Unconventional Career Spotlight: Make $100K+ With Online Courses

Here is a list of stuff I don’t know how to do:

• Roll my tongue
• Fix the “nf” error on my washer
• Conceal sounds from the bathroom when people are over and you REALLY need to conceal sounds from the bathroom
• Say “hi” to literally anyone without it sounding awkward in my head
• Hold babies
• Make a normal face on Zoom when someone else is talking and you’re just sitting there and are you nodding your head too much? not enough? should you smile? squint? purse your lips? is this making you look creepy? WHAT DOES A NEUTRAL FACE LOOK LIKE
• Resist pizza
• Take Baptists seriously
• Not talk during a massage, even though the last thing I want to be doing is talking during a massage
• Do my hair. I used to be phenomenal at doing my hair! And then I turned 39 and now I realize I have no skills / no patience / no amount of hair product in the world that can make me look like I didn’t just get done reading a book about North American birds (I did)
• Pack a suitcase without needing a crane
• Say “nauseous” when it’s supposed to be “nauseated”
• Measure anything in eighths of an inch without regretting my entire existence
• Order sandwiches from a deli in New York without feeling the kind of anxiety that one presumably gets when taking a space shuttle into outer space, or parallel parking your car with 3 other people in the car, or competing in the Olympics for synchronized swimming.

(Seriously though, I can’t even synchronize my calendar correctly, let alone my bodily appendages.)

Fortunately, there are two things I happen to be excellent at. They are:

• Expertly removing tendons from raw chicken breast (thank you, part-time after school school job when I was 16!)
• Making $500,000+ annually with online courses from anywhere in the world, by which I mean a mediocre hotel room that could really use more light (but hey, you’re in Paris!)

Despite how much I’m sure we would all enjoy a column from me about raw chicken breast, I wanted to write about my experience making and selling online courses for over a decade, now, because it’s an unconventional career option that I think has been grossly underestimated by “the real world.”

Let’s do this in two parts, shall we?

First, I’m going to give you the scoop on a workshop that my friend Amy is running RIGHT NOW if you’ve thinking about making an online course (a must-attend), and then I’m going to give you my top twenty best pieces of hard-earned advice, wisdom, dos, donts, and what I’ve learned from my own personal experience (including the mistakes I see people making all the time that kill your sales). I’ve been doing this longer than some Gen Zers have been alive, so hopefully this is helpful!

Okay, so ready?

Part One: The Workshop

My friend and the queen of online courses herself, Amy, is doing an AWESOME live workshop on getting started with your online course—and it begins tomorrow, Wednesday, September 13th!

Amy’s been doing this as long as I have, and now she exclusively teaches people how to create online courses…the fun way.

In this zippy, fun workshop, you’ll learn what kind of course you should create, how to price it, how to market the sh*t out of it (even if you have no audience or following), and how to create an action plan to get you from Zero to “Making Money from Dank Hotel Rooms Around the World All Thanks to My Online Course!” (Very aspirational.)

Do not miss this.

Enroll in Amy’s workshop now—it starts tomorrow, and it’s only $47!

Part Two: My Top Twenty Pieces of Advice, Big Wisdom, Dos, Don’ts, and What You Can Really Earn With an Online Course (Hint: It’s Wayyyy More Than You Think)

1. An online course will earn you significantly more money than a paid subscription—and BOTH should be offered.
   Let me be clear: I LOVE LOVE LOVE Substack and I love paid subscriptions. I offer one. It’s a game-changer for writers. BUT, it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation—it can be both! [cue cheesy angel harps] Every single creative out there should have a diversified income stream, and that means having a paid subscription and also offering an online course and also offering a digital product (like eBooks and guides). Of course, this doesn’t take into consideration all that you can do with services and coaching, but let’s pretend you don’t want to do any of that (because people!), and you’d rather write for a living (because introvert!). OKAY, THEN. These three online products are the holy trifecta, and every writer should be selling these: a paid subscription, a digital product, and an online course. Here’s why: there is a very big difference between earning $50/year from a fan, and $500/year. Let’s do a little shit math on the back of a napkin. Say you have 100 paying subscribers at $50 a year—that’s $5,000 a year. (AKA not a full-time income.) But, say you also sell a digital product, like an in-depth training guide to jump-starting your travel writing career, and that costs $100. You sell that to 100 people for another $10,000. And then, say you sell 100 courses that go even more into detail of how to become a six-figure travel writer at $500 each. That alone equals $50,000 a year—and it’s enough to finally move the needle. Combined, you now have an income of $65,000 a year—which is much bigger than just $5,000 a year. See what I mean? Therefore, having an online course should absolutely be a bigger part of your overall revenue strategy—it’s one of the most important things you can create to make a full-time income with your creative work. (This is something that more traditional journalists need to lean into. There is SO much that can be taught: how to write is the most obvious!) And last but not least, just for fun…let’s take that math and turn it up a notch. Now imagine you had 500 paying customers for each. A paid subscription at $50/year x 500 subscribers = $25,000. A digital product at $100 x 500 subscribers = $50,000. 😧 AND FINALLY, a $500 course x 500 people equals $250,000. And now the game is changed FOREVAHHHH. Now we’re looking at salary of $325,000…all from your creative work. Who wants to go skinny dipping to celebrate?!?! (Just kidding, let’s buy Teslas.)
2. The biggest upside? You make it once and sell it a million times.
   This is way, way, way more groundbreaking than it seems. For example, consider how much work is involved in making and selling your own silver skull Viking rings. (What?! Why would we use a boring example?! 😂) It’s hard because every product you sell requires you to start from scratch—which means that, if a ring costs $100, then every $100 you make requires you to start from scratch, too. Then, you’ve got to spend hours packaging each one up when it sells, and going to the post office, and spending money to ship it, and emailing with the customer to track it, and then handling returns when it doesn’t fit, and then going to drink yourself silly under a rock. It’s A LOT OF WORK. All for one sale. Now…compare that to online courses. You make an online course once, and then you can sell it over and over and over and over and over and over again…without investing more time. That’s called scale. It doesn’t matter if five people buy it or 50,000 people—the product stays the same. You don’t need to re-make the course every single time someone buys it. It’s already done—and technology means that each person can take the course from scratch, without you having to re-create the wheel every time. The implications of that alone are huge. 🪄 This gives you leverage. This gives you a real product that you can sell. While paid subscriptions ARE a strong part of your overall revenue strategy, they do require you to keep doing the work and writing the newsletter and creating the product from scratch every week. That’s what the product is. But, with online courses? You make it once, sell it a million times, and then update as necessary. And frankly, if you don’t have an online course, you are seriously leaving serious money on the table every single day.
3. A $300 price point is the easiest to sell. (Yup—it’s actually easier than a $99 course!)
   This is based on my own personal experience, of course, but anecdotally I can tell you that over the 13 years that I’ve been making online courses, a $300 price point sells with the least resistance. Anything lower, and people assume it’s not that valuable or useful. (Like, really? You’re going to teach me how to become a professional book editor for just $59? This must be fluff, a scam, or just the basics I can find online.) Anything higher, however, and it becomes a more substantial financial decision that’s going to require a more sophisticated sales approach (and may require more resources invested on your part to justify that price point). I think $300 is a decent starting point for a new online course you’re putting together, so long as the content is worth it. (You wouldn’t sell an online course called “How to Make a Turkey Sandwich” for $300. But you might sell an online course called “How to Butcher a Turkey, Grow Your Own Food, and Live off the Land” for $300.)
4. THAT SAID—a $600+ price point is where the real money’s at. (And it could change your life.)
   Forget everything I just said above. Now let’s do some more shit napkin math. Bear with me here, bear with me! But, say you were to sell 150 courses at $300 each—that’s $45,000 big ones. However, if you were to sell 150 courses at $600 each? That’s $90,000—and that’s practically a six-figure income from just one online course. That’s a BIG difference in your quality of life, just from one simple pricing decision. Therefore, your price point is really, really important, and could be the difference between you creating a real income stream from this, or not. (Take Amy’s workshop this week to learn how to create your pricing strategy.) That said, in order to be able to sell courses effectively at this level, you need four things…
5. Courses that help people clearly do something tangible will sell MUCH better than courses with vague outcomes.
   Clear & tangible outcomes include: “How to Grow Your Own Vegetable Garden for Beginners,” “The Ultimate Flower Photography Course,” “How to Start Your First Interior Design Business,” “How to Get Your Writing Featured in Magazines,” “How to Write Your First Romance Novel in 30 Days,” “Plan Your Dream Destination Wedding,” “Make Compelling Videos That Go Viral,” “How to Buy a House for People Who Have Never Bought a House,” “How to House Train a Big-Ass Dog”—you get the idea. You’ll notice something right away: most of these are all connected to a “how-to.” That’s why people take courses: to learn how to do something. On the other hand, courses that have vague & elusive outcomes—which will not sell as well—sound like: “The New Manifester’s Academy,” “The Happy Gal’s Course for Raising Your Vibrations,” “Empower Yourself to Succeed,” “Soul-Awakening 101: How to Experience Life on a Higher Plane,” “Be Your Best Self: A Course for Underachievers,” “Love the Life You Live: A Course for Single Moms.” You feel the difference there? The more obvious and tangible the outcome, the easier it will be to sell, because people can clearly connect it with something they need.
6. Snappy course titles sell courses.
   Next, you’ll really need a snappy course title. This makes a HUGE difference. The way you title something sets the tone for the entire product. The best course names feel modern and fun, a little spunky, high energy, short and snappy, and immediately memorable. For example, my biz bestie Jamie Varonand I had a course called Brandgasm 101, where we taught both DIY design and copywriting. And, omg, the name instantly felt like something you wanted to be a part of, right?! Compare and contrast that to something called “DIY Design and Copy School.” It’s missing zhush. Charisma. Emotional appeal. Brandability. Other courses that I teach right now include Meat & Hair and Selfish School. In the past, I taught one called “Six Appeal” that people really loved, and had one in production called “Unintimidated”—and plenty more! So, spend some time coming up with a jazzy name that you can own. This will make a bigger difference in your sales than you think.
7. The design of the sales page also really fucking matters. Like, a lot.
   First impressions MATTER. The way your sales page looks matters. The design matters—particularly if you intend on selling your course at a premium rate. You know how much I expect to spend on a course that has no branding and is using the basic Teachable product page template? $49. You know how much I expect to spend on a course with branding like Amy’s? Way more than the $49 she’s charging. Unfortunately, this is one of the hardest parts of selling your an online course, because most people aren’t designers. But, it’s hella well worth hiring one to get a sick-ass design that signals to the world that you’re a serious force of nature—and they should absolutely invest with you. When you show up looking like a pro, other people will treat you like one. Alternatively, you know what a GREAT happy medium is?! Buying a template from Tonic! I LOVE TONIC. I actually used one of their templates to make Selfish School, just to prove a point. They’ve JUST launched their Fall 2023 collection of new templates, and this week only you can take 20% off of a brand-new template using the code ASHAMBIRGE. Yay!!!! (Seriously though—talk about “design for non-designers.” They make it so easy. You can change anything you want with one click!)
8. Big, fat mistake: putting every single thing you know into a course. (Do this instead!)
   This is a mistake EVERYONE makes at first: you’ll want to stuff as much “value” into your course as possible, because you’ll feel nervous charging money, and you’ll try like hell to overcompensate for that with as much information as possible. But, I’m going to encourage you to pull it on back, because guess what? People aren’t buying your course because they want an encyclopedia: they are buying helpful curation. That’s right—that’s your job! To curate your topic based on your own personal experience, your wisdom, your know-how, your tips and tricks, and your own life. This is why we buy courses from individuals, rather than companies: we want THAT person’s opinion. We want to know what YOU think. Maybe you specialize in an area we’re particularly interested in. Maybe your body of work is so impressive, we’d love to learn from you. Maybe you’ve been a star on social media and people want more of you. Or maybe, you’re starting from scratch and this is a whole new venture and you can start shaping your personal brand NOW. This is all well and good! In an age where we can technically look anything up, what we’re really looking for here is experience, not knowledge. Give ‘em that—and curate, curate, curate. (And by the way? When you do this, your course becomes way less overwhelming to people and way more “yay, that’s something I want to do!” Don’t give ‘em a 19-hour lecture: give ‘em the tools to cut through the bullshit and succeed.)
9. You need to properly launch your course. And you need to do it 2x - 4x a year.
   There is a difference between praying and selling. You need to actually sell your course in order for it to sell. 😀 Your course WILL SELL if you set up specific dates during which the course is open, and when it’s closed. And then, you need to make a huge stink when it’s open—sort of like a movie premiere. (I talk more about this in my book, The Middle Finger Project). It’s gotta be given the spotlight—not just a tiny blurb at the bottom of a random email. Or as a static link on your website. That doesn’t sell courses. Selling courses sells courses. And in order to sell courses, you need to create hype and you need to focus people’s attention, and you need to have a dedicated two-week window, at least, toward selling your course, when people can buy it. This might seem counterintuitive, because maybe you’re thinking “but won’t I sell more if people can buy it anytime?!” The answer is no. No, you won’t. You really, really won’t. Consider this a law of the universe. There’s no urgency when you do it that way. When something is available all the time, it loses its luster. There’s no magic. No sense of specialness. No reason to pay attention. In other words: no real selling. Selling requires attention. And in order to get someone’s attention? You need to create a stink. And creating a stink over the course you made is the #1 way that you will sell your course. But whatever you do? Don’t just put it up on your website and leave it open anytime. This will literally plummet your sales faster than the time I sat down in a bougie LA restaurant and my ass fell through the actual fucking chair. DON’T BE ME, MMKKKKK?
10. Alternatively? You CAN set up an entire email sales sequence dedicated to selling your course for you, on autopilot, using technology. (But it’s more advanced.)
    I love this method, too. I use this as well, and I teach this method, too. This is especially great for times when you know your life is about to get extra busy—like when you’re having a baby, or you’re going on a sabbatical, or you’re taking a vacation, or you’re taking care of a sick parent, or you just need some goddamn time off. Not enough people take advantage of the technology we have available—because, hell yes, we have SO MUCH AWESOME TECH. Technology is supposed to make your life easier, and this is one of the ways it can. Basically, you can use something like ConvertKit (what I use) to send out emails automatically, on a pre-defined schedule, so a subscriber can go through a precise sequence of emails, and then get pitched your course on autopilot. This is an advanced method, but it’s worth knowing about—and that it can be effective, so long as you have your systems set up correctly. YES TO SYSTEMS. NO TO OVERWHELM.
11. You don’t need to have a Facebook group or create a community around your course if that gives you the heebie jeebies.
    I know a lot of people shy away from making online courses because they assume that they need to turn into an influencer and lead ALL THE PEOPLE and be in ALL THE GROUPS and run ALL THE COMMUNITIES. This is exhausting. I’m exhausted just thinking about that. But, here’s a little secret: you can run your business however you **want. I specifically don’t include communities with most of my courses. I do that intentionally, because I want to design my business intentionally. I am all about finding the intersection of “what’s useful for students” + “what feels good for me.” There are lots of things that might be useful for students, but would be very bad for me (and you). Alternatively, there are lots of things that might be great for me (and you), but not so useful for students. Finding that happy medium has been the key to my course success—and a lot of that has to do with giving yourself permission to have clear boundaries, so long as you clearly communicate what IS included, and what ISN’T included. Then, you can allow your students to make informed purchasing decisions, knowing upfront what kind of support is, or is not, available. My mantra here is: just say what it is! If it’s a deal breaker, then let it be a deal breaker. But most often? It’ll be RELIEF. ‘Cuz guess what? 80% of your students don’t want to participate in group discussions, anyway. And 80% of the won’t show up. The last 20% will always be the loudest though (squeaky wheel), so just make sure you’re making good business decisions for you—not decisions based on pressure or guilt.
12. BUT—you’ll also get SICK-ASS results for your students if you do do it live once in a while, with them, and have an interactive community component.
    You want to create change fast—and get your students results fast? Do a live version of your course where you meet on Zoom once or twice a week and haul ass. The accountability REALLY can help, because students will show up and then they’ll actually do the work and then they’ll have great results and then they’ll be happy as ever. And happy students = killer testimonials. And killer testimonials = more sales. ****Here’s the thing you need to balance: you will always get awesome results for people when you create something happening live, because the fact that it’s happening live forces them to show up and commit, and turns out??? People suck at commitments, even if it’s something they really want to do! So by giving your course live, and asking people to show up weekly from 6pm - 8pm, for example, you create an environment where they can thrive. (At least, for the folks who really do need this push.) I’ll tell you what: the energy inside of these things is FUN. You’ll be nervous as hell, but it will be FUN. The students who show up to this are always the most engaged, and they’re thrilled to be there, and they want to learn from you! And when that happens, you create this magical place where learning happens easily, and the students love it, and they talk about it, and they rave about you. And that means you’ll get killer testimonials, and that means your next round will be that much easier to sell. I think doing live courses is great especially during two occasions: when you’re running your course for the first time, so you can get feedback from students as you’re doing it, before committing it to video, AND THEN once a year, to keep the energy of your business UP. The downside, of course, is that this requires you to give the course over and over again, whereas with pre-recorded materials, you can sell it a million times without replicating the work. That’s why I recommend a hybrid approach: do both! Get the best of both worlds. There is no either/or strategy here: it’s a both.
13. If you struggle with procrastination, pre-sell your course before it’s made and let people know you’ll be delivering a new module every two weeks as you create them (or going live with a new class every two weeks!).
    This is, by far, one of the best ways to actually get your course created—you’ll show up because people are waiting on you, so you can’t procrastinate your way out of this one! Yes, that adds pressure. Yes, you might want to vom. Yes, you might think about clicking “END SESSION” the minute you go live on camera. But, the good news is…you won’t. You’ll rise to the occasion. And you’ll get this shit done. Turns out, using other people as peer pressure is a great technique! Because trust me: you won’t want to ruin your reputation and look like a total smacked ass for not showing up. So….you will. And, all you have to do it is set up your sales page and come up with your course title, and then turn it into a “pre-sale” where students can get a favorable price if they pre-order your course while it’s in development. This is super duper common, and an awesome way to give everyone a win-win.
14. People love PDFs more than you think they do.
    Like, really, really love them. You know why??? Because they can re-reference them anytime they want, without having to go through a whole video to find something. So while you’re over there stressing that you have to have all these fancy videos??? Your students are over there wishing they had this in a PDF! So my best advice? Start small! Start with a PDF course if you want! That’s an easy, low-anxiety way to produce your first course. Then, you can introduce some video content / screencasts / audios thereafter. But…why make this harder than it has to be? The only requirement you have is to make sure your course is useful. The medium matters far less than the material. Focus on creating something that’s full of personal tricks, hacks, and really useful examples??? And it’ll be a homerun.
15. You don’t need to know how to edit fancy videos.
    It’s literally okay if you use Loom for now, and just record your screen. Do not overthink this. Start with wherever you can start. Go, go, go. You can always iterate forward. You can always make improvements as you go, and then re-launch a new version. Big product teams do this all the time! Why would you expect to be any different?!
16. Use this hack to give your audios or videos instant polish.
    You can use people like Music Radio Creative to give you a professional, sick-ass intro for your videos or audios. Ta da!!!!! You’ll instantly elevate anything you’re making and sound like SUCH a pro.
17. Even if you make a DIY class, students will still email you and want to consult with you. (Charge for it!)
    Sooooo, here’s the deal: your students are curious. They’re excited. They’re working toward a goal. And, maybe they’ve purchased one of your courses to help them reach that goal. You know what happens next? Questions happen next! Oftentimes, students will have questions—so, how do you handle it when they show up in your inbox? My advice: set up a Calendly specifically for consulting. Charge money for your time. And then, whenever a student would like private consulting, you can happily send them a note back and say, “Sure, I’d love to talk about this! Want to make an appointment on my consulting calendar?” It’s that easy. AND EVEN BETTER? If you want to do more consulting, you could even publicly broadcast the option to students who want more support. This way, everyone wins: students have access to more support, if they need it, and you are making sure you’re appropriately compensated for your time. 🎉
18. Newsletters and podcasts are the best marketing channels for your online course, hands down.
    I would 10,000% focus on getting yourself featured on either one of these two channels, where you can talk about your topic, and then naturally link people up to your email list (and your online course!) The folks reading newsletters and listening to podcasts about your topic are absolutely going to be the highest quality leads, who are the most focused, and who will take the most action. I’d spend the majority of my marketing time and/or money in these two places—and I’d forget about scrambling around all over social media, where your return is going to be super duper low. While social media can be nice for making you look legit once someone finds out about you, it’s less effective at helping you market yourself unless you are a true marketing star. And, that’s the thing: most of us are just average, everyday humans just trying to put good work out into the world. Most of us are NOT marketing stars. And therefore, most of our efforts to be mega influencers on social media are going to fail. Don’t waste your time: leverage other people’s channels who are great at marketing. Learn how to pitch yourself and your work, and then get yourself featured on relevant newsletters and podcasts. And, voila!
19. You don’t have to be some phenomenal flamethrowing, panty-eating, cheese-breathing wunderkind in order to make money with an online course.
    I want to make this clear: YOUR EXPERIENCE IS VALUABLE. YOUR EXPERIENCE IS VALUABLE. YOUR EXPERIENCE IS VALUABLE. You are the only human on earth who has experienced the things that you have, the way you have experienced them—and, as a result, you have unique insights and perspectives and opinions and beliefs and tricks and ideas and quirks and thoughts and views. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT. We do not need you to be the world’s leading expert on creative writing, or oil painting, or vegan food, or flower photography, or interior design, or whatever it is that you’re all about. You do not need to be this in order to make an online course! No one needs you to be this! What we do need you to do is figure out what you really, really think—and then tell us. Use that to stand on. Give yourself a unique angle. Double down on that one idea. Do you think that every business should hire creative writers?! Or that every household needs a hand-painted oil portrait of the family? Or that vegan food should be just as delicious as hamburgers and hot dogs and steaks? Or that flower photography is exceptional for stress relief? Or that interior design is a way of designing your headspace? Whatever YOU think about your topic….take a belief and stand tall and run with it. That’s branding. That’s how you make a name for yourself. That’s how you create something memorable. While there are plenty of online classes out there in the world, there is only one you, and one specific statement you’re making, and one specific way you see the world. That’s what you sell. Because none of this is about making and selling online courses—not really. This is about giving people a new perspective. A new way of thinking. And a new way of doing something in this life that they haven’t done before. In that way, online courses are a gift. And they’re a beautiful way that you can contribute something meaningful, while getting compensated fairly, and taking your career into your own hands. Not everyone’s got an online course—yet—but this is one unconventional career option that hot, hot, hot…at least for those brave enough to pursue it.

Whatever you do: do NOT put your course for sale on your website and let it sit there. This will NOT work.
I see this a lot: someone creates an online course—especially if they do it with something like Skillshare or Udemy—and then they pop it on their website in the navigation with something that says “Courses.” YOU KNOW THAT LINK. WE ALL KNOW THAT LINK. This assumes, however, one very important thing: that someone’s going to find you and love you and trust you and want your course, right this motherfucking second. You know what the reality of that is? Slimmer than my jeans at the height of 2014. No one buys courses from people they just randomly discovered on the internet. Not unless you’ve built up a massive library of content and you’re already known to them and they’re specifically looking for a course from you. Which means that, unless you’ve already made a name for yourself in your niche? You’re going to need a much more strategic sales strategy. You know what that sales strategy is? ⬇️

Want to explore online courses as a career option more?

Check out my friend Amy’s workshop for beginners—it starts tomorrow! 🌟

And you won’t even have to worry about your face on Zoom…replays are available, so definitely grab it now. She’s the best in the biz, and she’ll teach you everything you need to know.

Now, if only I could figure out how to hold babies, do my hair, resist pizza, and talk to other humans without secretly wishing I was not. I WELCOME ALL YOUR TIPS FOR LIVING.