17 Examples Of How Much You Can Make Selling Online Courses

You are probably searching for a great way of earning money online that will not just provide a good salary but is also flexible and convenient.

Among the choices that you can choose from is selling online courses. It may sound foreign and new to you. However, this business opportunity is on the rise internationally.

In 2018, online courses and the e-learning market were worth $190 billion, and it is anticipated to surpass $300 billion in 2025.

People love to invest in education. Online courses are perfect for those who prefer the comfort of their own homes.

Taking advantage of this trend is the smartest choice that you can make.

If you want assurance that this opportunity is worth your time and effort, here are 17 examples of how much you can make selling online courses.

They all have their strategies and stories of how they achieved success in selling online courses.

Let’s check them out!

1. Ali Abdaal

$373.051 per year

At the age of 19, Ali Abdaal created his first online business, 6med, which was a success. According to him, it was because of luck, unfair advantages, and years of trying out to do online business.

In 2019, he started his YouTube channel. Currently, he has 1.37 million subscribers. But this was a long journey. It took him 52 videos to get 1000 subscribers without making any money. Furthermore, in his first year, he was consistently posting two videos per week.

But this did not make him feel discouraged because Ali considered it fun. He stated that if you find your work fun, then it would not even feel like it is work.

In 2020, a huge portion of Ali’s income came from his online courses:

• Skillshare Courses – £350,000
• Part-Time YouTuber Academy (Course) – £220,000

He posted video courses in Skillshare, which is a platform for online courses.

Instructors earn money based on the watch time that their students spend on their videos. Moreover, Skillshare is perfect for those people who have a huge audience, like Ali.

Later this year, Ali tried out the Part-Time YouTuber Academy, selling a $1000-course about growing a YouTube channel would work out.

Initially, Ali thought that only five to ten people would sign up for the course. But in the end, over 360 students enrolled. Ali earned an estimated £220,000.

2. Sam Ovens – Consulting.com

$1 million a month

Sam Ovens is the founder of Consulting.com, a website that is determined to help people become successful in their online businesses.

He founded the company by himself in 2012.

He quit his job at Vodafone and dropped out of college to pursue entrepreneurship.

You may think that his decision took a huge leap of faith. Well, that is correct. But he was confident and assured of this decision and never stopped working hard.

Currently, Consulting.com makes around 1 million dollars every month, just by selling its courses.

Sam’s success was not an overnight thing. It went through a lot of stages that involved failures, challenges, and hard work. He created several businesses before Consulting.com, which all failed.

Over time, he tried out new things until he made his first successful business, SnapInspect, an app that helps with property inspection for property management businesses.

Throughout creating businesses, Sam learned a lot of things that worked for him. That’s when he decided to pass it onto other people who wish to learn the skills that he mastered.

That started the birth of Consulting.com. Since the start of the company, Sam was able to make over 25 millionaires, 500 six-figure earners, and most of his students quit their old jobs to pursue their online businesses.

3. Neil Patel

$381,722 a Month

If you heard of the terms SEO, PPC, and marketing, then I am sure that you are familiar with Neil Patel.

He is a digital marketing entrepreneur who strives to help companies grow their revenue through his company, Neil Patel Digital.

He created his first website at the age of 16 years old and paid several marketing firms to help him out with his website.

Unfortunately, it did not lead to results. Neil had no choice but to learn digital marketing himself.

Over the years, his hard work came to fruition when he started his training program and online courses about digital marketing.

Entrepreneurs and companies avail his lessons and knowledge in hopes that they will increase their revenues and gain more traffic online.

Currently, Neil earns $381,722 a month through his courses!

Forbes recognized Neil as one of the top 10 marketers. Moreover, former president Barack Obama acknowledged him as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs under 30.

4. The Penny Hoarder

$20 million a year

The Penny Hoarder’s story gives a great answer to how much you can make selling online courses. The website had humble beginnings. It started as a one-man blog, created by Kyle Taylor in 2010. Initially, the website’s traffic was inadequate. 

But over the years, it gained popularity and attracted a lot of brands and sponsors. It grew bigger and became one of the largest personal finance websites all over the globe.

The Penny Hoarder aims to help people take control of their finances and make the best and smart choices through its resources, helpful articles, and online courses.

Kyle managed to transform The Penny Hoarder from a simple blog to a 20-million-dollar-a-year website.

Furthermore, for three years in a row, Inc. 500/5000 recognized the website as one of the fastest-growing private media companies.

5. ClickFunnels

$360 million a year

ClickFunnels is a software-as-a-service company that provides a platform for entrepreneurs to build their own website and sales funnel pages.

It is mainly created for those people who do not have the slightest idea about coding, yet still want to create their own website and grow their businesses online.

It was created by Russell Brunson, and like KyleTaylor, he was on his own. The creation of ClickFunnels revolutionized online marketing.

In the early days when the company was launched, it was able to entice 1 million people and became a part of Brunson’s email list and it continues to grow every day!

Currently, it helped thousands of entrepreneurs increase their companies’ revenues. Brunson funded ClickFunnels all by himself and turned it into a 360-million-dollar company, with a whopping estimated revenue of 90 million dollars just from selling online courses!

6. Backlinko

7-figure per year

Brian Dean created Backlinko as a way to share his knowledge about SEO and link building. In case you didn’t know, SEO is one of the most important things to practice to gather more traffic for your blogs and websites, increasing your revenue exponentially.

Brian offers several online courses on effective SEO strategies that will help websites rank higher in search engines than their competitors.

Apart from this, Backlinko caters to YouTube channels that want to grow and have more subscribers.

Similar to the others in this list, Backlinko started with little to no revenue at first. However, over time, diligence and dedication, it grew slowly and became what it is right now!

Backlinko has been featured in several outlets including Forbes and Amazon. Brian earns a seven-figure income from his online course business.

7. Marni Battista

Six-figure a month

Inspired to guide successful women to triumph over their love lives, Marni Battista is renowned in the world of dating and relationship coaching. 

Having dated, married, divorced, dated again, and married AGAIN – Marni has gained more than 25 years of experience with intimate relationships.

She began Dating with Dignity, to help her clients realize their unconscious thought and behavioral patterns and provide advice on how to attract high-quality partners they truly deserve. 

Marni has since taken the lead in the industry as a certified dating and relationship expert – she’s written for print and online magazines holds a weekly web show (The Dating Den) with over 2.6 million views, and published her latest book entitled “Becoming Irresistible.” 

Her online workshops, training, and coaching services bring in six figures a month!

8. Mike Basevic

100K+ monthly

Founder of the No Limits Nation, Mike Basevic is a personal development coach who creates transformational programs to help others break themselves from the cycle of anxiety and depression – having experienced these in the past himself. 

After a crossroads moment, Mike discovered his passion for life coaching and lifting people to their fullest potential. Within two years, he read over 250 books covering behavioral science.

He touched on nearly every book talking about self-help, mental health, and human behavior in general. 

To date, he has written two phenomenal books entitled “No Limits” and “Mastering the Mental Edge: The Class They Don’t Teach You in School,” earns 100K+ monthly from his online programs, and is considered one of the best behavioral coaches in the world.

His most popular online program called “The Anxiety-Free Executive” helps professionals to eliminate their struggles with anxiety, burn-out, and overwhelm at work within 6-8 weeks.

9. Lydia Knight

Estimated five to six-figure monthly income

As a single mom single-handedly opening a business, Lydia Knight is an inspiration to all, but most especially to thousands of women suffering from eating disorders. 

Having recovered from her own painful cycle of binge eating, compulsive exercise, and food restriction, Lydia knew it was possible for others to do the same.

Thus, after gathering much data and feedback over the years, she has perfected her practice through a brain-based, mindfulness approach. 

At her website and Youtube channel, Life with Lydia, she shares her expertise through articles, podcast episodes, and videos. Today, she has enabled hundreds of women to mend their relationship with food and create a lasting change. 

Her award-winning and most well-known package “Beat the Binge” equips clients with a personalized set of lessons and exercises – garnering her several thousands of dollars per client!

10. Brian Aganad

Estimated $1,000,000 in total revenue

Shattering the myth that you could only earn seven figures by teaching business or marketing online, Brian Aganad built your not-so-average business with nothing but handstands and hard work. 

Although he graduated from USC with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he developed an unexpected love for yoga in Santa Monica.

Having uncovered his life’s purpose as a yoga instructor, he founded the Asana Academy, a resource to enlighten others with his knowledge and practice  – no matter what your skill level may be. 

With $5000 programs, he specializes in improving client’s posture, fitness, core strength, and the health of their spines in just 4-6 months.

From earning nothing in months initially, his business has since hit $1,000,000 in revenue!

11. Smart Passive Income

$50,000 per month

Smart Passive Income, SPI for short, delivers one of the best courses on essential online business know-how. 

Pat Flynn, SPI’s founder, has transformed their community of internet-savvy entrepreneurs through their flagship courses covering topics like building a brand, launching an online business, setting up a podcast, and affiliate marketing.

Better yet, Pat is quite transparent about his working hours and income – in hopes that his subscribers may learn something from him. 

As his recent reports show, SPI earns up to $50,000 on courses alone!

12. It’s A Lovely Life

Six to seven figures per year

Life is too short to stay in just one place or country. The Reese family is definitely dedicated to their traveling endeavors. They claim to take 150+ family vacations per year and then write about their experiences. 

The matriarch of the family, Heather Delaney Reese started the website, It’s A Lovely Life! In 2000 through Yahoo group emails.

Eventually, her husband, Pete Reese, and their daughters, Emily, Ashley, and Maddie also started contributing to making content on their website. 

They earn six to seven figures per year through their blogs showcasing their travel and every aspect of it. They also offer blogging courses about starting a professional travel blog from creating ideas and writing to formatting the site. 

13. Making Sense Of Cents

$100,000 per month

Finance is a complicated thing because one misstep can lead you to a never-ending debt and loss. Luckily, there are certain ways to alleviate this problem, such as learning through blogs like Making Sense of Cents. 

Michelle owns the blog which she created through her experiences as a business college student. She simultaneously wrote blogs about her finances and continued her studies and she was able to pay off her student loans amounting to $38,000 in just 7 months. 

Being a former financial analyst helped her add value to her blogs, which earned countless awards and recognitions. Aside from these, she also reaps a whopping $100,000 per month. 

Her content talks about her journey as a business student who started blogging to pay her debts. And now, he is expanding on more broad topics about handling finances, so it is very relatable to many. 

14. Melyssa Griffin

$100, 000 – $300,000 per month

Melyssa Griffin believes that the main driver of a profitable and successful business is the one running it himself or herself. In her self-named blog, she discusses how to make the best out of one’s business so the leader behind it can also experience the best things in life. 

She describes her online course as a digital MBA without any underlying loans. She provides resources, tools, and lessons that help entrepreneurs revive their business and lead it to a clearer path. 

She makes about $100, 000 – $300,000 per month, which is more than enough to cover her expenses and to live her life abundantly, which is one of the reasons why she pushes through her blogs. 

15. David Newman

Six-seven figures per year

David Newman is a Certified Speaking Professional and the head of Do It Marketing. This specializes in smart marketing strategies that are key to driving businesses into recognition and long-term success. 

He provides services in the forms of training, seminars, coaching, books, and more. He teaches not just the words to say, but how to say them in a way that creates actionable information. 

His engagements with smart speakers let his business earn 6 – 7 figures per year. 

16. Aaron Ward

$80,000 per year

Most people who decided to venture into the online business world were motivated to do so because they were not satisfied with their day jobs.

One of them is Aaron Ward who didn’t want to climb the corporate ladder so he made his own ladder in the online world. 

He started by selling dog accessories online and to make it work, he studied the mechanics of online selling. Eventually, he went on to sell online courses instead so he can impart the knowledge he gained throughout his journey. 

His online courses are focused on Instagram growth, launching online courses, and making custom landing pages. He earns about $80,000 per year with this business. 

Aaron strives to turn online entrepreneurs into experts of their businesses so they can see it flourish. 

17. Violet Lange

$45,000 monthly

For everyone who has a hard time looking for their significant other, Violet Lange’s got you covered. She is an expert on dating and relationships and she empowers women to become their best so they can find a partner with whom they can build a lasting relationship. 

Her blogs are filled with meaning and lessons that reach strong women so they feel appreciative about themselves. She further believes that in love, there are heartbreaks, healing, and discoveries that women ought to uphold to find a better chance at finding the one. 

She earns an average of $45,000 every month, which got her out of debt from the aftermath of being a Harvard student and starting her family. 

Factors That Affect How Much You Can Make Selling Courses

• Course Price: To truly maximize your earnings on selling online courses, you must make sure to provide high-quality and higher-priced courses, instead of cheap ones that will easily attract customers, but require a high volume to get a decent income. Besides, people do not hesitate to pay for courses priced at a hundred dollars or more when they know that it will be worth it.
• Quality of Course: The price of your online courses should complement their quality because as an instructor, you should make sure that your students and clients get what they deserve. Furthermore, you need to keep in mind that in order to create a high-quality course, you must put work into it, such as being engaging to your community will help in building your business and reputation.
• Brand Recognition and Level of Expertise: People tend to avail online courses from people who know what they are talking about. In short, if you are popular and known for being an expert in a certain field, customers would trust you, therefore, more willing to sign up to your courses.
• Market Size and Competition: One thing to consider in selling online courses is your market size and competition because ideally, you do not want to have a lot of competitors who offer products and services. I would recommend finding a market that has a fair amount of people interested in it or a niche that matches your interests because it would make you even more motivated to find success.
• Your Audience’s Income: How much your clients are willing to spend money on your online course also depends on their income. Selling an expensive online course in which its target audience does not have access to that kind of money, will not lead you to earn a good revenue.

Conclusion

There you have 17 good examples of how much you make selling online courses! Always remember that success never happens overnight. You need to invest time and effort.

So what do you think? Are you up to the challenge and achieve your life-long dream? Leave your thoughts down below!