MBA2403 Courses vs. Communities. Which is Better for You? + Free Ride Friday

Summary

The $100 MBA Show – Episode MBA2403: Courses vs. Communities. Which is Better for You? + Free Ride Friday

Host: Omar Zenhom
Release Date: December 15, 2023

---

Introduction

In episode MBA2403 of The $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom delves into a pivotal decision faced by entrepreneurs and business owners: choosing between creating online courses or building communities. This comprehensive discussion is tailored to help listeners determine which model aligns best with their business goals, lifestyle preferences, and long-term aspirations. Additionally, the episode features the popular "Free Ride Friday" segment, where Omar announces the week's lucky winner of a free ride to the $100 MBA program.

---

Courses vs. Communities: An Overview

Omar begins by distinguishing between online courses and communities, highlighting the fundamental differences in their structures and revenue models.

• Online Courses:

  • Description: Pre-recorded content that is created once and sold multiple times.
  • Revenue Model: One-time purchase.
  • Maintenance: Minimal after initial creation; updates as needed.

• Communities:

  • Description: Hybrid models that combine access to content with interactive elements such as accountability, tips, and guidance.
  • Revenue Model: Recurring memberships (monthly or annually).
  • Maintenance: Ongoing engagement and content updates required.

Notable Quote:

"If you want the ultimate lifestyle business, the business that allows you to have complete flexibility and your time is not in demand constantly... then courses are more up your alley." – [Omar Zenhom, 01:00]

---

Pros and Cons of Each Model

Omar provides a balanced view by outlining the advantages and disadvantages of both online courses and communities.

Online Courses

Pros:

• Scalability: Create once, sell repeatedly without significant additional effort.
• Flexibility: Ideal for passive income generation; allows business owners to step away as needed.
• High Valuation Potential: Especially attractive if packaged and marketed effectively.

Cons:

• High Competition: The market is saturated, making it challenging to stand out without a strong authority.
• Upfront Effort: Significant time and resources required to develop quality content.
• Periodic Sales Efforts: Necessary to launch and market courses multiple times a year to maintain revenue flow.

Notable Quote:

"Online courses are very competitive. So your course has to be really compelling and really have a compelling outcome so that it's easy for you to sell." – [Omar Zenhom, 04:30]

Communities

Pros:

• Recurring Revenue: Consistent income through memberships ensures a stable cash flow.
• Brand Building: Fosters a loyal audience, enhancing brand reputation and customer relationships.
• Lower Entry Barrier: More affordable for customers, making it easier to attract and retain members.

Cons:

• Ongoing Maintenance: Requires continuous engagement, content updates, and community management.
• Potential for Conflict: Managing diverse member interactions can lead to challenges such as handling rude or uncooperative members.
• Higher Operational Demands: Necessitates building and possibly scaling a support team to maintain community standards.

Notable Quote:

"Communities are great for you to build a brand, build culture and be able to sell to current customers easily." – [Omar Zenhom, 07:15]

---

Choosing Between Courses and Communities

Omar guides listeners through the decision-making process based on their current business stage, resources, and personal preferences.

For Beginners and Those Building a Brand:

• Recommendation: Communities
• Rationale:
  • Lower initial investment and barrier to entry.
  • Opportunity to build and engage with an audience over time.
  • Facilitates continuous learning and adaptation based on community feedback.

Notable Quote:

"If you're starting out and you're looking to grow and make a name for yourself... I would choose a community because a community allows you to build and add more content month over month." – [Omar Zenhom, 08:45]

For Established Businesses with Existing Revenue:

• Recommendation: Online Courses
• Rationale:
  • Leverages existing authority and brand reputation.
  • Allows packaging of expertise into a scalable product.
  • Provides an additional revenue stream without the need for constant engagement.

Notable Quote:

"So if you're an established business, if you have revenue coming in... an online course is a great way for you to package your knowledge in a digestible way." – [Omar Zenhom, 09:50]

---

Examples and Case Studies

Omar shares real-world examples to illustrate successful implementations of both models.

• Courses:

  • Brian Dean:
    • Focus: SEO and YouTube strategies.
    • Success: Sold courses priced between $3,000 to $4,000, eventually selling his company to Semrush.
    • Insight: Establishing authority is crucial for high-ticket course sales.

• Communities:

  • Entrepreneurs on Fire (EOFire):
    • Course: Podcasters Paradise – a hybrid course-community teaching podcast creation and monetization.
    • Success: Expanded to include in-person meetups, events, and masterminds, significantly enhancing brand value.

Notable Quote:

"Arvid Kaul is an established entrepreneur... his is a shorter course and it's actually quite good. And it's low, low priced, under $100, and it allows you to really learn a lot in a short period of time." – [Omar Zenhom, 11:00]

---

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Omar emphasizes the importance of passion and commitment in choosing between courses and communities. Both models require dedication, whether it's refining a course over time or nurturing a vibrant community.

Notable Quote:

"Whether you choose to create courses or communities, understand that this is a commitment. It's a long term commitment... make sure you're ready to commit to it for the long haul." – [Omar Zenhom, 12:40]

He encourages listeners to align their choice with what they enjoy and are passionate about, ensuring sustained motivation and success.

---

Free Ride Friday Recap

In the beloved "Free Ride Friday" segment, Omar announces the winner of the week's giveaway—a free ride to the $100 MBA program.

Winner: Stephen M. Key
Details:
Stephen Key, a guest teacher from episode NBA2243 ("How to Bring an Idea to Market Without Starting a Business"), won the free ride by leaving a five-star review. He expressed his gratitude, stating, "It was such an honor and pleasure to participate in this podcast."

Omar congratulates Stephen and invites listeners to participate by leaving an Apple Podcast rating and review to be eligible for future draws.

Notable Quote:

"Thanks, Stephen Key, for that amazing review. Your mission is to email me over at [e-mail] so we can hook you up with the free ride to the $100 MBA program." – [Omar Zenhom, 13:45]

---

Closing Remarks

Omar wraps up the episode by reiterating the significance of committing to the chosen business model for sustained success. He invites listeners to tune in to the next episode on Monday, promising more actionable business insights.

Final Quote:

"Make sure you're ready to commit to it for the long haul. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in Monday's episode. I'll see you then. Take care." – [Omar Zenhom, 14:55]

---

Episode Highlights:

• Duration: Approximately 15 minutes of content.
• Key Topics:
  • Comparative analysis of online courses vs. communities.
  • Strategic decision-making based on business stage and personal preferences.
  • Real-world success stories and actionable advice.

For More Information:
Visit The $100 MBA Show to access additional resources, courses, and community support tailored to aspiring and established entrepreneurs alike.

---

Note: Advertisements and non-content segments were omitted from this summary to focus on the core business lessons and insights shared by Omar Zenhom.

Transcript

[Captain]

Race the rudders. Raise the sails. Race the sails.

[Omar Zenhom]

Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over.

[Captain]

Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Mint Mobile Representative]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee, full [e-mail].

[Omar Zenhom]

Hey yo. Welcome to the Hundred Dollar MBA Show. No fluff, just the good stuff with our practical business lessons. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zenholm. And today is Free Ride Friday. On Freeride Fridays, we give away a free ride to the $100 MBA program. Just showing you how to become a better entrepreneur. 100% guaranteed over at 100 MBA net. To win a free ride, just leave us an Apple podcast rating and review and you enter our weekly random draw we call Free Ride Friday. Listen on Friday to see if you won. We announced this week's winner a little bit later in the episode. In today's episode, you'll learn all about courses versus communities. Which one's better for you and your business. Online courses are one of the easiest things to sell and to maintain because you create it once and you sell it over and over again. You kind of preload or you front load all the work and then you offer it to your audience. Communities, on the other hand, are a little bit like hybrid courses and coaching. They have access to content, but they have access to accountability, tips, guidance and this type of business model. Communities is perfect for reoccurring memberships. That means you sell and they buy month after month, year after year. And it's not a one time purchase like an online course. So which one is better? Which one to choose? Well, it all depends on your goals. I'm gonna outline it in today's lesson. I'm gonna show you which is best for your situation and for what you wanna do actually in the day to day of Your business. My goal is by the end of this episode, you'll know to choose between a course or a community and you'll be content in the process of delivering this to your audience. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Listen, I am a big, big lover of courses. I love teaching and learning I think is one of the best things that you could sell online. It's not going anywhere. It's one of the oldest professions in the world is teaching in the transfer of knowledge and skills. But also I'm a big fan of reoccurring memberships. This is why software As a service SaaS companies are so, so valuable. I know this because I'm the founder of Webinar Ninja, a software company. And it's so good to feel like you are earning money month over month from the same customer. Meaning you only have to capture the customer once and make sure they're happy while they're a member. So as you can see, there are some pros and cons here. But let's talk about your lifestyle. Let's talk about how you want to spend your time as you run your business. Let's talk about what kind of business you want to run so that you can know which one to choose if you want the ultimate lifestyle business, the business that allows you to have complete flexibility and your time is not in demand constantly. If you want to step away from your computer for a month, two months, and still have a business that runs and sells and makes money, then courses are more up your alley. Communities need more maintenance. Obviously you are going to have to build a team and you can get somebody to do all this stuff for you while you're taking that holiday. There's more required with a community. Why? Because of the way things are sold with courses. You sell the course, once you deliver the course automatically through an online course platform or your website and you fulfilled your end of the bargain with the customer. With a community, you have to sell your community month over month or year over year because you gotta give them a reason to keep on paying and not cancel. So you gotta continue to up the ante, increase the value, add more content, add more features. This might entail a video call or it might entail some templates or some worksheets. Or my entail a forum, a community forum where they can ask questions. So there's more hands on maintenance, whether with you or your team or you managing with a community. But by nature because of the reoccurring sales, there's more value in A community, meaning if you wanted to sell this business, it's gonna be much more valuable in the future. So if you're in kind of build mode and you wanna have a business that you can sell in the future easily and with a high valuation, a reoccurring sale type of business, recurring memberships like a community is huge. So maybe you're in the season of your life where you don't mind rolling up your sleeves and working hard. Yeah, you want to take a break here and there and take some vacations and long weekends, all good. But you're in build mode. In your career, community is the way to go. I would also say communities are great for you to build a brand, build culture and be able to sell to current customers easily. When you have a community, they get to know you, get to love you, get to get to be a part of your tribe. So when you have another type of product or service or course, or even if you're selling it as an affiliate, it's easy for you to do this. There's less of a community vibe with courses. Yes, you might have email, but it's very one way and very transactional. So let's talk a little bit about the cons of both. Online courses right now are very competitive. So your course has to be really compelling and really have a compelling outcome so that it's easy for you to sell. Now, I've known a lot of great course creators like Brian Dean, who sold his company actually to Semrush and he was a strictly course business and he did fantastic. His courses were quite expensive. They were between three and $4,000 each. He focused on SEO and YouTube and it was well worth it. Great content. But the point here is that he had to launch and sell this course two or three times a year. There's a lot of effort when he had to do it, but when he did it, he brought in the seals and then he can relax in between. But he is the thought leader in this area. He is the SEO person online or one of the top. So he stands out. If you're not an authority, it's going to be harder for you to stand out and sell your course and actually make a good living because you're going to have a decent price for your course versus a community. You know, community is a lower priced product where they pay, you know, X amount of dollars a month. It could be 40, 50, 60, $100 a month and they're getting everything almost too much for them to consume in one. So they stick around for Four, five, six months, a year, hopefully years. So it's easier to sell because the barrier of entry is lower and people will give you a chance, even if you're not a taste maker in your marketplace. Now, what about communities? What are the cons here? Well, it takes a lot of maintenance because you're dealing with people in communities. You have chats, you have forums, you have people expressing their opinions. You have people that maybe are not so nice and are rude and maybe not showing a lot of love. And you gotta man that, you gotta police that, you gotta, you know, make sure that people know what the rules are in your community. May even need to block people and refund them. There's more room for headaches in communities, but it's not an impossible task. Many people have done it before. You could do it too. So how do you choose? In my opinion, if you're starting out and you're looking to grow and make a name for yourself, and maybe you don't have a huge library of content, I would choose a community because a community allows you to build and add more content month over month. Maybe you add a new course every single month or a few new videos adding value, and people are going to be willing to give you a chance because of the lower barrier entry price. This allows you to learn as you go, allows you to learn from your audience and find out what they need so you can build for them. You're building a community along the way where they're speaking to you. You're getting to know them, they're getting to know you. You're building a brand. It's a great way for you to start getting some traction and also just to get some money through the door. Right? With an online course, it's an investment of time and effort with the hopes that it will sell and people will buy. Even a minimal viable version of a course is going to take some upfront time and effort to build and to put together and to sell. So it's a little bit more risky and it's going to cost you a bit up front. So you're starting out. I really recommend going community route and then maybe even could sell an online course to your community members that's separate from the community and allows them to kind of dip their toe and learn something new from you that you've built on the side. Now, if you're an established business, if you have revenue coming in, if you have other types of products you're selling, maybe it's a book, maybe it's coaching and you kind of have a name for yourself in your community. An online course is a great way for you to package your knowledge in a digestible way. For people that really don't like to read or maybe it's not their thing, they love video, maybe they love you and maybe they love to learn from you and your teaching style. It's a great way for you to kind of bolster your brand and bolster your product offerings. A lot of people in the coaching industry sell a course after they've been coaching for a while, knowing their clients, and that course actually becomes sort of like the gateway to their coaching because their coaching is more expensive. So courses are great for established businesses that have revenue coming in. They're not like a starving artist trying to make their first few bucks so they can maybe transition to full time entrepreneurship or maybe they're trying to just make ends meet that is better suited for somebody starting a community. If you have an established brand, you have established business, you have some revenue, you have some stability, a course allows you to focus and create something special and offer at a premium price where it'll be worth your while.

[HomeTap Representative]

What if you could use your home equity to pay off your debt without monthly payments so you could focus on reaching your other financial goals? With a home equity investment from HomeTap you can get access to your home equity in cash. Get closer to financial freedom and get more out of life. Learn more and see if you pre qualify for an [e-mail] Subject to eligibility, terms and conditions apply. Get access to your home equity in cash. Visit hometap.com to apply in minutes. That's hometap.com Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know if you knew this but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Mint Mobile Representative]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per intro rate. First 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail].

[Omar Zenhom]

Now having said that, that's my opinion. This is my kind of take on it, but I've seen people be successful doing both courses and communities and doing it a little bit differently. Some people do mini courses. I'm talking about a course that is less than an hour long, 10 modules, 10 minutes a piece low priced and just volume. They're just getting a lot of people going through that course. One of the people that comes to mind is Arvid Kaul. He's got a course on how to grow your Twitter following. Now, his is not as short as an hour in total, but it's a shorter course and it's actually quite good. And it's low, low priced, under $100, and it allows you to really learn a lot in a short period of time. But mind you, Arvid is an established entrepreneur. He sold the business before. He's an author. He's got several products in his suite. He's got a podcast, he's got a YouTube channel, he's got a thriving newsletter. Not his first rodeo when it comes to the communities. I've seen communities really do well and become this huge brand. One that comes to mind is Entrepreneurs on Fire Eofire. They have a course called Podcasters Paradise. It's also a community, kind of a course community hybrid, teaching people how to start their first podcast or grow their podcast, Monetize it. John Lee Dumas and Kay Erickson do a great job with this community. And it's grown so much that they do meetups in person, they have events, they have masterminds. So they've been able to build in person products outside of this community business. So whatever you choose, my advice is to choose something that you actually look forward to working on. Both of these are going to be a lot of work courses and communities. Which one gets you excited? Which one feels like something that you'd want to do day in and day out? Do you like to talk to people? Like to chat people? Solve people's problems in a forum, in a community through calls or, you know, video training, live video training. Community is great. Then if that's not your thing, you'd like to kind of go deep and build a course that's really in depth. And you like video work and you want to create something that's high. Production courses are the way to go. Thanks so much for listening to the $100 MBA show. Today's episode's not over though. It's Free Art Friday. Let's see who won this week's free ride. And the winner is Stephen M. Key. This is Stephen Key, one of our guest teachers who delivered a guest teacher lesson over at back in February of this year, NBA2243. How to bring an idea to market without starting a business. It was lovely for him to leave a review and he won. It's a Random Draw. Stephen Key says it was an honor. Five stars. It was such an honor and pleasure to participate in this podcast. Thank you for letting me share my story with your audience. Thanks, Stephen Key, for that amazing review. Your mission is to email me over at Omar at 100- MBA-NET so we can hook you up with the free ride to the $100 MBA program over at 100- MBA-NET if you want to win a free ride, just leave us an Apple Podcast rating and review and you enter our weekly Random Drawback for free on Friday. Listen in on Friday just like right now to see if you won. It's that easy. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. Whether you choose to create courses or communities, understand that this is a commitment. It's a long term commitment. Because when you create a course, you still have to refine it, sell it, market it for years to come. Same thing with a community. It's going to need your tender love and care. Right. It's going to need your attention. So make sure you're ready to commit to it for the long haul. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in Monday's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

[Captain]

And we're back, folks. It looks like Jim from Snails just got in from his client lunch and he's got receipts.

[Ryan Reynolds]

His next meeting is in two minutes.

[Omar Zenhom]

The team is asking, can he get through his expenses in that time?

[Captain]

He's going for it. Is that his phone? He's snapping a pick. He's texting.

[Omar Zenhom]

Ramp Jim is fast, but this is unheard of.

[Captain]

That's it. He's done it. It's unbelievable.

[HomeTap Representative]

On ramp, expenses are faster than ever. Just submit them with a text. Switch your business to Ramp.