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If you want to learn how to fly a plane, you don’t start in the cockpit—you start by learning everything on the ground. That’s where comes in. Founded by Chris Palmer, Angle of Attack is a flight training business that offers Online Ground School which are courses to help you pass your FAA written exam and checkride. Here’s a snapshot of his success:

• Built a six-figure online course and community
• Helped over 2,000 students 
• Grew his audience to nearly 200K on YouTube

Below, Chris talks about his aviation experience, what led him to create an online business, and his tips for creating a niche community around your digital product. 

‍When did you get the idea for Angle of Attack? How did you take that idea and turn it into a multiple six-figure online business?

I originally got the idea of starting Angle of Attack back in 2006. At the time, I was a professional pilot and I was also playing Flight Simulator in my free time. I saw a big lack of training there because people who played don't typically become pilots. That's how I started my business—I was teaching people how to fly jets, but on a simulator.

That was in the very early days of e-commerce. I got a GoDaddy website and was shipping training DVDs all over the world. It wasn't until later that online courses and platforms that allow you to share your videos and sell online really came about. 

‍What was the moment when you decided to go all in on your business?

It was a progression of different things that had happened. I had created this course that was completely free. It was a 90-day course, and I was creating new content every single day for 90 days and releasing that content. It just blew up. The customers and community members who took the course wanted the next thing. 

That rolled over into some membership opportunities for what I was doing. And eventually, I got to the place where I had a pretty dang good income. I was getting tired of my current job, which I think is very common with a lot of people, and I wanted to live in Alaska and saw a window of opportunity and just took a leap of faith. Moving 3,000 miles and quitting a job is a pretty big deal. It's a long way to go and it's hard to reverse that. So I was all in.

You have a big social audience on YouTube and Instagram. When did you start creating content? Was the goal of content creation to grow your business?

I first started creating public content around when Instagram started to take off. I saw it as a creative outlet and I enjoyed taking photos at the time. 

I built quite the following and from there, I realized I wanted to increase that and do more video. For videos, YouTube is king. If you make it on YouTube, you're doing really well. 

I would say that is more in the vein of what I do for courses since it’s long-form video. People go to YouTube to learn something, whereas Instagram is primarily short-form entertainment-type content. A lot of people don't typically leave that platform to go somewhere else. So I definitely say that YouTube directly relates better to my sales and to my bottom line and to people coming over and being customers. 

Can you share more about Online Ground School and the products you offer? 

The core business is online courses through Online Ground School. When you go through the process of becoming a pilot and want to learn how to fly, it's not just about grabbing the controls and sitting next to an instructor. There's actually a lot of education you go through along the way. 

Even for people who aren't necessarily familiar with the aviation world, the term ‘ground school’ really does ring true in that you have to learn a lot of things on the ground before you go and fly an airplane. So through my years of content creation experience, I was ready to take that knowledge and deliver it online. 

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I have a lot of competitors, and typically what people do is they take you through some of the knowledge and try to have you pass what is called a written test for the FAA. But I found that process really cuts people short, so my courses go into more depth. They tell more stories. They give people a more holistic view about what's going on. Because a lot of this ends up becoming about your decision-making skills and how safe of a pilot you are.

And even then, I felt like my community members were being cut short. They go through the content, finish the content, and along the way they may not have a voice. So I was really excited when �ڰ������� came out with the community platform because it's just a way for me to communicate more directly with people.

My community is a really tight-knit place where we can just talk aviation. And that's been a really powerful tool. 

‍How does your community work? Do all of your course students get access to the community?

Yes, they do. I'm a little bit careful in how I build my products in that I don't want them to be too piecemeal and too a la carte. When someone shows up, I'm trying to give them a quality experience where I want to take care of them from the very beginning through the very end of what they're doing. People are busy—they're raising families, growing their careers. Members may leave and come back, and I just want that support to be there all the time. 

I even have a free course that I offer called Total Student Pilot, which is a lead gen tool. And that also has a community to it. They may not get access to things like the study groups we do through meetups in the community, but it's still a great way for people to connect and feel like they're heard. Having a community is a pretty powerful thing.

It’s common for creators to get overwhelmed with all the different options when it comes to teaching online. What's one piece of advice you'd give to creators trying to figure out the best business model for them?

Just start with what you're good at, whether that's content creation or having an email list or telling stories or working with people one-on-one, or having a community of some kind. There are so many different directions you can go, but just make sure it's a natural fit so that all the work you put into growing a healthy business in the beginning is something that you're enjoying. Start small, and you can add more later.

‍What's one thing you wish you knew before starting your online business?

It’s not about the products I created, or where I was shipping them to, or who I was delivering them to. It’s about the community and the people that I was engaging with. I love and need to hear their stories. As time has gone on, the value of a community is the most important thing when it comes to this line of work. You have to stay connected with your people.

‍What is your number one tip for adding a community offering? What is something creators should focus on in the early days?

Below the pieces of content within my course, I say something along the lines of, ‘continue the conversation, come join the community.’ 

The tip is just make sure that people know that you have a community and where it is and how they can find it. We fall into that trap a lot as course creators. We know what our ecosystem is, but nobody else really knows. 

You have to be really careful, not only through design, but through your words and everything else to make sure people know where all your stuff is and how they can best engage in what you're creating—especially when it gets more complex or you're adding several different products.

Adding a community component to your online course is a great way to increase the value of your offering and scale your business like Chris. With the right blend of products–from communities to courses to coaching–you can grow your audience, boost engagement, and increase revenue. Want to find the perfect blend for your business? Take our quiz to find the right mix.