A Beginner's Guide to Making Money with Online Courses

This video is a 1 hour masterclass on basically everything I know about making and selling online courses. If you're interested in selling courses yourself, then hopefully there's something useful for you here! Enjoy x
My favourite platform for building a courses business is Kajabi and you can get a 30 day free trial by using this link here: app.kajabi.com/r/NN6fUtrF
🔗 LINKS:
- Podia: go.aliabdaal.com/podia
- Teachable: go.aliabdaal.com/teachable
- $100m Offers by Alex Hormozi: geni.us/nVs7vo
- $100m Leads by Alex Hormozi: geni.us/FiS4Qh
- Dotcom Secrets by Russel Brunson: geni.us/IEbp7
- Expert Secrets by Russel Brunson: geni.us/fRE3F
- Traffic Secrets by Russel Brunson: geni.us/8Y03BX
- The Millionaire Messenger by Brendon Burchard: geni.us/gYRwxLx
- My interview with Nicolas Cole: • 5 Ways To Make $1 Mill...
- My interview with Tiago Forte: • Confronting my Product...
- My interview with Dickie Bush: • How to Build a Busines...
- If you want to double your productivity, join my new community Productivity Lab: www.productivitylab.com/?utm_...
- Check out my New York Times Bestselling book Feel-Good Productivity: www.feelgoodproductivity.com/...
- If you've read the book, share your thoughts here: aliabdaal.com/fgp-rating/
By the way, you can watch this video in a few other languages by changing the audio settings xx
🍿 WATCH NEXT:
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I Started a New Business. It Didn't Go Well: • I Started a New Busine...
My honest advice to someone who wants financial freedom: • My honest advice to so...
If I Wanted to Be a Millionaire Before 30, I'd Do This: • If I Wanted to Be a Mi...
📈 If you want to start or grow a KZbin channel: go.aliabdaal.com/exp
💌 Free Weekly Productivity Insights: www.aliabdaal.com/sunday
MY FAVOURITE TOOLS & GEAR
⏰ Rize - How I track my time and stay productive - rize.io/aliabdaal
📩 Superhuman - My favourite email app - go.aliabdaal.com/superhuman
✍️ Shortform - My favourite place for book summaries - go.aliabdaal.com/shortform
📚 Readwise - How I remember everything I read - go.aliabdaal.com/readwise
🎵 Epidemic Sound - Music & SFX in my videos - go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound
⚙️ Notion - How I manage my life and business - go.aliabdaal.com/notion
💰Trading212 - How I invest my money - www.trading212.com/promocodes...
MY OTHER SOCIALS:
🎙 My podcast Deep Dive - / deepdivewithaliabdaal
🌍 My website / blog - www.aliabdaal.com/
🐦 Twitter - / aliabdaal
📸 Instagram - / aliabdaal
📱 TikTok - / aliabdaal
👨‍💻 Linkedin - / ali-abdaal
🎥 Facebook - / aliabdaal
WHO AM I?
If we haven’t met before - Hey 👋 I’m Ali, a doctor-turned-entrepreneur and I’ve somehow become the world’s most followed productivity expert. Through my videos here on this channel, my podcast Deep Dive and writing, I share evidence-based strategies and tools to help you be more productive and build a life you love.
PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜
⌚️Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:26 - My history of selling courses
9:11- Examples of other course creators
19:45 - The courses business model
24:09 - Building your course step by step
28:24 - Choosing a platform for your course
30:57 - Setting up your course for purchase
34:28 - Creating your landing page and website
38:02 - Creating your offer
43:48 - The biggest problem: traffic and leads
52:42 - Frequently asked questions
53:09 - What if you feel you have nothing to teach?
55:45 - What order should I do the things to build this kind of business?
58:42 - How do you choose a price for your course?
59:49 - What’s a funnel?
1:01:05 - What if I don't feel like an expert in my field?
1:02:30 - What are the most common mistakes to avoid?
1:02:56 - What do you do about people pirating your content?
1:03:23 - How much should I give away for free?
1:04:07 - How do you handle refunds and dissatisfied students?
1:05:13 - What are some resources you recommend checking out?

[@aliabdaal]

What was the most useful/interesting part of this video for you?

[@ninjar17gaming69]

Teri mami😂😂😂

[@ZerooooooooooooooooooooO]

U bro ,love yea. Thank you for this idea, Alhamdulillah 💫

[@writabrita]

That everything was for free ! 🎉 I am halfway into the video and I cannot believe that all of this education is for free but I guess this is what you get for being subscribed to Ali-Value-Abdaal.

[@jackjones9848]

When you say "i make 10 million dollar..." 😂

[@jonathaneduardo7332]

I have honestly being thinking and overthinking the whole making a course for AGES since I started following you a few years ago and this video is honestly the last step... or the first step, I'm going to start working on it now. My valuable part for me was this at 55:50 I have recently reached 2k followers on instagram and 1.6k on tiktok after years of trying and I will start by offering them a free class as you suggested. Great video as always, thanks!

[@solankishaileshsolankishai616]

The efficiency of this Abel Dorsey is next level. To juggle walk throughs of various angles on the topic delivered to-camera, differnet content per topic from various folks underneath the umbrella of the track list of the larger big band concert itself is engaging and refined. To make a dense taccess like this so digestible is really something. Awesome work jack!!

[@sayangaming4139]

It's amazing what you do Abel Dorsey We need a lot of people with your skills and set who have good intentions and spread love

[@Kamalsingh12486]

My heart goes to the entire community for Abel Dorsey building up something even my grandpa can understand. This is so smart by them to launch it to shatter the doubts and fears of the common folk which is not even correct to begin with. Everyone knows the state of inflation and recession now and the way out is already in progress. Now it's just about catching the big fish

[@ramnivasjakhasr691]

I did not believe that after the whole FTX drama there's any good to get this year but Abel Dorsey proved otherwise. Bad timing maybe but it's a great adoption to get this more to the mainstream and raise awareness. Probably a high contender for a top 100 growth

[@kevinj2334]

Your English is awful, even for a bot

[@GajendraSolanki-ow4il]

As a person and professional you couldn't get any better than Abel Dorsey Brandon is a very reliable person and an excellent professional in the IT field. He is the type of person you want to work that's passionate, hardworking and knowledgeable. You’re The Best 100%

[@RiteshKumarRit-jd3gb]

Congratulations, Abel Dorsey I am relieved that you are out there fighting these thugs, We musttake every precaution to protect the elderly and the general public from these despicable con artists. Congratulations to You!! You deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for ensuring our security.

[@user-fq3ej7gf1y]

I feel that the last bull run was bolstered by all the money being printed. Major returns next bull run but I think they will be tamer in my humble opinion. A 10x on Abel Dorsey and a 15x on polygon are fair considering how much those two coins are interwov

[@RajKumar-yy2ko]

We have been on a recession since the beginning of 2022, but big media and governments all over the world didn’t want to admit it. We need to be wise and use our brains. Knowledge is power and I’d like all the family to be powerful! Just purchased some Abel Dorsey Thanks for keeping us informed during this times of doubt?

[@bobbyathineos]

This is really frustrating to me. For the past two years, I’ve been trying to build my career as a content creator. A friend of mine has a successful KZbin channel with millions of subscribers, and she’s one of the most genuine people I know. She always offers valuable advice and supports me whenever I feel down. We started our channels around the same time, but her content took off while I’m still struggling to get leads and grow my audience. I’ve tried collaborating with other creators, participating in online communities, and even running ads, but nothing seems to make a difference. Sometimes it's just not for you and I just had to accept that and move on.

[@Crypto.d-luthi]

Yeah, it can be super tough. My brother had a similar experience. He found that focusing on a niche helped him a lot. Instead of trying to appeal to a broad audience, he started making videos about a very specific topic he was passionate about, and it eventually paid off.

[@bobbyathineos]

Happy for him.. glad he found success. I've tried everything, but in the end it was just all too overwhelming with too little progress to show for it. Now I just stick to making better investments, its much less dramatic

[@NoraPresley]

Another thing that might help is networking with people in your niche. Sometimes the right collaboration can give you that boost you need. Maybe there are local meetups or online groups where you can connect with others who have similar interests and challenges. Though I guess that's all in your rearview now. What kind of investments are you into ?

[@professorkorezi]

@@bobbyathineos how many years now sir?

[@bobbyathineos]

@@professorkorezi I've only worked with him for a few months

[@AbhineetAgrawal]

Abel Dorsey has the most potential to do more than X10. ETH and BTC will most likely do a X5-X6, but that's fine for me. Gotta look for better entry points while I stake IRIS and PGEN, then wait for Polygen's next raise as I also look at their new partnership with Kenzo Ventures

[@ezetalamona]

Ali this is incredible!! I’m a data KZbinr, I started my KZbin channel two years ago following lot of your advices. I’m now in the middle of this exact process, trying to build a new platform for my online courses, one of the things I was thinking last week was “how did Ali create and host his KZbin Academy course”? This is pure gold!! Thank you very much for your help as always!! 🙌

[@threecatsdancing]

Just listened to the intro and I have to say thank you Ali. I've been trying to find a resource for learning how to actually make money selling a course that I have an outline for and a bunch of little courses and a community and the whole kit and kaboodle. I have a lot of trouble trusting that any online resource that I find on my own will be trustworthy but I have been watching you for a while and now you have provided that which I was looking for, somebody that I already trust providing me with those resources that I need. Your videos are always so timely for me. ❤

[@kellyywong]

this is scary, i was just digging through Ali's youtube to find something about creating online courses and even purchased a book about this topic and BRO HITS ME WITH THIS VIDEO!! THANK YOU SO MUCH, I APPRECIATE THIS VIDEO AND YOU A LOT THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

[@threecatsdancing]

Yeah, his videos are always so timely for me, they come when I need them. How does he do that?! 😁

[@Italy_with_luigiman]

Yea

[@KodjoEnglish]

JUST WOW 🔥 I spent an hour watching this and didn’t even see the time pass. Incredible work, Ali 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@RobinMWaite]

7 minutes in and already had a ton of value!! So refreshing to hear the behind the scenes business advice as well Ali, thank you 🙏

[@Denmosocial]

Downloading this incase it ever gets removed, awesome stuff Ali

[@Khatere-iv8nf]

This isn't just a KZbin video,this is a full course. Thank you so so much Ali. I took a lot of notes and watched till the end. Absolutely amazing

[@shearfunsewing]

Wow, this is amazing, Ali. I know I'm going to watch this a few times. I really love your videos and this is one of my favorites.

[@DevTalk]

Thanks Ali for always putting out these videos and being so open about your process and earnings. Really helps instructors like me to better understand the business. This is a Gem.

[@lilleemmamor]

Thank you for sharing Ali! As inspiring as always❤this video is super useful and really gives me a push to start

[@LesterDiaz]

This is a great step-by-step breakdown of selling information online. I’ve made a lot of money teaching people to grow an audience and monetize it on Facebook and I do exactly what Ali teaches on this video. I provide free content and value to my audience first. The most important thing is you have to ensure you have some experience, knowledge or expertise in one topic. I see a lot of beginners selling BS courses without going through the years of grind to master the skill their selling. In a nutshell, master one skill, get the results and then you’re qualified to teach other people.

[@nim_19]

Thanks so much for this! I’ve been working towards building a KZbin channel/instagram with the plan to create an online course later on so this is really useful. I’ve been working my way through your recommended books list so I’m currently listening to 100m offers - those recs have been super helpful too ❤

[@NazhifUU]

So much value, thank you so much Ali!

[@ayshadiyaah7917]

I am a high school student and u are my genuine mentor and inspiration i can ever have. As always loved the video ! ..Thanks a ton for being so transparent and sharing very handy insights❤Keep taking us along in your journey. Btw i've completed reading your book lately and just wanna say it's damn good ❤

[@AndreaJeanne88]

Thanks Ali. Love your content. Always useful, practical and easy to understand.

[@SoupyManJoe]

I've been waiting for a video on this from Ali!! So great.

[@sanjfreedom]

Fabulous video Ali. Thank you. Really enjoyed it and got a lot of value from it.

[@ChefShaylaMD]

What a comprehensive video! Thank you Ali for this! This will be on repeat for me!

[@AmanManazir]

Currently working on my first course, this is insanely valuable! 🔥💪

[@Rufio1975]

Good luck! I was curious about this myself.

[@magicismagic123]

what course?

[@isalutfi]

Hi Ali. Thank you this great and valuable video. Love it so much.

[@AnikSerneels]

Perfect. Very clear, practical, step by step guide, also for beginners. Thank you!

[@alexsherbak2187]

Thank you, Ali! Amazing content as always. ❤

[@jessicataylor5042]

Truly an incredible inspiration. Thank you for continuing to show up and show out Dr. Ali. You have ignited a flame in me to start my own YT channel this year. Wishing you all the success and I’ll be here watching 😊😊

[@burakkkk4]

I really like your content's simplicity, organization, information, and quality. You don't give things like instant motivation about personal development, instead you remind everyone that everyone should ask themselves some questions and interpret them. In a way, you actually remind us of the simple essence of life. You are a great content creator who helps people brainstorm and self-reflect on a platform like youtube. However, sometimes I also look for content that is a bit disconnected from this concept, and sometimes this hustle part outweighs :) A sweet little criticism. Still, anything from you is really valuable, keep it up, Ali.

[@luciepaimblanc]

Ali, this video is so so valuable. Thank you so much!

[@OLUWABUNMIGLAMOUREMPIRE]

The part you did a breakdown of all the money you have made so far....it is mind blowing. Thank you very much

[@davidamorim3609]

Hi Ali, you content has been incredible resourceful and I have been investing my time in reading some of the books suggested. I would love to see a short or a video telling the best books you recommend around finance literacy! Thank you. Looking forward for the next video!

[@swigatsy]

Cant thank you and the team enough for all the work and value you give us -- all for free! I hope your Labs project takes off too, best of luck!

[@a4salanduz6a5an9]

The best video that popped up today on my feed ❤. Thanks Ali.

[@devyanshvasani4612]

This is overexpected thank you so much sir...Each and everything explained flawlessly....I am really feeded with loads of knowledge

[@BradNesbit]

Ali, from one MD and creator to another, thank you for this incredible video. This is basically a course for the creative entrepreneur. And you are correct, obtaining leads is the main domino, once this can be mastered, the remainder will fall into place. All the best to you.

[@rishikeshsreehari]

Ali! Videos like these are what we want. What ali does, how he does it! Great job bro!

[@rakshavashishta2881]

I watched the entire video, tons of value . Thank you Ali.

[@ahmed_aboelleef]

Great video, as usual, you just dropped a ton of value for me. I am about to start my journey with online coding/programming courses for juniors want to step up to senior levels. you just draw me a roadmap to follow. thank you sooooo mush.

[@arkanaahmed]

Thanks, Ali! 🤩really wanted this video from your channel, I want to use what i get from your video to prepare my online courses in graphic design field, really appreciated 🙏

[@MakeMoneyWithAI_83]

Great insights on creating and selling online courses! Really enjoyed the video and learned a lot. Looking forward to implementing some of these strategies. Thanks for sharing!

[@Kshithijand1]

Can’t believe this guide is free! I will start my online courses journey soon, wish me luck! I’ll update here my progress!

[@carolm.d.6967]

Web designer here! I just wanted to say that landing pages are not just simple pages on your website or one-page sites (this is a common mistake). Landing pages are where you "land" after clicking on ads, such as from a web marketing campaign. Apart from that, I want to truly thank you for your content. I'll follow your instructions and create a new channel to share free content with my audience. I'll start with free webinars and ebooks, and then move on to selling courses. You are a true inspiration, Ali. I love how you've transformed your life and aim to transform others' lives too. Thanks 🥰

[@nick_czarny]

This is amzing. You are amazing. Thank you Ali 🙏

[@MindStretchingHere]

Very interesting, thanks for breaking this topic down

[@kaizenTechVideos]

Ali casually drops an hour long high value condensed video for free !!

[@magicismagic123]

yeah which could be said in 5 min don't forget he does that to get more $ from our time which will never be taken b ack

[@pianowithpatrina]

This is awesome and definitely what i need! Indeed before i create a course, i need to know the demand and start by running free webinar to see the interest of my audience. Start building your audience!

[@YASNA3005]

The prompt!! The prompt baby! I created an entire course about branding before finishing the video. Ali Abdaal is a legend! 🤩

[@vbjgamedev]

Love this style of videos!

[@mehakchaudhry931]

Loved the video! I hope I can drive some traffic now before launching the course.

[@JourneywithMelon]

I have been contemplating in making digital courses on scaling business and video marketing and now i am putting the plan and execution in place

[@alexistrevizo3980]

exactly what i needed to hear today. thank you

[@AkkuSriv]

Crazy amount of value, great vid

[@consortiumexpert]

You are a blessing to me. GOD bless you, Ali.

[@Shivamvashistha92]

U are just fab Ali... keep up the good work..hope to see you soon in your paid course

[@amirmorsh]

Thank you for the course. Very useful!

[@AquaVivaFit]

This is gold! Thanks 🙏

[@FaisalWaseem7]

Ali I love to watch some financial related videos for students and teens from you 🖤💯

[@abbashussain7298]

NEEDED THIS

[@feliciaflinders]

❤❤❤ thanks for sharing so much. The transparency of what you earn, the length of time to get thus far, 12 years in the making 😮, the honesty that you're not an expert but you take action to get stuff done. Perfect timing for me as I am about to move onto an online course but at the workshop stage. I shall use the free email tip and see if I can get 100 ppl to sign up. Again, thanks for sharing so much. ❤

[@anarchoflow]

Cheers Ali, great video.

[@craciunlabs]

Great one Ali Thank you!

[@TheSuperUser]

Great video Ali and appreciate you sharing the numbers. It would be good to follow this up with "ultimate guide to online writing" such as blogs and newletters.

[@anthonijn6769]

I actually am a geography teacher that considers going online. I would like to start of by making youtube videos to get the hang of it (also thought about starting in the summer). These video's are very helpfull when it comrd to advice, strategy and what to expect. So thankyou for doing this!

[@valerielmagie25]

Τhank you so much for the advice. It’s so useful💪

[@segobernice2103]

Enjoyed this video very much

[@mukhtarabdi824]

Great video! I've just started my KZbin channel and posted my first few videos with the aim of providing free content to build traffic for my upcoming online course. Your tips on selling online courses are super helpful as I navigate this journey. Thanks for sharing!

[@nicolechinese]

👍This is exactly what I need right now, I'm building my online course, thank you so much, very detailed！

[@magicismagic123]

what did you learn?

[@soulofexistence]

It's insane that this video is free

[@CryptoCoin02]

Ali does a fantastic job breaking down his 10-year journey of selling online courses. It's amazing to see how he went from losing his savings to making millions. Can't wait to dive into all the resources he recommends!

[@paors_]

I love love love this video and find it very helpful for me right now. I'd like to know which app you're using to display the videos and notes you're taking. Thank you!

[@joshuadaly34]

Thank you so much for this video. I was getting bogged down, thinking that the only course you could sell was on selling courses. It's so good to hear the opposite.

[@vikramsekar1512]

I absolutely love these long form videos. free content that provides insane value.

[@sneha.v.agnihotri]

Omg, just what I wanted!

[@iykomusic]

This was so helpful!

[@fercortes1d]

So much value and transparency, thanks Ali, you are so inspiring!

[@jpsolveyra3498]

Ali the video is amazing, will it have a Spanish audio track or subtitles like your other videos lately? I wanted to share it!

[@taav2518]

Well done, tks a lot man!

[@Eesalitepill99]

The greatest lesson here is that there’s no shortcut to success!!!! I don’t think you guys will ever learn anything from this video. You can’t technically replicate his process because it’s probably obsolete by now BUT what I learnt from this video is DOCUMENT EVERYTHING

[@bisimedia]

There is so much value in one video for free. Wow

[@Charly_Gren]

I have 17 years in my country we don't have oportunity , and i start in something , thank for your video

[@tinarubio6778]

Omg I just started the video I want to start creating videos on line as a Christmas floral designer!!!

[@JoeSimpsonAtTempest]

i launched my first course right around 2 years ago, and recently cleared the 7 figures in sales mark. you did a great job on this video, i watched the whole thing. its possible i missed it, but if it wasnt covered - i think the 1 thing you did not point out is that people will buy your course to have access to YOU. they like YOUR teaching style, YOUR perspective, YOUR free content - so it doesn't matter if you have 400 competitors on courses of the same topic. If they like YOU, they will purchase YOUR course even if your competitors are more of "experts" than you are. you did touch on this with the video editing - but somebody who is too much of an expert wont be relatable at all to a beginner - which then ties into what i was saying above. Being relatable to your target audience / potential customer is huge.

[@helloduckbowman]

This was great!!!

[@ritwikism]

The transparency is unbelievable. Within the first 10 mins too! That alone created a massive mindset shift in me. I understand you'll be the top 0.001% but even if someone is in the top 10% (a much more reasonable ask), the earnings would likely be nothing to scoff at.

[@boukmananddessalines5522]

Great video, thanks.

[@ashp2371]

I remember you saying in one of your videos that the books 'show your work’ and Anything you want' and a few more had been pivotal in your life.. Unexpectedly, this VIDEO has been that for me! Could you be more productive?🙃 You are SIMPLY EXTRAORDINARY!

[@RobtheMaritimer]

Ok... I was watching INTENTLY for the first 25 minutes, and then when you decided on "Ukulele Unleashed" as your course name, I literally laughed out loud!! Love it :-)

[@its_past_here]

People who finished the whole video 👇

[@appleinformationtwo9689]

Mee❤

[@rab.k.]

Probably have watched like 5/6 ads..

[@EzioTrader]

Wow great set up.

[@eschneit7427]

Great Ali as always, one question which platform would you use for a B2B course offering for continous employee training as a service? I would need something with a multi-client capability.

[@diddyducky1344]

This was such a useful video. Thank you Ali. Does it matter if other people are making videos and courses about the same thing??

[@themultilingualfamilyhub]

Loved this video!!! Ali's content is SIMPLY the BEST!!! I wouldn't have started my own YT channel were it not for Ali's content. Thanks so much! (But who is this "Abel Dorsey" referenced in the comments????)

[@LaResistenciaEDC]

Hi Ali, thanks for your vid it gives perspective and is very inspiring ! Why would you recommand Kajabi more? About to jump in