Is Teaching Online Worth It? You May Be Surprised

As a creative person, you’ve been on my mind a lot lately. I know how much the pandemic is likely turning things upside down. Which may have you feeling not so great about your work, your happiness and how you’re going to make it through to more normal times. It makes total sense that things might feel a little uncertain right now.  

As you may have guessed, I’m an eternal optimist. I know that if I believe in something enough, I can make it happen. What you may not know is that I’m also a survivor.

I’ve always found a way to support myself no matter what. I’ve taken jobs that weren’t ideal (hello cleaning toilets), lived in spaces that weren’t ideal (ahh, the under-the-stairs years) and had to make decisions that weren’t ideal (no restaurant sushi for a year). I’ve learned a ton. Including the fact that I always have options. 

I know you have options, too. And as you work to sell what you do, whether it’s art or services, I know firsthand that selling a workshop or course can be another great way for you to make money. It can allow you to have more tools to help you survive this unprecedented time. 

Not sure about it? I thought you might be skeptical so I’m sharing some numbers to answer the question:

How much can I make teaching online? 

There are a lot of variables to pricing an online workshop. This is something that I work on a lot with my clients. So here, I’m sharing the numbers for a very basic, approachable 1-2 hour workshop that someone who is new to doing them might put together. 

If you sell your workshop training for $40 per person, here’s what that brings in:

• 25 people purchase at $40 each = $1,000

• 50 people purchase at $40 each = $2,000

• 100 people purchase at $40 each = $4,000

You can see that the income from this starts to add up very quickly. I bet you know 25 people right now who would buy a $40 workshop from you. Yes there are costs to creating a workshop like your supplies and time so those amounts have to be covered before you start to break even. But with these numbers you can see that can happen pretty quickly. 

And this is just the start. This example is for a starter workshop but you can charge more for this same kind of workshop once you learn the value it brings to your students and as your skills build. You can sell the same basic workshop for $100, more than double my example, as your belief and confidence in your offer grows, which it naturally will.

This is what it looks like when you sell it it at that price:

• 25 people purchase at $100 each = $2,500

• 50 people purchase at $100 each = $5,000

• 100 people purchase at $100 each = $10,000

This is because each time you run the online workshop or training, you improve it. Maybe you add something that’s especially helpful for your students or that gets them to their finish line faster or maybe you learn how to teach a technique in a new way that’s so much easier than how people have learned it in the past. Perhaps with all of the experience you have in your topic, you know how to help your students avoid common mistakes and pitfalls and you incorporate that. 

Little improvements like these add up to a stellar class that will make your students loyal fans who happily share how awesome your class is with others. You can evolve your price and raise it over time as you validate it’s worth. And as you improve it over time, you’ll have students who are getting amazing results which is so energizing to a creative person. It makes it worth the effort. 

So, what do you think? Would you love to be able to earn more money like this? Would teaching what you already know online in a workshop, course or masterclass feel like it might help to get you through to times that feel more like business as usual? 

If so, post a note in the comments letting me know if $40 sounds like the perfect starting point for your online workshop offering. And if not, what sounds like a better fit?

Cheers,

Kate

How to Have the Right Supplies for Teaching Online Art & Maker Classes?

If you’ve been thinking about adding teaching online to your creative revenue streams, I’m with you. It’s a smart way to adjust to the current times. It’s also a great way to have a lot of fun helping people learn and expand their creative horizons at a time when just about everyone needs a healthy escape from the monotony of regular life.

Even though teaching online is a great idea, there is one very real obstacle. 

What I want to teach online requires specialty tools and materials that people don’t have on hand. 

It’s the kind of thought that can make you want to toss the whole idea out the window, right? One more hurdle to getting money in the door. Sheesh! 

Luckily, I hate when creative people feel stifled about their earning potential so I started thinking about it. I want all artists, makers and solopreneurs to see the possibilities and find creative solutions for selling their work in a way that feels amazing to them. Could there be a way around this?

I’m happy to report yes! There are several very doable approaches that work for artists who usually use specialty tools and materials in their workshops. The solution starts with design. 

In order to teach what you know online, you get to design the class just like you do when you’re in person. There are always high-end and low-end materials and tools that help to shape what you teach in a class. These are things like better or lesser paints and brushes, expensive wool or budget acrylic yarn, real silver wire or a spool of mixed metal wire, etc. Materials and tools are always a factor in any class you create. 

What is essential for your students to learn during your class so they complete it with a new project or technique under their belt? Take that answer and address it in how you plan your training. 

Are the tools and materials you came up with not ideal but they’ll do the job? For example, jeweler’s pliers are so much better than regular pliers because they’re rounded and don’t leave marks on the metal but they both do the same job of bending metal. Decide if that kind of “making do” would work for your workshop.

If it won’t, consider making kits for your students. 

Kits

Creating kits for your students can be a great way to help them have exactly what they need, and what you need to teach them properly. Here are ways you can incorporate kits into your online workshop.

• Create a kit with everything they need that you put together and mail it to them. 

• Deliver kits to their porch for local students. 

• Loan tools to your students that they return after class. 

• Create an online kit that can be ordered from a local art store or Amazon where they have a lists feature.

• DIY Kits: Tell students the ideal materials and where to get them online along with a list of what they can make do with that they probably have at home.

Once you create a kit, the neat part is that it’s another thing you can sell to bring in income. Many people don’t want to take the time to figure out where to get supplies so they’ll happily order the right ones from you when they sign up for the class. And, you can sell additional kits to your students if they want to make more of whatever you’re teaching which is a fun option.

Take Action

Here’s where you get scrappy. It may take a few tries to come up with an answer that actually works so plan to get creative. Let me know in the comments: What could you teach if you used the kit idea? 

Here’s to your selling what you make online!

Cheers,

Kate

Make Money Without Selling Art

You’re on week seven of shelter-in-place and all of your art shows and in-person events have been cancelled. This means a regular opportunity for selling what you make is gone. 

We now know that varying degrees of this social distancing thing is going to be around for a while. And as a result of all of this, you’re starting to feel the heat of missed sales. And you’re wondering what to do. 

Instead of going into a full panic about it all, can you find something else to sell that’s not your art? Maybe a workshop on a technique you use or project you know how to make? 

Why Teaching What You Already Know Works

Teaching what you know works so well right now because everyone is at home and starting to get a serious case of cabin fever. They’ve mowed through all the good stuff on Netflix and YouTube. They’ve binged the news at unhealthy levels. And they’re tired of everyday looking the same. They need a break. 

Maybe something like this could help you bring extra money in the door? Let’s look at what things you need to make it happen. 

In teaching online, here are the basics you need to have in place to make it work: 

• A skill or project you can teach others

• Willingness to learn to teach others online 

• A computer with a camera connected to the internet

• A way for people to pay you

• Enthusiasm for your work

You don’t need a certification or a degree. You likely have everything you need to make it work. Just think, you could be someone’s lifeline to stress relieving creativity and community by teaching what you know. 

Here’s How to Teach Online:

1. Decide on what you want to teach

   This can be a project like how to paint what the corona virus looks like under a microscope. Or a set of techniques like the basics of how to best use each kind of clay carving tool. Maybe you have a few secret tips you can share for doing something faster or easier. 

2.  Decide on a day and time for your workshop 

   What time of day might work best for your audience? Lunch time? Evenings? Weekends? Make sure you have time to prepare and promote it. 

3. Decide how you’ll present your lesson

   This might be that you do a Facebook Live video, a Google Hangout, a Skype video call, a Zoom video call or another method that works well for you. Also decide if you want to sell a live workshop or a pre-recorded workshop. If it’s pre-recorded, you’ll need to pick a platform to share it from. 

4. Decide on a method of payment

   This could be that they send you their registration fee by PayPal, Venmo, Square, Stripe, ApplePay, check or even cash. You get to pick what payment method works best for you and your students. 

5. Plan what you’ll teach

   Decide how long your class will be and exactly what you want to show your students. Ask yourself, when they leave your workshop, what will they have learned? Include the answer to this in your invitations. Practice your presentation so you know how long it actually takes and so you don’t run over the planned amount of time.

6. Invite people

   Send an email to the people you’d like to invite to register. Make social media posts inviting people. Ask your friends to share the post. Do a lot of promoting of your workshop.

7. Send a thank you

   Thank students for taking that class with you. Let them know you appreciate the support and the community.

The key here is to create something that feels great for you to teach. And that your students will love. 

As an artist you’ve got SO many amazing skills. You know your materials and you know your craft. And you know how to put both of them to use to make really cool things that bring you and others joy. So maybe teaching online can work for you! 

Take Action

If teaching online sounds like it might be a fit for you, post in the comments to let me know what one or two topics sound interesting for you to teach. 

Cheers,

Kate