Introducing

Jay Fenichel

How drummer Jay Fenichel created his own app without worrying about the tech

From expensive website developers to building communities, discover how professional drummer Jay Fenichel is reaching more students with his own app.

Creates content once, gets recurring sales

Reaches a global audience

Earns while he sleeps

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Study The Drums

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Benjamin McLean

This makes the product so much better

Samuel Manning

Love it!!

Study The Drums

Stats

Subscribers

Pricing

$19 - 97

PassionApps

iOS, Android, Web

Annual Revenue

How

Jay

did it

How drummer Jay Fenichel created his own app without worrying about the tech

Jay Fenichel started his brand TDA (The Drummers Almanac) to help his 4,000+ students improve their skills — skills that he’d developed through gigging and touring with an array of musicians and artists.

Having a growing number of private students was great… until it wasn’t. Jay explains, “The biggest struggle I had was getting students to practice consistently. I had a student tell me, When I’m here with you, I play great. But when I try it by myself, it all goes out the window.” That’s when the lightbulb went off and his first website turned on.

Jay modelled his online content around workout programs, building practice routines one tempo at a time. Building the educational content was easy enough — Jay is a professional drummer after all — the hard part was the actual website.

Finding a better alternative than a website

Building online courses and a website sounds easy enough. But for most of us, our passion isn’t coding and spending hours figuring out website mechanics.

“I started my first membership website in 2012, but the tech was always my biggest obstacle. I went through developer after developer for 2 years. And the website still didn’t work right.”

Things started looking up in 2014 when technology caught up and Jay could work on his website without extensive coding skills.

“Even with easier platforms, I spent years and thousands of dollars. And in that time, competitors had flooded the market — some had literally stolen my marketing concepts and released them to their audiences to skyrocketing success. No one knew who I was or trusted me.”

Jay isn’t one to give up. Just like he teaches his students that practice makes (you know it) perfect, he switched up the game and went all-in on social media to build a following. Fast forward to now and Jay reaches an audience of 49,000+ on Instagram, over 100K on Tik Tok, and more than 50,000 on YouTube.

“I knew a mobile app was the next step for my brand and teaching. I checked out Passion.io and noticed that their first app was based on fitness. That resonated with how my online drum courses are designed.”

Creating an app without leaving the genius zone

Having his own app helps Jay seamlessly instruct his students and provide the feedback they need to develop their drumming skills. All of the features, from the video player to the payment options, are easy for Jay to use and convenient for his students.

“The biggest advantage of working with Passion is not having to worry about app development. Tech has been my nemesis for a decade! With Passion, I can stay more in my genius zone which is teaching and creating educational content.”

Staying in his genius zone and doing what he’s passionate about has paid off, too. When Jay launched his first course in his very own app, he had over 100 applicants.

“Those first 100 students turned into 15 high ticket sales and laid the foundation for my upcoming app launch. I would not be in this position without Passion.”

Unlike Jay’s earlier experience with his website, the team at Passion doesn't leave you when your app is launched. We’re here to make sure you succeed… and keep doing it.

“Working with Passion has been a joy. I feel like I’ve made friends and the team has always got my back even when things got a little tough. If you want your online business to succeed, and you don’t want to waste 10 years as I did, hire the right team to help you. For me, that was Passion.io. Period.”

Building community your way

Finding a way to teach online without the technical headache was only the beginning. Jay took his growing social media following and moved that to his own app.

“My favorite thing in the app is the community feature. It mirrors social media and creates an ecosystem of community inside my business. And the feature keeps improving all the time. The team at Passion is willing to listen to creators like me, take our suggestions, and make changes.”

With his own mobile app, Jay stopped wasting time (and money) on expensive website developers and found a way to build his own community within his business.

Our drag-and-drop app builder has everything you need to create, run, and grow your online business. Whether you’re a professional drummer like Jay or a first-time creator with a big idea, it’s time to take control of your brand and save time and money. And give yourself the freedom to stay 100% in your genius zone.