Build Income Stability by Adding Online Courses to Your Craft Business
Lyric Kinard Kinard 
Craft business owners should consider adding online courses into their business models, to extend reach, share the joy of the craft, and expand income
Have you ever taken an online course to learn a new craft or deepen your knowledge of an existing skill? If so, you know that online courses offer opportunities for students to connect with teachers anywhere in the world.
As a knowledgeable craft professional, have you considered offering a course of your own? There are a ton of great reasons to pursue this option: adding an online course to your business model allows you to extend your reach, share the joy of your craft, and expand your income opportunities. In this post, we delve into more detail about the benefits of adding an online course to your business.
Extend your Craft Business’s Reach
You already know the subject matter; you’re an expert in your craft. You’ve been doing this long enough to know what the trickiest points are. You may already be a teacher; maybe you partner with a local quilt shop, yarn shop, community center, or other organization to offer in-person classes. You do all this because you love sharing your craft with others.
However, in-person teaching is limited by your time, the capacity of the spaces in which you teach, and the need for students to see up-close demonstrations of detailed skills and techniques. An online course is the logical next step. While it would be tough to teach an embroidery class to a lecture hall of 500 students, an unlimited number of students can attend your on-demand course, where you include up-close shots of detailed or complicated steps. This is your opportunity to connect to new people anywhere in the world.
Financial Security through Multiple Income Streams
While sharing your craft through teaching is a way to share your joy in your creative practice, it’s also a move toward financial security. A secure and sustainable business model includes multiple revenue streams. If you’re currently earning income by teaching in-person classes, then you see the direct relationship between your time spent and your money earned, but of course that revenue stream is limited by capacity.
Once you create your course and make it available, you’ve added another revenue stream without having to commit any more of your time. Once the course is available, it’s a source of passive income with virtually no additional time on your part.
Scale your Craft Business on Your Terms
Another appeal of building a library of on-demand courses is that you can scale your business over time. Start with a short course leading students to create a small project- it could be as straightforward as one video session that includes a few PDFs for instructions and patterns.
A few examples of great first courses include: Create a paper pieced quilt block for a throw pillow, embroider a holiday ornament, knit a headband, or crochet a cute amigurumi critter.
As you release your first course, you’ll begin to get feedback from students that you can factor into your future planning. What interests them most? What questions do they ask? The answers to these questions can be the basis for your second course on a slightly larger or more detailed project. Add one course at a time and eventually you’ll have a library that loyal students can explore over time.
Next Steps
If you’re committed to expanding your business with an on-demand course online courses, the Academy for Virtual Teaching has a wealth of resources to help you get started.
Virtual Teaching 101: our free multi-day workshop includes recorded lessons and live coaching sessions to help you map out your course creation plan. (Our next Virtual Teaching 101 starts August 26, 2024- learn more here.)
AVT also offers free memberships, a Video Making Crash Course, and a Masterclass for those committed to putting their teaching dreams into action.
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