Teachable Mastery Tutorial

Create and Sell Online Courses Like a Pro

Getting Started with Teachable

What is Teachable?

Teachable is an all-in-one platform that allows creators to build, market, and sell online courses, coaching services, and digital downloads. With over 100,000+ course creators worldwide and $1 billion+ in total earnings paid out, it's one of the most trusted platforms for online education.

Teachable handles all the technical heavy lifting - hosting, payment processing, student management, and marketing tools - so you can focus purely on creating amazing educational content. Many successful creators launch their first course in under a week!

Setting Up Your Account

1 Sign Up

Visit teachable.com and click "Get Started Free" to create your account using email or Google sign-in.

2 Choose Your Plan

Select from Starter ($39/month), Builder ($99/month), Growth ($199/month), or Business ($399/month). Each plan offers different features and transaction fees.

Most successful creators start with the Starter plan ($39/month with 7.5% transaction fee) to validate their course idea, then upgrade to Builder ($99/month with 0% transaction fee) once they hit consistent sales. This minimizes financial risk while you test the market.

3 Create Your School

Set your school name, URL (yourschool.teachable.com), and customize your branding.

Choose a school name that's memorable and reflects your brand. Keep it short (2-3 words max), avoid numbers or special characters, and make it about the value you provide, not just your name. Example: "MarketingMastery" beats "JohnSmith2024Courses".

Complete Setup Checklist:

• ✓ Create account and verify email
• ✓ Choose school name and URL (permanent!)
• ✓ Upload school logo (200x200px minimum)
• ✓ Set primary brand colors
• ✓ Write compelling school description
• ✓ Connect social media accounts
• ✓ Explore dashboard - click everything!

Dashboard Overview

📚 Courses

Create and manage all your courses and curriculum - your content creation hub

👥 Students

View enrollments and manage student access - track who's learning

💰 Sales

Track revenue, transactions, and performance - your financial dashboard

🎨 Site

Customize your school's appearance and pages - make it uniquely yours

Top-earning Teachable creators spend their first week exploring every feature. Click every button, test every tool. You can't break anything in setup mode, so experiment freely. Familiarity now = confidence when you launch!

Check Your Knowledge: Getting Started

What's the first thing you should do after signing up for Teachable?

• A) Upload course videos immediately
• B) Set your school name and URL
• C) Connect your payment processor
• D) Create a marketing email

Answer: B) Set your school name and URL. This is your foundation - your URL is hard to change later, so it's the first thing to lock in.

Which Teachable dashboard section helps you track your earnings?

• A) Courses
• B) Students
• C) Sales
• D) Site

Answer: C) Sales. The Sales tab is your financial dashboard - revenue, transactions, and payout history all live there.

Creating Your First Course

Course Planning Essentials

Before diving into Teachable, plan your course structure, learning objectives, and target audience. A well-organized course leads to better student outcomes, higher completion rates, and more positive reviews.

The #1 mistake new creators make? Creating too much content. Start with a "minimum viable course" - 3-5 hours of focused content that solves ONE specific problem. You can always add more based on student feedback.

Building Your Course Structure

1 Create New Course

Click "Courses" in the dashboard, then "New Course". Enter your course title and choose a template or start from scratch.

2 Add Sections (Modules)

Organize content into logical sections. Click "New Section" and give it a descriptive name like "Week 1: Foundations" or "Module 3: Advanced Techniques".

Use the "backward design" method: Start with the END result (what will students be able to DO?), then work backward to create the modules that get them there. This ensures every lesson has purpose.

3 Create Lectures

Within each section, add lectures by clicking "New Lecture". Each lecture can contain video, text, quizzes, or downloads.

4 Customize Course Settings

Set course author, description, category, and course image (1280x720px recommended).

Use a clear naming convention: "Module 1: Getting Started" → "Lesson 1.1: Introduction", "Lesson 1.2: Setup". Students should understand the learning path at a glance. Numbers are your friends!

Winning Course Structure:

• Module 0: Welcome - Orientation, what to expect, community intro
• Module 1: Foundations - Core concepts, mindset, prerequisites
• Modules 2-4: Core Content - Main teaching content, step-by-step
• Module 5: Implementation - Real-world application, case studies
• Module 6: Next Steps - Advanced resources, what's next, celebration

This structure has a 65% higher completion rate than unstructured courses!

Content Types You Can Add

🎥 Video Lectures

Upload MP4 files or embed from YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia

📝 Text Lectures

Rich text editor for written content and step-by-step guides

❓ Quizzes

Multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank questions

📥 Downloads

PDFs, workbooks, templates, resource files

Mix content types for maximum engagement! Research shows courses with video + text + quizzes have 3x higher completion rates than video-only courses. Variety keeps brains engaged.

Check Your Knowledge: Course Creation

What's the recommended image size for course thumbnails?

• A) 800x600px
• B) 1280x720px
• C) 1920x1080px
• D) 500x500px

Answer: B) 1280x720px. This 16:9 ratio displays cleanly in the course catalog, on mobile, and across marketing materials.

What's the #1 mistake new course creators make?

• A) Pricing too high
• B) Creating too much content
• C) Not having enough videos
• D) Using too many quizzes

Answer: B) Creating too much content. Overloading a first course delays launch and overwhelms students - start lean, then expand based on real feedback.

Uploading and Managing Content

Video Upload Best Practices

Videos are the heart of most online courses. Teachable supports various upload methods to give you flexibility and control over your content delivery.

Pro tip: Upload videos during off-peak hours (late night/early morning) for faster processing. A 1-hour video can take 30-60 minutes to process, so plan accordingly!

Video Upload Methods

1 Direct Upload

Upload MP4 files directly to Teachable (up to 5GB per file). Best for complete control over your content.

2 YouTube Integration

Embed public or unlisted YouTube videos. Free hosting but less control over player appearance.

3 Vimeo/Wistia

Embed from professional video hosting platforms. Offers better analytics and player customization.

For the best student experience, keep videos between 5-15 minutes. Break longer content into multiple lectures to maintain engagement and make it easier for students to find specific topics later.

Name your video files systematically before uploading: "01-intro.mp4", "02-lesson-one.mp4". This keeps your content library organized and makes batch uploads much smoother!

Technical Specifications:

• Format: MP4 (H.264 codec)
• Resolution: 1080p (1920x1080) or 720p (1280x720)
• Frame Rate: 30fps or 24fps
• Audio: AAC codec, 128kbps or higher
• File Size: Compress to balance quality and upload time

Managing Students and Enrollments

Student Dashboard Overview

The Students section gives you complete control over who accesses your courses, allowing you to manually enroll students, manage access, and track engagement.

80% of successful course creators send a personalized welcome email within 24 hours of enrollment. This simple touch increases completion rates by up to 40%!

Enrolling Students

1 Manual Enrollment

Go to Courses → Select Course → Students → "Enroll Student". Enter email and choose enrollment type (paid or free).

2 Bulk Import

Upload CSV files to enroll multiple students at once. Perfect for corporate training or group enrollments.

3 Automatic Enrollment

Students auto-enroll when they purchase your course or redeem a coupon code.

Create welcome emails for new students! Guide them on how to access the course, set expectations, and provide support contact information. This reduces confusion and support requests by 60%.

Marketing Your Courses

Built-in Marketing Features

Teachable provides powerful marketing tools to help you attract students, boost sales, and grow your online education business without needing external platforms.

The average Teachable course sells for $182. But courses with professional sales pages, testimonials, and clear value propositions sell for 2.5x more!

Creating Coupons and Promotions

💰 Percentage Discounts

Offer 10%, 25%, 50% off or any percentage you choose

🎯 Fixed Amount

Deduct specific dollar amounts ($10 off, $50 off, etc.)

⏰ Limited Time

Set expiration dates to create urgency

🔢 Usage Limits

Restrict how many times a coupon can be used

Create scarcity with limited-use coupons! "EARLY50" for the first 20 students creates urgency and rewards fast action. Scarcity increases conversions by up to 300%!

Setting Up Pricing and Payments

Pricing Strategies

Teachable offers flexible pricing options to match different business models and student preferences. Choose the strategy that aligns with your goals and audience.

Courses priced between $97-$297 convert best for most niches. Too cheap = perceived low value. Too expensive = harder to convert without proven authority. Sweet spot = $147-$197 for first-time creators.

Teachable Plan Pricing (2025)

🌱 Starter Plan

$39/month (or $29/month annually)

7.5% transaction fee per sale

🔨 Builder Plan

$99/month (or $79/month annually)

0% transaction fee - keep all revenue!

📈 Growth Plan

$199/month (or $139/month annually)

0% fees + certificates & advanced features

🚀 Business Plan

$399+/month

0% fees + all features + priority support

The Builder plan ($99/month) is the sweet spot for most creators. Once you sell just 2-3 courses at $97 each, you've covered the monthly fee AND you're keeping 100% of your revenue with no transaction fees!

Course Pricing Models

💳 One-Time Payment

Students pay once for lifetime access to the course

📅 Payment Plans

Split cost into 2, 3, or more monthly installments

🔄 Subscriptions

Recurring monthly or annual payments for ongoing access

🆓 Free Preview

Offer some content free to attract potential students

Payment plans increase conversions by 40%! A $297 course is more accessible as 3 payments of $99. Consider charging slightly more for payment plans to offset transaction fees.

Advanced Features and Customization

Power User Tools

Take your Teachable school to the next level with advanced features that enhance student experience, automate workflows, and provide deeper insights.

Courses with completion certificates see 35% higher enrollment rates. People love tangible proof of achievement they can share on LinkedIn!

Drip Content Scheduling

1 Enable Drip

In course settings, enable "Drip course content". Choose schedule type: specific dates or relative to enrollment date.

2 Set Release Schedule

For each section or lecture, set when it becomes available. Example: Week 1 (immediate), Week 2 (+7 days), Week 3 (+14 days).

Drip content prevents overwhelm and maintains engagement over time. Courses with drip scheduling have 65% higher completion rates than "dump it all at once" courses!

Setting Up Your Custom Domain:

1. Purchase domain from GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Google Domains
2. In Teachable: Settings → Domains → Add custom domain
3. Update DNS records at your domain provider (Teachable provides exact instructions)
4. Wait for verification (up to 24 hours)
5. SSL certificate automatically activates for security

Custom domains increase trust and can boost conversions by 20-30%!

Check Your Knowledge

Review What You've Learned

Take a moment to see how much stuck - no pressure, just a fun recap!

1. What is the smartest way to start on Teachable?

• A) Buy the Business plan immediately
• B) Start with Starter plan to validate your idea
• C) Create 20 courses at once
• D) Wait until everything is perfect

Answer: B) Start with Starter plan to validate your idea. Validating demand before upgrading protects your budget while you find product-market fit.

2. What is the ideal video length for maximum engagement?

• A) 1-3 minutes
• B) 5-15 minutes
• C) 30-45 minutes
• D) 60+ minutes

Answer: B) 5-15 minutes. Short, focused videos hold attention better and are easier for students to finish in one sitting.

🎉 Congratulations!

You've Finished the Teachable Mastery Tutorial!

You're now ready to create and sell amazing online courses on Teachable! 🚀