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Introduction
Leila, who has written a few articles for us, was actually a successful online course creator. One of her most recent achievements was that one of her courses made over $150,000 within a year in 2023, while a few other courses made an average of about $75,000 per year since 2020. In her career as an online course creator, she had sold close to $1 million worth of online courses, all following a similar blueprint, with improvements in each course. She started in 2018, but her first two courses barely made any money, so she stopped making them until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Then, she restarted her career as an online course creator. It became a success that she didn't see coming. In early 2024, she sold her course portfolio for an undisclosed amount.
This week, we sat down with her and discussed about her success.
(This article is a summary of the interview. Only relevant parts of the interview were included.)
How Leila L. Got Started in Online Course Creation
Q: Thanks for joining us today, Leila! As a warmup, Let's start with a simple question. What got you into creating math courses? Share us some stories.
Leila: Hey! Thanks for having me! Well, my journey started with my love for math. I’ve been teaching in classrooms for over a decade after college, but you know how teachers' salaries be nowadays. (laughs). All jokes aside, I was actually preparing for a secondary income and I came across creating online courses. Everyone was in a frenzy for online courses during the pandemic.
In my heart, I also wanted to make math less intimidating and more fun for everyone. I started thinking about those moments where some of my students gave up on mathematics because of how difficult it could be for them, and if I could help more people like that through online courses, it would be satisfying for myself from a moral standpoint.
The Mind Behind Reaching $1 million in Course Sales
Q: I see. Hitting $1 million in combined course sales is remarkable. What were your first steps to make your course successful?
Leila: I didn't know what I was doing at first, but slowly, I was able to figure out and improve on my courses over time. It definitely was not easy, but once I figured things out, the growth was exponential. My first two courses in 2018 were so terrible that I had sold not more than $200 in total. They were cringe-worthy. I took a break because I got frustrated.
When the pandemic started, I was afraid to be laid off, so I tried everything I could to get back to online course creation. I jumped into online communities and social media groups, like Facebook groups for parents and Reddit forums, where students hang out, and figured out their common struggles. For example, I found that many high school students were struggling with calculus concepts. That insight led me to design my course better, specifically tackling those tricky topics directly. I even dug deeper to find which specific concepts many struggled, such as derivatives and integrals, then thought deeply about how to explain it using real-life examples.
I made the courses, and marketed it to the same people on those forums and groups. That was the first moment everything clicked.
The key here is to understand it is about THEIR STRUGGLES, not the ones you think they have.
Creating Engaging Courses
Q: After figuring out your audience, what happened next? Did everything click together?
Leila: For my more successful courses, I focused on creating a super engaging course, tailoring the content to the needs that my audience mentioned.
I didn’t want it to be just boring lectures or slides. As I said earlier, I added interactive elements like real-world problem-solving exercises, where students had to apply calculus to actual scenarios, like optimizing a business’s profit or analyzing the physics of roller coasters. I also included short clips where I explained concepts using everyday examples, which helped students see math in action.
The work and time that I had to put in for those types of courses were definitely so much more, compared to my earlier courses that only had non-stop lecturing and some PowerPoint slides. I'm also camera-shy, so I had to find ways to create videos without using my face, but only my voice. I've always been insecure since my teenage about my looks. It made it harder for me, compared to some other creators who are okay with showing their faces.
At the end of the day, it was worth putting in the effort for the high quality content, when you see students understanding your topics much easier.
Feedback showed me that these real-life examples made a huge difference in their learning experience. Some students even made the effort to email me, telling me how great it worked for them. The kind comments were not only great materials to help improve or optimize your courses, it even served as a motivation for me.
Effective Marketing Strategies for Online Courses
Q: It seems like you've also done some decent marketing, considering that you're not a field expert. Many of your courses have great results. What marketing strategies did you use that worked well?
Leila: Hmm, I must say this was something that I spent some time to learn. I did plenty of reading and researching as I did not have a background in business or marketing. But I'll save the stories for next time.
Before starting, I imagined marketing to be about making super flashy ads and post it everywhere, or maybe hire a camera crew to film celebrities promoting things. It turns out, none of that will need to happen, and there are plenty other marketing methods that are way more affordable and achievable for average people like us.
Long story short, I kept my marketing pretty straightforward but effective. It might not work for everyone, but here's what worked for me:
- Email Marketing: I built an email list by offering free resources like a “Top 10 Tips for Mastering Calculus” PDF and a series of video tutorials on common calculus problems. By the time I launched my course, I had over 2,000 subscribers who were at least somewhat interested about learning calculus and ready to sign up. Not all 2,000 bought my courses, but around 100 did. Remember the Reddit and Facebook posts about struggling with calculus? Yes, those helped me to get a head start.
- Content Marketing: I created blog posts like “5 Real-Life Applications of Calculus You Never Knew” and shared helpful tips on Instagram and TikTok. I always linked back to my course in these posts. My videos showing quick calculus hacks performed particularly well on TikTok, driving traffic to my course.
- Partnerships and Affiliates: I teamed up with other educators in the math space and set up an affiliate program. They promoted my course in exchange for some commission, while I did the same for theirs. This collaboration helped me reach a wider audience and significantly boosted my sales, especially during back-to-school season. It also helped the other educators. You will find this specifically useful only when you have a small amount of success with your courses, especially in content. I am guessing if your courses are terrible, no one would partner with you.
With all that said, these strategies will most likely work after you've found your niche. I was lucky enough to realize this before spending too much to promote my first two courses that were terrible.
Boosting Student Engagement in Online Learning
Q: I remember you're big on student engagement. How did you keep your students engaged throughout the course?
Leila: Engagement was everything for me. I think many course creators often overlook this part as they think online courses do not need much effort. Engagement has to be an ongoing effort that you take it seriously and with passion.
I wanted my students to feel like they were part of a community. So, I set up a private Discord channel where they could ask questions, share their progress, and cheer each other on. I participated in their conversations almost every day.
I also hosted monthly live problem-solving sessions using Zoom, where students could bring in their homework questions. During these sessions, I often noticed a lot of “aha!” moments, which made the effort feel so rewarding. It was getting so crowded at one point because students started to inviting their friends. I had to start charging like $10 to minimize messy situations , so that I can keep things under control.
When students feel involved and supported, they not only learn better but are also more likely to recommend the course to their friends. I had several students tell me they signed up because their friends couldn’t stop raving about how much they loved the course!
Incorporating Student Feedback for Course Improvement
Q: That’s such a great way to create a community! What kind of feedback did you get from your students, and how did you use it?
Leila: Feedback is always interesting. At first, you will have negative feedback or no feedback at all. That's usually harder, since you don't have much to work with. But slowly, you'll accumulate more feedback.
For some courses where students were less active or communicative, I sent out surveys to gather thoughts on what students liked and what could be improved. Sometimes, even sending out a simple email would do the job. As for the feedback that I got, some of it was tough to take, but it helped me a lot. For example, in my first two courses, some students said that I sounded like a robot. I think you can still see it in me. (laughs).
One of the most constructive ones was a group of students telling me how replying to their questions promptly helped with their learning. And that specifically led me to track my response time to see how long before a reply becomes too long. It helped me to understand that for my audience specifically, any reply that got delayed longer than 16 hours had a negative impact on course completion rate. Most didn't drop out immediately, but after a few times of delayed replies, they would give up.
Since then, I tried to reply to every question that I get as soon as I can, and of course, with thoughtfulness. That one change led to a noticeable increase in completion rates, and I even saw my course ratings go up!
What’s Next for Leila L. in Online Education?
Q: Amazing! Now that you’ve hit sold more than $1 million worth of courses, and sold your course portfolio, what’s next for you?
Leila: I’m looking to expand my course lineup to include advanced topics like differential equations and statistics. Especially statistics, where it could get me into a potentially larger market, because many working professionals may benefit from business statistics courses.
I also want to build a membership community where students can keep learning and access exclusive content, like guest lectures from industry professionals, or my live sessions.
Aside from that, as you know, I’m now working closely with Turion. I'm helping them with experimenting the different tools that can be helpful for engagement. We have a mutual understanding of what's important in great online courses, and they're genuinely interested in creating tools for meaningful engagement to happen in online learning. I think they see the bigger picture in online course creation.
Leila L.’s Advice for Aspiring Course Creators
Q: That sounds awesome! Lastly, what advice would you give to other creators who are getting started?
Leila: Well, if I have to recap, first, really get to know your audience. There are many ways to do that nowadays. With social media, it is now easier and cheaper to understand their struggles and create content that addresses those challenges. Sometimes, the answers that you need might just be lying there, waiting for you to find it. If you're lucky, people might even voice out their struggles on social media, which will save you trouble from reaching out.
You must also prioritize quality and engagement. If your students feel connected and see value in your courses, they’ll stick around and spread the word. If you can do this, you're already better than most course creators.
A final one would be... to have patience. Success doesn’t come overnight and there may very well be a lot of failures along the way, but with the right strategies and a lot of persistence, it will happen. Well, at least from my experience. (laughs).
End Note
Leila’s journey to $1,000,000 in course sales shows that it’s not just about delivering great content; it’s about building connections and keeping students engaged. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to ramp up your course offerings, Leila’s insights are a fantastic roadmap.
Thanks for tuning in today, and we’ll catch you next time!
To learn more about our community-based online learning, please feel free to visit Turion.