Introduction
In today’s blog, I’m going to be sharing with you guys an update on my how to make an online course video. If you guys are OGs, you will know that I normally only release sit-down educational videos, but I thought that a more informal vlog-style video would better encapsulate what it takes to create an online course: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I started creating Skillshare courses in May of 2020 and since July of 2020 have been able to cover my rent using the money I have earned on Skillshare every single month since. Granted, I do get paid in dollars and my living expenses in Cape Town, South Africa, are pretty low, but there isn’t a single person I know that wouldn’t be interested in earning passive income in a super legitimate and fun way. It’s really changed my life sharing my work more openly online.
Creating the WhatsApp Marketing Course
As many of my YouTube videos are, of course, about WhatsApp and WhatsApp for business, I really wanted to give a full go to creating a comprehensive WhatsApp for business course for anyone interested in using WhatsApp for marketing purposes. I had previously uploaded about five videos onto Skillshare specifically about WhatsApp to see if the course would get any traction because I was a bit worried that the audience is very American, and WhatsApp is not as widely used in the States.
Course Updates and New Content
I was super excited when I had the opportunity with the December holidays to overwrite the old course content and spruce up the course with all new, better, and more beautifully shot content. So in this vlog, you’re gonna follow me for three days of course creation.
Notion Template for Course Creation
I’ve also created a Notion template that not only covers all content in the Skillshare teacher handbook but also includes all data on my earnings and how I track the progress of my course from inception to launch. It’s available using the link in my description box.
My Skillshare teaching profile is also there, so please do be sure to follow me on Skillshare to check out my journey unfold. I would love to inspire other teachers to follow in my footsteps as, after all, who else wants to have their rent covered by passive income?
Course Preview and Expectations
Welcome to my complete WhatsApp marketing course! I’m so thrilled that you’re here. I’ve been making YouTube videos about WhatsApp and WhatsApp for business for the last two years, and collectively these videos have been watched more than 200,000 times. Sharing this journey on YouTube has really made me so happy.
Filming Process with Teleprompter
So this is probably the view you are more used to seeing when it comes to my YouTube or if you’ve taken any of my Skillshare or Udemy classes over on those platforms. And so, what I’ve been doing now is basically finalizing the script for the remaining sections, which I still need to complete.
Editing and Uploading Process
After a couple of hours of shooting, I dragged the footage into DaVinci Resolve and did a rough edit by looking at the sound waves, cutting out the troughs, and any ums and ahs. I then overlay screen shades, B-roll, and of course titling.
Challenges with Editing and Uploading
I get very overwhelmed with the online course creation process, and even though it’s probably my sixth or so course that I’m filming and releasing, I’ve just found that if you do all the editing in one batch and all that uploading in one batch, it can become quite overwhelming.
Time Management in Course Creation
One of the absolute best things I’ve learned when creating an online course is to keep a Google sheet or a spreadsheet of the order of all your modules and then where they are in terms of your workflow.
Technical Issues During Editing
Something not great happened last night, which is just kind of Murphy’s law, because I honestly was thinking at the time, “Gee, this is like the most seamless kind of course I’ve formed.”
Final Thoughts on Course Creation
The other thing that I always underestimate is obviously the time it takes to upload because, as I said, sometimes you do have those technical issues and you have to run things through Handbrake.
Conclusion
Thank you for coming on this journey with me. Hopefully, this content is super helpful to other people who are looking to form Udemy or Skillshare classes. That’s all I can hope for.