The Way Jonathan Levi Built a Successful Online Business Course
An entrepreneur who is truly serial, Jonathan Levi has been involved in a fair share of entrepreneurial ventures in the last 10 years. Certain of these ventures are wildly profitable, others not so much however, they've been able to help Jonathan gain the experience and experience to create an online business that is thriving which he is running today.
In fact, whenever we're being asked by our community of online course creators for examples of successful courses built on , we often point straight to Jonathan's SuperLearner Academy - the online school in which Jonathan imparts speed reading and memory skills to thousands of students around the world.
Check out the case study in the following article or
watch our video interview of Jonathan Levi here
In search of his next great opportunity
When Jonathan began to explore the idea of creating and selling online courses Jonathan had no idea the market for online courses would grow to be as big as it is today. When Jonathan created his first online course the primary goal of his course was simply to make enough money to pay for his expenses for living as looking for new opportunities.
"I got into online courses as an extra thing", Jonathan recalls. "I had left the business school and had been working on this business concept and it wasn't going anywhere. I decided to change locations and to drop the idea and look for new possibilities. I had sold a company prior to this, and was not in dire straits, but I wanted to make some income coming in from side jobs to help pay for the cost of living so I could travel and look for that new big chance."
One of the main sources of inspiration for Jonathan was watching other entrepreneurs develop and market an online courses successfully. Jonathan had just recently attended the growth hacking class led by Mattan Griffel, for example, and as he watched Mattan's company evolve from selling courses in an online course marketplace and then selling them through the platform he created, he began to sense the potential. "I saw the potential and thought wow, they built an entire company around the idea of starting with one tiny market site, and later launching their own. That's pretty cool."
In this moment, Jonathan had already spent several years learning various speed reading and memorization techniques And people within his network were beginning to ask him about these abilities often. To Jonathan this was a clear sign that people were keen on learning these skills from his. The next step was to figure out how to organize his knowledge into an online training course other people could buy from him.
The launch of his first online course (after an extensive market study)
Jonathan also began learning all was possible about the procedure of creating the online course and then selling them, as much as the best he could. "Then I was able to use the tools I use to teach daily that include speedy learning, speed in reading and memory and I was like okay, let me determine the details of what this online course will be about. What does it actually take for online courses to be successful? What is the process of marketplaces? How do you beat the algorithm to become the most popular course? What's the most effective pedagogical approach? I can remember opening about 45 tabs in a row and read everything there was to learn about online courses."
Once Jonathan was able to get a clear understanding of what his target students would like to learn from him as well as the lessons that he would include in his course, and a plan for launching his course, he got to work on creating his first course. The course was published on Udemy (an online course marketplace) on the 26th of December the 26th of December, 2011.
In his excitement Jonathan's speed studying and memory course was ranked among the tops classes on Udemy within 30 days. "I recall hitting publish, and then I was on a ski trip. It was the month of January. I was traveling in Switzerland with a group of friends when I connected access to the internet and looked on my phone and I thought, 'Oh no, we already made $2,000!'"
Now, fast forward to 2017. Jonathan's course is still one of Udemy's top-rated courses and has over 4,400 student reviews and 38,000+ students enrolled:
From a single online course to a thriving enterprise
When Jonathan enjoyed the constant earnings from having a highly-rated course available on Udemy, he was also reaping the benefits of the often overlooked benefit of creating a course on the marketplace for online courses: exposure. Through the publication of a course in a marketplace Jonathan was receiving the benefit of exposure for free to thousands of students all over the world.
"We have grown our following very organically through Udemy", Jonathan explains. "For many years, this was a hobby for myself. I would fly between East Africa and looking at opportunities to serve the developing world using different technologies, I was volunteering at various startups. It allowed me to work on things that I probably wouldn't been able to do without an extra few thousand dollars pouring in every month."
As the number of students enrolled in his course grew, so did the number of requests for additional training and resources. "People were asking for a podcast, and then they started saying well why don't you have books?" Jonathan recalls. "So we did a book, and then we did another course, before we made the podcast."
Determined to capitalize on this growth, Jonathan decided to dedicate greater time and effort into expanding his company. Although he was thankful for the income that he made from his courses on Udemy however, the drawbacks of putting his course on a marketplace were becoming more evident.
One of the most significant limitations of selling a course through Udemy the way Jonathan discovered, is the price limit the company imposes on courses on the marketplace ( see their most recent updates to pricing here). Udemy is well-known for offering discounts on courses to increase their sales. Therefore, even when an instructor prices their course at $200, as an example, the majority of the sales they make are in the $10-$20 price range.
"It got to me, all these little things you cannot do with a $10 payment for an education", Jonathan explains. "You cannot fly across the globe to meet with an expert because that doesn't fit into the model."
"What would I do if I were to offer an ultra-premium, no-nonsense course? What if, tomorrow, someone from the world's top experts says I should interview him at a cost of thousands of dollars I'll accept it, since it's worth it?" Jonathan asked himself. "Or should I decide tomorrow that I need to hire a new staff member to help me do customer service, because we require 24-hour premium service, I can do it."
Although Jonathan did not know at the time when he launched his own online course couldn't have been more perfect. Just a few months later, Udemy announced a major alteration to their pricing structure and imposed a limit of $50 on the price of all courses sold in the marketplace. In a matter of minutes, Jonathan as well as thousands of other Udemy instructors witnessed the revenues from their course sales plummet.
"Udemy had this huge plunge when they changed their pricing structure", Jonathan recalls. "And suddenly, it went from 25% of our business, this website - our own premium academy - up to 50%. It was significant."
Experiencing this sudden drop in sales from his course offerings on Udemy identified a serious risk associated with depending upon a platform to advertise your course and make it available on your behalf. The majority of Jonathan's online course business is generated by his premium courses, and Jonathan is relying on his own marketing strategies to build his brand and market his courses.
"I enjoy because I refer to"it as the Shopify of online courses platforms. It's limited but it's limited however in the best way. It requires a lot of decision-making out that I wouldn't like to be making but it does work. It really works efficiently. It has a really good uptime, and above all the service has been excellent. It can take you an extended time to implement a new feature, but you do integrate new features when I ask for them. I still feel like you care regarding me, as a client and strive to continuously improve my experience and experience for my pupils. This is huge ."
- Jonathan Levi
The creation of a content marketing system to sell the most expensive classes
The next challenge Jonathan had to overcome was convincing customers to buy his premium course that was considerably higher than the cost of his original course on Udemy. "It's an entirely different animal to take individuals who at one o'clock in the afternoon had never had a chance to meet you, but when it's three in the afternoon , they're paying hundreds of dollars for an item they've never thought existed", Jonathan explains.
For Jonathan, the solution to attracting and converting prospects into customers create an all-channel content marketing system. Through the continuous publication of various kinds of content for free (blog posts, podcast episodes and so on.) that help and attract his target audience, he has the ability to gain the trust of prospective customers prior to offering them the most expensive courses.
"We consider all of these as being at the top of the funnel. Therefore, I'll introduce you to my network and instead of limiting you to just ads and ad-hoc marketing, I'll get you involved through ads, podcasts, via book, via blogs, through Audible or Amazon and Udemy. It's a great way to qualify buyers, and instead of having to pay for leads, I'm now getting paid in exchange for lead", Jonathan explains. "The amount of warm traffic we generate is incredible."
Related: 5 Steps for Creating Content Free That attracts your ideal client (Video)
"There are numerous methods and ideas that I've developed" Jonas Jonathan. "And that's the great thing about of having a budget that isn't an issue as you're selling high-end classes."
If you offer your online courses at low prices on an online marketplace, your capacity to invest time and money into marketing your online courses is significantly constrained. When each course sale will only bring in a couple of dollars for your company and you are unable to generate a positive return of investment (ROI) from your advertising and marketing efforts.
Jonathan's course creation process
Jonathan's online course company has seen significant growth and evolution from the moment he first created his course back in 2011. With that in mind, we asked him what his approach to creating online courses has changed, and if so, how.
"The production of content has not changed not in a way. I sit down to write an outline, and the next step is to write lecture after lecture, one at a time", Jonathan explains. "I am armed with a variety of strategies I apply to make my content evergreen and modifiable and modular."
Jonathan's production of courses, however, has increased over time. "The second course I did I had someone hired to record the video, and employed a professional studio. That's an enormous leap in terms of quality and also a huge jump in users' experiences", Jonathan recalls. "The following course that I took I hired someone to film and edit. And that was the next jump."
Presently, Jonathan has a professional studio available at all times for him to create new content and classes. "Now, I've gone towards the opposite extreme that is, which is a to plug and play studio. All of the settings are set in a way, like all the way down to the millimeter. The microphone is never moved. The lighting is never changed. The room is soundproofed. The windows are all triple-glazed and all the furniture is. Therefore, I'm able to maintain that level of uniformity."
Jonathan is not alone when it comes to creating courses also. With the help of a full-time video editor, Jonathan is able to focus on what he does best: creating new videos, catering to his clients, and growing the business he runs.
"We employed a full-time video editor as well. We've established standards and procedures. So for all of our films, we've got the colors specified, the time specified, diverse camera angles. We capture in 4K, in order that should I make a mistake I could cut camera angles or make it seem like cameras were cut."
"We far outpace our Udemy numbers with . We've got dedicated staff for marketing and advertising. We have hired a full-time video editor. We've built a solid business and most of it, at least 60% as of now is from top-quality products ."
- Jonathan Levi
Creating courses that foster student success
One of the most important things which Jonathan keeps in mind as he creates his courses is that people can learn anything online without cost. This means that, as an online course seller you must have the benefit of taking one of his classes.
"People are able to study anything on the internet for free. Learn all the things I'm teaching via YouTube. So why do people pay me hundreds of dollars? Since I design a learning process that takes the guesswork out of learning, and I take some investment in their success", says Jonathan. "It's the setting that the people are paying for. This is something I am aware of, so I very deliberately create structured learning experiences that are built on each other."
If you're selling an online course it's selling an experience that allows for learning. You're not just selling information.
"My entire model revolves around the idea of automating everything", says Jonathan. "We sell to customers even after they've purchased the program. I check in with them, I send them automated emails, saying like, 'Hey is it working? Tell me if you're having any issue. There are worksheets as well as an online community on Facebook, there's premium service as well as assistance. For our Master Class level products, I will personally respond to questions. And we have guides, quizzes and daily logs of training, all kinds of different games. It's an extremely active learning experience."
In building out a personalized automatization system for his courses, Jonathan can ensure that every student isn't left behind when he's not there to assist. He also wants to make certain that the contents of his classes is clear or he can see the need for improvement within his process. "I view every question as small failures. Therefore, if a student has to ask a question, that means something is unclear in the course", says Jonathan. "And evidently, any refund represents a huge mistake for us."
Advice for first time course creators
When we finished our conversation with Jonathan, we wanted him to offer some words of wisdom for course creators that are working hard to build their own businesses. Below are his best tips for other individuals who want to build an online course company:
1. Figure out your differentiating factor - why would someone be willing to pay you?
"Everything you're teaching can be learned on the internet for free" Jonathan says. Jonathan. "So find out the reason you would need to charge you for something they can learn for free. This could mean superior service and support. the term could refer to hand-holding or it could be a direction or direction it can also mean innovation in the way that you instruct it."
2. Have a marketing plan and conduct market study
"Just the fact that you've constructed it, it's not a guarantee that people will arrive", says Jonathan. "Have your marketing plan in place. Do the market research to be aware that there are customers that are willing to buy this item prior to investing time, cash and time. Also, know how to reach those people."
3. Create a MVP (minimum viable product)
Do not try to design the perfect course with most production value in the first time. Make a course that is at least viable. Start it. Get feedback from your students. Re-invest the money from your course into improving the course, either by creating more resources and education for students, or in the creation of additional course.
"I felt ashamed of the initial version" Jonathan claims. Jonathan. "It was recording with an internet camera and blanket taped to the background. The microphone was my MacBook and a blanket was placed over it, in an attempt to lessen reflections."
4. Offer different tiers in your sales funnel
"If there's something to learn from what I do, it's to have tiers in your funnel. It makes much sense for people to come to the beginning levels of the product. When you consider individuals like Tim Ferriss or Lewis Howes, they're taking the exact same approach" Jonathan adds. Jonathan. "It's the basic microeconomics thing, right? Find out if people are willing to pay at any possible location."
We appreciate your sharing of your thoughts with us Jonathan!
For a way to reach Jonathan or to learn more about his classes, go to JLE.VI