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How Brianna Rooney Became an Expert in the Tech Recruiting Industry by Selling Her Bootcamp
- Who: Brianna Spectacular Rooney
- Website: thriversity.io
- Course Topic: Recruiting
- Interesting Stats: Boot camp brought in about $50,000
Who are you and what course have you created?
My name is Brianna Rooney I am the CEO and Founder of a few recruiting companies (TalentPerch, Techees Recruiting, The Millionaire Recruiter) and most recently, a recruiting training solution, Thriversity. I’ve had a vision for the last 14 years to change the way the World views the Recruiting Industry. I have two little kids and remain firm on my work-life balance.
I have always believed you can be as successful at work, as you are at home. You don’t have to choose. The choice is, to be present and rock everything you do. - Brianna Rooney Click To TweetI have created a couple of courses in the recruiting space. The biggest course is my 6-week full-cycle tech recruiter foundation course. My other one is a Bootcamp that can be accomplished in a few days.
What market does your online course serve?
Our course is suited for aspiring recruiters, current recruiters that want to be tech recruiters, to recruiters that want to be more successful and efficient at their job. Helping them make more money and move up in the industry.
What’s the biggest benefit of taking your course?
Our course accomplishes results I don’t believe exist yet. We use a learning management system and have hours of assignments, knowledge checks, videos, and hands-on facilitation. We can take all of these learning methods to simulate the experience you would get if you were in the office training with me.
Our course handles all levels of recruiting and gives you the soft skills needed to be successful and confident in an industry that has a lot of roller coasters.
How did you get into the market?
I’ve been in the sexy tech recruiting industry for 14 years. I started my own business when I was 24, and only after I had a year of experience in the recruiting industry. I taught myself how to be successful by trial and error. As I started to grow my company, I very quickly learned I had a knack for teaching others how to recruit.
In 2018, one of my employees told me my training was gold and the industry needed it. He convinced me what we have doesn’t exist, which led me to start my Millionaire Recruiter YouTube channel. I quickly saw this is indeed an industry that needed training and there wasn’t much available. I developed my Recruiting Bootcamp on Teachable in 2018. The reputation of my firm grew and grew, which then resulted in Affirm acquiring my team in October 2021.
I knew then that I needed to make an even bigger and better course that I could sell not only to individuals but to companies. Thriversity was born. I grabbed some of the best and brightest people in learning and development and built a unique, robust recruiting training solution.
Why did you decide to create an online course in the first place?
Since I was 24, I have had the same mission. To change the way the world viewed recruiting. I would do this by example, by human connection, by awareness of how poor our reputation is, and now through education. I am moving forward to an accreditation in hopes to make this a degree.
Did you have any moments of doubt before you created/launched it?
100% I struggled and doubted myself! I thought I had a lot of this training done from all the years I performed it with my own growing staff. Once I had my learning and development team in place, I realized there were a lot of gaps. I had to build a lot more content. I had to find fun ways for people to learn online. That’s not easy. I also had doubts about being an expert. I knew my training had already helped so many, but seeing it come to life where this would be tested by experts and colleagues I respected, was really stressful and nerve-wracking.
If so what made you turn it around and do it anyway?
I don’t think enough to let doubt stop me. It helps that I know what I am doing is solid work and needed by many. I am niche enough, and my market is big enough. If I build and remain genuine, they will come.
What’s your online course like?
My online course tackles every learning style. It has video, text, check-on learnings, assignments to practice, projects to do and learn from, and access to live instructors.
How long did it take you to create your course?
From start to finish, about 8 months. That’s because I wanted a course that had the option to be a boot camp, and the option to be a 6-week instructor-driven course. I also took the time to test it with 6 people for 8 weeks.
First, I complied with all the training I had over the years. I made sections that I knew had to be taught. Then I started building documents and training materials for each. When I was done, I had my team look at it, find holes and ask questions. I then redid what needed to be done, added sections that made it more robust, and made videos of each section.
Once a topic was covered, I brainstormed how the student was going to learn the material. I wanted as many projects and assignments as possible because I know recruiters tend to be kinesthetic learners.
Tell us a little about the process of launching your course and getting your first sale(s).
Launching was so fun, and then instantly terrifying. I knew I didn’t market soon enough. I was scared to hype it up and then have it sizzle. The day it launched we got 3 sales almost immediately. Oh my gosh, I couldn’t believe it! I have a large gong in the office I hit for the first sale and then had different key employees hit for the other sales.
Do you have a lead magnet?
Not yet, we’re working on it. Right now, I have a Masterclass once a month and have gotten a few people from this. I would say my biggest lead magnet is my YouTube channel.
What’s the traffic strategy that works best for you?
YouTube and Teachable have been our best for growing our email list. Right now, our email campaigns drive the biggest traffic. We are adding more nurturing vs selling. I think it’s important to build value and trust. It’s not working as fast as I would like it to. We have a FAQ page that doesn’t seem to cut down the number of questions we have.
What online course platform are you using?
I’m currently using Blackboard because I wanted to make sure my larger course could be given to companies as well as individuals. However, I just put my Bootcamp course on Teachable due to Blackboard not being very user-friendly or sexy looking.
Do you like it?
I really like Teachable. It’s easy from a course creator’s perspective, and for the learner. Blackboard was way too time-consuming to build the course on. Regret doing that first.
Check Out Teachable
Teachable is one of the top online course platforms used by successful course creators interviewed on coursemethod.com. It is easy to set up and build your site pages, and the course area looks great.
- Price Range: $0 (+ transaction fees) to $299/month
- Most Popular Plan: Pro Plan at $119/month
- Annual Discount: Yes, take 17% off!
- Free Trial: Try out Teachable’s core features for free
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Are there any features you wish it had?
I wish Teachable had an assessment tool I could give students before they buy. That way they could see where their gaps are, and how the course can fill those gaps.
What made you decide to use your chosen platform over others?
I chose Teachable over Udemy because I didn’t like how crowded Udemy looked. I also felt my price tag was better suited for Teachable.
What other tools do you use to run your online course business?
I have Loom and Canva to build videos and cool-looking content.
What books or training programs have you found useful on your journey to a successful business owner that others might find valuable too?
My favorite book I have read to become the leader I am today is “The 100X Leader: How to Become Someone Worth Following”. This has also helped me in my personal relationships. I read it every other year.
Do you have any big mistakes you’ve made along the way that you’d be willing to share?
HUGE mistakes! I am trying to get my course accredited and got too far into it before I built and sold the course. Which caused me to spend way too much money. I also should have never taken the course off Teachable while I was building the other one. I should have just made a note to the students that I am updating the content and giving them a discount for the course.
Please share some idea of revenue.
My boot camp course is $695 and my instructor-guided 6-week course is $1895. My instructor-guided course has only brought in a little over $11,000 in sales, whereas my boot camp has brought in almost $50,000 in sales. I think it’s because the boot camp is much shorter, and of course cheaper. It has been out a lot longer too, so I’m hoping when I’m able to make my instructor-guided course available in smaller pieces (bought by subject/module), this too will sell as well as the BootCamp.
Please tell us a little about what the money you’ve earned from your course has done for you.
The course so far is still in the infant stages when it comes to money. However, I have used the money to hire the right people to make this course even better and to take it to get accredited. That’s when I know my life and finances will really take off.
In addition to revenue are there any numbers you would like to share?
I have had my YouTube channel for 3 and a half years and finally have almost 30k subscribers. I started doing it for fun. It wasn’t until the last 9 months that I really tried to pump up my subscribers.
I started recording videos in batches which made me more prepared and not scrambling to do a weekly video. Now I make sure to put more links in the videos and I respond more to the questions. - Brianna Rooney Click To TweetI think that has helped a lot.
What has creating your course done for you personally?
I feel so validated in my career. People look at me as a subject expert and that feels so good! I love hearing how much my teachings have helped people in their careers. It has made me more confident in my day-to-day and I feel the need to push myself to be better. Not just for me, but for them.
Do you have a story of a transformation from any of your clients?
Oh my gosh, I have several. My personal favorite is about a person that was one of the first ones to take my course. I used to do 30-minute calls with the students to make sure they were on the right track. This person would be so meticulous with their note-taking. They would practice and really spend the time to learn. He ended up not only being a great recruiter, but he opened his own agency. We keep in touch, and he has taken a couple of additional classes of mine. He also started a charity that has helped so many people. He recently called to thank me and tell me how much I changed his life. Gives me the chills!
What advice do you have for people just starting out?
Don’t overthink it. I know you want it to be right, to have the bells and whistles. However, you need to just get it out. You can make several versions of it. Constantly add new info, new videos, and new ways to learn. The longer you wait to publish the course and the longer you wait to market it will only hurt you in the long run.
I thought if I marketed it too soon, I would have to constantly make excuses as to why it wasn’t done, and I would feel anxious.
Wow was I wrong! Put up your social, create a buzz, grow a mailing list, do small videos, and talk about the course and the problem you’re solving as fast as you can. Don’t forget to have fun and always remember why you started this in the first place!
Learn more about Brianna Spectacular Rooney of thriversity.io:
