The Udemy alternative: Struggles faced by instructors and how to overcome them

Udemy is a well-known online course marketplace for creators and teachers to sell digital courses. Founded in 2010, Udemy was idealized to be a digital learning platform where students can explore and access educational courses. With the rapid growth of online learning, Udemy grew multifold in the last decade with more and more trainers choosing it. 

The core business principle of online course marketplaces like Udemy is to act as a medium for selling digital learning products. Coupled with consistent marketing, learners are motivated to choose learning materials on such marketplaces. 

Why do trainers choose Udemy early in their course creation journey?

The most common answer is: It's easy and simple. Udemy makes it easy for course creators to get started with a simple sign-up process. There's no upfront fees or complex setup processes to start selling courses. Additionally, through Udemy's rigorous marketing campaigns, it's hardwired for people to explore Udemy for all of their learning needs. So, it's a good combination of a forum to list courses and a medium for learners worldwide to access courses. 

The shortcomings faced by course creators using Udemy

Though popular in the online training community, Udemy also has its cons. Let's explore each one from an online course creator's perspective. 

The Udemy payment model for trainers

There's no fee to list courses on Udemy; rather, it takes commissions for every course sold. Trainers can earn anywhere between 37% to 97% of revenue share on every sale.

The 37% revenue share model

If a course sale is made through Udemy's marketing efforts or its affiliate network, then the course creator gets a revenue share of 37%. The rationale behind the huge revenue bite is that Udemy spends money on paid advertisements and affiliate partner payouts. 

For instance, let's say a course creator is pricing their course at $50. The revenue split for each sale will be $18.50 to the instructor and $31.50 to Udemy. So, for a trainer to reach a revenue of $1,000 per month, the number of sales should be 74 per month. In this case, the instructor makes $1,000/month and Udemy makes $2,331 in commissions.  

This is a major drawback for instructors because they lose a big piece of the revenue generated by their original content. Some instructors are okay with the 37%–63% revenue share split because they cannot afford to set up an online space to host and market their courses—a downside that some instructors are okay living with.

The 97% revenue share model

This is a straightforward revenue model, where the instructor markets their course themselves and drives sales through referral codes and unique links. Udemy takes 3% of the revenue share as transaction charges.

The dynamic revenue model (Udemy business)

Instructors get a share from the 25% revenue pool collected as subscriptions from businesses. Course creators' revenue depends on learner engagement and changes dynamically each month. 

Pricing restrictions

Udemy has a policy of minimum and maximum pricing rules for courses. Instructors can only set course pricing within the stipulated pricing slabs. It ranges from $19.99 to $199.99 before discounts. You will not be able to price your courses outside this range. This adds an extra shackle limiting the way instructors can sell their courses. 

Competitiveness

The competition on Udemy is overwhelming, with thousands of instructors offering similar courses. It's tough to get your courses listed on the first page of Udemy's search results because it depends on various factors such as keywords and learner ratings. New instructors will find it challenging to get started. 

Teaching methods

Udemy only supports pre-recorded courses for learners. There's no workaround for instructors who want to host live classes for their students. So, it's mostly a one-way street, where the learner gets access to a library of learning materials and completes the course at their own pace. Instructors can use tools like direct messaging and Q&A tools to interact with their learners, but nothing beats the convenience of talking with your students through live virtual classrooms.

Business scalability (branding and dependency)

Brand recognition is pivotal for any sustainable business. When selling courses on Udemy, instructors are bound to be identified as “a Udemy instructor,” which makes it hard for course creators to create branding for themselves. Dependency on the platform also increases significantly with time as you scale. Trainers shouldn’t overlook the possibility of being expelled from the platform overnight due to a conflict of interest.

Limited communications

On Udemy, sharing direct contact information with students is prohibited for understandable reasons. But as a teacher who wishes to make a difference in the lives of learners, a coherent communication medium is essential. A teacher should be able to understand their learners’ aspirations and virtually hold their hands through their learning journey. For instance, you won’t even be able to get your learners’ email addresses so you can interact and maintain constant communication. This is a major drawback with marketplaces like Udemy. 

How can instructors and course creators overcome the limitations faced on Udemy?

To overcome the limitations faced by online course marketplaces like Udemy, instructors can choose online course platforms to host and sell their learning programs. Online course platforms, like TrainerCentral, provide a curated set of tools to run their business on their own without depending on aggregators like Udemy. It gives course creators a huge edge in the market because it helps them build a progressive business that can be scaled efficiently.

The advantages of choosing an online course platform: Your business, your way

1. Pricing freedom
2. No revenue commissions
3. Dynamic teaching models
4. Brand presence and scalability
5. Nurture learner relationships
6. Globalization 
7. Automated business operations

Pricing freedom

When it comes to pricing your courses, you don't have to hardball between pricing slabs. You can fix your pricing based on the course value, market conditions, and competitiveness. Some platforms like TrainerCentral support subscription and partial-payment-based pricing models for course purchases, providing flexibility to learners when buying. 

No revenue commissions

With online course platforms, you’ll have no more platform commissions, no more transaction charges, and no more hidden charges. You take 100% of your revenue from your course sales. There's no ambiguity, you know exactly how much you are going to make at the end of the month, and you can make business projections systematically—good traits for a progressive business. 

Dynamic teaching models

Online course platforms offer more options when it comes to teaching methods, course publishing, and course delivery. You’ll be able to create a library of media-rich learning content structured to fit your needs. Conduct live workshops and connect with your students in real time. Induct students in batches and train them in groups. Online course platforms also support tests, assignments, and discussion forums to provide an immersive learning experience for learners. 

Brand presence and scalability

When using online course platforms, your brand presence grows proportionately with your marketing activities and sales. You can tailor your brand messaging and consistently communicate the value you offer in your marketing programs. Promoting your courses through your native brand gives you an edge in the market as you scale your business, and it significantly improves brand recognition. The more brand reputation you build, the better the chances of upselling and cross-selling. 

Nurture learner relationships

Most online course platforms provide discussion forums and chat groups for learners to actively share ideas and questions with fellow learners and teachers. This stimulates a sense of community for learners throughout their learning journey. Building a rapport with students can improve the overall learning experience and contribute to word-of-mouth referrals. 

Globalization

Language friendliness and market localization are two important factors to consider when globalizing your online training business. Platforms like TrainerCentral support multi-lingual courses for learners from specific regions. Additionally, features like multi-currency support, payment gateway integration, and course-specific pricing significantly help when penetrating new markets. 

Automated business operations

The ability to automate day-to-day business operations using an online course platform is a huge boon for online trainers as they scale. Using online course platforms, trainers can easily automate communications and manage finances efficiently. Basic communications, such as course invitations, class reminders, renewals, and feedback can be automated with email templates. Payment automation tools allow trainers to stay on top of their finances by consolidating purchases and subscriptions in a single platform.

Wrapping up 

The dilemma of whether to choose an online course platform or an online course marketplace like Udemy is a long-running debate in the minds of trainers worldwide. This blog post is meant to be an eye-opener for trainers to be #LibertaEd and break free from the shackles of limitations they find in online course marketplaces.