Curious how experienced creators here are managing student Q&A and localized translations across different countries as course volume scales up. Are you using any specific tools to automate this, or is it mostly manual?
Volume isn't really what breaks - repetition is. Across my courses the same handful of questions generate most of the Q&A load, and they almost always cluster around two or three specific lectures where something is ambiguous.
Three things that helped more than any tool:
Answer in batches at fixed times rather than as notifications arrive. The context-switching was costing me more than the answering.
Track which lecture each repeated question comes from. If one lecture generates 20 questions, that's a content bug, not a support problem - re-record it or add a short clarifying lecture and the questions stop. This is the only thing that has permanently reduced my Q&A volume rather than just moving it around.
Keep saved answers for the genuinely recurring ones (environment setup, version mismatches), but rewrite the first line each time. Students can tell.
On translations - Udemy's auto-generated captions and translations cover discovery well enough that I'd start there and look at per-language enrollment before investing in anything heavier. Full localized audio is a real production project, and it's worth knowing which languages actually convert for you before committing to it.
The distinction I'd add is between a question that needs information and one that needs judgement. A missing download or an unclear instruction is quite different from a learner asking how to apply a communication technique in a difficult real-life situation.
For the first group, a checked answer library can save time. For the second, I'd use AI to help organise or draft a response, then check it against the actual question and lesson before sending. A fluent answer that misses the learner's situation can create more work than it saves.
On localisation, I'd pay particular attention to examples and tone. A literal translation of an assertiveness exercise can sound very different in another culture. I'd want a fluent reviewer to check the instructions and feedback, as well as the words themselves.
Is your main bottleneck the number of questions, or the time it takes to give each one a useful answer?
Surviving the revenue fall :D ! Hopefully, coming out stronger from this AI & subscription turn.
yes this! If the revenue is not there why put in the effort is how a lot of us vets are feeling. I go where the money flows, the path or least resistance and udemy is becoming a stream with a lot of resistance.
