If you’re a creator who is serious about turning a profit, you have to invest in yourself.
Chances are, you’re already doing this with software and services. You might be tinkering with Mailchimp or paying for Squarespace.
But you are your own best investment. Equipping yourself with lucrative skills and coveted expertise brings you closer to the creator’s promised land. You know, the place where the profit margins are wide and you’re doing what you love full-time (the dream).
But actually getting there? Well, it can be murky territory.
That’s where online courses come in. Established creators teach you how to master their sought-after talents, giving you a roadmap to success.
The right online course can catapult your business to new levels – minus the confusion or grueling learning curve.
But it can be daunting to spend a sizable amount of cash on an online course.
Which ones are legit? Align best with your business needs? And which skill will take you the furthest – or even be relevant in a few years?
We scoured the internet to uncover the best online courses for creators who are looking to level up. From Web 3.0 to Instagram Reels, there’s a bit of everything here.
But they all hold one thing in common – they’ll get one step closer to the promised land.
1. The Operating System by Justin Welsh
Cost: $150
You wouldn’t usually associate “LinkedIn” with “self-employed creator,” but hear us out.
LinkedIn is evolving from a corporate networking app to favoring content creators. Its “creator-mode” feature means you can easily engage with your audience and establish your online presence. And with over 700 million users, LinkedIn is a bountiful watering hole of qualified leads.
The question is, how do you reach those leads?
Justin Welsh created the ultimate LinkedIn course, The Operating System. It teaches you everything from uncovering your niche, crushing writer’s block, and landing more leads in your inbox.
People rave about The Operating System, citing it as “the best investment they’ve ever made” and “the value is at another level.”
Figures. Justin walks the talk. He’s built a LinkedIn following of 200K and a 1.9M income with no paid ads – and is now teaching you the exact strategies so you can do the same.
2. Pencil Pirates by Laura Evans-Hill
Cost: $199
As a creator, you’re used to converting your unique knowledge into content.
But is it actually resonating with your audience – or even getting the attention of new leads? Turns out, creating illustrations is one of the best ways to communicate your ideas.
A study by Edgar Dale found that when people hear information, there’s a 10% chance they’ll remember it 3 days later. But when the same information is paired with visual elements, this number skyrockets to 65%.
Additionally, content with images gets 94% more total views compared to content without images. Nuts.
Clearly, there’s an incentive to create visual content. “But I don’t know how to draw,” your imposter syndrome quips. Fear not!
Pencil Pirates, a course by Laura Evans-Hill, teaches you the proven frameworks to visualize any idea. The result? A portfolio of atomic visuals ready to share online.
Laura credits her success (building a six-figure business and over $3K in ebook sales) thanks to her atomic visuals. Now that’s compelling stuff. 🎨
3. Instagram Reels Course by Taylor Loren
Cost: $497
Mastering Instagram Reels is a tricky endeavor.
It’s not easy to ideate, film, and edit videos – all while navigating the poignant discomfort of appearing on camera.
But, it is worth pushing through. Instagram has over one billion monthly users, making it abundant with opportunities for audience building, attracting clients, and showcasing your work.
And because Reels are Instagram’s newest feature, posting them is one of the quickest ways to organically grow your following.
Enter The Reels Course, created by Taylor Loren. Taylor’s a social media wizard, having been the past Head of Marketing for Gilrboss. She’s created loads of viral content for brands, with her Reels racking up over 50 million views.
If you’re ready to ditch the imposter syndrome and create binge-worthy videos, this course is for you.
4. Find Your Following by Arvid Kahl
Cost: $49.99
Knowing how to build an audience on Twitter is a superpower.
With over 145 million monthly active users, Twitter is a rich source of opportunities. It has a warm and energetic tech community that’s willing to help validate your ideas and receive your product launches.
Arvid Kahl is a prolific author who harnessed the power of Twitter to launch two books. During the “build-in-public” process he built an audience of over 50,000 people. And in under two years, mind you!
But with over 500 million Tweets sent out a day, it can be difficult to know what’s worth posting. But Arvid’s been around this block – and is now ready to show you how to deal.
In Find Your Following, you’ll learn how to grow an authentic Twitter presence. In the process, you’ll build a loyal audience of people who are actually interested in your work and follow you based on the quality of your thinking.
No hollow growth hacks here. Phew.
5. Build Once, Sell Twice by Jack Butcher
Cost: $297
The key to accruing wealth? Divorcing your time and income.
Because, well, you can only trade so many hours for money before you burnout.
Jack Butcher used to exchange his time for money with his advertising agency. While he was “successful,” he couldn’t scale without sacrificing something. Namely, selling more hours or taking on more work.
He realized the key was to create digital assets that work for you – without you. AKA, packaging your specific knowledge into e-books, courses, and downloadable templates.
Through this method, Jack was able to scale to $1,000,000 a year in digital revenue in less than two years.
And in Build Once, Sell Twice, he teaches you how to do the same.
This is the creator’s playbook for productizing your expertise and services. If you’re looking for a scalable income stream to build wealth, check out Jack’s course.
6. Crypto College by Greg Isenberg
Cost: 0.15 ETH
Web 3.0 will fundamentally alter the creator economy landscape.
With traditional social channels, you’re often at the mercy of an algorithm. One of the main benefits of Web 3.0 is that it isn’t controlled by corporations trying to generate profit.
NFTs, DAOs, and social tokens give creators autonomy and ownership over their work. Yet chances are you’re unsure on what any of those terms actually mean – or how to use them.
Luckily, Greg Isenberg created the ultimate course covering everything crypto. You’ll learn how to create your own NFT projects, design winning social tokens, and more.
These tools are the new building blocks of the creator economy, and are how a creator retains ownership and creative control over their craft.
If you’re eager to join the next generation of content creators, Crypto College is for you.
Can you grow as a creator? Of course!
Reaching the next level as a creator isn’t as easy as clicking “purchase.”
Courses have a completion rate of around 15%. It’s up to you to hang on until the finish line – but even then, your work still isn’t finished. Because as the saying from The Matrix goes:
“There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”
The most critical piece is taking your newfound knowledge and translating it into tangible action. Because what good is a course if you don’t apply what you’ve learned?
We’ve only scratched the surface of all the online courses out there. Every day, hundreds of creators release courses uncovering their invaluable expertise.
Right now, the internet is a goldmine of life-changing knowledge. But it’s your responsibility to take action and treat it as the best school ever created.
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