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Tom Rees is the creator behind “Eat Sleep Dream English,” a YouTube and Instagram channel teaching fresh, modern English to people worldwide. His 425,000 subscribers bring in Adsense and sponsorship revenue, but Tom’s now focused on creating the products his community craves.
What you’ll learn in this interview:
- Benefits of writing and selling books in your business
- Tips for YouTube creators
- Building community through Instagram
- Suggestions for building community within an online course
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Tom’s Story
When Tom left university, he soon decided to follow in his mother’s footsteps and teach. Not only did he enjoy being in the classroom and interacting with students, but it also presented him with a terrific opportunity for travel.
He spent happy years teaching in Spain, Argentina and Hong Kong before his mother became unwell in 2015, and he returned to England.
Back in London, Tom taught some one-on-one clients but couldn’t work full time while caring for his mother. So he decided to start a YouTube channel. He wanted to create more modern British language content than was available in 2015 and eventually run a successful business.
The benefits of writing a book as a product
Tom’s Eat Sleep Dream English community is fascinated by British culture as well as the language. They love learning about accents, slang and all the things that make up modern Britain.
Tom decided to write a book — “A Really British Guide to English” as his first product. “It’s a bit rarer to have a book these days,” he says, “and I like the physical aspect.” So does his audience. They’ve sent him photos of themselves holding the book from all over the world.
Writing a book is an excellent way to establish authority in your niche too. Even though online courses are growing, people are used to learning from books and respect an author who knows their subject well enough to write a book on it.
Options for publishing and selling books
- Amazon Print on Demand – it’s great for black and white publications but too expensive for colour.
- Work with a publisher but distribute and market the book yourself.
- Amazon FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) – send them boxes of books, and they’ll distribute as needed.
- Sell on Kindle – easy for people to find and gives you some control over the copyright.
- Take orders and sell/distribute from your website.
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Tips for YouTube Creators
Everyone agrees that consistency is vital when posting videos on YouTube, but what other tips does Tom have for attracting an engaged audience?
- Work on your titles and thumbnails – they’re essential for attracting people to your videos.
- Deliver value right at the start. Promising something in the thumbnail then making viewers wait through jingles and preambles puts them off.
- Talk to your audience – find out what they want.
- Look at other channels, see what works and put your own spin on the ideas.
- Connect with other YouTubers, and get to know people in different niches too.
- Go to YouTube events when you can. Not only will you get great ideas, but it’s good to connect with people who understand what you’re going through.
“Talking to other creators and finding out what works for them has helped me inform my channel and the sort of content I create.”
Connection and Challenges on Instagram
Tom’s all about building community and relishes Instagram for the interaction and connection he can achieve there, particularly through Insta stories.
He likes to issue challenges to his community — like the amusing “British Accent Challenge” or a recent one where he challenged people to film themselves repeating a particular line from Game of Thrones and upload it to the thread.
Another favourite is the Birthday video. Followers can tell Tom when their birthday is coming up, choose an accent, and he’ll record them a short happy birthday video using that accent. That one’s a real hit!
It takes me ten seconds to do (a birthday video), but that connection is really meaningful.
How to build community within an online course
When students buy your course, it helps to cement their learning, enjoyment and connection with you and your business if you build a course community.
It seems to be standard nowadays to offer a private Facebook group, but Facebook has many distractions. One alternative is to create a group on Circle. With a basic price of US$39/month, you can build a safe, distraction-free community there for your students.
Challenges offer another way to build students into a team. It’s common for people to lose momentum partway through a course, so an exciting challenge is one way to motivate them to continue the journey.
Add a “hangout” into the mix. Schedule weekly meetings and show up to personally answer their questions, facilitate discussion, teach a lesson Live, or more.
Connection works both ways too. Not only do these strategies encourage your students, but they also teach you more about your community — valuable knowledge when you’re planning new content.
Tom’s tips for Langpreneurs
Seek to improve every time
Always look at your work and think, “what could I do better next time?”
Keep learning
“We’re all still in it – battling the algorithms and trying to create better content. Everybody is still learning – even the big creators.”
Remember when you wanted what you have today
Be grateful for where you are – have a balance of ambition and gratitude.
“As long as in a day I’ve pushed things a bit further towards my goal, I’m happy. If the momentum is forward every day, I feel good because these things take time.”
Contact
Email Tom@eatsleepdreamenglish.com
YouTube
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