How to Teach a Class on Skillshare (And Make Money!)

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There are so many different ways to make money online nowadays. Everyone is searching for the best ways to make passive income and the good news is, there are so many different methods to earn multiple streams of income! One underrated way to make money online is to teach a class on Skillshare. 

While Skillshare isn’t necessarily anything new, it’s still an up and coming resource that is quickly growing in popularity. If you’ve never heard of it, Skillshare is a subscription-based online learning community with thousands of courses on various lifestyle, technology, entrepreneurship, productivity, and creative arts topics. Basically, you 100% should definitely be using it if you’re a content creator or someone trying to start your own business. 

I first discovered Skillshare through one of the portrait photographers that I follow, as many YouTubers are now promoting this resource on their videos. Since popular YouTubers are starting to promote it more and more, this is also why I believe that it will really explode soon, making it even more crucial to take this opportunity to become a teacher right NOW.

If you’re interested in learning more about the courses on Skillshare, you can use my code to access my classes and get 2 months of Skillshare Premium for FREE! Simply click here to get started browsing the thousands of classes that will help you with your blog or other various businesses. 

Now, let’s dive into creating your first course as a Skillshare teacher. (Note: It’s free!)

 

Choosing Your Topic 

You may be thinking, how will I teach a class on Skillshare if I don’t think I’m good enough to teach anything? 

First of all, don’t be too harsh on yourself. I truly believe everyone has something to share with the world and everyone knows something that someone else doesn’t. Think about what you’re good at or some hobbies that you enjoy. As long as you have a passion for it, you can create a class for it. Maybe you started a blog and you’ve been pretty successful. Teach a class on how to start a blog! Or maybe you’re super amazing at staying organized and productive. Those videos about productivity actually perform SUPER well on Skillshare! 

I have been teaching photography tutorials on my YouTube channel for about a year now, which you can check out by clicking here. Since my channel is not monetized I wanted to find a way to be able to teach my passion, but also make money. Luckily, Skillshare is perfect for that! 

So, choose your topic and think about how it can benefit others. Who’s your audience? Why would they want to take your class? Once you have that in mind, you can move onto drafting your course outline.

 

 

Drafting Your Outline

Don’t skip this step. It’s important to have a plan in order to ensure that your video appears professional and organized. If you need more help, the Skillshare Teacher Handbook provides detailed tips on how to create your perfect course plan. 

Classes on Skillshare are anywhere from 20-60 minutes, broken up into multiple 2-5 minute sections. My class is about 22 minutes. Apparently within 20-35 minutes is the sweet spot so you don’t lose students’ attention. 

Within your outline, you’ll want to note how you will be teaching this class. Don’t simply sit in front of a camera and talk the whole time, or your class will be extremely boring and no one will want to sit through that. Instead, vary it up with physical demonstrations, screencasts, or powerpoint slides. Vary your visuals about every 30 seconds for the best results. Draft a script with your main talking points and note how you will film each section of your course to make sure you aren’t missing anything. 

Again, check out the Skillshare Teacher Handbook for more tips about creating your outline. 

 

 

Filming Your Class

I know this may seem daunting, especially if you aren’t used to being in front of a camera. It may take some getting used to, but practice makes perfect. You can do a test run in front of a mirror, practice in front of a friend, or simply run through your script without the camera actually records. 

You’ll want to find a nice bright spot in your office or home to film. Make sure your background is relatively simple and of course, make sure you’re not sitting in a messy office or bedroom. You can use your phone, a webcam, or a camera to film your video. (If you’re serious about starting a Skillshare channel, may I recommend my favorite camera for content creators?) Just make sure your video is bright and shot in HD, so at least 720p. 

It’s ok if you make mistakes while talking because you can edit those out. Don’t feel like you have to say everything perfectly in one go. Go through your script and take as much time as you need. Then film the screencasts or demonstrations. You can do voiceover narrations or talk while you’re doing the demonstrations. Get as much footage as you think you need and you can decide later whether or not you’ll use it. 

The Skillshare Teach Handbook also has great resources for filming here. 

 

Editing Your Video

For those who have never edited before, this can be challenging. However, you don’t need to go crazy with your editing for your first class. As long as your class is providing educational value, it doesn’t need to be a cinematic work of art. You can use iMovie or Quicktime as free options to edit your videos. I personally use Adobe Premiere Pro, which is about $20 per month. If you’re interested, I made a tutorial on how I edit my videos, which you can watch below. 

 

 

 

You’ll first want to import your footage into whatever editing application you’re using. Go through and “cut” out the stutters, ums, pauses, and other slip-ups to make sure it flows well. You can add your demonstrations or screencasts overtop of other videos or add voiceovers to really make it seem professional. Just play around and experiment. Editing will probably take you a lot of time, so I advise to split it up over the course of a few days. Remember, this is a learning process! 

The Skillshare Teacher Handbook goes into extreme detail about editing here. 

 

Publishing Your Class 

Yay! You’ve made it through the tough work and now you’re ready to upload to Skillshare. When you’ve created your account, you can click the button at the top of the site that says “Become a Teacher”. From there you can click on the button to “Create a Class” and start uploading your video! You have to upload each section of your video separately. In order to publish your full video, it needs to add up to at least 10 minutes. The videos will take anywhere from 10-30 minutes to process. 

You also will want to make a cover image for your video. This will act as a thumbnail, so make sure it grabs student’s attention and has text that is easy to read. I made my thumbnail on Canva because it’s free and easy to use. Skillshare recommends that you use 1280×720 dimensions. 

 

Marketing Your Class

Of course, once you publish your class, you want students to come and watch it! I made a short video trailer for my class and posted it on my Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Start getting the word out through your social platforms and encourage others to share it. As a teacher, you will receive a code to share so students can sign up for 2 free months of Skillshare. Plus, you’ll receive $10 for every student who signs up with your code! So promote, promote, promote! As you start to acquire new students, they will be notified every time you post a new class in the future.  

Check out the various methods of marketing your class with these tips in the Skillshare Teacher Handbook. 

 

Making Money on Skillshare

Now for the fun part! Once you post your videos you can make money through the referrals (remember, it’s $10 per sign-up) and the royalties from your videos. Your profits may fluctuate from month to month, but most teachers report at least $200-$300 in royalties per month! That’s some nice extra change in your pocket from passive income! The top teachers can even earn thousands of dollars each month so use that to stay motivated to create even more classes. Top teachers post about one to classes per month, which is the best way to grow your following and get more students. Keep up with it and who knows, maybe you could also earn an extra $1,000 a month! Not bad at all! 

 

My Personal Experience 

If you’re entirely convinced to teach a class on Skillshare, I highly recommend that you join Skillshare’s VIP Teach Challenge. I was nervous at first to teach a class on Skillshare, but they put on this challenge every month to help guide new teachers. They guide you with milestones throughout the month so you can stay on track to publish your first class. Plus, they also give out amazing prizes throughout the challenge. I won a $250 dollar Amazon gift card AND a new tripod! I was so excited! And if that wasn’t enough, they also match your first-month royalties, so you can make double your profit after your class is published. 

If you’re not sure where to start, check out my new class which I published through the June VIP Teach Challenge. It’s all about how to take self-portraits, which if you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know it’s my specialty. 😉 Grab my code to get your first 2 months of Skillshare Premium for free so you can check out the content and get some inspiration on what class to create. I highly recommend doing this, as I also started out getting familiar with Skillshare by using someone else’s code to get 2 months free. It’s important to know what content is popular and get an idea of how to use Skillshare before you create your first class. 

 

So what are you waiting for? Start exploring Skillshare for free by clicking HERE. You’re on your way to teach a class on Skillshare and making money!  

Check out the trailer for my Skillshare class below.