As well known as any celebrity or TV show host by their students, some online course creators have created a cult following. Fiona Killackey looks at three of the most popular (and profitable) e-learning providers in the online marketing and business space.

This article originally appeared in The Nurture Issue, Marketing‘s current print issue.

Research and Markets expect the e-learning industry to bring in a whopping US$325 (AU$474) billion in revenue by 2025, the e-learning industry is attracting a wealth of online platforms, programs and players eager to increase profit and build global brand awareness. While some may be struggling, many more are finding their purpose and profitability with online courses that have changed the lives for those who adhere to their teachings.

1. Marie Forleo, B-School

Touted by Oprah Winfrey as “a thought leader for the next generation,” Marie Forleo is one of the most established of all online course creators. Since commencing work as a life coach more than 23 years ago, Forleo began creating bite-sized information for anyone dreaming of starting a business or learning more about online marketing.

Her ‘Marie TV’ YouTube channel now boasts more than 561,000 subscribers, while her annual marketing course, B-School (short for business school) has been bought by tens of thousands of students since it launched in 2010.   

2. Amy Porterfield, Digital Course Academy

If you listen to marketing podcasts, you may well be familiar with Amy Porterfield. The Online Marketing Made Easy podcast is one of the most successful, started by Porterfield more than six years ago.

After leaving her job working on content development and marketing for Anthony Robbins, Amy began teaching digital marketing through a series of online courses, launching everything from Facebook advertising courses and email list building, through to profitability programs and how to create online courses. In the past decade her courses have become some of the most successful in the world, with her latest, Digital Course Academy, bringing in millions in revenue with thousands of students across the globe investing in it. 

3. Stu McLaren, Tribe

Stu McLaren was the cofounder of Wishlist Member, a WordPress platform that launched in 2008 and enabled people to create and sell membership groups online. After more than 58,000 membership groups used the platform, Stu became an expert in what it takes to create, scale and sustain an online membership group.

He quickly became the go-to consultant for some of the most popular motivational and business speakers (think Michael Hyatt and Gabrielle Bernstein). In 2016 McLaren turned his knowledge into Tribe, an online course which aims to help anyone, anywhere create recurring revenue with an online membership group.

This piece was a breakout from Killackey’s deep dive feature on the online professional learning industry – read the full piece »

Image credit:Kimberly Farmer