Denis Panjuta is a self-taught artist to his name. While studying industrial engineering at the HTWG Konstanz, he taught himself programming with the help of free tutorials. In his thesis, he created a complete course on developing an Android game. He offered the relevant texts on his website and the associated videos on YouTube. He enjoyed creating tutorials so much that he didn't stop even after completing his studies in 2014. In addition to his job, he continued to create tutorials, uploaded them to the eLearning platform Udemy and quickly earned his first money with his hobby. Until he finally quit his job last year to devote himself fully to his tutorials.
Denis, how long did it take you to start making money with your tutorials?
I earned my first money just two months after publishing my Java course. First around €500, then it continued to increase every month. With each new course there was always a real boost, until I was even able to quit my job to concentrate full-time on my online courses.
Would you say that you have turned your hobby into a career?
In a sense, yes. The industrial engineer is actually an all-rounder by nature. On the one hand, technically educated and on the other hand, a business person. That's why being self-employed at Udemy is the perfect mix for me.
How exactly does Udemy work?
Udemy is a marketplace for video-based online courses that takes some of the work off your plate if you want to sell your own video courses to a wide audience. Udemy offers the technical infrastructure, a large number of users and, if you want, the marketing - you just have to deliver the content yourself. You don't have to worry about the complete handling of transactions or technical support. In addition, you are much more visible through Udemy than if you were to offer your courses on your own website, for example. You reach many customers that you wouldn't be able to reach otherwise. Udemy is the perfect place to start if you want to make money with online teaching.
People have been talking about eLearning for a long time . Do you feel like the concept works?
E-learning has been on the rise for years and, in my opinion, will soon achieve a breakthrough. Germany is definitely on the right track when it comes to e-learning, and I think it has the potential to teach everyone what interests them and what they are passionate about. In the future, social recognition will also increase that knowledge through online courses can significantly influence one's professional career. Personally, I can hardly wait for this development and am pleased that I can actively participate in this change.
