211 How I Built My Course Business at 18 (And You Can Too)

Send us a text🔥 Grow your course revenue up to 30% in 7 days - no paid ads, no sales calls 📈 https://datadrivenmarketing.co/roadmapThis week I'm chatting with Phillip Henry, an award-winning slide guitar player who has performed at Hyde Park, the Royal Albert Hall, and toured all over the world. He's now teaching slide guitar online and has built a fantastic community around his niche.Phil is one of those teachers who makes something that feels mysterious and out of reach totally accessible. He told me he has a hundred percent success rate with his students, and after talking with him I can see why.In this episode we talk about finding a niche inside a massive market, growing a Facebook group, the transition away from sales calls, and whether your pricing reflects what you're actually delivering.If you've ever wondered whether you're charging enough for your course or coaching, this one's for you.🎸 Check out Phillip's work:🔗 https://www.youtube.com/@UCA-Vhff-ng4NDrlUAQoQDTg 🔗 https://www.instagram.com/phillip.henry/🔗 https://philhenrymusic.com/

Send us a text🔥 Want a free funnel review? Email me at [email protected] with "free funnel review" in the subject line. Laura Spaulding has 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, over 4 million on TikTok, and a million on Instagram. She's had videos hit 14 million views in less than a week. And she's built a business selling courses and $45K coaching programs teaching people how to start crime scene cleaning businesses.In this episode, Laura and I dig into what's actually working for her right now and what isn't. We talk about the surprising difference between YouTube and TikTok when it comes to generating revenue. She shares the simple approach to video titles that's helped her content go viral. And we get into some of the gaps in her funnel that are leaving money on the table.If you've built an audience on social media but you're not seeing the sales you expected, this conversation will give you a lot to think about.🔍 Check out Laura:Laura's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCv6ycrTS6JXAEfs5dFZfijg Laura's website: https://lauraspalding.comLaura's courses: https://crimescenecleaningtraining.com

Send us a text🔥 Struggling with low conversions? Grab our FREE checklist of 15 must-have elements to optimize your sales pages! 👉🏼 https://datadrivenmarketing.co/elementsAsiya Miart has 1.9 million YouTube subscribers and has made over $1 million selling courses through her channel. But here's what surprised me most: some of her best performing videos made zero sales.In this episode, Asiya reveals how she figured out which videos actually drive revenue and which ones just drive views. She explains the two types of videos every course creator needs to understand and how she strategically moves viewers from one to the other. This simple shift helped her triple her revenue from the same number of views.We also do something a bit different in this one. I pull up Asiya's sales page live and walk through what's working and what could be improved. If you've ever wondered what a sales page review looks like in practice, you'll find this useful.Asiya now helps other entrepreneurs grow their YouTube channels strategically. If you want to learn more about her approach, check out her case study on her website.📚 Asiya's Case Study “from Zero to $1M Using YouTube”: https://asiyamiart.com/case-study/🔗 Connect with Asiya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asiya-miart/🔗 Check out Asiya's YouTube channeL: https://www.youtube.com/@asiyamiart

Send us a text🔥 Want the free KPI tracking module I mentioned? Email me at [email protected] with "KPI tracking" in the subject lineStefano started teaching Italian online as a side hustle when he was 18. No formal experience, no fancy credentials. Now he's got 280,000 YouTube subscribers and over 4,000 paying customers.What's interesting is how he did it. He barely touches Instagram or TikTok. Posts maybe once every two weeks just to keep the pages alive. Instead, he's doubled his email leads in the last year while keeping his views roughly the same.In this episode, Stefano breaks down why short-form content hasn't worked for him, how he thinks about lead magnets differently than most course creators, and why he puts 60% of his effort into free content.If you're wondering whether you're wasting time on the wrong platforms, this one's for you.🌐 Check out Stefano's work:🌐 https://teacherstefano.com/🌐 https://teacherstefano.com/podcast🌐 https://www.youtube.com/@teacherstefanoGet your free resources for course creators: 🔗 https://datadrivenmarketing.co/resources#OnlineCourses #SalesFunnels #CourseCreators #DigitalMarketing🤝  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 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]