WEBVTT - Turning Expertise Into a Profitable Online Course

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 2>Safe to say the pandemic Tim made us kind of

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<v Speaker 2>think differently about learning online. Some good we know, though

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<v Speaker 2>it was very very tough on kids who were stuck

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<v Speaker 2>at home, and it wasn't easy for those kids to

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<v Speaker 2>do school and not be Actually in some.

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<v Speaker 1>Friends who I have said they're still seeing the effects

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<v Speaker 1>of it. I bet they are kids. Yeah, it's really

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<v Speaker 1>it's really troubling. But it also opened up a world

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<v Speaker 1>of thinking differently, especially for adults and how they're learning,

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<v Speaker 1>and also how people are teaching how to bake.

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<v Speaker 2>Bread, how to make cocktails, all stuff you're still doing. Yeah, paint, no, yeah, totally.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm back in the office. But online learning it was

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<v Speaker 2>the fix, it felt like for so many during the pandemic.

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<v Speaker 2>And keeping with that, our next guest is helping others

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<v Speaker 2>create and really launch their own online courses. So with

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<v Speaker 2>us is Danielle Leslie, founder of Course from Scratch, joining

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<v Speaker 2>us on zoom in Los Angeles. Danielle, nice to have

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<v Speaker 2>you here on Bloomberg Business Week. So tell us a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit about Course from Scratch. How you started it,

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<v Speaker 2>when you started it, and what's going on the type

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<v Speaker 2>of activity you're seeing.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, absolutely, I mean so exactly what you all said.

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<v Speaker 3>We saw this shift in trust of learning online. I

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<v Speaker 3>got into it over ten years ago, so at the

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<v Speaker 3>very beginning of it, I would say, when it was

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<v Speaker 3>still new, and I worked at You to Me, which

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<v Speaker 3>had you know, tens of thousands of online courses and

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<v Speaker 3>people were learning from all kinds of experts. And after

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<v Speaker 3>doing that for a while, I work out on my own,

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<v Speaker 3>and so about seven years ago I launched course from

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<v Speaker 3>scratch and we've now helped over ten thousand people, and

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<v Speaker 3>as you mentioned, we're seeing people create online courses on everything.

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<v Speaker 3>I think the big takeaway for people here is to

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<v Speaker 3>know that your life experiences can help someone else. So

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<v Speaker 3>we have someone who was a single mom, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>who learned to co parent her son successfully and she

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<v Speaker 3>created a framework out of it and has now helped

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<v Speaker 3>hundreds of other single moms.

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<v Speaker 4>Co parent their kids.

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<v Speaker 3>And another person you know who's a really good friend

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<v Speaker 3>of mine, Tara Reid, developed apps without code.

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<v Speaker 4>So you know, a lot of people are coming out

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<v Speaker 4>of the job.

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<v Speaker 3>Market and asking, how can I start my own business,

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<v Speaker 3>how can I develop my own app?

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<v Speaker 4>And so she's now helped thousands of people do that.

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<v Speaker 3>So yeah, it's been a huge wave, and it's been

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<v Speaker 3>so amazing to see all of us kind of contribute

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<v Speaker 3>our gifts to the world.

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<v Speaker 1>How would you say you differentiate between simply somebody teaching

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<v Speaker 1>someone something on YouTube? Like what's been amazing for me

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<v Speaker 1>is you know, if the dishwasher breaks or if there's like,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, an error code on the washing machine, I

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<v Speaker 1>can just type that into YouTube and some plumber or

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<v Speaker 1>appliance fixer will actually show me how to do it,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'll save like four or five hundred bucks for

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<v Speaker 1>some professional coming and fixing it. How do you differentiate

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<v Speaker 1>between you know, what anyone can do in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>a video versus like quality control that you'd find on

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<v Speaker 1>your platform.

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<v Speaker 4>Such a great question.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, I love a good YouTube video to solve

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<v Speaker 3>an immediate pain point. I would say the biggest differentiation

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<v Speaker 3>between a problem that a YouTube video can solve versus

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<v Speaker 3>an online course that we teach inside of course, from scratch.

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<v Speaker 4>You'll see the best courses are not.

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<v Speaker 3>About teaching you how to do something, but helping you

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<v Speaker 3>transform into being something new. So it's a question of

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<v Speaker 3>who do you want to transform into being. So as

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<v Speaker 3>an example, there are lots of YouTube videos on how

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<v Speaker 3>to play piano, right, you can take a piano one

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<v Speaker 3>on one course, but there is a program that has

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<v Speaker 3>an actual curriculum that takes you from point A where

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<v Speaker 3>you are so beginner piano player who lacks confidence, who

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<v Speaker 3>lost their sense of play and improvisation as an adult,

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<v Speaker 3>grew up.

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<v Speaker 4>Playing piano with their brothers and sisters.

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<v Speaker 3>Point A two point b, which is an improvisation master

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<v Speaker 3>someone who's able to play piano, what will teach their

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<v Speaker 3>kids as part of a legacy and bond with them

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<v Speaker 3>and take that same sense of play to the office

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<v Speaker 3>in the boardroom and have confidence to improvise on the

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<v Speaker 3>spot because they've been practicing improvisation with their piano program.

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<v Speaker 3>So big thing is the curriculum of framework in transforming

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<v Speaker 3>you from one identity into a higher identity.

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<v Speaker 2>So tell me what the business is it? On one

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<v Speaker 2>hand helping others create their own course and on the

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<v Speaker 2>other hand, is it benefiting from all those people who

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<v Speaker 2>are creating courses in kind of like a library, if

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<v Speaker 2>you will, of where people want to go learn.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, So my business model is the first piece, so

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<v Speaker 3>a program of helping people follow the program, and it's

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<v Speaker 3>designed as a sixty day program that takes you from

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<v Speaker 3>how do you even select a course topic that can

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<v Speaker 3>be a premium course topic, how do you create the curriculum?

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<v Speaker 4>And then how do you launch online?

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<v Speaker 3>Even if you have no personal brand, no following on

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<v Speaker 3>any social media, how do you launch and actually get sales?

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<v Speaker 3>So yeah, that's the core business. And then there are

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<v Speaker 3>advanced programs for people who have now helped people scale

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<v Speaker 3>to seven figures and even eight figures, and so we

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<v Speaker 3>have an advanced program that helps you then scale that

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<v Speaker 3>using ads and webinars and more advanced strategies.

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<v Speaker 4>So that's the first piece of it.

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<v Speaker 3>The second piece you mentioned, which is a marketplace for

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<v Speaker 3>other courses. I'm a partner in a platform called member Up,

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<v Speaker 3>and member up is a course hosting, community and membership platform,

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<v Speaker 3>and so on that platform you are able to see

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<v Speaker 3>other courses and other personal brands that you can connect with.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm just on your website right now, Danielle. It's pretty amazing.

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<v Speaker 1>You have some numbers in here, and I think this

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<v Speaker 1>is referring to you, but you started out with your

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<v Speaker 1>own online course making eighteen thousand dollars right in twenty

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen up to in twenty twenty nine point one million dollars.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, and that's if you think about what year was that, right?

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<v Speaker 4>What happened?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it was the pandemic, of course. But yeah, I

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<v Speaker 1>mean I see something like this and I think to myself, Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>that's amazing and good for you, congratulations, but you know,

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<v Speaker 1>results not typical? Yeah, fair to say, Yeah, No.

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<v Speaker 4>You're right, You're right. It was quite a quantum leap.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, it was amazing. I mean from twenty nineteen to

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty five million dollars edition in additional money.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll talk to us then about the average individual who

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<v Speaker 2>takes your course and what they end up with in

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<v Speaker 2>terms of a business. Because correct, if I'm wrong, I'm

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<v Speaker 2>just looking at the webside too, it's about twenty five

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<v Speaker 2>hundred dollars for the course, correct, Yes, So then what

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<v Speaker 2>are the results on the other side?

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<v Speaker 3>Absolutely so too for the first piece, you know, what

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<v Speaker 3>are the kind of the typical results. It's really interesting

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<v Speaker 3>because this program is designed to help you create and

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<v Speaker 3>launch your online course, and what we found is that

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<v Speaker 3>there are three big benefits that people report getting out

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<v Speaker 3>of course. From scratch, I thought money was going to

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<v Speaker 3>be the number one. I thought they were going to

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<v Speaker 3>be like financial independence, you know, I was able to

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<v Speaker 3>build my brands.

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<v Speaker 4>Number one was self acceptance.

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<v Speaker 3>So going through the program, they learned the power of

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<v Speaker 3>their story, they learned their uniqueness, and the second thing

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<v Speaker 3>was money, and the third was community.

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<v Speaker 4>And I share that because.

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<v Speaker 3>Surprisingly a lot of people get into the program and

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<v Speaker 3>they realize, oh wow, this is just one way I

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<v Speaker 3>can build my business online. And because of all the

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<v Speaker 3>resources that I'm grateful to be a part of online,

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<v Speaker 3>you'll find that people say, Okay, now I know my

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<v Speaker 3>story and I know how to articulate it, and I

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<v Speaker 3>know how to create a framework. I actually want to

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<v Speaker 3>write a book. I actually want to start my own

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<v Speaker 3>show online. So I would say that's the number one

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<v Speaker 3>reason that we don't have one hundred percent of people

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<v Speaker 3>who go through the program watching their course, it's because

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<v Speaker 3>they can actually see a new possibility for themselves. For

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<v Speaker 3>those who do launch, I think on average they launch

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<v Speaker 3>in sixty days and they make between fifteen to twenty

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<v Speaker 3>thousand for that first launch. And a big part of

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<v Speaker 3>that is because we recommend that you price your program

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<v Speaker 3>around two to three thousand dollars and that you are

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<v Speaker 3>focusing on walking before you run. So for that first launch,

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<v Speaker 3>don't try to do the fifty K one hundred K launch.

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<v Speaker 3>I want you to just get five to ten people

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<v Speaker 3>enrolled into that first program. So that's typically what you'll see.

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<v Speaker 2>Any statistics on how many of those businesses that started

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<v Speaker 2>are still around.

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<v Speaker 4>Oh not at all. No, I wouldn't be able to

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<v Speaker 4>share that with you.

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<v Speaker 3>What I do know is, as I shared with you,

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, we've got dozens with now crossed the seven

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<v Speaker 3>figure mark. We have over a thousand who have written

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<v Speaker 3>in with their results, and those have done at least

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<v Speaker 3>five figures from their launches, but we have not done the.

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<v Speaker 4>Best job of following up with them and seeing where

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<v Speaker 4>are you now? You know, where has your course scaled? Now?

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<v Speaker 4>All right?

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<v Speaker 2>Got it? Well, I'm good to check in with you.

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<v Speaker 2>Danielle Leslie she's founder of course from Scratch joining us

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<v Speaker 2>on Zoom from Los Angeles. But yeah, a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>people certainly online and it's interesting to see how it all.

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<v Speaker 2>But I do feel like all my learning, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>as we think about it, is going through a little

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<v Speaker 2>bit of a reckoning too.

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<v Speaker 1>It is what would you teach if you could design course?

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<v Speaker 1>Putting you on the spot.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh my god, I don't even know what I would

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<v Speaker 2>What would you say?

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<v Speaker 1>You would teach sailing?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh I could teach sailing.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah I could do that.

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<v Speaker 1>But could you do that from a computer. That's like

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<v Speaker 1>the type of thing you've got to be on a boat.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, but you could do.

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<v Speaker 2>People that look at the YouTube channels. My husband are

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<v Speaker 2>kind of obsessed with these people who sail the world.

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<v Speaker 2>You and I haven't talked about this.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh my god, is this your new thing?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's like been watching all of these people who have.

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<v Speaker 1>Seven figure studio on your boat.

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<v Speaker 4>No, you don't do that. You just use cameras, you use.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly.

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<v Speaker 4>It's well, we'll have to talk about this, all right.

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<v Speaker 4>You're listening and watching Bloomberg Business Week.