Udemy for Business – 7 Things to Know | Teachinguide

There are over 130,000 courses on the Udemy marketplace, but only about 3,500 courses on Udemy for Business.  Ever wonder what that’s all about? Maybe you aspire to get your course listed on Business? How do you get to be one of the chosen few? 

What’s Udemy for Business?

Udemy is designing and marketing Udemy for Business as a “workplace learning experience” that delivers the “consumer-first-on-demand” (i.e. just like the Udemy marketplace) learning solution.  At any given point in time, the platform offers up to 3,500 courses that focus primarily on topics pertaining to business, technology, and other relevant soft skills such as leadership. Companies subscribe to the service, which serves as a library of learning for their employees, essentially paying for employees’ Udemy courses.  This is one reason it’s becoming so popular with employees.

Course Criteria

First of all, you have to do a very basic thing – which is to opt into the Udemy for Business Content subscription marketing program so that your courses are eligible for inclusion.  You opt-in on your promotional agreements page.

According to Udemy, ALL Udemy for Business courses have the highest quality of content. So there are your first criteria. If your course is lacking in any way, then forget it.  Udemy for Business also promotes itself to companies by promising the following:

• Courses teaching the latest skills that help employees stay ahead of the curve
• Most recent, relevant in-demand topics
• Enjoyable learning experience
• Highest rated (average 4.4 ratings) courses

So if you are looking to be chosen by Udemy for Business focus on incorporating these criteria into your courses. And if you are teaching a topic like a guitar, well, we’re not sure how relevant to the business that is…but maybe you can figure something out.

Finally, it is worth noting that Udemy for Business vows to its business customers to

“continue to put learners at the heart of what we do, creating engaging experiences for an immersive learning journey”

If you keep this mission in mind when you are creating your own course, not only will you greatly increase your chances of success on the Udemy marketplace, you’ll increase the chances of being featured on Udemy for Business as well.

Examples: 3 Instructors Udemy is Promoting

We took a look at Udemy for Business’ Twitter feed and promotional pages.  We found three instructors that the platform has recently been promoting.  They have very different profiles…

Kirill Eremenko – Kirill is a bit of a Udemy marketplace legend. No doubt he’s making six figures from his Udemy courses. With 65 courses on Udemy.com, an average 4.5 rating, 857,000 students, and 267,00 reviews – just wow. He’s also teaching popular tech topics. It’s a no-brainer that he’s on Udemy for Business.

Leila Bulling Towne – This instructor was recently featured on the Udemy for Business website and on Twitter as a speaker at a Udemy event.  What’s surprising is that on Udemy.com she has just 2 courses, a 4.2 average rating, 1,834 students, and 394 reviews. She does, however, have her own website and well-established executive coaching business.  It just goes to show you that you don’t need 857,000 students to make it onto Udemy for Business.

Leila Bulling Towne’s course – Emotional Intelligence

Marie Deveaux – With just 1 course on the Udemy marketplace, 921 students, and 154 reviews, it is also surprising that this instructor would be featured on Udemy for Business.  That said, Marie Deveaux has her own website and small coaching business for women and people of color. Her course focuses on helping managers to be more effective.  Her highly targeted diverse audience, along with quality content of course, is probably why her course is featured on Udemy for Business with so few reviews.

What do these profiles mean?  Well, for starters if you are a Udemy legend teaching a hot topic, then great, you’re on Udemy for Business.  However, if you have a well-established professional profile, preferably with C-suite connections and clients, or you address a niche or diverse market, you might also have a shot at having your courses on Udemy for Business.

How Udemy for Business is Different

Obviously, with its clients being businesses and some of them very large ones, the Udemy for the Business platform will have more bells and whistles to attract this audience than the Udemy marketplace.   For example, courses on Udemy for Business may be watched in a very high-quality “theater mode” and learners can easily see their course progress bar.  Managers can track employee engagement and progress within the platform and can invite employees to subscribe to different courses that they see as useful.

For instructors, a few important differences exist.

1. Course exclusivity requirement – As long as your course is on Udemy for Business, the content cannot be hosted and marketed outside of the Udemy platform.

2. Revenue Share – The payout/revenue share is different than on the Udemy marketplace (more on that later). The timing of your payout is also just slightly different.

3. Limited Time Period – Your course may not be on Udemy for Business indefinitely. Udemy is always “retiring” courses to keep content fresh and to meet demand (or lack thereof). Therefore, if you have your heart set on being a Udemy for the Business instructor, plan to create new courses over time.

What Learners Think

Looking at many
reviews of Udemy for Business, it seems that the platform is widely liked by
employees (who wouldn’t want a library of free Udemy courses?).  Common reasons for its popularity include:

• High-quality content
• In demand and relevant topics
• Huge choice of courses
• Very easy user interface
• On-demand and easy to resume on the go
• Ability to quickly identify parts of a course they want to focus on
• A plethora of easy-to-read reviews that aid in course selection
• Personalized learning experience

Companies of course like Udemy for Business because they don’t have to invest in their own learning platforms and course development, and employees are able to upskill as needed.

One common complaint that is worth noting as an online instructor is that many employees feel that a lot of the courses are just too long to get through given their busy schedules.  So while someone paying $15 for a 10- hour Udemy marketplace course may appreciate its great value, an employee who is not paying out of pocket and who is very short on time may feel a course that long is overwhelming. 

So if you really want a course featured on Business that people like, try balancing the course length with quality content delivery.

Another complaint is that for certain topics there are not a lot of choices.  So one idea is that you may wish to find a niche business, tech, or personal development topic.

What’s Hot:

Udemy conducted research to determine the top 10 most in-demand tech skills, soft skills, and skills by the country for its business learners.   You can download that infographic here.   Top skills include highly technical ones such as functional programming and Alteryx as well as soft skills such as conflict management and understanding company culture. Finally, it’s worth looking at the geographical differences in terms of skills demand – they are quite varied from one country to the other.

How do Instructors Get Paid

The Udemy for Business instructor revenue model is different from the Udemy marketplace instructor revenue model. Business instructor revenue is based on the total number of minutes consumed within the instructor’s course(s).  It’s a little complicated.

Each month, Udemy allocates 25% of monthly subscription revenue from Business customers for the instructor revenue pool.  The company divides the instructor revenue pool by the total minutes consumed by Udemy for Business learners across all courses that month.  This “per-minute” amount is then multiplied by the number of minutes learners have spent in each instructor’s courses to determine their individual revenue share. This calculation includes time spent on video, including any re-watched minutes. It does not include time spent on quizzes, coding exercises, or assignments.

Bottom Line

Udemy for Business raises the bar for online instructors. But it provides a potentially interesting added revenue stream, exposing your course to a sophisticated audience. You have to meet Udemy’s criteria, but that’s not so bad – it gives you the right things to strive for in your course creation. You can find a niche and do well.