Can you make real money giving an online course?  A copywriter shares the pitfalls course creators face, and how to circumvent them

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hasya is a talented artist. She’s spent years perfecting her watercolor technique. Her blue jays are almost soft to the touch. Her snowy-tree scenes make you shiver.

At a friend’s request, she began giving art classes to a small group of local women. Their raving feedback made her realize that she loved imparting the magic of what she was doing to others almost as much as she loved to paint. After every session, she returned home on a high, and compelled her bemused husband to look and listen as she excitedly flipped through pictures of her students’ work like a proud mother.

Then Covid struck. She created some beautiful pieces alone in her studio, but some of the magic had dissipated. She wanted her students back. And they wanted her.

“Get on Zoom!” they begged. “It won’t be the same, but it’ll be something.”

Her husband mounted a camera in her studio and Chasya started to teach again. It felt wonderful to back in touch — and the income was nice too.

After several weeks, her husband threw a suggestion out at the supper table. “You know, Chas, why don’t you create — ich veis — a six-session video art course? Then you could sell it and bring in nice, passive income.”

Chasya loved the idea. If her students enjoyed her classes so much, why shouldn’t so many other women out there? She could reach hundreds of thousands of students. With the online world of today, even the sky wasn’t the limit.

She got to work, shooting and re-shooting, editing and cutting, crafting her videos with the same love and devotion as she invested in her classes.

Finally, the day came when she stumbled out of the studio bleary-eyed at 1 a.m. She was finished.

The next day, still on a high, she wrote out an ad. Her daughter, a graphic-design dabbler designed it. She excitedly called a few local publications to run the ad in their next issue. And then she waited.

At the end of the week, she tallied the interest. One sign-up (her best friend), one maybe, and three phone inquiries.

Self-doubt started to kick in. Why did no one buy if her ladies loved her classes? She wasn’t expecting 100 sign-ups. But ten minimum! Perhaps it wasn’t such a great product after all. It was a saturated market. And what about all the ladies that loved her classes? Where were they?

“Look, you have to give it time,” her husband told her. “Word needs to spread. The first lady does it and raves about it to her friends. Then her friends buy it. Word of mouth. You’ll see!”

But five months, two sales, and three ad rounds later, Chasya isn’t so sure.