintenance techniques.
Again, Yes you can find everything on youTube but has anyone put all the facts and techniques together in a nice bundle, with video teaching, Q&A sections and sold it online?

A quick Google should tell you the rest. Wish I was handier with cars now haha.
thanks for your assessment. I think of popular bikes for young people.
And I m affraid, that the only way to do that is to make a youtube chanel video and gige it for free. My son wanted to do that and so Im in with him. Maybe in a dead end.
 
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nickgraham1234

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Margin is very very high... if you sell 3 or 4 courses per month many people are happy + you have 4 people lured in for upsells,crossells,whateversells.
Exactly. With some of these courses being 1k+ they really only need a couple of conversions. High ticket and it’s a digital course so no cost after the initial creation
 

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There are 1000s oc courses online out there.
About everything.
But do really a relevant amount of people buy them?

As I m at FB sometimes, I m allways annoyed about the courses selling advertisement, I thought about doing that myself.
And offering affiliate courses and apply them only at facebook.

so I ask myself: does really anyone buy these courses? About getting rich, getting girls, getting light...
I love online courses. I buy and take several different kinds of classes.
I take as much of my continuing ed required for my licenses as I can online. I took a free one last night and I've already sent the certificate off to the State this morning. I hate to go sit through a "live" class -- boring. But, sometimes it's required. That's when I take an online class while sitting in the "live" one. It doubles the value of my time.
I like classes, videos, and books (written and audio) that teach me something new.
A lot of times, I don't have the time, desire, nor the resources, to assemble and array data sets. It's worth paying a little to have someone else do it. I like graphics and infographics for quick reference guides. A picture is worth a thousand words. The backdrop on how they put the report together is not that important -- unless it affects the assumptions and/or conclusions.
The other situation where I like classes and books is a step-by-step plan for how to do something. I like to start and stop as I work through the task. And sometimes I need to back up and try one of the steps again.
I love audiobooks. I keep one playing most of my day while I'm doing my chores and jobs. They are all non-fiction and most have good information. I buy some of them each week. If I don't like one, or if I lose interest, I just go on to the next book waiting for me on my Kindall. No great loss.
I love to google words and ideas. I can get a quick answer to a whole range of questions for free. And links to different resources.
As you can see, I love to learn and online classes are just one resource for me.
 

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I make 10K per month selling Online Courses.

And that is in Germany !

So I think there are enough people who buy courses :)

Why do my clients buy?

1) They have a desire.
2) My courses show them a shortcut to achieve it.
3) They buy the course because it is a "system" and they don't have to search Google to put things together...

And maybe because I am a good salesman :)

I am NOT in the "Get rich quick" or "Make Money Online" Niche. I sell courses about Writing, Blogging and SEO.

Actually my bestselling courses are not about "making money" - maybe Germans are very skeptic there. My bestselling Course is about "How to Start a Blog."

Best regards from Germany,

Walter
 
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I think courses are brilliant because they can provide focused knowledge in a complete package that stands alone and doesn't require you to spend hours or even days hunting out relevant info from all four corners of the web.

But I think a course's value is wholly dependant on how well they provide the answers the customer is looking for. Too many courses try to cover too much ground rather than focusing in on a specific area and really going deep. I'm not saying that's wrong entirely but many people buy courses for in-depth info, not stuff they could easily find in a quick YouTube search. There is a lot of scope for breaking down a subject and creating many courses on specific needs which I think is what @Lex DeVille is doing.

And I also think many courses are under-priced and that is a big mistake on several levels. Mostly because people, rightly or wrongly, judge the quality of a product by it's price. Especially on the Web as its non-tactile, you can't get your hands on it. 'A low price? Meh, got to be rubbish, move on and find a better one'.

Or someone will buy on a whim because it is cheap, not because it really fulfils their actual need. Like picking something off the end of an aisle at the supermarket.

My second reason I think many courses are pitched too low is there is a direct correlation with the cost and completion. The more a course costs you the more invested you are in it, so the more inclined you are to see it through to completion. Both parties (seller and consumer) should want that, right?

I remember a thread here were someone said they had 'acquired' a very expensive course. When I enquired as to how good it was it turns out they had never even bothered to open it. No skin in the game meant they didn't even make it onto the pitch.
 

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And I also think many courses are under-priced and that is a big mistake on several levels. Mostly because people, rightly or wrongly, judge the quality of a product by it's price. Especially on the Web as its non-tactile, you can't get your hands on it. 'A low price? Meh, got to be rubbish, move on and find a better one'.

Part of it depends on the context for the potential buyer. On Udemy there's an expectation of low price, low value. People go into it for tidbits of insight or to get enough to get moving.

When I buy from Udemy it's because I want an introduction without reading a 300 page book or sifting through blogs. The info is out there, but I want it summarized. If there are useful insights, even better.

I get a lot of students on Udemy, but the trade-off is that I don't make a lot of money. Right now I'm breaking into the $2k/mo range with 11 courses after two years. If I had the same amount of students in my high-ticket courses, I'd be at $10 million.

If you've got something that's niched down and high-value, then high-ticket courses is the way to go. It would only take 10 students enrolling in my old $2,500 courses to generate the entirety of my Udemy earnings (from 4,000 students) to date.

But...high-ticket courses aren't as passive. So there is that to consider.
 

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