204 Meet The Man Who Built a $5 Million Course Business

The Art of Selling Online Courses

Send us a text

Today's episode is absolutely fascinating. I'm sitting down with Rich Thompson, who built his online tutoring business from literally zero to generating millions in revenue, and his story is going to blow your mind.
Rich started out as a one-on-one biology tutor charging £200 an hour (about $300 US), which sounds amazing until you realize he could only work with about 10 students a year. He was stuck in this paradox where he'd built this successful tutoring practice but had to physically sit next to students to make money. Not exactly the location-independent lifestyle he was dreaming of.
So he completely re-engineered his approach. He analyzed 10 years of exam papers, figured out exactly where students were losing marks, and created an online program that's now helped over 65,000 students. The growth was meteoric - he went from breaking even at $10,000 in year one to hitting $700,000 by year five.
But here's where it gets really interesting. When COVID hit, the UK government cancelled exams and 95% of his subscribers vanished overnight. Rich watched his entire business almost disappear. He told me if he hadn't been conservative with his spending that year, it would have been the end of his company.
We dive deep into his funnel, his marketing strategies, and some surprising insights about advertising to teenagers versus their parents. He shares exact numbers on ad spend and ROI that will make you rethink how you approach your own campaigns. Plus, we do a live review of his sales pages where I spot some quick wins that could dramatically increase his conversions.
If you're running an online course business or thinking about starting one, this episode is packed with lessons from someone who's been through the highest highs and lowest lows. Rich's honesty about what worked, what didn't, and what nearly killed his business is refreshing and incredibly valuable.
🔗 Check out Tailored Tutors: https://tailoredtutors.co.uk/?utm_source=the_art_of_selling_onine_courses&utm_medium=podcast
🔗 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tailoredtutors
🔗 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tailoredtutors
🎁 Grab the free download I mention in the episode at https://datadrivenmarketing.co/pages - it's our guide to the 15 elements every high-converting sales page needs to have.

บท

1. Cold Start: COVID Wipeout And Rebuild (00:00:00)

2. From £200/Hour Tutor To Scalable Courses (00:02:40)

3. Cracking Exams: It’s How You Write, Not What You Know (00:05:30)

4. Building The Course Engine And Student Behaviour (00:09:15)

5. Revenue, Growth Spurts, And COVID Shock (00:12:45)

6. Subscription Ethics And Trust In Education (00:15:55)

7. What Makes A Great Tutor And Why Many Don’t (00:18:20)

8. Pricing, Value vs Tutoring, And LTV Timing (00:22:30)

9. Ads, Word Of Mouth, And Attribution Reality (00:26:00)

10. Parents vs Students: Who The Funnel Targets (00:30:20)

11. Landing Pages That Sell Courses, Not SaaS (00:34:40)

12. Seasonality, Channels, And Campaign Design (00:38:55)

13. Differentiation: Exam Mechanics And Real Outcomes (00:42:20)

14. Focus For The Year: Profit, Systems, Not More Content (00:46:30)

15. Founder Fit: Creator Energy vs CEO Reality (00:50:20)

16. Closing, Resources, And Next Steps (00:53:20)