203 AI vs Human Course Creation: What Actually Works (From a $1 Billion Platform CEO)

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

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youYou know exactly what you should be doing to grow your online course business. You've listened to hundreds of podcast episodes, read all the blog posts, maybe even bought a few courses on marketing. You KNOW you should be sending email promotions every month. You KNOW you should be optimizing your sales pages. Yet somehow, you find yourself building just one more course instead.Sound familiar?In this episode, I sit down with Itamar Marani, a former Israeli special forces operative turned elite performance coach. Itamar has coached hundreds of six to nine-figure entrepreneurs to break through their mental barriers, and he's here to explain exactly why your brain sabotages your best business moves.We dive deep into what Itamar calls "the war within" - the battle between the business owner in you who knows what needs to be done, and the hobbyist who keeps retreating to their comfort zone. Itamar breaks down the three "success killers" that are hardwired into our brains from 100,000 years of evolution: avoiding uncertainty, optimizing for approval, and seeking validation.What makes this conversation different is that we don't just identify the problem - we walk through the exact process to overcome it. Itamar shares his framework for identifying your mental blocks, challenging false beliefs, and most importantly, understanding what emotional payoff you're getting from NOT doing what you know you should do.We also discuss performance anchors - the people and habits in your life that drain your energy and keep you stuck. Itamar shares a powerful story about a client who went from $5-10k months to building a company with a nine-figure valuation, all because he had the courage to cut out a heavy performance anchor that was keeping him small.If you've ever caught yourself saying "I know I should be doing this, but..." then this episode is going to hit home. Hard. Itamar doesn't do motivational fluff - this is practical, actionable advice forged in Israeli counterterrorism and refined through years of coaching high performers.📖 Itamar's book "Elite Performance" is available on Amazon and at https://itamarmarani.com/book. 🔗 Check out Itamar's website: https://itamarmarani.com/

Send us a text Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youWhen Wendy Solganik spent months building out a sales funnel for her art courses, she was following all the conventional wisdom. She'd already seen the Jeff Walker launch formula work in other industries. She knew the playbook. But after investing significant time, energy, and money, the funnel simply didn't convert.Instead of doubling down on what the gurus were teaching, Wendy made a counterintuitive decision. She went back to simple email marketing and built her online art school into a thriving business that now features courses from 40 different creators.In this episode, Wendy shares her journey from law school dropout to successful course creator. After developing irritable bowel syndrome from the stress of law school, she took a year off and followed her urge to learn pottery. That decision eventually led to running a stationery company for 15 years, followed by a stint in the online diet industry where she first learned about course marketing.Today, Wendy runs a unique online art platform where she positions herself as "the primary student in my own school." Rather than trying to be the star, she curates courses from artists she's genuinely excited to learn from. Her approach challenges many assumptions about online course businesses - she deliberately keeps prices low ($27-$147) despite seeing competitors charge $2,000, and she's built her success on passion rather than psychological marketing tactics.We discuss why organic Instagram is now "very very little of the effective marketing" she does, despite having a large following. How she's become "partners with Meta" through paid ads, spending significant money daily. Why she has "no idea where my sales are coming from" due to tracking challenges. And how email marketing became her most effective channel after abandoning complex funnels.Wendy's story offers a refreshing perspective for course creators who feel overwhelmed by complicated marketing systems. Sometimes the simpler path, driven by genuine passion for your subject matter, leads to better results than following someone else's formula.Check Wendy's work out: https://www.willawanders.com/

Send us a text🔥 Work With Me - https://datadrivenmarketing.co/done-for-youMeet Alexandra Fintova - the Skillshare Top Teacher who built 60 courses, taught 90,000+ students worldwide, and did it all while raising two kids as a single mom with ADHD.In this episode, Alexandra (The Art Mother) shares her unconventional journey from art teacher to course creator, why she refuses to do "guerrilla marketing," and how being authentic is her secret weapon.Alexandra reveals why her "overly salesy" approach failed and what actually works instead. She explains how to sell courses without being pushy or aggressive, and why students are now "collecting her classes like Pokemon cards." We dig into the power of confirmation page offers and why Alexandra's currently leaving money on the table with this simple strategy. She also shares the truth about managing a course business with ADHD and how to use platforms like Skillshare and Udemy to build passive income.📥 Free Download: Tripwire Product Ideas Guide at https://datadrivenmarketing.co/tripwireConnect with Alexandra:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartmother/Subscribe for weekly interviews with successful course creators. Drop a comment: What's your biggest challenge with selling courses?🤝  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-youEmma Jakobi built mmmEnglish to 6 million YouTube subscribers. Then she stopped posting and walked away to build Hey Lady instead.In this episode, Emma and Shah Turner break down what's actually working for them: how they're getting their CAC down to 1/10th of LTV, why their webinars stopped working (and what they did instead), and how they package the same offer differently each month without burning out their audience.Shah also talks about the consistency problem every course creator faces: "We'd run a campaign and bring in 50 grand. Do it again, pretty good. Third time? Not so much."If you're running a membership or selling courses, this one's packed with real numbers and tactics you can use.Check out Hey Lady:  https://www.heylady.io/Connect with Emma and Shah:Emma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmajakobi/Shah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahturner/🤝  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-youMost people build audiences that just consume content. They get thousands of followers but barely make any sales. Sinem Günel does it differently. She's built a six-figure writing business by focusing on one simple principle: get people to buy something small first, then they're 20 times more likely to buy again.In this episode, Sinem breaks down how she helps coaches and consultants turn their expertise into courses and high-ticket programs - starting with offers as low as $50.We dive into why your past buyers are your most valuable asset and how to nurture them properly. Sinem shares the confidence issue that stops most people from selling high-ticket offers, and why some clients explicitly DON'T want your course and will actually pay more for less content. She also explains how to get inbound leads through content instead of cold outreach, and the strategy behind building a multi-tier business from low-ticket to $5k+ coaching.If you're creating content but struggling to convert your audience into paying customers, this one's for you.🔗 https://writebuildscale.com Want help building your sales funnel and email marketing? Book a free strategy session: https://datadrivenmarketing.co/survey🤝  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-youIn this episode, Josip Belina, our head of funnel strategy, reveals why September is the make-or-break month for Black Friday success and what happens when you wait until October (spoiler: it's not good). We dive deep into a counterintuitive email strategy that has our clients sending way more emails than you'd expect on the final day, and why that actually increases revenue without destroying your list.You'll discover the bundle strategy that consistently outperforms the lazy "50% off everything" approach that most people default to, plus how to handle your best customers who've already bought everything you've offered before. Josip also shares the two-promotion framework that maximizes Q4 revenue and why this quarter is absolutely critical for your business.This isn't about sending a few discount emails and hoping for the best. This is about systematically planning and executing a Black Friday strategy that turns November into your biggest revenue month of the year. If you've been treating Black Friday as an afterthought, this episode will completely change how you approach it.🤝  Get In TouchIf you'd like to talk more about how you can grow your course business, email me at john@datadrivenmarketing.