If you have ever looked into created (or taking) an online course then chances are you have come across Udemy at some point.

Udemy is essentially a marketplace where people just like you can create and sell courses. They then take a percentage of any course sold on their platform.

They have thousand of users and some have done very well well using it as a method to build a passive income.

While it all sounds well and good, I do have some misgivings about using Udemy for building a real information-based business. I have written about it a multiple times in fact.

But just because the platform has inherent shortcomings for building a business doesn’t mean that their concept is a bad one. We are often asked if it is possible to create a Udemy-type site with LearnDash.

Short answer: yes (see this article on creating a Udemy clone).

What you do not want to do is to create a site that is exactly like Udemy. By this I mean you have the same value proposition and business model. You will lose that battle. Udemy has millions of investment dollars at their disposal – you don’t stand a chance.

That said, you shouldn’t get discouraged. The business model is great and can be applied to niches and sub-niches. For example, if you are a realtor then you can create a Udemy-type site that only has courses (and other resources perhaps) for realtors.

Get a couple well-known names in your industry to create a course or two and you already start to legitimize your brand.

Here’s a tip: offer to create the course for the individual and then don’t require them to share their profits. This makes it a “no-brainer” for them. Sure, you may miss out on initial income but you gain by leveraging their presence in your market. They probably will share their course with their network as well which gives you additional exposure.

Creating niche-Udemy sites is not something I have seen on a massive scale yet so I strongly believe that it is a perfect time for this business model.

Like anything worthwhile it will take a lot of work -but- if you are first in your market to create such a site then you will reap the rewards in a BIG way.