Why YouTubers Should Build Online Courses (+ 3 strategies to do this)
The past and present of the creator economy plus an effective way for creators to supercharge and monetize their audiences
Dear Creator Nation,
Being a creator is hard. No, it’s difficult. It’s maybe even impossible. With no boss to fall back on or coworkers to rub shoulders with, there’s only one person to absorb the stress, doubt, and fatigue of building a personal brand: yourself. This isn’t easy, and unsurprisingly, most YouTubers, TikTokers, and Twitchers quit after posting a handful of videos.
Being a great creator extends far beyond producing entertaining content. Creators are not simply entertainers, they are mini businesses. In the old days of the creator economy (think Bo Burnham), content creators spent 99% of their time, well, making content. But the modern-day creator requires skills apart from rapping sex rhymes.
Because barriers to entry are so low to upload a video (>37 million YouTube channels exist), modern-day creators need to not only produce standout content but effectively market, maintain social media presence, analyze data, stay informed on consumer trends, manage personal finances, and much, much more.
This is a lot to expect from a single ambitious 16-year-old prankster. This is where AMA comes in (okay, I had to plug our own company). 🙈 We teach creators how to make money, build communities, and leverage their data so they can focus on what they love: producing content.
Another creator trend to take note of is that a crafty teenager used to be able to cruise on YouTube with consistent and funny content. Because so much competition takes place today, that is no longer the case.
Creators can’t just build a community and let Tesla autopilot take over. They need to constantly engage, mobilize, and provide value to retain an audience.
Creator Economy in 2011 = content
Creator Economy in 2021 = content + community
Creator economy in 2031 = content + community + crypto (we’re just joking, but are we…)
The Course to Community Pipeline 💸
Most creators are specialists in a certain field. Yes, there will always be get-rich-quick schemers who only get rich quick by “teaching”people how to get rich quick. But entertain my thought: Ninja is an expert gamer and commentator like Gary Tan is an expert venture capitalist. Experts become creators by leveraging their unique skills to provide value and entertainment for people. Enter community-building strategy #1: online courses.
Once hyped up a decade ago, online courses are making a comeback in 2021. Selling access, information, or exclusive content through online courses is an effective and profitable way for creators to monetize their following.
This is exactly what we did with AJ Lapray, a former D1 athlete and full-time creator with nearly 800,000 subscribers. AJ has been a long time supporter of the #PayThePlayers movement, so when the NCAA announced athletes could profit off their Name Image and Likeness (NIL), we partnered with AJ to make a course that was for athletes, by athletes.
Here are three most important strategies to create a course that turns your audience into a community (with AJ as a case study):
Find Your Target 🎯
Thinking about who you’re selling to comes before thinking about what you’re selling. I could make the best ski coat in the world, but I wouldn’t get many buyers if I was located in a Hawaiian shed. Get to know your audience: sign into YouTube studio → select analytics → select audience. Observe where your audience is from, how old they are, and what other channels they watch.
AJ’s audience is composed in large part of high school and college student-athletes, so creating a course that teaches college athletes how to monetize their brand made sense.
Make It Personal 🗣️
Specifically, center your course around what you’ve learned and mastered from your own experiences. No one follows AJ to learn about how to make TikTok dances. On the other hand, people don’t follow AJ to hear him simply rephrase NCAA rules. Make the course personable, relatable, and actionable. AJ outlines 5 clear tools for athletes to take ownership over their NIL:
Capitalize on 15+ forms of monetization
Develop your personal image online
Identify the best third-party offerings to help you monetize
An introduction to financial tools
Exclusive advice from former and current athletes
Identity Your Mission (the most important tool) 🔮
Building a course shouldn’t just be about engaging your audience or making money. Seriously think about these questions and then write down your answers.
Why is creating this course important to you?
What do you hope to achieve by creating this course?
What concrete value are you providing to your students?
This summer AJ observed a profound shift in the ways student-athletes can earn money beyond just praying for a spot in the NFL or NBA. Using his knowledge and expertise as a creator-athlete, he created a course to empower student-athletes to take ownership over their brands.
Finally, this course should reflect you and your values. Not only will this make marketing and selling the course easier, but you will have more fun along the way.
📋 Resources to Build a Course:
How to Create An Online Course For Free (Software & Tools) — 8 free online course-creation tools to build every and any type of course
The ULTIMATE guide to creating and selling online courses — coming up with ideas, content format, marketing strategies & more
Ali Abdaal’s Part-Time YouTuber Academy — the ultimate example of what a successful online course actually looks like
🎥 Video of the Week
💄 Youtuber: Rachel Levin (rclbeauty101)
👀 Views: 60k
👍 Likes: 3.4k
💬 Comments: 19k
🔔 Subscribers: 14.5M
💘 Why we loved it: Her thumbnail was a literal reflection of our thumbnail optimization strategy. Rachel featured her own face with a concerned/surprised expression which elevates viewer interest. The background features a random dude and text “talking to random strangers” — who wouldn’t be curious about letting a rando pick their hair color?
🎬 Action Steps:
If you are a YouTuber, go get your FREE year-end YouTube wrapped!
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Have a great rest of the week creators!
Sent with 💜,
AMA