How Ali Abdaal’s Team Uses No-Code to Automate Part-time YouTuber Academy

Ali Abdaal’s Part-time YouTuber Academy (PTYA) is one of the most successful online cohort-based courses out there. Although they only got started back in Fall 2020, they’ve already grossed $2.5M teaching 1,000+ aspiring YouTubers how to build and grow their own channels. 

As you can imagine, supporting this growth requires quite a bit of logistical coordination on the backend. 

Fortunately, we had a chance to sit down with PTYA’s Head of Operations, Bhav Sharma, to learn how her team uses No-Code to automate PTYA’s operations. We share highlights from our chat below in addition to a link to the complete recording if you’d like to watch for yourself. 

PTYA’s Essential Automations 

Communication

PTYA automates multiple communication flows to make sure their learners have all the information they need to thrive in the program. 

• They use Zapier to trigger email flows in Convertkit when a new member signs up on Podia (although they are switching over to Samcart for their upcoming cohort). 
• They also use Zapier to get new members added to Virtually for events. (Sadly, getting members added to Circle for content and community is still a manual process.) 
• Virtually helps PTYA notify members of upcoming events by sending calendar invites, capturing sign ups and RSVPs, and automating event reminders. 
• They use Zapier to trigger reminders for learners about upcoming homework assignments in Circle. 

Data

PTYA has mechanisms in place to automatically collect key data about their participants. 

• They use Virtually to collect attendance and event feedback data from their live online classes. 
• They also have a Master Tracker in Google Sheets where they directly pull data from Enrollment and Exit that are built out in Typeform, in addition to adding who is most engaged in Circle.

PTYA’s Keys to Success

Learn in Community 

Part of what makes PTYA and other live online cohort-based courses so special is that students get to learn in community. These courses bring together people seeking out the same skills and with similar goals and provide a space to exchange ideas. When you surround yourself with like-minded people, not only do you feel more motivated and energized, but you meet people around the world you likely never would have met otherwise. 

Of course, for these kinds of courses to work, the courses themselves need to be engaging because there’s no completion requirement. You pick and choose who you learn from and stay or leave by choice. 

Constant Iteration 

PTYA puts their students first. They constantly ask themselves and leverage quantitative and qualitative feedback data to see what they can make better and how they can offer more value to students. 

They’ve created a constant feedback loop where they collect feedback via surveys, focus groups, calls with individual learners, and checking in on what learners are discussing in Circle to deeply understand their students, their motivations, and how the PTYA can support them further in their goals. 

This data is key to helping the team pinpoint where to iterate. Their philosophy is if more than one person calls out something that’s not working, the team needs to address it.

Fast Implementation

When the PTYA team receives important feedback, they don’t simply wait until the next cohort to implement changes, they often take action to make changes right within the active cohort. They quickly create action plans to address issues and implement changes as swiftly and completely as possible. 

PTYA’s data driven approach helps them understand areas of improvement within a cohort in real time so they can act quickly to iterate on what’s broken. 

Check out the recording of our chat here.

Cohort 5 of Part-time YouTuber Academy is launching now! Enrollment will be open until March 7th. Cohort 5 kicks off on March 14th and runs for 6 weeks. 

Learn more on PTYA’s website or right on their Youtube channel.  

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