254 What to Build When Course Revenue Plateaus

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Most course creators build a course, put it online, and hope people stick around. Adam Morgan did something completely different.

Adam is a UK-based architect with over a decade of real practice experience, and the founder of Arcademia, a platform that's grown to over 4,500 members globally. Dominik sat down with him to find out how he got there, and honestly, the story is not what you'd expect.

It started with a small set of screen-recorded training videos made for new staff at his architecture practice. No grand plan, just a way to stop repeating himself. Then Brexit hit, the practice started struggling, and Adam picked the project back up with a lot more intention. He renamed it, rebranded it, and started building something much bigger.

When a provider quoted him £120,000 to build a custom platform, he learned Claude Code and built it himself over three to four months. What he ended up with is not just a course library. It's got gamification, a leaderboard, AI-generated contracts, portfolio hosting, CV builders, project trackers, and an AI assistant. All built by an architect who had never coded before.

He also talks about why his most valuable members never cancel, how he grew to over 150,000 Instagram followers starting with £10–15 boosts per post, and what he tells course creators whose revenue has flatlined.

Adam is a genuinely straight-talking guy and this one had a lot of good stuff in it. 

Check out Adam's work:
🌐 https://www.archademia.com
📸 https://www.instagram.com/archademia_/
▶️ https://www.youtube.com/c/archademia

Transcript

Why Courses Need More Than Content

SPEAKER_01 0:00

If you provide one course, someone watches that course, that's it, they've gone. You'll never get to a level while you're basically selling your time. You can't make time. My advice is basically what I've done, which is diversify. If you're in a service-based business, you need to figure out a way to productize it. If you can give one of your customers skin in the game on your platform, the years they'll never leave. Four years on, the revenue of our team is up.

Meet Adam Morgan And Arcademia

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Hello and welcome to the Art of Selling Online courses. We are here to share winning strategies and secret cats from the top performance in the online course industry. My name is Dominique Dragon and today's guest is Adam Morgan. Adam is a UK-based architect with over 10 years of real-world practice experience and the founder of Arcademia, one of the most comprehensive online education platforms built specifically for architects and designers. Having run his own architectural practice and transitioned to building Arcademia full-time, growing it to over 4,500 members globally. The platform goes far beyond the courses, offering a full professional ecosystem, including the portfolio of tools, rear toolkits, and an AI assistant. Adam is known for his bias towards action, his no-nonsense approach to business, and his belief that the best educators are those who have genuinely done the work. So today we are going to talk about why Adam thinks most course creators don't have enough real-world experience to be teaching and what he thinks the bar should actually be, how he turned simple course platform into a full professional ecosystem for architects and the get rich or die trying mentality that got him there. Adam, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Thank you. Yeah, yeah, nice introduction. I'm not rich yet, so I'm still on the diet side. That's the one.

Training Staff Sparks The First Videos

SPEAKER_00 1:44

I want to start somewhere that I think that um matters a lot for this audience. So you're not someone who took like a weekend course on architecture and then started teaching, but you actually ran a practice for over a decade. So when did the idea for academia first show up? Was there a specific moment in your practice where you thought, like, okay, I could teach this better than it's actually being taught?

The Productise Or Stall Wake Up

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Um it actually surfaced when we started employing staff. And we we were employing people uh early on at quite a decent rate, um, and we were saying the same things, me and my two uh partners. So we found that we we started recording just key aspects of the business, like screen recording with with with very basic voiceovers, like it was very rudimentary at the time, but it was just things like folder structures, some of our protocols, like you know, speaking to clients every Friday, giving them an update, good and bad, all that other stuff. So we stopped repeating ourselves to new staff. We had this like little starter kit, it was just like 10-15 videos, and then we just found that people really liked the videos. Um, it was effective for our own staff, and we just thought, oh, you know, there could be something in there. And then not long after that that kind of mini realization, uh, we went to a talk in London by Gary V, you know, Gary Vaynerchuk. Um, and we went to a talk, and bizarrely, it wasn't his talk, it was one of his like warm-up acts, if you like, who spoke about the idea of if you're in a service-based business, you need to figure out a way to productise it because you'll never get to a level while you're basically selling your time because you can't make time. So um it was that talk, I I forget the guy's name now, um, but it was around um there was a product where it was like get an A in in maths, you know, at a certain level, and the guy turned it into a C D and made millions on the back of it. So we were like, okay, that's that's interesting. We we've kind of got that, you know, that playbook already. How do we turn it into something? So at the start, we actually we actually got staff to buy into the idea that if they recorded their processes all day, we'd almost have this like this conveyor belt of of content. And we did give them a little bit of a profit share of of the the project at the time, which at the time was called Life Hacks for Architects. That was the that was like the version one of Arcademia. Anyway, everyone loved it, everyone bought into it, and that was kind of that initial start. We just thought the there's something in you know, recording a process, documenting how you operate as a designer, and then it it's there forever, then isn't it? And and it's that repeatable sort of purchase.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Nice. So, um, what would you say at what point did it become clear that academia was going to be the main thing and not just a side project? It so so so there was a decent gap, actually.

Brexit And Covid Push New Revenue

Rebranding Into A Serious Platform

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Um facts for architects at the time. It it took a back seat to the practice, the practice was growing, all that sort of stuff. What happened was obviously the things like COVID and Brexit in the UK. Brexit has been probably the worst thing that's happened to us as a business. Hill is it and external factors started hurting the practice, simple as that. So we we then were looking for alternative revenue streams, so we picked Life Hacks for Architects back up. Some of the some of the the team members early on who were sort of involved in it, they left and no one was that bothered about we we said profit share, but it was making hundreds of pounds a month, it was not it was worth nothing. So what we said what we did was anyone who had any sort of involvement, we just said to them, we're closing it, we're closing it, and we are gonna start again. We were very transparent about it. And it was just myself and my two partners, and we just said, let's try and focus a bit more now on spreading the bet, basically, you know, getting another revenue stream in, and if if one thing is suffering, at least the other thing can prop it up. So it was it was that. So what what what maybe yeah, I'd say about four or five years ago, um just around that horrible period where um in the UK developers were building less, finance was getting more expensive, and all that sort of stuff, so we looked at other revenue streams and we just started taking what was then renamed Arcademia. We started taking it more seriously, and the ch the reason for the change of name is we wanted it to feel more institutional. Life hacks for architects is a little was a little low bit lowbrow. We wanted this real big, you know, institutional name, and obviously it's a play on academia, so um, so yeah, that that was the that was the turning point, and then four years on, um the revenue of academia does is has outstripped the the practice.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Nice. So um you don't have just a course platform, you actually have like a professional operating system for architects, and most of the course creators have never even considered building what you have built so far. So um take us inside the product. Uh a new member signs up today. So what do they actually get access to and what does their first week look like?

Onboarding That Personalises Learning Paths

SPEAKER_01 7:02

So I I I I should really mention at this point the the revelation was probably around last summer, say August 25, and it was just starting to get into uh AI assisted coding. So you probably hear that you know people talk about clawed code, uh ChatGPT's got one called Codex, and we were looking at an app, so we were looking at turning academia into into an app, turning on the go, all that sort of stuff. Our previous provider, if you like, of of the infrastructure was a company called Kajabi. So they still are called Kajabi, but we've we've left them because the service wasn't great. They promised us an app and it was it was dreadful to be to be perfectly honest. So that real letdown forced us into looking at other ways of getting an app originally. We got into clawed code and we just couldn't believe it. Like, you know, being able to code your own thing, and and and initially it gives you that wow factor, but then there's lots of headaches that come with it, obviously, with managing your own, you know, your own basically bespoke coded site. But it was from that that we then went, oh, you know, we can turn this into something really special. So you've got the course content, but then it's almost like, well, what could we do over here that allows them to apply the course content to something, you know, project trackers and what have you. So we started building these little tools in isolation, and it just grew, like grew and grew. I became, I still am, uh obsessed with it. It's so powerful. And what and when you know what you what you want from it and what you're trying to deliver, it it's it's it's absolutely incredible. And we were when we wanted to move to a fully bespoke website, and I will get into the answer by the way of what of what they get, but um when we wanted to do a fully custom site, because we wanted to do things like you know tracking your progress and being able to display your progress as like a an instant CV for people and all that sort of stuff. Um we were quoted something like£120,000 to do a fully custom coded website, and um through Claude Code, I've been able to do it myself. It's it's absolutely amazing. So that we relaunched the site in November and the feedback we've had is uh has been amazing. It's got its own little quirks and bugs and things that we're still figuring out, but um generally speaking, people are made up with it. So, to answer your question directly, when someone purchases a membership, they get a 12-step onboarding process initially, and it it some might argue it's a bit long-winded, but the information that it collects is very important because the last step it feeds into an algorithm that then you said that about the first week, it gives them their first week, it tells them how to move around the platform and it gives them the first 10 courses. We've got about 65 courses currently, we're we're we're trying to really expand that every month, um, but it it gives them the first 10 courses based on their answers, so their answers are around level of experience, what their interests are in in the field, a lot sort of stuff, and what they want to get out of their own career and all that. So if they answer things like I want to get really into CGI, then it'll save them the those sort of types of courses, so it's it's it's so good. And then when they land on the platform, they're actually met with uh our leaderboard system, so straight away they'll be ranked like 3,000 or whatever. But then the idea is the entire platform's got a proper XP system, um inspired by like you know, fuser games basically, where any action on the platform um gives like a different XP points bonus or sort of stuff, and then they can see themselves climbing the leaderboard, like it's it's amazing, and then all those actions feed into different progress tables, um progress wheels for course content, and then like a nice progress chart of all the tools that they use and stuff. So it's very gamified, it's very interactive, um, and uh, and yeah, it's it's say it's it's it's it's got that course content at its core, but then it it carries through to other daily activities like you know, project trackers, uh CV builders, portfolio builders, document builders, contracts. You know, you can actually generate proper client contracts on the platform that speak to you know all the other things that you're doing on the platform as well. So it kind of knows who you are and through the AI assistant and then it injects all this sort of stuff. So it's it's a really, really smart platform. The only negative of that, sorry, I was just sort of thinking, but the only negative of that is it's it's grown into a big beast, and we are actually struggling, which is I suppose some of the stuff that you we we might touch on later on. We are now sort of struggling in portraying what it is because it's the the thing has grown, you know, tenfold.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Uh and you manually wipe the coded that basically on your own, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Yeah. Uh yeah, yeah. Just just with with Claude and Yeah, it probably it probably did because people think people think I'm sure it's fast there, but it's not instant. It was it was it was a good you know, three, four months of solid work, like absolutely solid work for three or four months, and it builds. It's not just as simple as just going, do me a website, you know what I mean? But yeah, but yeah, it was all with all with claw code. Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Um so you have the drawing board, the fee calculators, the CV builder, project trackers that you mentioned, and now even the co-p, the AI assistant. So, how did you decide what to build and in what order? Was there some sort of roadmap or did members actually tell you what they needed?

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Uh so a mixture, a mixture of uh feedback. We get lots of feedback. Every part of the platform has the ability to comment under it. We've always had a forum element as well. Um so it's a bit of that. But when we first moved into that kind of restructuring, rebranding from Life Hacks for Architects into Arcademia, when we did that, right? We did commission a colleague of ours, when an external colleague of ours who is an architect by trade, but has more moved into branding and graphics and stuff like that. So we commissioned him to do us like a vision piece on you know, so we we we we knew the name, we knew what we wanted from it, and we could we commissioned this incredible piece of work that gave us that vision. So from day one, transitioning into that rebrand, we knew what we wanted, but we knew it was ambitious, we knew we didn't have the skills in-house to deal with it at that point. So we always had that vision document, and at the point of learning Claude Code, right? That vision document was like four years old, and it's still stood up to this point. So I had the roadmap just in front of me, and I was like, right, we can finally deliver on it. So yeah, so we we we we had the vision from day one, and it was just it was just the with these AI tools, it's it's democratized the ability, hasn't it, to to code stuff?

Scaling Content Across Social Platforms

SPEAKER_00 14:08

So it's just honestly amazing. Amazing. Um, I want everyone listening to uh really hear what Adam just is described. So most course creators ask, like, what should I teach and ask uh next? Uh you ask, what does my member need to succeed in their career, and how do I build a tool for that, which you did. So the courses are kind of like an entry point, uh, but the portfolio tool is what makes a member's work visible, right? So the feel uh the fee calculator is what's helping them uh charge properly, the AI assistant is what supports them at I don't know, 2 a.m. where they they're stuck on project. And each of these tools adds a reason to stay. And the more reasons someone has to stay, the longer they stay, and the more they refer others, and the higher your lifetime value goes. So if you're running a course and you are wondering why people cancel after finishing the content, this is actually why. And there's nothing keeping them uh there once the learning stops. So um I would like to talk about the numbers now. So you got uh more than 150,000 people on Instagram, 46,000 people on TikTok, and almost 38,000 people on YouTube. So that's nearly a quarter million people right there. Uh can you walk us through what your content operation actually looks like week to week? So um how much time uh goes into content? Is there a system that you have or are you just creating for when the inspiration hits?

SPEAKER_01 15:33

So once once the dust settles on the new website and and me just really bedding in with the coding responsibility, um I I will move into something a bit more structured. But what I would say on it is the a big negative, like a really big negative of coding your own site is the maintenance of it. So my content used to be more structured because the infrastructure of the website was was was with another pot another pair, you know with a company, it was with Kajabi, and the shopfront was on WordPress, so it was all hosted, it was all you know kind of handled by other other people. So that gave me more time to create the content. So what I would say is in the last six months with the new site, my own content creation has slowed as a as a result. I'm I'm slowly you know gearing back up into it. Um I think that's I think that's important for people listening. Um it it's incredible, you know. Like I would recommend it to anyone to get into it and and and try and make your own site or your own, even your own just tools for yourself. But um when you make something like that publicly available, it comes with a massive responsibility, which we're finding out the hard way. Um so so at the minute to answer your question, it is just when the inspiration strikes at the minute, just while I'm uh I'm just getting used to managing you know what is a fully bespoke website. But all the errors that we were getting, you know, people struggling to log in, we had to migrate uh a good few thousand members from Kajabi into the new platform. All those things, all those headaches, most of them are done now. We we get the odd query, you know, a few times a week, but it's nothing that we can't handle now. So moving back into that content bias, it will be more structured. Um again, just mentioning Claude, um, it it has its own project folders within it, it's like it's incredible. So you can train it per project. So I've actually sort of training a project on my past social media posts that have done well. So I've said that there's there's a good you know bank there that we know performs, and then I do my research on on what's performing in our space, and then I I either take some screenshots or some recordings, whatever, dump it all in that Claude project and say learn from all that, and then let's agree some content pillars and a game plan. So I'm just in that little spell now where I'm just gonna move back into that more that more content bias and then yes, get more structured because I believe that it's consistency is the thing that gets I know everyone says this, but consistency is the thing that gets rewarded. I do think platforms like Instagram and TikTok they do reward you for turning up, you know, every day and and being consistent and all that sort of stuff. I do think there's something in that.

Paid Seeding To Start Organic Growth

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Okay, that's perfect. Um, you also mentioned that m before the call that you boosted your first 10 to 20 posts and give your follower account an initial paid kick. So, what exactly did that look like? What kind of budget were you using? What were you optimizing for? What happened to your organic reach after that initial dish?

SPEAKER_01 18:37

So, so my belief in that is um and I'm sure it's true. Although what I would say is it's getting less true. Follow accounts affects your potential to go viral. Five, six years ago, that was a hundred percent true, but it's it still has relevance today in that if I do a post now and it's it's a quick post, just something I'm trying to just maybe just announce or get out there, post that you know doesn't have carry much value for the audience, generally it'll still hit 10,000 views. Whereas if I didn't have any following, it it wouldn't. It it just wouldn't, no one would care. So the strategy with the initial you know boosting of posts is just to get that follower count up to even just a thousand, just try and get your first thousand as as as quickly as you can. So we were just putting like say say we got to about 20, 25 posts, those first 25, we just put like 10-15 pounds behind them, just once a week. We we we we we well we didn't have uh any budget really. Um it it probably was just coming out of the practices pot initially. Little 10-15 pounds, just wake the the Instagram page up, wake the TikTok page up, let them just get to the thousand, you know, like the thousand, fifteen hundred followers, and then we just moved into organic then, knowing that we had a bit of an audience. So then if if the post were resonating with that little audience pool, we found then the you were getting graduated by the algorithm, you know, on to maybe one thousand to a ten thousand and maybe a twenty thousand, but without that initial audience, we we I think you'd struggle. You'd struggle to even break out of the the kind of thousand barrier.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

Yeah, paid seeding is not the same as buying fake followers. So uh when you boost when you boost early content to a target audience, you are basically giving the algorithm real engagement signals, what you basically did. So real people clicking, watching, saving, and that's what actually unlocks the organic reach later on.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Correct.

Value Posts Versus Sales Posts

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Um so I definitely agree with that. Uh you also have a take on the 80-20 rule, so that roughly 20% of your posts drive 80% of your growth. So now that you have a real data behind you, can you tell the difference between a post that's going to perform and the one that's not going to uh hit uh the the the numbers that you want to hit?

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Yeah, mo most of the time. Some do surprise you. Like again, you'll spend like I could spend a full day on a post editing, filming, refilming, scripting, and all that, and it'll do rub you know, it'll do really poorly. Um and then I could do something really quick, throw a like a motivational bit of text over it, and it does really well. So some of them are unpredictable, but generally speaking, right? If a post is too salesy, and by the way, sometimes we have to be salesy, sometimes we do just say we've got a new course out, and here it is, and sign up to look at it. But they never perform, no matter how well you edit it, curate it, what have you. If it's just pure salesy, just pure pushing the product, um, it doesn't really perform as well as giving value. So um if if it's a tip, um if it's uh a technique, like a drawing technique, they seem to do our best. If it's like you know, maybe maybe combined with software, but generally speaking, draw a drawing technique video where if Just you're not selling anything, you're just saying here's how to do a better drawing as an architect or a better visual as an architect. They generally do the best, it's just pure value, and what we tend to do is we we allow that to happen, so we we we kind of mix roughly 50-50. We'll do pure value to just gain followers, and then we'll do pure salesy. But but at the minute we're just trying to crack the salesy one. There's got to be a way where we can still sell something, but still try and be maybe a bit more sincere with with the value that it's given. So that's something we're working on at the minute.

Email Warm Up Then Promotion Week

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Uh, what we do at data-driven marketing is a sequence um that starts with the warm-up emails. So um, for example, the warm-up emails go from Friday to Sunday, and this is where we have the pain agitated solution sequence. So this is where you provide some sort of value. You're not selling anything, but you're warming the up for the for the actual promotional period using the emails, right? So um you start with the pain points that your potential customers, your audience, your followers are having. So this is where you make them aware of their problems from their everyday lives, right? Then you agitate more on that, and then you provide a solution, which is going to be your course or a product that you're going to offer. Now, when you make them aware over the three days of their problems, of the issues they're having in their everyday lives, they actually want to buy something from you because you uh you show them that you are aware of their problems. They're like, oh my god, like how do you know about that? Because you've been at the same spot uh as them right now, right? So um when they get to the third email, they actually want a solution from you. And that's gonna be your course. So this is a perfect example of how to warm them up in a way that you make them not only prepared for sales emails, but they want to see those sales emails so they can fix those uh same problems they're having. And now you have the promotional factor that goes the next week, the following week, from Monday to Sunday, and each email sending day by day um has its own uh can you still hear me? Yeah, okay, I blocked for a second. Yeah, you always see it. Yeah, you did you did cut out for a sec. But no, but I I heard everything by the way. Okay, no worries. So uh from the following week, uh they are sending email by email. Every email has its own purpose. So the first email announces the course, announces the solution uh to the previous problems, the the product that you will be offering. Uh then you uh go into the logic of that product, then you go to the fears. So you have to let them know what will happen if they stay at the same place. So if they're stuck at the same place and if they don't buy the product that you're offering. And then you come up with the FIQ, the future proof, where you tell them how well uh how will their lives look like if you were to solve their problems with the product that you're offering. And then you have the urgency emails over the weekend, uh, where it's just like pure urgency, letting them know that if they don't act now, they will stay stuck at the same place and they will want to uh buy something from you, the solution. Otherwise, they're going to stay here and never uh never continue on their path going forward. Um I I can let you know. The idea is to prepare them, uh is to prepare them for the for the promo for catch warm-up emails. Uh, and this is something that we have tested many times before, and it has worked, I mean, miraculously. Uh so um what about your email strategy at the moment? Are you also sending newsletter emails uh in between, or how many emails are we sending per week? What would you say?

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Well, two two basically, yeah. So from us, we our newsletter list is about 15,000, and um we will send two out, what one a week, and again, just that 50-50 split at the moment. Um the um the value, the value, yeah. One's one's just pure value tip. Hello.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Really sorry about that. Nobody's just holding what he I guess it's still recording.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Yeah, it's still saying recording on my that's perfect.

Ambition Burnout And Family Boundaries

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Okay, uh let's continue from here. Um, okay, so you describe yourself as someone with a no off switch, uh, get rich or die trying mentality. So has that ever worked against you? So has there been a moment where that drive cost uh you something personally?

SPEAKER_01 26:37

I wouldn't say I wouldn't say it's it's cost me anything in terms of like I haven't lost any relationships or anything because of it. It's just it is just burnout. I am terrible for burnout. Um I mean I haven't shaved for for weeks. Um because as I say, still still fit what I think you know, finishing things off for academia. We still haven't finished the app. Apps are so hard to build, even with Any. Um so so so I I wouldn't say it's cost me anything too too dearly, but um just burn out. I'm terrible for like three-month cycles where I just I I just burn myself to a crisp and then um I need I just need to to to recharge. Um but it's one of those things where I've I've tried to you know calm it down a little bit and and it's just not in me. So I I I more just accept it now and then uh just make sure that I get the rest in between rather than trying to just even it out. Um I'm I'm a bit old-fashioned and uh I know everyone's trying to do work-life balance and stuff at the minute, but I still believe that you can't do anything great between nine to five. I do I still believe that you've got to you have got to push the boundaries to achieve really special things. Yeah. Still pushing hard and stuff, but I but I am very self-aware. If I feel like like I've got I I I'm married with two kids, if I feel like I'm just pushing it too much with them not maybe not seeing them or what have you, I will cut it as well. I will cut it, spend a couple of days, and then just make sure that I'm I'm I'm recharging that as well, you know. That the so I I don't go too mad either.

Partners Mentors And A Soundboard

SPEAKER_00 28:10

That yeah, that balance is very, very important uh as well, I would say. Um you also got partners, uh Jack and Kenny, and you have credited uh a close advisor with uh sharpening your strategic direction. Is there a direction that you made where having them around genuinely changed the outcome for you?

SPEAKER_01 28:31

And the bit uh well I I haven't experienced anything but that, if that makes sense. We've always been partners, so we we we met at university um and we we always planned to have uh a business together. Um it was always it was always a practice, academia and stuff was never the original idea. It was always to have a practice uh together. So I've never really worked solo, I've always worked with partners, though those two. Um so I don't really I can't compare you know to to the alternative of of working solo. But what I would say is um going back to the point of of burnouts and things like that, having partners, having people to just offload to, you know what I mean? The the the worries, the issues. Um because we you know we we we have lost a business, we have had to close a business in the past and stuff like that. So to go through those things together and not alone is is is incredible. So I would I would recommend it personally.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Nice, nice. Um, yeah, so you didn't build it alone, you had partners who fill in your gaps and the advisor who is challenging uh your thinking. So uh for the listeners, if you're a solo creator, you don't need co-founders, but you definitely need people who will tell you when your idea is bad or someone who holds you accountable. So build that circle before you actually need it. I think uh I mean what people say uh that you are um call that okay, we'll definitely need to cut this apart. Um when you are so uh oh my god, I'm missing a word. When you surround yourself with five people, for example, you are just like them.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Oh, yeah, you're the average of the company you keep. I love I love that. I I love I love that saying yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

Simple word, but yeah, I think what you did there definitely makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

So um and that by the way, it it's a good point you make as well. You don't need partners, no, uh from a few purely financial perspective. The more partners you've got, the more you the more you need to make in a way, you know, there's there's more spread and all that sort of stuff, but you definitely need a mentor at the very least, a mentor or or someone to just just be that that soundboard.

Persevering Past The Urge To Quit

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Exactly, exactly. You also said that you can't stand the what could have been feeling. So is there uh what could have been from your career uh something that you almost didn't do that you're glad that you've actually did in in the end?

SPEAKER_01 30:53

I suppose I suppose really it is just I I I always wanted to be uh a business owner, a paneer sort of thing. So I yeah, I'm just a believer of seeing things through fully, like you know what I mean, and then and then if if if you don't if you don't like it at that point then then it it genuinely isn't for you, but sometimes people can kind of quit early if they don't like the look of it or something, or it gets a bit tough. So I I I I would just say yeah, I I I've wanted to quit loads of times. Um and you know, being able to just see it through and hang in there. Um now I like my my day job now running academia full-time is just amazing. It's it's just it's a really nice job. It's you know I'm in control of everything. Um I can kind of pick what I want to do each day and all that sort of stuff. So that is that is is is really special, but um it has to come with a healthy warning of it's it it's not for everyone because there are many sleepless nights, you know. I I I have I have had to let people go through financial difficulty and stuff, you know, make redundancies and that. And it's um it was it was horrific, absolutely horrific. So it's not perfect, but I think if you do persevere, you can kind of then carve out that perfect day for yourself.

Diversify And Give Members Skin In Game

SPEAKER_00 32:08

So, what would you say for someone who's already got a course out there but they're stuck? Uh revenue has plateaued, growth has tailed. So, what's the one thing that you tell them to focus on?

SPEAKER_01 32:21

I I my my advice is is basically what I've done, which is is diversify. Yeah. So if if if you're providing courses, um you know our our our original diversification was amount of courses, and then we moved from just courses to then other things, tools. You know, tools is a nice umbrella term for all the things you've mentioned that we that we now offer. Um so I would say diversify in either adding courses or adding more functionality, and it doesn't have to be through bespoke coding, it could be through you know, maybe different examinations, different tests, more interactivity, possibly. Um you touched on a point earlier about if if you if you provide one course, someone watches that course, that's it, they've they've they've they've gone. A nice thing that we've a phrase that we've been using in our office is is skin in the game, right? If you can give uh one of your customers skin in the game on your platform, the theory is they'll never leave. Our definition of skin in the game is with the portfolio offering that you've touched on, we give every single one of our members uh an online presence. They create with us, that you know, they can um they can yeah, they can well they can create. We have got AI creation tools as well. They can create with us, they can document with us, and then they can upload all that onto their own dedicated space on our site. We host all that and everything for them, and that's skin in the game, isn't it? Because if they then cancel a membership with us, they'll no longer have that that platform. So that's a nice way of putting it, I suppose. Try and think about how you can give your customers skin in the game.

Where To Find Arcademia

SPEAKER_00 34:03

Beautiful. Uh Adam, thank you very much. This this has been amazing. You gave us the practical practitioner's perspective, the paiding strategy, the ecosystem module, and genuinely your honest look on uh where the growth levers are. Uh so where can people find you and check out what you have built?

SPEAKER_01 34:23

The easiest is just the website, yeah, academia.com. It's arch arcademia.com. Yeah. Yeah. And you know what, it it it isn't just it so it it's obviously pitched for architects, but uh uh demographic, it's quite broad. It's interior designers, it's artists, it's set designers and things like that because of the the breadth of the offer. So, yeah, yeah, academia.com.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

Perfect. That's it for today. Thank you very much for joining. Um my name is Dominic, and this has been the Art of Selling Online Courses. I'll see you in the next episode. Thank you. Cheers.