Previously, we shared a case study where we surveyed top cohort-based course (CBC) creators to discover what tools they were using to build CBCs. Although we identified overall trends in that study, here we’ll break down the tools each one uses to power their online programs. We’ve surveyed some of the top-performing cohort-based courses, including Write of Passage, Part-Time Youtuber Academy, Supercharge Your Productivity and Minimal Viable Product. Read on to learn what each online school uses to process payments, host their curriculum, community, and more.
Minimum Viable Video is a 5-week live cohort-based course that helps ambitious professionals learn how to create high-converting videos to grow their businesses, accelerate their careers, and build relationships with industry experts.
Minimum Viable Video processes payments using Teachable, an online course platform that hosts its curriculum and tracks student progress throughout the course. They use Circle to host their community, Zoom for live video conferencing, and Google Calendar for scheduling live events.
Minimum Viable Video’s Tech Stack:
Founded by Khe Hy, Supercharge Your Productivity is a 4-week cohort-based course that teaches busy professionals how to get more done and reach their most important goals using the right tools, mindsets, and cheat codes.
Listen to this episode on Virtually’s Reshaping Education Podcast: Khe Hy On Building “Supercharge Your Productivity.”
Supercharge Your Productivity uses Podia to host course curriculum, Airtable for tracking student records, and Slack for building community. Like Minimum Viable Video, they use Zoom for video conferencing and Google Calendar to schedule live events.
Supercharge Your Productivity’s, Tech Stack:
Write of Passage by David Perell is a cohort-based course that helps learners share high-quality written content online. Throughout this course, learn how to consistently refine your ideas and leverage your writing to land new opportunities.
Write of Passage uses WooCommerce, an e-commerce WordPress plugin to process payments. They host their curriculum with Teachable and track student progress using spreadsheets and no-code tools like Airtable. Throughout the course, learners can connect with other students using Circle. Zoom and Google Calendar are used to manage live events.
Write of Passage’s, Tech Stack:
Read Next: How David Perell Grew An Online Education Empire
Hosted by Ali Abdaal, The Part-Time YouTuber Academy (PTYA) is a 6-week live online course where you’ll learn how to build and grow an income-generating YouTube channel from 0 to 100,000 subscribers.
The PTYA team uses Podia to host the course curriculum. They accept payment via Stripe and PayPal and host their community with Circle. In addition to using Zoom for hosting live video calls, they use Luma to schedule events and send reminders. Lastly, they track student progress with custom-designed spreadsheets and automate various tasks using Zapier.
Part-Time YouTuber Academy’s Tech Stack:
Read Next: How Ali Abdaal Launched Part-time Youtuber Academy With A Day Job
One thing is clear -- course creators rely on various tools to run their live online learning programs. After seeing so many creators struggle with managing specifically the backend logistics of hosting live events, we’ve developed a robust solution designed to streamline calendar and event management.
Since Virtually is connected to popular tools like Google Calendar, Zoom, Airtable, Slack, and Circle, better manage your workflow with one dashboard (skip at least seven steps and several logins). Virtually lets you schedule Zoom sessions with complete control over who gets invited, automatically sends invites and reminders, and even tracks attendance. See why CBCs like Write of Passage and Part-Time YouTuber Academy trust Virtually by getting early access here.
Danielle Desir is an author, freelance writer and the host of The Thought Card, an affordable-travel and personal finance podcast. (danielledesir.com) Follow on Twitter: @thethoughtcard