Ep. 4: Trading stocks (with Teri Ijeoma of Invest with Teri)

In June 2018, Teri Ijeoma created her own online course business called Invest with Teri. She teaches others how to supplement their income with trading, just as she had. And within 8 months, she had her first six-figure sales month. And then, her second.

But just a few years ago, Teri was an assistant principal earning $60,000 a year. So how did Teri go from earning $60,000 in a year to earning $60,000 in just one month from her online courses? She’s here with us at Teachable HQ to share her story in this very special live recorded episode.

Today’s guest: Teri Ijeoma (of Invest with Teri)

“I just want to encourage people to keep going. They really can do this. Like I never would’ve thought I’d have a six figure course, and I just kept focusing on the students and making sure they were learning. And the money started coming.”

Teri Ijeoma began her professional career working in education and nonprofits. When she started trading stocks nine years ago, she initially saw it as an opportunity to simply supplement her income. However, she was so successful with this side hustle that in 2017, she decided to quit her job, travel the world, and begin trading full-time.

While traveling, Teri was able show to other how she was successfully trading on the stock market. She set up and taught her first class in Thailand, her second in Vietnam, and had a fully-fledged curriculum created by the time she returned to the States. Teri now offers an online curriculum that shares her investing strategies with people all over the world at Invest with Teri. She also partners with organizations to train and empower individuals to achieve financial freedom and build wealth through investing.

Teri received her Bachelors degree in Management Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Additionally, she also earned her Masters in Media and Communications from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Where to find Teri

Follow Teri on Instagram @teriijeoma or visit her website at itradeandtravel.com.

Read the full transcript below.

Teri Ijeoma: If anybody wants to achieve something big, they should start with small goals. Because if you can reach those small incremental goals, then it’ll start adding up. I feel like we psych ourselves out when we try to go for the big goal right away and it doesn’t happen. And then we’re like, oh, I’m going to quit. Nope, wasn’t for me. You can’t do it. But if we did something small and we’re like, oh, okay, that wasn’t too bad, I can do the next thing. If that’s the way to actually achieve big goals.

Melissa Guller: In December of 2018 Teri AEG almost started her own online course business, teaching others how to supplement their income with trading and investing just as she had. And within eight months she had her first six figure sales month and then her second. But just a few years ago, Teri was an assistant principal earning $60,000 a year in salary. So how did Teri go from that $60,000 a year salary to earning $60,000 in just one month from her online course sales? Well. She’s here with me in New York today to share her story with us in this very special episode of Everything is Teachable.

Announcer: Welcome to Everything is Teachable, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes to learn how everyday creators have transformed their skills and passions into online courses and businesses. To introduce this week’s episode, here’s your host, Melissa Guller.

Melissa Guller: Hi everyone. I’m Melissa from Teachable and I can’t wait for you to meet today’s guest airy EEG Elma. Teri began her professional career working in education and nonprofits when she started trading stocks nine years ago. She initially saw it as an opportunity to simply supplement her income. However, she was so successful with this side hustle that in 2017 she decided to quit her job, travel the world, and begin trading full time while traveling. Teri was constantly asked to show others how she was successfully trading on the stock market. She set up and taught her first class in Thailand or second in Vietnam and had a fully fledged curriculum created by the time she returned to the state. Kerry now offers an online curriculum that shares her investing strategies with people all over the world. He also partners with organizations and companies to train and empower individuals to achieve financial freedom and to build wealth through investing. So Teri, I’m so glad to welcome you to the podcast today!

Teri Ijeoma: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me here.

Melissa Guller: So I’m guessing, you know, trading is not something little girls might dream about at a very young age. So I’m really curious to hear, how did you first get into trading?

Teri Ijeoma: You know, when I was growing up in high school, I really wanted to be an architect and I want it to build subdivisions. But there was this summer program where they invited students to come up to Northwestern university to learn about business. So we went to the Kellogg business school and there was students all over and we like, they just entrenched us and everything. So I actually got a chance to go visit the Chicago Stock Exchange and that’s when my whole world just lit up. I was like, oh my gosh, people are actually there. Oh my gosh. Like they’re making all this money, they’re doing all these things.

Teri Ijeoma: So I thought it was amazing, but I came back home and nobody actually knew anything about trading stocks. So at that time the gas prices had come down and I was like, somebody is making money off of this. And I asked everybody, how do I get involved? Nobody knew Google IPO that year. I asked, how am I god, I gotta get into this. Nobody knew. So I went into college and I said, I’ve got to figure out this stock thing. I studied business at MIT, got a chance to intern on Wall Street. So I knew of business, but I still didn’t know how to invest for myself. It wasn’t actually until the, a stock crashed the housing crash in 2010 that I actually started investing from myself.

Melissa Guller: And when you did start investing, you mentioned it’s not something you were taught, it’s not something anyone around you knew. So how did you learn?

Teri Ijeoma: So I actually watch CNBC and Jim Cramer on mad money for a long time and I was just trying to figure it out myself for about six years. I thought I could create my own algorithm. I was like, I got this. I can crack this code. No, it did not. I had to take some classes. So I went to a training school for trading and watched some online courses. And then I actually, I started putting that together with the things that I was learning on my own and came up with my own trading plan. And how long did it take you to go from will beginner to having a little bit of confidence, having your own plan? You know, I wish I had taken those classes earlier because once I actually started taking the classes, it took me about a year to actually really get it under my feet.

Teri Ijeoma: And then another year to really start seeing great gains. So I was a educator, I was an assistant principal of an elementary school and my goal was, okay, I just need to make $300 a day to replace my income. So first I said, okay, let me try and see if I can make $100 a day worked. Worked it took some time to figure it out. Got to $100 a day. Then I said, okay, this is okay, this is working. Let me do $200 a day, then $300 a day, and I was able to quit my job. So I would say it took me about a year to get from no gains to about $300 a day, and then now that I’ve quit and gone full time, I’m seeing really great success, like over $1,000 a day on a regular base.

Melissa Guller: Wow. Well, I love hearing the story of you mentioning $100 a day, $200 a day. You really, it sounds like you worked your way into those kinds of gains. It’s tough, I think for a lot of people who are just getting started in any new skill to see very successful people and wonder, you know, how did they get there? I don’t know anything, I’m just getting started. But to hear that it took you a year and it was a gradual increase of little goals over time, I think that makes it seem more attainable.

Teri Ijeoma: Yes. If anybody wants to achieve something big, I say start with small because if you can reach those small incremental goals, then it’ll start adding up. I feel like we psych ourselves out when we try to go for the big goal right away and it doesn’t happen. And then we’re like, oh, I’m going to quit. Nope. Wasn’t for me, I can’t do it. But if we did something small and we’re like, oh, okay, that wasn’t too bad, I can do the next thing if that’s the way to actually achieve big goals.

Melissa Guller: Oh I love that. So it’s not just that it’s easier to achieve the smaller goals, but it also is a boost for morale. It feels good. You feel capable. Like, Hey, I can do this.

Teri Ijeoma: Exactly.

Melissa Guller: So you mentioned that you started going full time. You did quit your job. What was that like at first? How did you decide I’m going to make this leap?

Teri Ijeoma: Oh my gosh. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done ever. So I remember actually hiding out my friend so and so. I was a principal. I remember I told you that before I think, but so the summertime is when you have to decide are you coming back again? And my principal called me and he’s like, Teri, are you excited? We’re going to come back for the next year. I pushed off that phone call for like two weeks.

Teri Ijeoma: My friend was in the hospital. I wouldn’t hit in his hospital room. I was like, I can’t talk right now. My friend needs me. He did not need me. [inaudible] I was just hiding on the couch cause I didn’t want to have the conversation with my boss that I wasn’t coming back. But it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. But I can also say it was the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. Just the freedom to have control over your own time. And I was in a bit of a toxic work environment. So I was working all the time. I was gaining weight because I was over eating. I was stressed. I never felt good enough. And then we had projects going and I was working in a job where if I didn’t get my work done, then kids didn’t learn.

Teri Ijeoma: So I just felt stressed all the time because I just felt like the world relied on me. So in this job, when I finally was able to leave, I just felt this weight just come off of me and it was just like, you mean, you mean I don’t have to get up at 7:00 AM in the morning? You mean nobody has control over my vacation time? Oh, I don’t have to be at the building and babysit the building. Oh, I don’t have to wait for bad kids to like throw stuff all over the place. Yeah, just that freedom was the biggest reward I can. Like I still, I still remember the day when I was like, nobody’s in my email box telling me that I have to do things today.

Melissa Guller: That must’ve felt good.

Teri Ijeoma: Oh, it was amazing.

Melissa Guller: Freedom, I think is something that’s really unique and maybe appealing about being an online creator these days.

Teri Ijeoma: You just have so much freedom. How do you spend your time, what you spend your time doing? Yes. And so once this moment happened, what did you do first? How did you start this business? Well, actually I didn’t have any idea that I would start the business. My goal was to just travel around the world and I was going to Trey to fund my travel. Oh. So at first you were just going to earn your own game. Maybe you’re a woman yet I had no intentions of anyone. I just wanted to travel. So I had joined this program where we traveled different places for a month at a time though, my first place was South Korea, then I went to Thailand for a month, then Vietnam for a month. Then from there actually went to Australia and Fiji and I was just, I was just content with doing my own thing.

Teri Ijeoma: But while I was gone, my friends were like, Teri, what are you doing to travel? Like how are you funding that? How do you afford it? And I was like, oh, well I’m trading stocks. And to me it seems so simple. Like, yeah, I’m just trading. And they were like, wait, what? Wait, that’s the job you have. I’m like, yeah, I use my money to make money and I don’t need a ton of money. Because when you’re traveling, you just need expenses to cover your food and your housing. So as long as I make that much, I’m good. And they like got to teach us how to do this. And I had so many people kind of ask me, can we go to coffee? Can I, can I pull you to the side? I said, look, how about this guys? I’m going to actually do a little class and I’ll show you what I do.

Teri Ijeoma: Did the class. And they loved it. They were like, Oh man, you’re going to do this next week, right? This is a series. And I was like, no, I, this was great. This was a one time thing so that we didn’t have to do a lot of coffee meals. Right. I’m an efficient woman. This was three one time. Right. But you know the truth, they loved it, but I loved it too. I did like it just, I lit up after teaching them and I loved seeing them get it. They were like, oh, investing’s not that hard. Oh, this is what you do. I’m like, yeah, just buy stocks. And then I’m able to sell them at a higher price and keep the difference. Oh really? That’s it. You know, like of course there’s more to it, but just seeing them kind of understand that it’s not hard and that it’s attainable.

Teri Ijeoma: I loved it. So the next month we set it up, you know, we traveled from place to place, so the next month in Vietnam, I said, okay, hey guys, I’ll do another class. And I actually changed my topic this time. I was like, I really want them to get it and I want them to be able to do this too. So I made it a little more difficult. Oh Man. They loved it again. So, and the thing is, I had been putting it on Instagram, so when I came back home to Texas, they asked me, Oh, we know you’re going to do a class here. [inaudible] your reputation proceeded you right now they’re like, oh, okay, well you know you’ve got to teach us. You did and you did it overseas. You’ve got to teach us here. So I said, okay fine, I’ll do a class and by this time I had heard about online courses but I actually was telling my friends I would never do an online course because I enjoy teaching live so much.

Melissa Guller: It is really enjoyable to teach live because I’ve done it myself and there’s such a reward from seeing people get it, like you said, and having that in-person connection. Yes. And it sounds like you really had a skill that was in demand. I mean people are begging you for this class. That’s such a good early sign I think where a lot of people wonder, you know, what should I teach? Do I have valuable skills? And this sounds like it’s something that you picked up on and didn’t necessarily come easily to you but really clicked for you is how to do the trades a way that a lot of people feel intimidated by. It did. It did. And the cool thing about it is, like you said, it was a need. I was filling a need. People wanted to know how to use their money better.

Teri Ijeoma: They wanted to understand this stock market thing, like it always seems so difficult and they wanted to know, so I think that’s one thing for other creators, I would give advice, find a need. If you’re feeling a need, then your course will always be in demand. If you’re just making a course because you want a course, then it’s a little harder to put it out there. That’s your own need, not somebody else’s need.

Teri Ijeoma: Exactly. And Ooh, that’s good. You’re inspiring me. I’m going to write it down for later. But yeah, I think the biggest thing is when, when I finally put out there that I was going to do a course in the u s I didn’t know if anybody would come, but 71 people came. Wow. How many of you thought nobody would come? Nobody would come. And I was like, you know what? I’m just going to put it out there into the world. I enjoy teaching it. People say they want it, so I’m going to put it out there. And what’s cool though is I told you I had just then learned about online courses. I had signed up for Teachable. Oh. And so there was two people that really influenced me. So I had seen a Webinar, I don’t know how I got on her email list, but from Danielle Leslie, and she was like, you should do a course and you should just put out there, presale it, tell them that you have a course but you don’t have to make it yet. So when I went into this live, I said, you know what? I’m going to tell them I have a course and if anybody buys the course, I’ll actually make it. If nobody buys the course, I won’t make it.

Melissa Guller: Yeah. It’s actually a common strategy and I think a lot of people are afraid of it because then they wonder, you know what if I sell this thing and some people buy it and then I don’t really want to make the course cause it’s only two people, what then? Right. You can always refund. I think that’s what people don’t realize is if you do prove that there’s not the demand, you’re not stuck. You’re not going to be a bad person if you give them their money back.

Teri Ijeoma: That’s smart. That’s actually really smart. And the thing for me is I actually did have two people sign up, but it helped me create the course because now I said, okay well I have to teach him. They actually bought it. Okay, well that’s great too. It’s kind of like the push a lot of us need because I think with your own business or doing anything that’s solo driven, you need a little bit of a kick. Like you need a reason to do it because there are no more deadlines. It’s all just like an open field of opportunity.

Melissa Guller: Right. And so to your point, two students – I agree – is enough because now you have people who’ve paid you money, you can make the course and it can feel really intimate. You can get their personal feedback. So I’m curious to hear what did you do from there? You made the course?

Teri Ijeoma: Well, so actually went step by step. So I said, feel, what’s the first thing I need to teach them? And it was like intro to stocks. They need to know terminology, just the basics, right? Yeah. So I actually brought them in live and I started forming the curriculum and then we would record it on zoom. And so that may became my first course. Okay. We gotta force first-class. This is the class.

Teri Ijeoma: I put the zoom call up there. That’s the first one. Then I said, okay, well what else do they need to learn? So I just go and step by step, every time I thought of, okay, what do I need to learn to get them to where I am? We would record it on zoom and then put those classes up into Teachable. So you just want like one week at a time. Actually it was one month at a time. It took a little time because I had to really think through Google, okay, let me teach them this and then let them practice for a little bit smart. And they tend to learn, I don’t know if people often consider that. You said it took you a year, right. So yeah, it takes time. It makes sense to me that they would need a month in between, get a little practice and go back to the material.

Teri Ijeoma: And now every time that I teach people, I just clean it up and make it better and better. So now people are learning in like less than 60 days. But the first time I taught students, it took some time and then every time we just made it better and better and more streamlined. Yeah, that’s a wonderful thing too, I think with online learning is that you can improve over time. Yes, it’s harder in person because even if you deliver the same curriculum every time, which is actually what my background was in, I teach excel classes, you get little good pieces of feedback, but it’s harder to do the kind of things you can with an online course where you say, oh, my students really needed this extra video. Let me just upload this extra video. Right. Like now, like content is still robust because every time we do like a group coaching call, I’m like, Oh, let me put that in there and let me add this.

Teri Ijeoma: So now they have content for days, but you just learn that as you go and I love that about, I love that about Teachable actually because you can go in, add something in, take it out real quick. Or if there’s like something small you do with one student, but you want everybody to see it, you can just upload it into the curriculum. So now I would actually advocate actually like online teaching, I really do. Before I said I would never, I was like, oh no. People would ask me, will you put it online? I was like, no, I like it. Now the best thing to do is to put it online so more people have access to it. I’m curious since I’m sure a lot of people feel this way, what were your hesitations about teaching online? I think I thought that I wouldn’t enjoy it.

Teri Ijeoma: So coming from a job where I was doing a lot of things just because I had to, I didn’t want to do something where I wasn’t going to have fun. And I think I thought that if I didn’t see the students or wasn’t able to touch and feel them that I wouldn’t have fun. But now like the systems and technology are so good. Like on zoom you can see their faces on, well I’m sure other platforms too, but it feels like you’re in the same room with them. So I still can, I tell them to do thumbs up if they’re getting it or you know you can do to check for understandings and still understand, you know like still be there with your students and so I still enjoy it and I think I was afraid I wouldn’t light up the same way. But I do.

Teri Ijeoma: And I know you have students worldwide. That’s certainly something you could only get if you’re teaching online. Like you could travel as you are doing. But if you wanted to reach many people at once online is, is that way the way to go? Yes, it definitely is. And I would have students, even now, like I do some live events and I’ll say, and they’ll say, well, when are you coming to la? When are you coming to Chicago? And so you can’t be everywhere at one time. So it’s nice to be able to say, hey, go check out this online course and then if I’m ever in your city, like let’s meet up. And I think my students love that.

Melissa Guller: That’s so nice too that they can get the curriculum, the education online, but then if you’re traveling they can still just get the personal touch of getting to know you.

Teri Ijeoma: Yes. Like you’re saying, it’s not that they maybe feel like they’re missing out, it doesn’t sound like you seem like you’re missing out on anything. No, I truly enjoy it. I meet them once a week, we get onto calls and it’s just been really, this has been a great experience. It’s been really fun. It sounds like it. And I’m curious kind of while we’re on the topic, are there other misconceptions about the work that you do, whether it’s trading or teaching that you think would maybe surprise listeners? Yes there is or big fears that I see all the time. People think it either takes a lot of money to trade. They think that it’s a gamble, that the risk is too high, they think they need a lot of time. Like there’s been, there’s many misconceptions that you have to do, tons of research to be able to trade.

Teri Ijeoma: But actually if you learn how to read charts, it doesn’t take very much time at all. You can see you win to get out and when to get in. And I think too, there’s the misconception of buy and hold. Well I’m a more active trader. My specialty is helping you reach your short term goal through trading. So whether that’s traveling or paying off debt or having extra income, just how do you access that money quicker using stock. And I think there’s a misconception that you have to buy and hold because that’s what everybody says. But actually the stock market is there and stocks go up and down. You can use that money for your regular bills and for your regular daily needs and it’s, it’s easy to access. I think that’s some of the myths.

Melissa Guller: Well I certainly didn’t know that. So that’s news to me. I think I knew of maybe what I might call incorrectly the old school way of just holding onto it. It’s meant to be a long term investment and I was always very intimidated by that.

Teri Ijeoma: But just think about it. So last year I always use like Facebook as an example. So last year Facebook opened up at $175 around there. It went up during the year to 200 but by the end of the year it was down to one 29 if someone had just bought in hold held all year, they would be down by the end of the year. But if you were someone who had watched it go up, sold, took a little profit and then when it came back down, got back in, it’s back up. Now you would have been able to get profits several times during the year instead of just watching over the year and it being down. Does that make sense? It makes perfect sense and it’s so volatile.

Teri Ijeoma: I think that’s why the longterm never made sense to me. How could you know if it’s going to go up one day down the next to your point, just only look at a short amount of time it seems and then maybe it feels like it’s less of a gamble to your point. Yes, and there’s ways, so I’m a title analysis trader so I look at charts. There’s ways for you to actually determine your gain, so I’ll, okay, I know if I get in right here, my reward is going to be $10 and you can already determine your risk. If I get in right here and it goes against me, I have the possibility to lose $3. But if you know your risk and you know your potential reward, you can actually determine the probability of that trade before you go in and you can determine I’m only going to take high probability trades if it’s, if it has enough reward to out outdo my risk, I’ll take that trade.

Teri Ijeoma: But if not, I’ll wait for the next one. I’m very intentional. Yes. And so if you’re just speaking high probability trades, then you can actually do really well in the market. And I can, I teach my students how to do that and we won’t give your whole course just a little bit. Yeah, we’re going a little deep. I’m sorry guys. So it’s really enjoyable. The year it’s clear that you have a passion for what you do. So I’m curious. We started talking about right when your business started, you weren’t even thinking of teaching and then your own skills evolved into teaching and then teaching online. So how maybe have things changed for you since going full time in your own business? Man, life is amazing. Like I was so determined to just traveled by myself and, and trade. But now there’s like been several, several amazing things that have come out of the courses.

Teri Ijeoma: So one is a community. So now I have like nearly 300 students in the course and there’s this beautiful community of students that are just, they’re just excited. So I’ll meet them in my students here while I’m in New York. I have a plans to meet some of them in DC a little later this year and in Atlanta. So there’s just this beautiful community that’s formed. And so that’s been an amazing turn also. So I remember watching the Teachable university videos and I’d see all these people come and talk about, Oh, I’ve made six figures a month and how their life had changed. And I was like, oh, that’s great for them. Bad. Never be me in like less than a year. I hit the six figure a month mark, which is incredible by the way. Congratulations. They teach milestone. Oh Man. I just called. It’s just a blessing. This is amazing. I look and I’m just always in shock and I’m like, oh my gosh.

Teri Ijeoma: Okay. But it’s possible. And so I think another thing that’s happened is that my impact has been able to grow and just the ability to inspire people. And then my students now are actually making money so their lives are changing. So like there’s one student in particular, her name was a knit, I love her to death because she has two sons or that she inherited. So her sister passed away and she had to take on her, her nephews. Wow. And so she was trying to figure out, well how am I going to make enough money to support these new, that’s new students, new kids. And she’s been able to take my course. And she actually had like a day where she made $2,600 in a day. Wow. From one trade. And she made it in less than 20 minutes. And she was like, Teri, like you have changed my life.

Teri Ijeoma: Like being able to just have these finances will help me support my kids. Having the will actually helped me to train them on how to build their wealth. So seeing their lives changed, my students’ lives change. That also has made a huge difference in my life. Like being able to just impact so many people. I love that. I think that’s the joy that a lot of creators get is knowing that they have skills and especially in this case and a net, I hope you get to listen to this episode. Yeah, we’ll send this over, but that you’re really making a difference to people. And I think something that isn’t maybe part of this conversation, but a lot of creators don’t want to charge more for their courses because they’re worried that they feel like they’re taking people’s money. Yeah. But imagine somebody like in that, I mean this is such a blessing that you’re giving her this opportunity and she’s achieving that kind of goal so much faster.

Teri Ijeoma: You mentioned that you wished you had taken classes sooner so that it could have been, you know, sped up a little, that you were as successful as you’ve grown to be and so you’re really giving them something that’s so beneficial. It’s not taking money. It’s a very even trade your knowledge for their dollars. Exactly. And I’d say a couple of things about pricing. So one, I have to think about what kind of value am I giving them from this course. So after they take this course, even if they were able to make $200 a day, that’s an extra thousand dollars a week, $4,000 a month, like an extra $48,000 a year. So if I think about the value that I’m adding to their life, like they’re able to make an extra $48,000 a year from my course, then paying 2000 paying even five, whatever the amount would be, I bet people would pay and put value on that because of what the value I’m giving them.

Teri Ijeoma: Does that make sense? Definitely. I think that the bigger, there’s no hard and fast rule about pricing, but the bigger the impact is if you’re helping somebody find a new career, if you’re helping them earn more money, I mean these are really life changing things, right? And it’s not too much for you to charge for that knowledge. Exactly. And then another thing I realized with my pricing was if I don’t charge enough, people don’t take it seriously. That’s huge. So I had one student that was like, Teri, you know, I’m saving it for your course and I can’t afford it right now. So I thought, well, okay, well maybe my prices are too high. You know, like we always question ourselves. So I said, well let me do this, this like little sample tests I’m going to give just part of my course away for, you know, a 25% of the price.

Teri Ijeoma: And I just wanted to see what happens. So I did that intentionally thinking that I would help this one student, even after I did that, he sent a message back and said, well I’m sorry Teri, I still can’t afford that, huh? And I was like, you know what [inaudible] like I just described to the people who can afford to pay the price of the class because they’ll actually take it seriously. And like if they invest, let like my, my courses like $2,000. So if they invest that, that then they take it seriously. They put their time into it. They actually want to learn. They’re more engaged with me as their teacher. They the coaching calls, you know like when they give money, they actually also will give themself to the course. If it’s less than, I feel like they just don’t value it the same. I think that’s such a great point.

Teri Ijeoma: The price you put, imagine if it was Teri’s Trading for a dollar, I mean no one would take the score seriously. They probably wouldn’t even take the material because you can make that decision to spend a dollar in a second. Right? But this commitment, and that’s really what it is. They’re committing themselves, not just money. They’re saying, I am in, I have thought about this. This is not a small amount of money. To your point, I think it’s a great way to filter students who might not be the right fit because you probably don’t want people coming in who aren’t really going to do the material and maybe he’ll just made a snap decision over their coffee break. Right? Cause this is not a coffee break kind of thing. You can learn. Exactly. And creators should know too. Like one of the things, one of the questions I get asked a lot is, well how are the students in your course dueling. But if you have students that aren’t committed, they haven’t finished the course. So you can’t really give stats because well they haven’t done the work and so I don’t know how they’re doing. Yeah. So when you get students that are actually committed and actually finish your course, then you also as a creator can start seeing how your work is doing. If people kind of start the course and they are not finishing, what does that mean? It’s still okay. They already paid for it.

Teri Ijeoma: But it’s nice to have people that actually do the work so that you can really see how your classes doing. Yeah. Cause that’s the real measure of you know, am I providing value? You want people who finish the course, they become testimonials for your course, for your services, for your expertise even in a way. And they’re the biggest referrals like one of Oh great point. Yes. One of my friends was like how are you getting these people? You don’t have a lot of followers on Instagram, your website goes straight to your sales page. It doesn’t have like a huge pretty website. And I’m like, you know, I think it’s referrals, but students come into the class, they actually learn and like what they’re learning and then they tell their friends. I mean a happy student is the best marketer you’ll ever have. [inaudible] they like, that’s really I think why my class is growing the way it is.

Teri Ijeoma: They and then they see the value they’re getting. They tell their friends, oh I just made $2,000 in a day and now all their friends are like, sign me up. I want to come. So that’s, yeah, that’s huge. Your students are your biggest testimony and I’m sure you still do marketing of course, but having all of those happy students who found success, who rave about your course, I mean that’s the kind of thing you could spend hours and hours on and you still wouldn’t have marketing that strong as somebody saying, I did it and it worked. Exactly. Exactly. And that’s another tip that I’ll give any other creator. So one thing I did is I made all my students affiliate so that they could do like a referral program. And so now the students are excited to tell other people about the class because they know that they can get like some cash back.

Teri Ijeoma: And I don’t mind, that’s a person that I wouldn’t have talked to myself. So that’s an idea for anyone that’s thinking of like how can I help my students refer other people, make all of them affiliate. I think that’s really smart. And like you said, you wouldn’t have had that new student otherwise. So it’s not that they’re taking money. Maybe that’s a misconception people have about affiliates. You’re both winning Aaron A. Little bit. You aren’t a little bit, you get a new student and hopefully then they find success. Exactly. So we’ve been talking about how your business has evolved and I know early on you had, you know 30 students in that first launched. So I’d love to hear what does your business look like today and maybe what are some of your goals for what’s up next for you? Nice. So now I actually have two courses, which is really amazing.

Teri Ijeoma: I thought that I would just start with one initial trade and travel program, but my students actually finished that course and wanted to keep learning the, now I have a VIP program for students to take it to the next level. So now I’ve actually gone from one course to two courses, which is really cool. And we’ve gone to actually group coaching calls and in person meetups. So this cohort, I’m actually traveling to different cities and I’ll get to meet some of my students in person. So I’m really excited about that. Oh, that’s going to be great. And yes. Can you believe like Jess last December I was so excited to get 30 students and now I have over 290 students. Wow. So last December. It’s currently July. Yes. So while I’m there in there, that’s amazing. It’s growing so quickly. I think that’s one thing too that students, not students, but other creators would be encouraged by like just because your course doesn’t like, because it takes a long time to get started, doesn’t mean that they won’t grow quickly.

Teri Ijeoma: Like it can grow faster than you imagine, especially after you just start getting a few students. That can be a testimony. The business will grow really fast. And what do you think has caused that fast growth? We’ve talked about referrals. Is it just that or is there more? I think there’s a couple of things. One I think is partnerships. Well I have a couple partners who have allowed me to come onto their platforms and talk to their audiences and that has been huge help because once the audience sees that I’m talking to someone that they trust, then they actually trust me too. So partners is huge. I do think helping the students to refer other students is, is a big deal. So I will say like allowing your students to be your referral program is amazing cause many of my people have come through that.

Teri Ijeoma: And then live events I would say don’t shy away from doing live events. So I’ve been a speaker at conferences or had my own event and brought people in and that actually allows them to see, see me, touch me, feel me. And then they’re more willing to buy the online course. So those are three things I would say that have helped me. That’s a great point about doing things in person. Even with the course online, it doesn’t mean you can’t have in-person elements where people can get to know you and grow to really like you and then say, you know, I want to learn from her. Exactly. And I do think it doesn’t hurt that my numbers and trading have been good. Like on Instagram, I’ll do these five day challenges where I or I will actually trade and then show them like what I did and how much I’ve made.

Teri Ijeoma: And there’s been times where I’m like, Oh man, I made $35,000 in a day. I think that doesn’t hurt. I don’t think that’s [inaudible]. No, but that’s really important I think because what this comes down to, way back at the beginning of our conversation, we mentioned that you grew a skill as a trader and you’re still honing your own skill and using your own skill and your day to day life. And I feel like that’s really authentic. That’s you saying like, I do this and I want you to do it too. And it might be easy for creators to overlook that and to see people earning money online and just jump right to, okay, how do I earn money online? Yes. Instead if you think, okay, what am I really good at? What do my friends ask me for help with? And then maybe other people might want help with that too.

Teri Ijeoma: Just as you did. That’s how to grow something with a real foundation. Yes. Like I actually love trading and I enjoy it. Like that’s why this class works because I love it. And I even said, I said, you know what? When I stop having fun, then I’ll, I’ll stop doing everything. But as long as I’m having fun, I’ll keep doing it. And so like my big audacious goal this year is all the money that I make from the courses. I want to double that through trading because that’s what I love to do. So I’m like, okay, kid kids. I used to teach in elementary, but um, my students, I’m like, okay guys, like we’re going to make money this cohort because I want to make money this cohort. So like my last call we were going through charts and going through stocks because I want to make money too and I want to see them make money because that’s what brings me joy.

Teri Ijeoma: So yes, if you love what you do, then you have fun teaching it and I’m sure that your students can feel that you will love it and I’m sure that it makes a difference because you enjoy teaching it. I’m sure that’s much more enjoyable for them to learn. Yes, and a lot of times too, I think they just need the inspiration because in stocks you don’t win every day. Sometimes you lose and you feel like, Dang, I messed that up. Dang, I’ve just lost some money. But knowing that someone else is out there and they’ve been where you are, they know what this feels like and then that they are actually doing well at it. I think some of it too is just like a mental mindset inspiration thing as well.

Melissa Guller: I love that. I’m sure that’s true for anyone learning a new skill, whether it’s trading, baking, coding, there are times where you’ll feel maybe like you’re not making the progress you wanted.

Teri Ijeoma: And so anyone teaching maybe could keep that in mind, that part of your job as the instructor, the creator is to give a little boost and to say, you know, I have down days, I doubted this. Or maybe it takes a little longer than you thought, but you’ll get there. Just keep at it. Yeah. And you know, that actually was a big help for me. So one other tip I would give for other creators is when I was creating my own course, one of the things that helped me the most was learning a new skill. So I took another course that I had no, no idea how to do, and allowing me to learn something new helps me to be a better teacher from my class. Because when I was watching the, the teacher of the new content, I looked for a couple of things. I was like, well, how are they teaching?

Teri Ijeoma: What are the things that I love about what they’re teaching? Okay, let me make sure that I take some of those tips. What do I think they could do better? Okay, well maybe on my own course, maybe I’ll do this a little differently. And then also as I was learning in a student, I thought, well, what do I need to learn? Okay, I needed this, actually get this concept, you know, now as I’m teaching, let me make sure that I provide this so that my students can get this. So one of the things I would really encourage people is, as you’re a creator, especially if you’re stumped a little bit on creating your content, just try learning something new and pick something that’s a little bit of a challenge so that you’ll really challenge yourself and stretch yourself. And it will just all of a sudden open up your creativity for your own course.

Melissa Guller: That’s, I think maybe something a lot of people don’t consider is you have your own skills. So for you it’s trading. But then when you’re starting to teach really in person or online, that’s a skill set too. So if you can put yourself in the shoes of a student, then you’ll see great teachers. You can pick up how they’re doing it. How do they engage their students? How do they help you learn? Are there things they do at the start of the end of the lesson? Are there materials that they use? And then like you said, you really felt what it was like to be a student and where you felt stuck. And I think that kind of empathy is so important. Yes. And sometimes I think as creators we get so familiar with our content that we forget some of the small things that we do to make us great.

Teri Ijeoma: And so when you’re learning something new, it helps remind you of some of those small things and then you’re like, oh yeah, like I do need to teach my students how to do this because it’s not just second nature to everybody else. You know? In some ways it’s kind of hard once you do have the skill to have back yourself up into how did I feel when I learned this the first time? So whether it’s taking somebody else’s class or really getting good feedback from your earliest students and asking like, did I miss something? Was this too big of a leap for you? I think there are so many things you can do to remember. What are those second nature things like you mentioned? Yes, being humble. Like one of the things I had to work on is receiving good feedback. And as a creator you have students that are taking your class and they can give you the best feedback on how your course is doing.

Teri Ijeoma: And so now I’m intentional about asking them, hey guys, how did this go? What can I do to get better? Is this, you know, is this making sense? And they will give you the best feedback. And if you take that and then make your course even better, like the sky’s the limit. I love that you said you intentionally ask for it. Sure. Sometimes people might give you feedback unprompted if they feel strongly, but probably happy students are kind of middle to almost ecstatic happy students. They’re not gonna reach out to you. Maybe. So if you take the time, not only does it show that you care, but like you said, you’re going to get some really good insights. Yes, sure, sure.

Melissa Guller: Now, before we go, is there anything else that we haven’t covered that you think is important to share with other creators or people considering doing anything online?

Teri Ijeoma: There’s a couple things. One, just do it. Just do it. One of the things that I told myself, because I was a little afraid when I first started making my course, and one of the people that I loved from the Teachable university was Mariah cod. And I was trying to figure out how to do a lunch. And I remember she had this great Webinar in the university and I watched it over and over and over again. And one of the things she said was, well, you got to send emails like every day. And I don’t like emails. I don’t like them at all. But I said, you know what? She’s been successful and she’s had six figure launches and more so if she’s done it, and this is what she says do, I’m just gonna follow the instructions. I’m just going to do what she says do, and that helps me not have fear because I said, you know what?

Teri Ijeoma: I’m just going to do what she says. I’m not going to think about how I feel about it. I’m not going to overthink it. She said, send an email today and tell your story. I’m going to send an email today to tell my story. So that’s what I would tell any creator. If you’re worried about something or you’re a little scared, just do it. Just follow the instructions of all the people before you that seen that have had success and just do it. I think that’s great advice. Even if it went wrong, you could have always tried something different the next time. Right. So what’s the worst that could happen? Probably not too bad. Maybe some people didn’t like the email. Maybe they were never going to buy from you anyway. Right though it’s always worth, I think, like you said, just try it. Listen to an expert, try a couple of different experts, see what they say, see which one suits you.

Teri Ijeoma: Yes, but above all, just take any action. Just take any action. And what I’ve found is they’re an expert for a reason. Yeah. Tends to work. That’s what it is. I have to get over myself and just do what they’ve suggested. And when I do that, like my launches went from 30 students to now a hundred students coming in a lot. Why? Because I just followed instructions. Just do it. Yeah. And I will say once you follow an expert, the first time you know your own audience really well, then you can tweak and say, okay, I loved what she said about this. It’s clearly working. Maybe this little adjustment feels a little more like me. Yeah. But starting with the foundation of something that’s worked for somebody else, even if it feels uncomfortable, that’s probably a good sign. It’s just you outside your comfort zone. You’ve never done it before.

Teri Ijeoma: They have. So give it a shot. Now, what’s the worst that can happen, right? Oh, people end unsubscribe. Oh, that’s okay. Oh, it doesn’t work. Okay, we’ll try something different, but at least we tried it. Exactly, and at least you know now you have information instead of just waiting for the perfect marketing strategy or the perfect course, it’s never going to be there. Never put it. That’s another thing. Even if you feel like it’s completely 100% put up something, and one of the things I’ve encouraged myself with is it’s more about the content than the look. My students need to hear this content because the content will make them better. If it doesn’t look really pretty this time, or if it’s just like scratch slides, that’s okay because what they really needed was what I’m teaching them, not so much what it looks like. I can always come back and make it look better next time, but at least now they know how to do this skill and they can go practice on their own.

Melissa Guller: That’s a great point and I think a lot of the very, very well known creators, they are not new. They’ve been doing this for a long time. Their first video did not look like today’s video. What they did was they just put something out the first time and they’ve evolved and so today if you feel like you’re not a graphic designer, you’re not very techier slides, aren’t your friend, just put information down. That’s what people want from you. They want your trading knowledge, they want listen or whatever knowledge you have. So just it’s in your best interest to serve others, to just get it out there. Yes. Yes. As long as you can get it out there, then people can access it and then they’ll all fall in love with you. Now Teri before you go, where can people find you? Where can they connect with you?

Teri Ijeoma: My biggest audience and biggest platforms, Instagram, so if they go to that, @imaninvestor, it looks like Imani investor haha, I am an investor. Then they can find me on Instagram and my Teachable website is investwithteri.com but I would actually say the best place to find out more about me is itradeandtravel.com. That has a little bit more about my bio and who I am

Melissa Guller: That’s perfect. We’ll put links to everything in the show notes so people can get all of that in one place, learn a little bit more about you. And just before we go, any final words or wisdom for any creators listening out there?

Teri Ijeoma: Okay. It’s possible guys. It’s possible. I know that it feels like right now things are down or dim, but just know that it really is possible to make some success with these online courses and sometimes the big successful creators seems so far away and it seems like, oh, I’ll never reach that stage, but you really can. You really can. I just want to encourage people to keep going. They really can do this. Like I never would’ve thought I’d have a six figure course and I just kept focusing on the students and making sure they were learning. And the money started coming.

Melissa Guller: Great Advice. Well, Teri, it’s been such a pleasure having you. I can’t wait for tons of people to hear this episode and hopefully they’ll feel uplifted, and like they can do it too.

Teri Ijeoma: Well, thank you. Thanks for having me.

Melissa Guller: Thanks so much for joining us this week. You can see an episode summary as well as links to Teri’s website and Instagram in our show notes at teachable.com/eit4. Now before you go, make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you can receive new episodes right when they’re released. And if you’re enjoying the show, we hope you’ll leave us a five star review. We really appreciate your feedback, especially since great reviews help us reach an even larger audience of great listeners like you. So thank you.

Melissa Guller: On behalf of Team Teachable, we hope you enjoyed this episode about trading and teaching with Teri Ijeoma. We’ll see you in the next episode of Everything is Teachable.

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