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How Connor Ondriska Earns 6-Figures a Year Teaching Spanish Online and Plans to Dominate the Learn Spanish Market in the Future
- Who: Connor Ondriska
- Website: spanishvip.com
- Course Topic: Learn Spanish
- Interesting Stats: Expects to hit 50,000 monthly visits by EOY
Who are you and what course have you created?
We have multiple Spanish programs that learners can choose from!
What market does your online course serve?
We serve Spanish learners at all levels. Regardless of their reasons for learning, our customizable program allows us to accommodate all goals and learning preferences to adapt to individual needs. We launched as a way to help make Spanish learning significantly more effective and break the mold of standardized education.
What’s the biggest benefit of taking your course?
Each student that works with SpanishVIP is treated as an individual. Their unique needs and goals in learning the language are considered to help direct their program. We have an entire Student Success team dedicated to working between our students and teachers to create an individualized curriculum for every student. It is a labor-intensive process but results in significantly faster results than any other form of language acquisition that our students have used.
How did you get into the market?
Prior to launching SpanishVIP, I worked remotely for around 5 years. We saw the opportunity to leverage lower salaries in Latin America to create a very high-quality solution at an affordable price while creating meaningful remote jobs. Our business was launched to reinvigorate the educational space and create a demonstrable social impact.
Why did you decide to create an online course in the first place?
Anecdotally, I encountered many people while living in Latin America that struggled to learn the language. I knew there had to be a better way and thus set out to bring a solution to the market that would help everyone learn Spanish better.
Did you have any moments of doubt before you created/launched it?
No. We started bringing on students very early on even with sub-par marketing. It was clear that there existed a need for what we were offering!
What’s your online course like?
Our teacher-led programs are an interactive learning environment that includes lessons, activities, and improvised educational environments that adapt to our students. The self-led aspect of our program is an online course with progress tracking, videos, etc.
How long did it take you to create your course?
We are constantly developing our program. It was launched as a very rough version and we started selling the online course right away to prove the concept. Then we went into emergency mode to develop stronger material.
Throw yourself into the fire and build a product based on actual user data! - Connor Ondriska Click To Tweet
Tell us a little about the process of launching your course and getting your first sale(s).
We went into guerilla marketing mode as our company was bootstrapped. If you can name a “free” traffic source, we have tried it!
Do you have a lead magnet?
Yes, we offer a book that helps clarify and concisely communicate how to leverage cognates to quickly open up a vast vocabulary of words with minimal effort.
What’s the traffic strategy that works best for you?
The lead magnet and our free trial/free class offer help bring more students into our ecosystem.
What online course platform are you using?
We are using LearnDash as our online course platform!
Do you like it?
We use the right tool for the job in each circumstance. It’s important to leverage technology to make your solution modern and useful.
Are there any features you wish it had?
Gamification and VR are technically difficult. Having an elegant solution to deploy these features would be great.
What made you decide to use your chosen platform over others?
We have multiple metrics we look at. As we have a large team and a massive number of students studying with us, it has to first be economically feasible. Then, flexibility and practicality come into play. Something that is “useable” ais much more important than stuff with shiny feature sets.
What other tools do you use to run your online course business?
Stripe, WordPress, Typeform, Adroll, many others.
What books or training programs have you found useful on your journey to a successful business owner that others might find valuable too?
As an entrepreneur, you need to be able to do anything that is required. It’s impossible to recommend books generally because it depends on the stage a business is at, and the unique problems they face. However, “How to win friends and influence people” maybe my top recommendation all things considered. Sales, leadership, marketing, etc, all rely on our ability to effectively communicate.
Do you have any big mistakes you’ve made along the way that you’d be willing to share?
I personally lean towards a more friendly dynamic in our business. In the past, I have allowed ineffective team members to stay around too long. This is something I am actively working to improve.
Please share some idea of revenue.
We are currently a 6 figure business. Hopefully 7 figures by next year.
Please tell us a little about what the money you’ve earned from your course has done for you.
Every dollar of profit we make is reinvested. Money is worthless if it does not have utility. Our focus is on dominating the industry and scaling to 10’s of thousands of students. There is no personal “win” I would like to discuss as they are secondary.
In addition to revenue are there any numbers you would like to share?
We are investing heavily in our blog. We expect to hit 50,000 monthly visits by EOY. That is exciting!
What has creating your course done for you personally?
Every day I get to wake up and know that we are positively impacting the lives of our students and staff. Students grow professionally, deepen personal relationships, travel with ease, and more, due to a second language. And we are creating great jobs for awesome people, where creativity and growth transpires.
Do you have a story of a transformation from any of your clients?
Yes, families who can now communicate, spouses who can overcome a language barrier, etc. Most people are learning a second language because it’s important to them, not just fun.
What advice do you have for people just starting out?
Perseverance is essential. You have to be willing to continue working even after a myriad of failures. - Connor Ondriska Click To TweetEvery day is a new opportunity to learn from mistakes and turn them into a win.
Learn more about Connor Ondriska of spanishvip.com:
- Website: spanishvip.com
