How to become an online course producer. Part 2
Now let's learn to compare two business models and understand their differences, as well as which one is better.
When you choose a business niche, you choose your destiny.
Our task is to determine where “tennis” is and where “shot put” is.
For me, as an entrepreneur, the main factor when choosing a business is scalability. I always ask the question: "What needs to be done to grow 100 times?"
If the answer is, "Buy more advertising," it means you have a scalable business because you don't need to hire more people.
In an SMM agency, scaling requires bringing in new employees, which reduces the business's margins. In the end, everyone but the agency owner earns.
In online courses, scalability is achieved through advertising. You create a course once and can then sell it 100, 1,000, or even 10,000 times.
Service businesses require a lot of work and bring in little money because you help people one unit at a time.
On the other hand, digital products earn more money and require less work, as you can help many people at the same time.
Right now, you are reading this guide. It’s likely that 100 other people are reading it at the same time.
The second criterion for me in choosing a business is the work schedule.
When you provide services, clients expect you to be online 24/7.
SMM specialists often fall into an illusion. They think that freelancing will look like a picture, but in reality, they spend whole days at the computer doing work.
I remember well the times when I did 3D rendering. You get a call at 10 PM saying, "Anton, there's a meeting with the client tomorrow; we need the images by morning," and you sit there working all night.
Over time, freelancers burn out and become nervous.
When I sell courses as an expert or producer, I choose when to work and when to rest. I'm not saying you won't work; I'm just noting that you choose when to do it.
I can launch a course in September and sell 100 courses at $500 each, and then take the whole month of October off. In a service business, this is impossible.
The third criterion is the creative aspect.
We live in an era of content creators. We want to express ourselves and don’t want to do shitty work.
I remember well when I created 3D renders for ugly designs. It disgusted me, but I needed to earn money to pay the bills.
When I started selling courses, I could market the way I wanted. I became my own boss.
For example, I could now write "Fuck you, asshole," and nothing would happen to me for it.
Try writing something like that on your clients' pages :)
In the service sector, you often face difficult clients. You explain how to do things better, but they don’t listen to you.
As a result, the work looks bad. They think it’s the marketing agency's fault and go look for a new one. That is why, you have a high client turnover. Every 2-3 months, you need to find new clients.
I hope I've convinced you that transitioning from a service business to the course creation industry is the most optimal step for you today. Let's get to the point.
I love the online course industry because it allows people with different skills to realize themselves. There are three roles you can choose:
This is the face of the course, like a singer on stage or an actor in a movie. The expert knows a specific topic and teaches others that skill. For example, a fitness coach runs 30-day weight loss challenges, while a family psychologist offers courses on how to improve marriages.
Let’s assume a blogger has 100K followers, and 5K people view their stories. Typically, about 5% of viewers purchase, which would be roughly 200-250 people
300$ product price.
Thus, from a launch, you could earn $75,000. Suppose $25K goes towards expenses and salaries, and you split the remaining $50K in half. In the end, you would earn $25K.
Now let’s think about how you can earn a million dollars from a launch. For this, you need a revenue of $2,100,000: $1 million for you, $1 million for the expert, and $100K set aside for sales department expenses, salaries, etc.
With an average price of $1000, you need to sell 2100 courses. To achieve such sales, the reach in stories must be approximately 40K-50K. Such reach could be achieved by an influencer with 1-2 million followers.
Starting to work with an influencer with a million followers is initially almost unrealistic, but over time, you will be able to reach them.
Three Roles in the Online Course Industry
The First Role — Course Author (Expert)
The Second Role — Online Course Producer
This is like a music producer, for example, Rick Rubin, who worked with Linkin Park, or Timbaland, who produces famous rappers. In cinema, this is Steven Spielberg, who has produced many movies you’ve probably seen.
The producer is the “grey cardinal”.
How does this work in the context of online courses? For example, you have a friend who is an influencer with 100K followers who is great at makeup. Or you saw such an influencer from another country and realized it’s a talent.
As a producer, you help this influencer create an educational product and plan its launch.
You create a new product for her audience and sell it.
The Third Role — Technical Specialist
This person helps the producer create a website, set up advertising, and resolve all technical issues. Translating this into the language of cinema: the course author is the influencer, like Tom Cruise, the online course producer is Steven Spielberg, and the technical specialist is the operator, costume designer, and 3D artist.
Let’s Calculate Potential Earnings
What Do the Сourse author and Producer Do?
Now, let’s talk about what the expert and producer do and which role you should choose.
Expert (course author)— is like a “singer” who loves creating content every day and attracting attention. They possess skills they want to share with others. These skills can be hard skills (e.g., digital marketing, programming, sales) or soft skills (communication, networking, leadership).
The entire online course market can be divided into three main categories: money, health, and relationships. When selling courses, you should sell one of these.
For example, I sell money. I help SMM specialists earn ten times more by becoming producers of online courses, shifting from a marketing service.
Fitness trainers sell health, while family psychologists sell relationships.
Producer — is the “grey cardinal’ who understands trends, comes up with projects, and finds the right people to implement those projects.
Imagine George Lucas and Steven Spielberg discussing an idea for a movie.
First, they come up with a concept that they believe will appeal to the audience. For example, "An archaeologist searching for treasures in the jungle, discovering something new in each episode." That’s how Indiana Jones was created, with Harrison Ford’s role being cast after the idea was formed.
No one expected that "an archaeologist in a cowboy hat searching for treasures" could become a character that brings in $2 billion.
This is the producer's job — to see opportunities that others overlook.
When someone looks at an influencer with a million followers, they think, "It’s cool to be famous."
When I look at them as a producer, I immediately see that this influencer could create a course on a specific topic and earn a specific amount of money from a single launch.
Example of Such Influencers
Let’s look at an example. I don’t know this girl personally, but I observe her work. Carolina Gates, who lives in New York, has gained millions of followers due to her bold and unusual content — she walked around Manhattan with a sign saying, "Looking for a rich husband."
Now she has a huge audience, but she doesn't have any products to sell.
We see the link to Shopltk where Karolina asks to buy fancy clothes for her. This means that she wants to somehow monetize her audience.
If she launches an online course, she will make hundreds of thousands of dollars. But she probably isn’t even thinking about it.
What course do you think she could sell? What does she have that other girls would want to buy?
The answer is simple: her boldness and charisma. She inspires; she isn’t afraid to be herself and does what many fear. Behind this lies huge potential. She could create a course for girls who want to become more confident, liberated, and stop being shy.
Imagine a two-week online course where Karolina teaches other girls how to boldly shoot provocative videos, like she does.
For example, a homework assignment could be walking through the city center with a sign that says "Looking for a rich husband," etc.
On the Facely community app, participants will post their reels and share experiences, supporting each other.
The course’s goal is not only to boost Instagram followers but also to gain adrenaline, loosen up, and become more confident.
At first, this seems ridiculous, but it’s in such niches that the biggest money is made in the online course industry.
From a single launch of such a course, she could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars, but she isn’t aware of this yet.
And here’s where producers like me or you come into play. Our job is to see these opportunities, highlight them to the influencer, and guide them through all the steps from idea to implementation: create the course, develop storytelling about the product, warm up the audience, assist with the technical aspects, connect payment systems, host lessons on the Facely platform, and even hire sales managers to handle requests.
That is why influencers like Karolina need course producers. She has an audience, but she doesn't know what product she can create and how to market it.
Market Size of Online Courses
One of the most important indicators when choosing a niche is the market size. As someone looking to start a new business, it's crucial to assess this volume and its potential.
Your task is to choose "tennis," not "shot put." As a producer, I need to know how many experts are already in the market and how much they earn. Next, I must understand how many people could become good course authors capable of selling their knowledge for tens of thousands of dollars. Finally, I’m interested in how many people overall want to try their hand in the content creation industry.
How Many People Are Already Selling Courses?
On the largest course marketplace, Udemy, there are approximately 75,000 instructors registered.
Next, I looked at all of Facely's competitors. These are platforms for hosting courses. In total, about 400,000 coaches use such platforms. By my estimates, there are around 500,000 coaches worldwide who sell their online courses in some format. Let’s call them “existing singers.”
Potential Course Creators
Now, let’s consider how many people could become course creators. For me, the criterion is having more than 100,000 followers on any social network. However, for beginner producers, this figure can start at 10,000. According to a report from Linktree, 41 million accounts have more than 10,000 followers, 2 million have over 100,000, and another 2 million have over a million followers.
These are people who already have an audience, and your job is to negotiate with them, create a product, and sell it.
In total, there are about 200 million people in the world who consider themselves content creators. However, we are only interested in those who already have an audience but do not yet have a product. Your target audience as online course producers consists of about 10 million influencers to work with.
This is a huge market.
Demand for Online Courses
Now let’s look at how many people actually buy online courses. According to Statista, it is expected that by 2029, people will spend $279.3 billion on online courses.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed people's behavior — more and more people began learning online. For example, Coursera reported a 640% increase in enrollment during the pandemic.
Here is the number of learners on the five main online course marketplaces.
Hundreds of millions of people buy online courses
The most popular category on Udemy is web development, with 13 million course buyers in programming.
But it’s also surprising that 9 million people bought courses on course creation — this is the second most popular category.
This was a surprise to me.
This aligns well with my SCA method.
Look at what Melanie Perkins, the founder of Canva, did. First, she became an expert in web design, then she gained students and her own audience. After that, she approached programmer Cameron Adams with the idea of creating a platform. She already had clients and a base of people to whom she could offer a product.
My story is similar. I approached my partner Mario Prada with the idea for Facely. I can’t code, and he hadn’t done marketing. But by that time, I had experience in selling courses and an understanding of marketing strategies.
The essence is that if you don’t want to become a programmer, you can start by selling courses. This will create a client base that you can later use to launch a startup with a technical partner.
This path worked for me, and I believe it can work for you too.
Why Being an Online Course Producer is Great
Earlier, we discussed in detail why engaging in online courses is worthwhile. The prospects in this industry are evident, especially considering the 500,000 people creating courses and 8 million who have bought courses on how to create them.
However, the value of the online course producer concept remains unclear to many, although I see great potential in it.
Many don’t even know that such a profession exists. When I started producing online courses in 2013, I also didn’t know I was a producer; I acted intuitively. As long as I can remember, I’ve always produced and launched something. A producer is essentially an entrepreneur.
1. You Learn the Launch Skill
Online courses, Netflix films, new smartphone models — all are launched using the same methodology - The Launch
When you make a course launch, you learn to structure the product, generate audience interest, and drive sales. These skills are applicable not only in education but in other fields as well.
Learn how to launch online courses, and you can launch Hollywood films.
2. Minimal Investment and Quick Start
You don't need to spend money on marketing or building your own audience — you work with influencers who already have followers. Your task is to help them organize the process of creating and launching the product. If done right, you can launch quickly and see results within a few months.
3. Flexible Schedule
The producer's job allows you to choose when and where to work. There's no need to create content daily like influencers do. For instance, I don't enjoy making Instagram stories every day; it's tough for me. Instead, I can control the entire course creation and launch process while staying behind the scenes. If you're not used to actively managing social media daily, this role suits you well.
4. Creativity and business in one place
Selling online courses combines creativity and business. You can express your creative potential by creating unique marketing for various niches. Some prefer a serious approach, while others enjoy lightness and humor. However, this is a business, not an university art festival.
5. No Technical Skills Required
You can produce courses today without deep technical knowledge. For the producer role, you don't need programming skills, and you may not even need a computer — everything can be done using a phone. Take our product, Facely, which we designed so that the entire course creation and launch process is accessible via mobile devices.
6. Work with Interesting People
As a producer, you always interact with interesting and popular people. Each influencer has something to teach, and through course producing, you'll expand your social and professional networks. You'll work with inspiring individuals, making the process very fun.
7. Leadership Role
A producer is like a conductor in an orchestra. You coordinate the entire course creation process, from planning to launch. This gives you the chance to feel like the architect of the project, ultimately creating a product that benefits both the audience and generates profit.
8. Opportunity to Become an Author
Producers typically work behind the scenes, but you can also become a course author. I enjoy creating courses and sharing knowledge, but I don't do it constantly. When I feel like it, I organize my launches. If I don’t want to, I don’t launch.
9. Growing Trend of Learning from Influencers
The current trend is that people trust influencers more than universities. Before, professors were to be the main authorities in education, today, young people are more likely to buy a course from a popular blogger. My little brother respects TikTokers more than professors in university.
This is not just a trend but a reality in which we live. There are many influencers, but good producers are few. You will always have the opportunity to find a talented bloggers and create a successful online course with them.
10. Access to the American Market
The American online education market is the largest and most profitable in the world. Even if your English is at an intermediate level, you can be a course producer of influencers from the USA and launch their courses. Working for the American audience opens up enormous opportunities in this rich market, even if you are living in a small city in a poor county
11. Diversification
Producing allows you to work with several influencers in different niches at the same time. This reduces risks — if one project doesn't succeed, another may yield good returns. Thus, you can diversify your risks and enhance income stability.
12. Can Be Combined with Main Work
Becoming a course producer doesn’t require you to quit your main job immediately. You can start producing in your spare time, gradually building income. I also worked in a job and left when my course sales income consistently exceeded my salary. Starting with a course producing some influencers is much better than taking on another freelance project.
13. Youth Advantage
In this field, age can be an advantage. Unlike professions such as medicine, where respect and salary often come with age and experience, the opposite is true in online courses.
For example, my 14-year-old brother understands TikTok better than a 40-year-old marketer. A 20-year-old girl can easily boost sales on Instagram, which a marketing director at a large corporation may struggle to do.
14. Trend Towards Micro-Learning
Short video formats are the future. Long videos are losing popularity, while short clips capture audience attention. That’s why at Facely, we focus on Reels-format courses. People are no longer willing to spend much time on long lectures; short, dynamic lessons are perfect for modern education.
How to Start as an Online Course Producer
I hope you understand what an online course producer is and are ready to become one. You might now be wondering:
Where to start?1. Package Your Instagram: Your profile should be your first case study. A good influencer already has blogging experience, and they will immediately see if you understand the subject. Create a few Reels about producing and highlights with useful materials. You don't need many followers, but your blog should look professional. When people visit, they should see that you can help them.
2. Find an Expert and Arrange a Launch: This is one of the most challenging steps that will determine your future path. After finding an expert, you need to conduct a test launch with them. Create a mini-course or product to understand several things:
- Are you comfortable working together?
- Can the expert create quality products?
- Does the audience need what you’re offering?
Once you answer these questions, you can begin preparing for a full launch.
For more detailed information on how to package your blog, what content to create, how to find an expert and negotiate with them, as well as on what terms we can discuss in a consultation, please reach out. In this course, I generally explained how the industry works, but there are many details to know.
Message me with the word "consultation," and we'll create a step-by-step strategy to help you make your first launch.
Now I want to talk about the format of education. In my opinion, the educational format has significantly shifted from traditional to micro-learning.
When I started my journey in the info business, we created long video lessons that could last an hour. People would come home, sit down with a cup of tea, and begin to learn.
But TikTok changed everything.
Now, people do not watch long videos; they prefer short educational series on TikTok. I think you've noticed that this entire course is designed like a TikTok playlist. All the videos are short and logically sequenced.
This is our main idea at Facely. We created the world's first platform where content creators can produce their Reels series.
Secondly, we want to build a community around content creators in Facely. The idea is for people to watch educational videos, interact, and get to know each other in one space. We call this the "Facely Universe." At the center of every universe is a star, like our Sun. All the others orbit around the star, just like the content creator.
When you create courses, think about building a community right away. The community features in Facely are designed like a forum. People can create their topics, ask questions, and receive comments from the community. Many do not understand the difference between an audience and a community. In an audience, there are horizontal connections: the creator broadcasts while the others consume. In a community, people communicate as equals, and the creator is the person who built this community around their personality.
Main Mistakes Made by Producers and Experts
1. Working with Unknown ExpertsThe biggest mistake a producer can make is trying to turn an unknown expert into a known one. It’s better to choose those who already have an audience. Ideally, the expert should have over 1,000 views in their stories. If they only get 100 views, you have no ground to work on. I made this mistake myself back in 2013, but at that time, everyone was a no-name. Nowadays, there are tons of people with an audience but without a digital product.
2. Approaching Large Bloggers without ExperienceIf you're an unknown producer, don’t go after big bloggers. They simply won’t reply. For instance, I have ideas for a course with a famous individual, but if I approach someone very famous, like Kevin Hart, he won’t even engage with me. It’s essential to evaluate your capabilities and start with more realistic options.
- Option 1: Look for acquaintances working in marketing with tens of thousands of followers.
- Option 2: Attend influencer events, where you can network and find a suitable expert.
3. Expecting Quick ResultsThis mistake is similar to starting out in the gym: in the beginning, you just need to work out regularly, gradually increasing the load. Don’t start with heavy weights, or you risk injury. It’s better to first work with someone who gets around 1,000 views in their stories, earn a few thousand dollars, understand how things work, and then move on to bigger projects.
4. Teaching ProfessionalsI also made this mistake when I produced courses for architects, teaching them professional tools. It was a bad idea. Instead, it’s better to teach beginners who want to become interior designers. For example, my friend taught housewives how to become interior designers and made ten times more money than I did.
5. Marketers Who Want to Create Their Own Marketing CoursesOften, SMM specialists think that their experience will help them create a successful marketing course. However, the problem is that nobody knows who you are. You’ll have to start from scratch. It’s better to use your marketing skills in producing well-known personalities, earn money, and then launch your product with a bigger marketing budget.
If you want to dive deeper into these topics and get a clear roadmap of what you need to do, I invite you to book a consultation. We’ll discuss your strategy, outline specific steps, and figure out how to avoid common mistakes. DM me the word consultation to get started.