210 How I Built an 8-Figure Business (Heath Adams interview)

Send us a textHeath Adams, better known as The Cyber Mentor, built an 8-figure training business and sold it. In this episode, he shares how he did it starting from scratch with no sales team, no ad spend, and just pure organic content.We talk about how he grew 50% year over year, why he believes authenticity beats algorithm hacks, and how he scaled from a one-person operation to 30 employees before the acquisition. Heath also gets into why he focused on one channel first, how he structures his email promotions, and what he's learned about pricing from selling everything from $30 subscriptions to $2,500 live trainings.If you're building a course or training business and want to know what it actually takes to scale to 8 figures, this one's worth your time.🌐 Check out Heath's work at https://academy.tcm-sec.com🔍 Follow Heath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathadams/ 🔍 Follow The Cyber Mentor on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thecybermentorIf you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a comment letting me know your biggest takeaway. And if you want help growing your own course business, check out what we do at Data Driven Marketing - https://datadrivenmarketing.coSee you next week.

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youToday I'm talking with Nate Terepka, who runs Piano with Nate on YouTube. He's got 118,000 subscribers and he's getting nearly half a million views a month teaching adults how to play piano using a chord-based approach.This conversation was brilliant because Nate figured out something that so many course creators miss - he discovered his real audience wasn't who he thought it was at all. When he started the channel during COVID, he was making tutorials for Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift, thinking teenagers would be his main audience. But when he launched his first course and actually looked at who was buying, he had this massive realization. 90% of his sales were coming from just 10% of his content - the Beatles and David Bowie tutorials. His real buyers were retired adults, not teens.I love how he discovered this. He just got so excited about making his first few sales that he went into his email system and looked up each person to see which video they'd found him through. That simple curiosity completely changed his business. We talked about the tripwire funnel he's building now, what he learned from doing a business audit with Josip, and why his course buyers have an 85% email open rate, which is just mental.If you're in the music space or you're teaching anything and you're not totally sure who your actual buyers are, this episode will show you exactly how to figure it out with data you probably already have.🎹 Check out Nate's work:🔗 https://pianowithnate.com🔗 https://youtube.com/@pianowithnate🔗 https://instagram.com/pianowithnate

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youToday I'm talking with Tami Macala, a professional mosaic artist and teacher who has been creating mosaic art for over 20 years. In 2009 she started the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art, and in 2016 she and her husband Jerry launched Mosaic Arts Online. They also run Create Arts Online and Todos Retreats, taking students to places like Baja Mexico and Italy.What's fascinating about Tami's story is that she's built a business in what she openly admits is a very small niche. The mosaic community isn't huge, but she's managed to serve over 10,000 students and become essentially the only online mosaic art school. We get into how she collaborates with other artists, why she insists on controlling the production quality herself, and how she manages to launch one to two courses every single month. She walks through her 10-day launch system, her approach to pricing and discounts, and why she runs just two sales per year now instead of four.Tami is also refreshingly honest about where she's leaving money on the table. She knows her welcome sequences and funnels need work, and we talk about what she could be doing differently with order bumps and upsells on her Teachable checkout pages.If you want to dig deeper into welcome sequences, go back and listen to 🎧 How to Convert Prospects into Buyers Using Email Onboarding. 🎧 12 Checkout Page Tricks to Get More Sales Instantly.🌐 You can find Tami at https://mosaicartsonline.com🌐 https://createartsonline.com🌐 https://todosretreats.com.

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youI'm delighted to have Jacques Hopkins back on the podcast for another fantastic conversation. Jacques is someone I genuinely respect in this space - not only has he built an incredibly successful piano course that's generated over $4 million in revenue, but he's also become one of the best teachers I know when it comes to helping other course creators succeed.In this episode, we dive deep into the power of webinars and why Jacques believes they're still the gold standard for selling online courses, despite being challenging to create. We explore how one YouTube video he made eight years ago continues to drive half his revenue today, pulling in 500 views daily. Jacques shares his proven framework for what makes a webinar actually convert - including why his two-hour webinar outperforms shorter ones - and we have an honest discussion about the reality of creating consistent YouTube content. We also get into some controversial takes about which platforms actually work for course sales (spoiler: Instagram might be wasting your time) and why YouTube's longevity makes it unbeatable for course creators. Whether you're just starting out or looking to optimize your existing funnel, this conversation is packed with actionable insights from someone who's actually done it.🌐 Check out The Online Course Show: https://www.theonlinecourseguy.com/podcasts/the-online-course-show🔗 https://theonlinecourseguy.com🔗 https://pianoin21days.com

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youWhat if I told you that making $1 million in a single month selling courses wasn't enough?In this eye-opening episode, I sit down with Neil Patel - co-founder of Crazy Egg, Kissmetrics, and Hello Bar, recognized by Forbes as a top 10 marketer and by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the most brilliant companies.Neil shares the shocking story of why he walked away from a course business generating $200-500k per month (with one month hitting $1 MILLION) to build something completely different.We dive deep into why Neil believes course revenue will decline in the coming years and exactly what course creators need to do about it. He breaks down his exact 3-step process for discovering high-ticket offers your audience will actually buy, including how to validate new products WITHOUT spending months creating them first.Neil gets brutally honest about why the "lifestyle business" model might actually be a trap for course creators and shares the backend product strategy that separates 6-figure course creators from 8-figure business owners. His take on how AI will impact the course industry? It's definitely not what you'd expect.Whether you're making your first sale or already running a successful course business, Neil's insights on scaling beyond the "course creator ceiling" will transform how you think about your business model.He even shares specific examples from real course creators who've successfully implemented these strategies - including one in the baby sleep niche and another teaching piano by ear.This isn't just theory. This is proven advice from someone who's been there, done it, and built multiple 8-figure businesses.Fair warning: This episode might make you uncomfortable with the status quo. But if you're ready to think bigger about your course business, this is required listening.🌐 Connect with Neil:🔗 https://neilpatel.com 🔗 https://x.com/neilpatel🔗 https://www.youtube.com/neilpatel🔗 https://www.instagram.com/neilpatel/

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youEver wonder what would happen if you stripped away all the fancy marketing tactics and just focused on the basics? Boris and I found out when we helped a guitar teacher make $124,717 in 30 days. That's $100,000 more than his usual monthly revenue.Here's the kicker - we didn't do anything revolutionary. Actually, the whole thing was almost embarrassingly simple. New course, decent sales page, order bump, one upsell. That's it. No complex automations, no 47-step sequences, just solid execution of the fundamentals.Boris shares the entire blueprint in this episode, including why we created a brand new course from scratch (in just 6 weeks!), how we used survey data to find a massive gap in what this creator was offering, and why positioning bonuses as "Christmas presents" made such a difference to conversions.My favorite moment? When Boris admits our order bump only converted at 12% - way below our usual 30-50% - but still added an extra $7,000 to the launch. Sometimes good enough is exactly that.If you've been overthinking your next launch, this episode might annoy you. Turns out that "90% research, 10% implementation" beats clever tactics every single time.🎁 Free guides mentioned in this episode:Sales Page Elements PDF: https://datadrivenmarketing.co/resourcesCheckout Page Guide: https://datadrivenmarketing.co/checkout-pageUpsell Guide: https://datadrivenmarketing.co/upsellWant help implementing this in your business? Drop me an email at [email protected]

Send us a textToday's episode is absolutely fascinating. I'm sitting down with Rich Thompson, who built his online tutoring business from literally zero to generating millions in revenue, and his story is going to blow your mind.Rich started out as a one-on-one biology tutor charging £200 an hour (about $300 US), which sounds amazing until you realize he could only work with about 10 students a year. He was stuck in this paradox where he'd built this successful tutoring practice but had to physically sit next to students to make money. Not exactly the location-independent lifestyle he was dreaming of.So he completely re-engineered his approach. He analyzed 10 years of exam papers, figured out exactly where students were losing marks, and created an online program that's now helped over 65,000 students. The growth was meteoric - he went from breaking even at $10,000 in year one to hitting $700,000 by year five.But here's where it gets really interesting. When COVID hit, the UK government cancelled exams and 95% of his subscribers vanished overnight. Rich watched his entire business almost disappear. He told me if he hadn't been conservative with his spending that year, it would have been the end of his company.We dive deep into his funnel, his marketing strategies, and some surprising insights about advertising to teenagers versus their parents. He shares exact numbers on ad spend and ROI that will make you rethink how you approach your own campaigns. Plus, we do a live review of his sales pages where I spot some quick wins that could dramatically increase his conversions.If you're running an online course business or thinking about starting one, this episode is packed with lessons from someone who's been through the highest highs and lowest lows. Rich's honesty about what worked, what didn't, and what nearly killed his business is refreshing and incredibly valuable.🔗 Check out Tailored Tutors: https://tailoredtutors.co.uk/?utm_source=the_art_of_selling_onine_courses&utm_medium=podcast🔗 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tailoredtutors🔗 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tailoredtutors🎁 Grab the free download I mention in the episode at https://datadrivenmarketing.co/pages - it's our guide to the 15 elements every high-converting sales page needs to have.

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youIs AI killing your course sales? In this episode, I talk with Panos Siozos, CEO of LearnWorlds - the platform that's powered over $1 billion in course sales for 11,000+ creators worldwide.We dive deep into why using AI to write your course content is "doing a disservice" to your students (and your bank account). Panos reveals the right way to use AI as a "co-pilot" with specific examples you can implement today, including how to create assessments that actually help students learn.We also cover why content is becoming a commodity and what actually matters now for course success. Plus, Panos shares the Socratic dialogue method that transforms boring content into engaging experiences that keep students hooked.With 25+ years of experience in educational technology and having built his first learning management system back in 1999, Panos reveals exactly how LearnWorlds uses AI to help course creators scale without losing their personal connection with students.🔗 Download The Five Layers of AI Framework for Instructional Designers: https://www.learnworlds.com/five-layers-ai-expertise-instructional-design/🔗 Check out LearnWorlds: https://www.learnworlds.com/#OnlineCourses #CourseCreation #LearnWorlds #AIforCourses #InstructionalDesign🤝  Get In TouchIf you'd like to talk more about how you can grow your course business, email me at john@datadrivenmarketing.

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youAndrew Stotz went from a 10% pass rate to 60% by doing something most course creators are terrified to do - kicking students out with no refund.In this episode, Andrew shares how he transformed his Valuation Masterclass from an on-demand course that barely anyone finished into a cohort-based bootcamp where students write 20-30 page research reports on four different companies.His secret? "The valuation masterclass is about transformation, not information." And he means it - students who don't keep up get kicked out on Monday morning, no questions asked.We dive into how Andrew built this intense accountability system, why he dresses up in military uniform for graduation ceremonies, and how one student from Nigeria who didn't even own a computer ended up working for Bank of America.If you're tired of students buying your course and never finishing it, this one's for you.🔗 Connect with Andrew:- Website: https://academy.astotz.com/- Podcast: https://myworstinvestmentever.com/

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youIn this episode, you'll hear how Hugo Ortega transformed from a burned out materials engineer in Houston to a world-traveling superyacht captain who now runs a $20,000 per month coaching business.Hugo reveals why he chose to build a high-ticket one-on-one coaching model instead of traditional online courses, charging over $2,000 per student while maintaining a 90% job placement rate. He explains his contrarian approach to course creation and why he believes you need to work harder on your course business than you ever did at your day job.You'll discover how Hugo used Russell Brunson's Perfect Webinar formula to transform his sales process, spending six months crafting a webinar that now consistently converts prospects into high-paying clients. He breaks down his exact pricing strategy, starting at $500 and scaling to $2,500, and shares how he built his "concierge model" that creates premium value for students.🔗 Connect with Hugo at https://www.superyachtsundayschool.com/ or 🔗 Follow @superyachtsundayschool on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/superyachtsundayschool/#OnlineCourses #CourseCreation #Entrepreneurship #DigitalNomad #Yachting #CoachingBusiness #RussellBrunson #PerfectWebinar #OnlineBusiness #CourseCreator