Hey guys,
As I have stated a few times on this forum, I am currently quite dissatisfied with my main line of work as a litigation attorney. After a few years at it, I would like a break from the constant pressure and unrealistic client expectations creeping up on me 24/7, and my role as a partner in a small suburban practice also means that the lavish lifestyle and income some of you might associate with lawyers is definitely not my reality. At 29, I am already feeling worn out by the stress, and I believe that if I could settle my financial stress and only leave the litigation-driven one, then I could probably last more time doing this than I would otherwise.
Despite all the negatives of the job, I do like the law and do not see myself leaving it completely (and especially not for a salaried position as I do like my independence) until I am FI, but I'd like to see whether I could use said independence to build another income stream that would (1) remove the stress and sense of need to take on any client that walks into the door, (2) stabilize my income, as eat-what-you-kill arrangements can be real tough, and (3) allow me to make money while I sleep through the sale of a valuable assets. The extra money would also be nice as most if not all of it would be stashed away and fast-forward my way to FI.
After looking at my core-competencies, I believe selling courses online is probably the best way for me to fullfil these ambitions. I already have my niche down and believe it to be a good one. I also plan to take some time while the DW is on vacation with her mother to do a fair bit of it in the coming weeks, including video, editing, etc.
I already have some experience with a blog I have been running for two years, and which now enjoys about 2000 visits per month without any paid ads. I therefore have a certain grasp on the fundamentals of online marketing, basic website/landing page design and SEO. I also believe to be a decent copyrighter.
Being a fan of the lean startup model, my plan now basically looks like this:
(1) Build a landing page for the website offering my first course to the public, including a "purchase now" button leading to an opt-in form;
(2) Make a short intro video lesson to be distributed for free (and featured on the landing page) to give a taste of what I am planning to do;
(3) Throw +-100$ in Social Media Ads and Google PPC to generate user traffic;
(3) Monitor traffic to the landing page to analyze prospective client behavior and opt-ins, the latter of which will also build a preliminary mailing list for my discounted launch offer.
(4) If the numbers are good, start building a full Teachable course and blast the early opt-ins with an offer they cannot refuse.
Due to being extremely busy with work, I really want to make sure I do not spend weeks or months building a product nobody wants, so this seems like a decent plan. Still, I am not sure of what metrics to look at to determine whether this should be pursued or not. Do any of you e-biz gurus have some tips to share on that front?
More generally, I'd love to hear from people who developed successful online course initiatives to see if they have any tips, tricks or cautionary tales they'd be willing to share before I take the plunge.
TL/DR:
Is making online courses really a way to make decent extra money in 2019 or I am wasting my time? How much money did your last course make? How much time/money did it take to do it? How long was it? How much did it take to build? How much did you sell it for? Does it still bring in revenues long after its launch or was it a momentary type of asset?
Looking forward to reading what you guys have to say on the topic, and thanks a lot as always.
-M