Mikkelsen Twins: Top Online Course Creators Share Their Wisdom On What It Takes To Succeed In The Online Education Industry
You won’t find Rasmus and Christian Mikkelsen at any university or in any classroom. They don’t hold teaching degrees (or any other degree for that matter) and don’t give lectures or assign homework.
Yet, these twins are two of the most successful teachers today. They’ve taught thousands of happy students through their online course.
The Mikkelsen Twins aren’t just teachers — they’re entrepreneurs. The duo dropped out of college to start a business. After many ventures of varying success, they finally found a winning business model: self-publishing and selling books on Amazon.
The Twins started a very profitable book publishing business, which makes several thousands of dollars each month. They hire ghostwriters to write non-fiction books on topics that are highly in-demand but have little supply.
Currently, the Twins’ company employs many remote employees and contractors to help write, proofread, and design their books. Over the years, they have published books on all sorts of subjects, including fitness, study habits, diets, business mindset, and more.
Now, the Twins teach others how to pursue entrepreneurship by following this same business model. They founded PublishingLife to spread their knowledge to future entrepreneurs.
Empowerment Through Knowledge
PublishingLife’s main product is Audiobook Income Academy 2.0 (AIA) — a comprehensive course that teaches students all about starting a self-publishing business. Students can learn the step-by-step process of how to seamlessly create and publish their first book and scale their business.
The Mikkelsen Twins earned over a million dollars from their online course business. Numbers like those might seem unbelievable, but the Twins see it as a testament to a strong product.
“If you really want to make it in this industry, you have to have the best damn product, plain and simple,” said Rasmus. “With the amount of fierce competition, there is simply no other way you can compete than by focusing all of your time, effort, and money on one program.”
This philosophy applies to both their self-publishing business and online education company. The Twins prioritize quality over quantity every single time.
“There are no shortcuts in this business,” said Christian. “Any business model or method of making money that does not deliver high quality and valuable solutions to their customers will never last in the long run.”
The Twins put their money where their mouth is. Anyone could make up a course, post it online, and hope for customers to roll in. However, the Twins knew that their product would only be successful if they put time and effort into improving it.
“Instead of creating four different courses as some people have suggested, we have remade the same course four times in two years,” said Rasmus. “Every time we remake it, it is truly ten times better than the previous version. The only way a competitor could create a program as good as ours is by remaking it four times.”
The Twins do everything in their power to ensure their loyal students succeed. In May, they hired a full-time coach to give one-on-one coaching sessions to students in need of more step-by-step help.
A New Generation of Learners
Part of the reason the Mikkelsen Twins were so eager to start an online course is that they strongly believe in alternative education. Neither of them finished college because they didn’t want to end up in a tedious nine-to-five corporate job. They’re self-taught and self-made entrepreneurs who are living a much better life than they’d ever imagined.
“I think the things that are most important to be successful in life aren’t taught in school,” said Rasmus. “For example, one foundation of achieving anything great is having strong habits that you consistently follow every day for years. I think people need to be taught what valuable habits look like and how to stick to them. If you really want to set people up to be successful and productive, teach them that. But it’s rarely ever discussed throughout a child’s education.”
Through their online courses and books, the Twins are spreading knowledge to a new generation. They’ve empowered everyday people to live their dreams and make money without paying expensive college tuition. Their businesses allow them to live their ultimate dream — not fancy cars, lofty vacations, or luxury suites — helping people.
“In the end, a successful business is a byproduct of helping people,” said Rasmus. “Be passionate about helping the people you are serving with your books, and income will be a natural byproduct of that.”