sales-skills/sales-teachery

Teachery Platform Help

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

1. What are you trying to do?

   • A) Enroll/revoke a student from an external purchase or app (Zapier Add/Revoke User to Course or Theme)
   • B) Route events out — Completed Course, New Lead, New Order — into a CRM/ESP/Slack (Zapier trigger)
   • C) Configure a module — courses/content blocks, drip, Course Hubs (Themes), Payment Pages, digital downloads, course affiliates
   • D) Decide on media — Teachery doesn't host video/files; pick an embed host (YouTube/Vimeo/Bunny/Drive)
   • E) Pick a plan — Monthly ($49) vs Annual ($470) vs Lifetime ($550); all flat-rate, unlimited, 0% fees
   • F) Fix a problem — embed/video issues, no quizzes/multi-instructor, basic email, no API

2. Where does data need to flow? Into Teachery (grant access) → Zapier Add User to Course/Theme action. Out of Teachery (sync an order, route a completion/lead) → Zapier trigger.

Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already provides enough context, skip to Step 2.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| If the question is about... | Route to... | |---|---| | Course/membership strategy, retention, completion, or platform comparison | /sales-membership {question} | | Email sequence/broadcast strategy (Teachery's email is minimal — use a connected ESP) | /sales-email-marketing {question} | | Email deliverability / inbox placement | /sales-deliverability {question} | | Checkout / order-bump / upsell optimization across tools | /sales-checkout {question} | | Designing an affiliate program (commission structure, recruiting) across tools | /sales-affiliate-program {question} | | Landing-page / funnel strategy across tools | /sales-funnel {question} |

When routing, give the exact command, e.g. "This is a retention question — run: /sales-membership how do I reduce course churn".

Step 3 — Teachery platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full reference — the module map (what's Zapier-accessible vs UI-only), the flat-rate pricing model (all features on every tier, unlimited everything, 0% fees), the no-media-hosting model (embed from external hosts), the order/enrollment data shapes, and quick-start recipes (enroll from a cart; route leads/orders to an ESP; revoke on cancellation).

Read references/teachery-api-reference.md for the integration surface — there's no public REST API; it documents the API-key-for-Zapier setup (Account → Integrations), the full 3-trigger / 4-action Zapier inventory (Course vs Theme enroll/revoke), the Make/Pabbly equivalents, and the Webhooks-by-Zapier bridge for systems the native connector can't reach.

Answer using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Focus on the user's specific situation:

• There's no REST API — think in Zapier. Push students in with Add User to Course (or Add User to Theme for a membership hub); pull events out with New Order, New Lead, Completed Course. For systems Zapier can't reach, chain Webhooks by Zapier. Make/Pabbly are cheaper alternatives.
• Identity is email. Enroll actions create/locate the student by email — match and dedupe on it everywhere.
• "Theme" means Course Hub. Enroll/revoke comes in a per-Course and a per-Theme (membership) flavor; pick the one matching how you packaged the offer.
• Plan for media hosting separately. Teachery stores the embed, not the file — budget for Vimeo/Bunny (privacy + clean player) or use YouTube unlisted (free). A broken/region-blocked source breaks the lesson.
• Connect an ESP for real email. Built-in email is only welcome/completion/lesson-unlock; route New Order / New Lead into Kit/Mailchimp/ActiveCampaign for actual nurture.
• The API key links the account once. It's in Account → Integrations — paste it into Zapier carefully (no trailing spaces). It is not a REST credential.

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.

Gotchas

Best-effort from research (2026-06) — review these, especially plan-gated features and pricing, which change frequently.

1. No public REST API. The only programmatic surface is Zapier/Make/Pabbly (+ Webhooks by Zapier). Don't promise API endpoints — plan around triggers/actions.
2. No native video/file hosting — embed only. You host video/audio/PDF elsewhere (YouTube/Vimeo/Drive) and embed; that's a separate recurring cost and the top user complaint.
3. No quizzes, no multiple instructors, no live sessions. Teachery is deliberately minimal — if a course needs assessments, co-instructors, or live classes, it's the wrong tool.
4. Email is basic (3 types only). Welcome, completion, and lesson-unlock — connect an ESP for real campaigns; don't expect drip marketing from Teachery itself.
5. Limited analytics. Customer/sales analytics are basic and there's no list API — export CSV for deeper reporting.
6. No native cancellation trigger. Subscription-cancel handling lives in your payment processor; revoke access in Teachery via the Revoke Course/Theme Access action off the processor's event.
7. Course Hubs are called "Themes" in Zapier. Don't confuse the Add User to Theme action (membership) with Add User to Course (single course).
8. API key paste errors. A trailing space when copying the key from Account → Integrations breaks the Zapier connection — paste cleanly.

Related skills

• /sales-membership — Course/membership strategy across tools (Teachery is one of the minimalist creator platforms covered), retention, completion, and platform comparison
• /sales-email-marketing — Email sequence and broadcast strategy (the ESP you connect to Teachery via Zapier, since built-in email is minimal)
• /sales-affiliate-program — Designing an affiliate program (commission structure, recruiting) — pairs with Teachery's built-in course-affiliate feature
• /sales-checkout — Checkout, order-bump, and upsell optimization (external carts that enroll into Teachery)
• /sales-funnel — Landing-page and funnel strategy across tools (Teachery's Landing & Payment Pages)
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code

Examples

Example 1: Auto-enroll a buyer from my external cart (developer/automation)

User says: "I sell my course on ThriveCart but host it in Teachery. How do I auto-enroll buyers?" Skill does: Explains Teachery has no REST API, so use Zapier (Recipe 1): trigger on the ThriveCart sale, map the buyer's email + first name + target course into the Add User to Course action (or Add User to Theme for a membership hub). Notes identity is email, the API key (Account → Integrations) links the account once (watch for trailing spaces), and Make/Pabbly are cheaper alternatives. Result: External purchases enroll students in Teachery automatically.

Example 2: Teachery won't host my course videos

User says: "Where do I upload my lesson videos in Teachery?" Skill does: Clarifies Teachery doesn't host media — you embed from an external host. Recommends Vimeo or Bunny for privacy + a clean player (or YouTube unlisted for free), explains you paste the embed into a video content block, and flags that a broken/region-blocked source URL breaks the lesson. Notes this is a separate cost on top of the subscription. Result: User hosts video externally and embeds it, with realistic cost expectations.

Example 3: Send Teachery orders to my CRM and email tool

User says: "When someone buys my Teachery course, I want them in HubSpot and tagged in Kit." Skill does: Uses the New Order Zapier trigger (with the optional Course/Theme filter) fanned out to a HubSpot create-contact action and a Kit add-subscriber action (Recipe 2). Notes Teachery's built-in email is only welcome/completion/lesson-unlock, so the real sequence belongs in Kit — routes: "run: /sales-email-marketing my new-student onboarding sequence." Result: Every order flows into the CRM and ESP with no manual entry.

Troubleshooting

My auto-enroll Zap isn't adding students

Symptom: Buyers aren't getting course access via Zapier. Cause: The API-key connection broke (trailing space when pasted), the wrong action was used (Course vs Theme), or the email field is empty/mismatched. Solution: Reconnect Teachery in Zapier with a clean copy of the key from Account → Integrations. Confirm you're using Add User to Course for a single course or Add User to Theme for a membership hub, and that the buyer's exact email + first name are mapped. Check Zap History for the failing step.

My course videos won't play / disappeared

Symptom: Lessons show broken or blank video. Cause: Teachery doesn't host video — it embeds an external source. The source was deleted, set private, or region-blocked, or the embed code was pasted wrong. Solution: Re-check the external host (YouTube/Vimeo/Drive) — confirm the video is public/unlisted and embedding is allowed, then re-paste the embed into the video block. For reliability and privacy, host on Vimeo or Bunny rather than a personal Drive link.

I need quizzes / multiple instructors / real email automation

Symptom: A feature you expected isn't in Teachery. Cause: Teachery is intentionally minimal — no quizzes, no multiple instructors, no live sessions, and only 3 automated email types. Solution: For assessments or co-instructors, Teachery is the wrong fit — compare alternatives with /sales-membership. For email, connect an ESP (Kit/Mailchimp/ActiveCampaign) via the New Order / New Lead Zapier triggers and run sequences there (/sales-email-marketing).