August 22, 2016 - Udemy Makes Another New Pricing Change!

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another online teaching case study! In this week’s case study, we are going to be discussing Udemy and their new pricing change 2.0! 

As a lot of you know about 5 months ago Udemy changes its pricing structure limiting instructor to $50 Maximum course prices and $20 minimum course prices! They are now going back to their old model with a few slight changes. Here is the article straight from their blog! 

This is a huge change yet again and I am very excited to see how the market reacts to these new pricing changes! I have created my view own youtube video to help answer questions and how I will be pricing my courses with the new pricing update coming August 22! 

Click here for the FREE Video and don't forget to subscribe to our channel! 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8g_o_0wHJUsp67lJA69yhg

We now have over 20+ hours of free preview video content for all of my best selling online courses! 

Resouce: Udemy Blog 

https://teach.udemy.com/updates-pricing-and-promotions

In April, we updated the Pricing and Promotions Policy on Udemy. This was one of the biggest changes in the history of Udemy, and we know this change had a big impact on you: our partners in this business. Over the past 4 months, we’ve been listening intently to you and your students. We’ve heard from you that you need more flexibility in setting your prices, and we’ve heard from students that they are motivated by more varied promotions that prompt them to explore a new product like an online course.

We heard you and are taking action. Effective August 22, we’re updating our pricing model:

• A wider range. We’ll be expanding the range for list prices on Udemy to $20 – $200.
• Larger discounts. We’ll be increasing the discount cap for Udemy promotions to 75% off and removing the 50% off limit on instructor coupons.
• Re-introduction of fixed price deals. By popular demand, we’ll bring back the Fixed Price Promotional program. This will allow us to run promotions on your courses at prices like $10 or $15.
• Maintain the floor. We will continue to limit sale prices to a minimum of $10, for both instructor promotions and Udemy deals.
• Maintain tiers. We will continue to tier course list prices on the 5s and 0s.

Please note that all of these changes will go live on August 22. The Udemy Deals Program now includes both a Percentage Promotions program and a Fixed Price program.

We have opted instructors into these programs based on your past promotional preferences. You’ll be receiving email updates from our team with more information on your specific opt-in preferences.

An evolving marketplace

To be clear with you, we will continue to evolve our pricing model as the marketplace matures.The most recent pricing model provided key insights into pricing on Udemy. We will continue to dig deeper into these learnings and student feedback to evolve our pricing in the future. We believe this will help you grow your revenues on Udemy and, as we continue to grow and learn, we will continue to refine our pricing.

Our goal in making this change is to increase stability and confidence in your Udemy revenue as we continue to deepen our partnership.

Next steps for you

Please log into your account and visit the Bulk Price Edit screen. There you can change your course prices and confirm your opt-in for the Fixed Price program. Your courses will be included in our upcoming promotions unless you opt out of the program by August 22. Courses that you select new prices for will update on midnight Pacific time, August 22. For guidance on how to think through pricing your courses, please see our blog post.

Our team is on hand to answer any questions you have in the Udemy Studio this week, and we’ll also be hosting a conference call to go over this change in more detail. You can register for the conference call here. Thank you for your flexibility and support as we work together to build a stronger, more sustainable marketplace.

(In April, we updated the Pricing and Promotions Policy on Udemy. This was one of the biggest changes in the history of Udemy, and we know this change had a big impact on you: our partners in this business. Over the past 4 months, we’ve been listening intently to you and your students. We’ve heard from you that you need more flexibility in setting your prices, and we’ve heard from students that they are motivated by more varied promotions that prompt them to explore a new product like an online course.

We heard you and are taking action. Effective August 22, we’re updating our pricing model:

• A wider range. We’ll be expanding the range for list prices on Udemy to $20 – $200.
• Larger discounts. We’ll be increasing the discount cap for Udemy promotions to 75% off and removing the 50% off limit on instructor coupons.
• Re-introduction of fixed price deals. By popular demand, we’ll bring back the Fixed Price Promotional program. This will allow us to run promotions on your courses at prices like $10 or $15.
• Maintain the floor. We will continue to limit sale prices to a minimum of $10, for both instructor promotions and Udemy deals.
• Maintain tiers. We will continue to tier course list prices on the 5s and 0s.

Please note that all of these changes will go live on August 22. The Udemy Deals Program now includes both a Percentage Promotions program and a Fixed Price program.

We have opted instructors into these programs based on your past promotional preferences. You’ll be receiving email updates from our team with more information on your specific opt-in preferences.

An evolving marketplace

To be clear with you, we will continue to evolve our pricing model as the marketplace matures.The most recent pricing model provided key insights into pricing on Udemy. We will continue to dig deeper into these learnings and student feedback to evolve our pricing in the future. We believe this will help you grow your revenues on Udemy and, as we continue to grow and learn, we will continue to refine our pricing.

Our goal in making this change is to increase stability and confidence in your Udemy revenue as we continue to deepen our partnership.

Next steps for you

Please log into your account and visit the Bulk Price Edit screen. There you can change your course prices and confirm your opt-in for the Fixed Price program. Your courses will be included in our upcoming promotions unless you opt out of the program by August 22. Courses that you select new prices for will update on midnight Pacific time, August 22. For guidance on how to think through pricing your courses, please see our blog post.

Our team is on hand to answer any questions you have in the Udemy Studio this week, and we’ll also be hosting a conference call to go over this change in more detail. You can register for the conference call here. Thank you for your flexibility and support as we work together to build a stronger, more sustainable marketplace.

Case Study 5/2/2016 APRIL SALES ON UDEMY

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another online teaching case study! In this week’s case study, we are going to be discussing APRIL SALES and why Udemy has been slow. In this case study I will be discussing 3 main areas: Opportunity, Creating new courses, and where to start marketing!

Last month (APRIL 2016) Has been my slowest month on Udemy (revenue wise) In the past 6 months! Now, there are many factors that have gone into this slow month, but should this be a cause for concern? Well, it depends on how you look at it.

11) There is more opportunity now on Udemy to earn even MORE money if you have an extremely popular high end course! Why? Because the average for our courses will be reaching a higher price point. All of my courses (on average) sold well below $20.00. So now that my courses are at a higher pricepoint, this means that in time that will become the new baseline! It will take time for Udemy’s student base to adjust to this (as anything new takes time) however, in a month or two more in the future when they do adjust we will be reaping the benefits.

22) Creating new courses is the best thing you can do right now! The more courses you create today will only help you in your revenues and sales in the future! This is my main goal right now and I will continue to grow and create new courses!

33)  Marketing: Youtube Marketing is something I am going to be perusing heavily this month and next! Stay tuned for more updates and strategies in future case studies.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s case study! There are many ways to begin teaching online, but this should give you some great ideas that have worked for myself and many other online instructors! Stay tuned next week where I discuss more online teaching strategies. 

Thank you for reading our blog post today! If you have any questions please feel free to post your comments below!

Also, you can check out all of my blog posts for FREE by going to:

http://joeparysacademy.blogspot.com/

Sincerely,

Joe Parys

Case Study 4/4/2016 Green Screen Essentials!

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another online teaching case study! In this week’s case study, we are going to be discussing: How To Use A Green Screen To Create Amazing Videos!

Recently I have been learning how to create better videos for my online students. Using a green screen is an awesome tool and it can be very engaging! We will be discussing 3 specific tops in this post:

1)   How to buy a green screen and lighting kit

2)   Setting up your green screen and lighting equipment

3)   How to shoot and edit your green screen videos!

Let’s get started!

1)   How to buy a green screen and lighting kit

So where do I suggest you go to buy your green screen? The internet of course! In fact my green screen only cost me about $20.00 from Amazon (after shipping and handling!)

​

Now, it is also very important that you are able to light your entire green screen! This way you do not get shadows or “spots” when you record your video. This is why I have purchased two “Cow-Boy Studio” lighting kits! For only $50.00 each, these were a great investment!

​

2) Setting up your green screen and lighting equipment:

So when it all of your equipment arrives at your doorstep just go ahead and start unwrapping it!

**IMPORTANT**

Before you hang up or put your green screen against a wall, make sure you STEAM it and to get all of the creases out! You do not want your green screen to have any creases because it they will show up in your video and it will not look very professional!

Pro Tip: I actually went to my local dry cleaners and had them professional press my green screen. It looked amazing and only cost me $7.00!

Now, once you have everything out of the boxes and are ready to put things together, I wanted to make the suggestion you keep your lights “semi” close and also at all different angles shooting at the green screen. This will allow enough light to hit the green screen and also reduce shadows! I have lights on all sides, above me, and even a little behind me! However, you will have to see what works best for you! But just my suggestion J

4)   Once you have everything set up its now time to start filming your videos!

I personally use a Cannon HD camcorder because I think the quality looks better, but you can use a webcam or iMac camera. The results will differ depending on which camera you use. Now, once you film yourself against the green screen you will need to edit your videos!

​

Using iMove/ Camtasia, After Effects, or Final Cut Pro will easily allow you to use the green screen effect you are looking for. All you have to do is overlay a your original green screen video with a background of your choice and poof! Your video will instantly be transformed!  See Below!

​

I hope you were able to learn a lot about green screens today! It’s now time for your to go out there and start filming your new videos today! 

There are many ways to begin teaching online, but this should give you some great ideas that have worked for myself and many other online instructors! Stay tuned next week were I discuss more online teaching strategies.

Thank you for reading our blog post today! If you have any questions please feel free to post your comments below!
Also, you can check out all of my blog posts for FREE by going to: http://joeparysacademy.blogspot.com/

Sincerely,
Joe Parys​

Case Study 3/28/2016 Writing Your Course Summary!

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another online teaching case study! In this weeks case study, we are going to be discussing: Your Udemy Course Summary & Course Goals! 

In this weeks case study I am going to show you some of the best examples I have seen on Udemy and also why they are very effective! I am also going to show you my own course summaries and how you can model your course summary after mine! 

Let's get started! 

Recently I was watching a youtube video by one of the top paid individual instructors here on Udemy, Alun Hill. In his video, Alun breaks down what has been working for his own course summaries on Udemy! Here is what Alun discusses: 

#1) Udemy suggest that we have a minimum, yes minimum, of 300 words for our course summary. Now, I personally believe that sometimes "less is more" meaning is someone really going to read a 5,000 word course summary? Well, the answer is YES they actually probably are if they are really interested in enrolling in the course! This means it is critical to add in as much as we can to our course summary page (without overdoing it folks). Here is an example from my Bestselling Confidence and Self-Esteem Course! As you will notice I have added multiple positive reviews and have been very detailed about what my students are going to receive by enrolling in this course! 

​​​​​

#2) Don't just write anything! Make it actionable 

Now, it is important to drive home the point that you need to make your course summary very actionable and inspiring! Don't just write things and mark things down to get your "word count" up. It's important for your works to have meaning and to help your students make the decision to enroll in your fabulous course! 

#3) Make sure to include Udemy's 30 Day Money Back Guarantee in Your Course Summary! 

​

Udemy offers each one of its students a 30 day money back guarantee when they enroll in your courses. This is a major advantage that you should make your students very aware of! -- "But Joe, if people know they can get their money back, wont this lead to more refunds?" The answer is "not really!" in fact, every month my refunds have been less than 3% of my total sales! However, knowing that students can get their money back, no questions asked, provides them a safety net and encourages them to take the risk and enroll in your course! 

Here is the link to Udemy's 30 day money back guarantee policy: 

https://support.udemy.com/customer/portal/articles/1507981-how-do-i-get-a-refund-?b_id=3056​​

#4) Make sure to include your total student count and reviews! 

This is a great social proof marketing tool and at the very top of each of my personal courses I include total students enrolling in my courses and how many positive reviews I have received! Here is an example of what this looks like in my course summary for my Android course which now has more than 18,000+ Students! 

​

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks case study! There are many ways to begin teaching online, but this should give you some great ideas that have worked for myself and many other online instructors! Stay tuned next week were I discuss more online teaching strategies.

Thank you for reading our blog post today! If you have any questions please feel free to post your comments below!
Also, you can check out all of my blog posts for FREE by going to:

http://joeparysacademy.blogspot.com/

Sincerely,

Joe Parys​

Case Study 3/14/2016 An Understanding of "Why" To Teach Online Today!

​Hello everyone and welcome to yet another online teaching case study! In this weeks case study, we are going to be discussing something a little different. We are going to be talking about "Why" To Teach Online. 

This post will be a little different than our last ones, but I think it is very important to discuss where education is headed and where it is now! 

Let's dive in! 

For the past 3 and a half years I have been teaching in the high school classroom. I have a licensed teaching degree in history and psychology from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Technology has really taken over in the classroom and every student seems to have a smartphone, ipad, or something that connects to the internet. 

In the past year our school (any many others) have invested in "Chromebooks" for each student to have available in every classroom. A Chromebook does not have a hard drive, but it allows our students to access google classroom and work on their homework/projects/daily assignments anytime, anywhere! 

So why is this so important? I believe there is a massive shift in education happening right now, especially in the classroom! Students are learning and have access to more information than ever before. The simple go to class and listen to a lecture just isn't cutting it and students are logging on and watching videos now more than every before! 

This leads me to believe that if you are in the field of education (or you want to be) being able to have the skill of creating high quality videos is an extremely important skill to have! 

I believe that online education is the future for our education and you will begin to see more and more "teaching online" from our formal universities and high schools. 

So if you have not started teaching online yet there is no better time to do so! The best way to get started is to just begin taking action! One step at a time, day by day, and eventually you will have built something for the world to enjoy. I hope this post inspires you to create your first or next online video course and I look forward to writing more blog posts for you in the future! 

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks case study! There are many ways to begin teaching online, but this should give you some great ideas that have worked for myself and many other online instructors! Stay tuned next week were I discuss more online teaching strategies.

Thank you for reading our blog post today! If you have any questions please feel free to post your comments below!

Also, you can check out all of my blog posts for FREE by going to:

http://joeparysacademy.blogspot.com/

Sincerely,

Joe Parys​

Case Study 2/29/2016 How To Create High Quality Online Videos Using Affordable Software!

Hello everyone and welcome to yet another online teaching case study! In this weeks case study, we are going to be discussing: How To Create The Highest Quality Videos Possible For Your Online Video Courses!

I will be discussing three main areas and showing you specific examples from my own online courses! The three main areas we will be discussing in this post are:

1) What Video Editing Software You Should Look At Investing In To Create High Quality Videos

2) The Benefits and Differences Between Filming Indoors & Outdoors

3) Taking Your Videos To The Next Level By Adding Text/Pictures/Overlay

Let’s get started!

We are first going to be discussing What Video Editing Software You Should Use and Invest In.

When I first started teaching online I used quicktime screen capture software (Mac computer, free software) and a Blue Snowball USB microphone.

I also used iMovie to edit the screen capture videos (free Mac Editing Software)

Needless to say these were the absolute bare essentials to creating an online video course. In the past year my video editing skills and video recording skills have evolved immensely!

I have invested in using a new video editing software called Final Cut Pro X! They have a 30 day free trial and then after that it costs $299.00 to buy the full version.

Without going into to much detail about the specifics of how Final cut Pro works, this new editing software has allowed me creating amazing looking videos shot form all around the world! Here are a few examples of Finished videos with Final Cut Pro X! 

I highly recommend using Final Cut Pro X as a vital investment into creating professional looking videos for your online courses!

If you are a Windows user (or Mac User) another comparable software editing system is Camtasia Studio! I personally have not worked with this video editing software, but have heard very good things and have seen some excellent videos edited using this software.

Camtasia also has a free trial option and costs right around the same as Final Cut Pro X does for the full version ($299.00 for Camtasia 8)

2) The Benefits and Differences Between Filming Indoors & Outdoors

Now that we have an idea of what software editing program we need its time to go out and start shooting some videos! I have create a whole blog post on which Cameras I recommend, so we will skip that for now, but I wanted to share my experience filing indoors (with a green screen) vs. filming outdoors (in nature/public places)

Filming indoors:

The Pro's

There are a lot of different reasons why filming indoors is a great way to create high quality videos. First, you really do not have to worry about any weather conditions, (unless your power get cut off) or microphone issues (as long as you are in a quite room without background noises). Second, filming indoors can be very comfortable as most people will be likely filming in their own homes or a professional studio. Third, setting up and recording should be easy once you have everything in line and set up! Here is an example of me using my green screen indoors! It was worth the effort to learn these skills!

The Con's

Setting up and getting all of the lighting/equipment to work perfectly can be a pain in the neck. I remeber it taking me hours to finally have everything set up the way I liked it the first time I filmed indoors! Second, you are limited to what you can do indoors. It's not like you can move around a lot on screen because you are in a fixed area. Third, you may only be able to film during certain times (maybe you live with a roommate/family/ect and you cannot film in a certain area at a certain time).

Filming Outdoors: 

The Pro's

You can really engage and inspire your students by filming outdoors! Some of my bestselling courses have multiple lectures where I film outdoors! You also have a lot of flexibility when filming outdoors! You can move around more, get different angles, and shoot almost anywhere at anytime! Here is an awesome example of me filming outdoors!

The Con's 

Weather can always be a big factor when trying to film outdoors. When its cloudy, windy, or even rainy/cold, mother nature can ruin your video before you even begin! Always be aware of the current weather before starting your video shoot!

3) Taking Your Videos To The Next Level By Adding Text/Pictures/Overlay

A wonderful way to engage your students and enhance your videos is byAdding Text/Pictures/Overlay to your videos! Using your new software there may be multiple different ways to do this, however let me show you a few examples from my own videos! 

Here you see I have added simple text "Special Bonus" to my video to have it look more professional!

In this picture I have a video inside of a vide using the picture in picture option!

These are just a few way you can make your videos more engaging, professional, and take them to the next level!

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks case study! There are many ways to begin teaching online, but this should give you some great ideas that have worked for myself and many other online instructors! Stay tuned next week were I discuss more online teaching strategies.

Thank you for reading our blog post today! If you have any questions please feel free to post your comments below!

Also, you can check out all of my blog posts for FREE by going to:

http://joeparysacademy.blogspot.com/

Sincerely,

Joe Parys​