I’m getting my money’s worth if you efficiently teach me (the critical elements of) a topic for $250 in 5 hours. The market seems to prefer to pay $11 for 25-40 hours of content. (And I admit to having bought hundreds of dollars of Udemy courses that I’ve never even watched, so in some way I’ve contributed to the problem. Rather than bookmark a course, I’ll often just buy it.)
The part that makes me sad are complainers who buy a $200 course then ask for a refund because they blazed through it in an afternoon and feel like $200 should be at least 3 weeks of content.
Since I sell a subscription service, I've mostly studied others doing the same, but I've bought a few courses from very successful creators. Adam Wathan, for example, sells a 4 hour course for $150 a 22 hour course for $250. He's later said in interviews that he regretted making it such a giant course.
If I were to sell a one-off course, it would probably be at least somewhat grounded by those values since it's what the market has already set.
And to be honest it hasn’t been that bad, my main course has made $160k over its various iterations the past 5 years. The bigger thing is that I’m realizing the how-to style tactics course that is so popular these days doesn’t deliver what I truly want to teach.
My business is newer and smaller, but I've still encountered a couple of really aggressive emails. I suspect that it would be more if I were selling a one-off course instead of a feed, too!
Everyone thinks they can figure it out on their own and doesn’t want to be taught. Or works in areas so specialized only their teammates can help.
And you’re always fighting against a sea of $10 Udemy courses and free resources.
That said, I think it’s a crackable nut. It’s just a longer slog than beginner stuff.