What they DON'T tell you about Skillshare

[@dameanvil]

00:01 🤔 Skillshare may not promote courses from lesser-known creators, focusing more on celebrities. 00:27 📉 Skillshare offers low payment rates, about $0.05 per minute watched, which can be less than other platforms. 01:16 📊 After four years on Skillshare, the creator earned around $40 per month from their courses. 01:55 📚 "The Lean Startup" taught the creator the importance of rapid feedback and iteration for success. 02:48 👨‍🎓 Skillshare provided valuable market feedback through its large user base, aiding course improvements. 03:57 🏷️ Skillshare operates like an "all-you-can-eat buffet," leading users to consume content without much engagement. 05:22 💸 Skillshare's low pay rate and lack of substantial earnings led the creator to leave the platform. 05:44 📉 The creator's summary highlights low student engagement, low earnings, and the use of Skillshare mainly for feedback. 06:42 🚀 New course creators should use Skillshare for initial feedback but consider moving to self-hosting for better earnings and control.

[@akeemhimself]

I took a chance on it. Got a 50% off deal for the new year so it was worth a shot but I completely agree that some of the videos on KZbin are far more helpful with way more detail and usually a more engaging production for me. Some of the courses are 30 minutes long but in reality it's a 5 minute KZbin video. Now seeing how much you earn as a teacher I understand why

[@DaveSoltura]

Love how honest you were with this. I already own self-hosted courses, but just haven't built the following. Skillshare seemed to be the shortcut, but you got me when you mentioned that course creators themselves have to be "big" already, I realized it wasn't for me. Though, I'm considering creating tiers of "skillshare level" courses, that I otherwise would've made free anyway, and put it there. Then higher level courses could be self-hosted.

[@Ukeloverdarsh]

The way you showed your learning from feedback is amazing. I think that’s how we must view life itself. 😃

[@RuedRiisCom]

I couldn't agree more. Thanks for your input.

[@jonathanellis5811]

Agreed. The difficulty is getting people to actually give you feedback.

[@jegerslvjegers5380]

@@RuedRiisCom "Logically answered" made a better video about Skillshare, because showed much more the bigger picture from both sides. 1 person's exp can be written down as an exception, but trends are much more difficult to deny.

[@sebastianshine4262]

subbed cause you seem very authentic and thoughtful

[@RuedRiisCom]

Thanks - I try to be :)

[@thingsthatmakemego-ooh]

Thank you for this video. I dislike businesses that exploit individuals, so pleased you've done what works for you, and pleased I came across you before I signed up with skillshare. Thank you KZbin algorithm 😊

[@RuedRiisCom]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TomFroese]

Hey Rued, I enjoyed hearing your point of view. I'm a Top Teacher on Skillshare, but I don't have huge followings - or at least I didn't until I started teaching on Skillshare. I think you might be being a *bit* cynical. Since SK started the Staff Pick program, I have launched 7 classes, and all of them have become Staff Picks. I POUR my heart into my classes. I spend hundreds of hours into planning and writing my classes, and many more hours editing - or I spend thousands of dollars to have them produced by a professional video company. What I'm saying is that sometimes the problem isn't the platform's fault. I understand that pouring your heart into a class and not seeing returns for it (40$/month is not very motivating, I agree) is very discouraging. And moving to where you feel appreciated is probably a good idea. But I don't think Skillshare hides great classes by new teachers on account of their non-celebrity status. It's just not the case. What they want is classes by people who are good at what they do (they have expertise), who can teach, and whose skills are in current demand. I have not seen your classes, but I can see you are obviously a good communicator and I'd bet you could put together a great class. If you want some insider tips from a top teacher, let me know. ;)

[@sarahgartner253]

Hello Tom, yea pls - id love some insider tips 😎🙏🏾💛

[@zrod6348]

How do you know you don’t need tips from him? Lol

[@zrod6348]

Just saying KZbin teachers are better than Skillshare teachers

[@jeng5591]

Hi Tom, thanks for your comment, food for thought. I wonder if success in Skillshare is also knowing what people want to learn on this platform. It seems that there's a lot of illustration/graphic designers who are adding to their skills with the new technology, for example. As far as celebrity status on Instagram, you may not think you're a celeb but I think having 31,000 followers is a big thing. In the Skillshare teacher application they ask for a website or instagram or online video even before you've made a class. How to start from ground zero?

[@green_bicycle]

I have seen teachers on skillshare who are also artists with strong followings have their classes removed because of the skillshare algorithm, it is claimed to be based on views and teachers are being notified with a threatening e-mail that says the content is not their own because the AI flagged them. Skillshare is not entirely transparent, they provide guides and links to their policies but you are on your own. Some teachers do have their content put back up only to have the same thing happen repeatedly. It makes you think that it is not good quality or they are not attracting the right users, or maybe they aren't talented. I have seen amazing artists with huge followings have their classes removed without warning and they are sent an e-mail that accuses them of fraud or that the content is not theirs, and the accusations do not match up. The e-mail they send is a low-res j-peg copy of a template they use internally for everyone. Like Etsy, Skillshare has a look and feel and a format they want to follow and it limits the free expression of artists. They need teachers who will make money for the platform so they do prefer you to have a following because they will search you online (they use third parties for data capture) to see this as well, you are representing them and if you are independent forget it, Skillshare uses your content to market itself. Similarly, the platform fishbowl does the same thing, they want you to have a specific type of job title for the industries they promote, I.e: Art director at Ogilvy, Nurse at Mount Sinai, etc. then your content or what you write is used on job boards on top of the reviews, Glassdoor now uses them but it's usually not authorized by the person who wrote the piece, it's taken from the fishbowl forums. If you are a private person who avoids SEO their AI can't match you and it will reject you so that is how it works, yes it does base it on having a following or a way for the platform to make money from you, you are a personal brand for them. When you create a class it immediately goes live and there is no formal review process, it gets "reviewed" by their system but not in the formal sense, u-demy does in fact provided a formal review of your content and will give you feedback before going live...so skillshare sets you up to fail in a lot of ways.

[@Uneducatedopinion57]

Honestly all the information on new topics can easily be found on KZbin , also it gets updated faster The only issue with KZbin is lack of moderation, if you don’t know about the topic you want to learn it’s difficult to know whether what you are watching is useful or useless Few ways of overcoming that problem is to read the comments before the video starts and sort by newest and if they are mostly positive or engaging usually it’s a good sign Also smaller creators make better videos compared to larger ones imo and also they don’t want to appeal to the lowest common denominator

[@paoworkfromhome]

Facts

[@jonathanellis5811]

Skillshare student here. I've only completed one course. There were pros and cons. One of the pros is that there doesn't seem to be a fixation with holding attention. YT educational content tries to either provide the bullet points in a sub-five minute video, or they go into a slightly more detailed video at mere seconds over a ten minute limit, OR they go into a largely unedited stream of consciousness 80+ minute long disorganized mess. If you're lucky, you'll find a playlist of videos with no regard for the time limit. Skill share seems to address this issue. The platform is geared for education, not entertainment like with KZbin. That said, the single course I've watched so far was taught in a disorganized way by someone who knows less about the program than me... this was disheartening. So in some ways, KZbin is better, and other ways, SkillShare is better. I was hoping for the detailed layouts that skillshare delivers. I got that. I was also hoping for secret troves of hidden knowledge - or perhaps just instruction brought by successful professionals in their field. So far I haven't really gotten that. I came here to better understand Skillshare; maybe figure out what I should know before I begin, what pitfalls and trends to avoid, etc. I did not find that. This video was nearly 95% teaching related and only about 5% learning related... and what was given was merely personal experience. I'm only bringing this up because you mentioned the feedback loop. One more thing: I still don't know what it means to self-host. Phenomenal video, though I have no clue what you teach here.

[@michalthemichal3550]

Self hosted means you aren't relying on someone to have your courses on their platform (i.e. Skillshare or Udemy), but you have it on your own platform, like a personal website. Hope this helps!

[@cook-music]

Increasing the difficulty will be good for some students, but bad for other in my experience. It's a tough balance, so I often do 101, 201, and 301 courses on a subject if the topic is dense enough. Great video, thanks for posting this.

[@shahidhassanboni3555]

I was thinking to start as a teacher on skill share. and you completely changed my mind

[@RuedRiisCom]

You should at least consider these pros and cons :)

[@creativibes]

Make the iteration loop as fast as you can is a major KEY for any product! The 1st 100 subs will have an early bird access to my next product - stay tuned!

[@yoyosingh1088]

What I've learnt from this video. Skillshare is the best course testing sandbox

[@RuedRiisCom]

A good take away, yes!

[@Ac3Kali]

your video was astonishing nice edits and great if not excellent quality on the audio good job mate!

[@RuedRiisCom]

Thank you!

[@starbird14]

I have been exploring skillshare for a while now, and I am having trouble finding high quality content. Additionally the range of topics seem very limited. Seems like I need to cancel before the trial ends and I am charged.

[@PhotoReactionVideos]

Another fantastic episode Rued! Thank you for putting this together.

[@drewprof]

True. I went through the same iteration and experienced the same results.

[@LoffysDomain]

Another great video. Thanks! I'm not sure, but _Gumroad_ has a similar system of not making your course searchable on their platform unless you live up to some criteria.

[@kentlofgren-svenska]

Fresh video from Rued! As a custom mapper (for online games) I know that it's a BIG risk to spend a lot of time on _that perfect map_ only to find out that players don't like it ;-) So, I agree with the fast-feedback-loop idea!

[@RuedRiisCom]

Yes, I've looked into it as well. Many good options for self-hosting out there :)

[@artisfire]

They are also notorious for continuing to charge you after you cancel and refusing refunds. I cancelled 3 yrs ago, and just found out they've been charging me all that time, no notice, no receipts, just a sneaky credit card charge once a year. And I'm not the only one, I found hundreds of similar complaints of Skillshare fraud.

[@hadenfirlej97]

great video, clear, funny , to the point keep creating

[@cristoff3]

Loved this, Educational and entertaining. I feel you have saved me weeks wasting time on starting with skill share. What 3 ways would you recommend for someone who really wants to build up some (relatively simple) income streams?

[@RuedRiisCom]

Amazing to hear that - thanks! 1. Get good at/excited about something 2. Start creating solid content about it 3. Offer coaching/consulting on the subject In time you’ll learn what course to create, and then you work on promoting that course.

[@jeng5591]

In the Skillshare teacher application they ask for a website or instagram or online video even before you've made a class. How to start from ground zero?

[@daianasanzo8301]

i come here to see a review and felt in love of this boy so intelligent Smart and Handsome!!

[@Mubashirnazar0]

Hello sir my courses doing well on Udemy but when I tried to upload them on Skillshare after 24 or 48 hours these are closed. any trick to solve this issue or any other platform to sell online courses, Thanks sir waiting for your responses

[@gauravnegi7251]

Thanks for providing Real experience 👏

[@RuedRiisCom]

You're very welcome :)

[@amitkumar3dart]

You are 100 percent correct bro. I published my first course, and due to no social followers, I course have zero student. If you have suggestion for me what to do please give your suggestion. I will be thankful.

[@designwithdaniel]

LOL, Nail on the head in the first 8 seconds. Good job!

[@AgilePies]

Excellent video! Nice visualization 👍🏼

[@lutherlutes7568]

Thanks, I was attempting to find out the monthly $ for skillshare which was not in opening feed. Way too much for my social insecurity budget!

[@RuedRiisCom]

Yeah, it's not really worth the time it takes to earn real money. Better to establish your own channels, generate your own traffic, and host your own products-claiming the full payment for them.

[@bluedenim5979]

It's very funny. I actually had to start hiding my content from SEO's now because I had problems with people copying my work and when I tried to teach on skill-share they couldn't find anything out about me so they closed my class. That is my guess, they said it was fraudulent because their AI couldn't match it with anything LOL.

[@RuedRiisCom]

Don’t worry about copiers. Be yourself, unique, and you will always be one step ahead.

[@Rainson_Entrepreneur]

Such high quality content A+

[@RuedRiisCom]

Thank you so much ! 🙏🏻

[@willieclark2256]

‘We want to make education accessible to all people, by putting it behind a paywall higher than the premium version of our inarguably superior competitor’

[@sandiegochocolatefountains]

Wow… Awesome video! Thank you so much for sharing this great information. I have a question for you please… When you say “move it to your own website“ how is that possible? Is there a particular platform that I should use in order to make this happen? I didn’t know that I could run a video class on my Google website (is it possible for people to pay for it and then watch a video on a website?) Thanks so much, Laura

[@RuedRiisCom]

You use a course platform of some sort. Don't know about a Google Website, but if you buy a domain then connect it to e.g. Kajabi which is the one I use, you can have your videos, blog posts, email tool, everything on there. Watch this one to learn more about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXXQdZJvr7ylm5o

[@sarsorh]

Thank you for sharing. I have a question do you recommend any other websites to add course with ?

[@querubintreesvideoediting]

Wow! Thank you for that valuable information. I have been in the garments design and production industry for the most part of my career and am now searching for ways to pass on the knowledge.... while earning a bit for my efforts. Keep teaching!

[@prakhars962]

That is little over my monthly PhD stipend.

[@EveWilliamsMusic]

I loved the intro to this video so much in nearly cried.

[@RuedRiisCom]

Haha, happy to hear that you liked the little role play :)

[@fayalyunania]

Awesome video!! What if sb uploading their content to multiple platforms for free and maintain also a self host site that they might spend some more on? 🤔

[@RogerRama-gs6zp]

I love the honesty. That's trustworthy. My first video I watched from you. I'm subscribed. Thanks.

[@soma7891]

They no longer pay per minute watched; I had 1000+ premium minutes viewed, and they send me only $10.

[@Japanese_visually]

Can you permanently remove your course from Skillshare? I.e does the course still belong to the instructor?

[@icecp4279]

Me watching this video: Huh....this is video is really well produced for such a small youtuber. How about you make a video on that? Everything from your camera, room set up and video editing program.

[@RuedRiisCom]

Thanks! I have a whole course on this - called Video Made Simple university: www.ruedriis.com/vms

[@EirikHolan]

How did you self host? Do you use KZbin? Or do you have a course som other place? 😊

[@RuedRiisCom]

I started with Heights, then switched to Kajabi. You can see all the tools I use right here: www.ruedriis.com/resources

[@EirikHolan]

@@RuedRiisCom Thank you! Hope you succeed in your efforts 😊 Also, great video! I’m considering KZbin myself as a part time thing. I know how to make video content, as i study film and TV production in University and i work as an editor for a local company. I’m just a bit worried if the audience is big enough to make a future living out of it, as i want to make videos in my native language (Norwegian) which is an even smaller language than Danish 😂

[@gianni206]

I like the unique cadence in your voice. 4 stars.

[@RathaSochenda]

What a entertaining, informative, and well produced video.

[@RuedRiisCom]

Thank you 🎉 more to come in the future 🤗

[@estherkpetagilely]

Thanks a lot for sharing 💡

[@RuedRiisCom]

You’re welcome 👍🏻

[@sunnytsai101]

Thank you for all the sharing.

[@adolphgracius9996]

But if you think about it, High Quality tend to have high attention... why wouldn't you want to learn from the best?

[@beew290]

I joined skillshare just to see what they had to offer. I did the 30 day trial. 28 days in I tried to cancel the trial as the websites feature would not allow me. I contacted skillshare thru email and was told they would get back to me. They did a day later, telling me they cannot find my account, asked me for info I sent to them. Now their response is I have no active account , but they charged my debit card 165.00. I filed a dispute with my bank and am in the process of filing fraud with the attorney general. I do not recommend this site. If this has happened to me it probably has happened to others. Let alone once again another site with no contact phone number.

[@LucasRafaelDesenhista]

I was thinking on teaching on Skillshare ... but as you showed.. its too little. :( 😭😱

[@RuedRiisCom]

Waaay too little. Host your own courses instead :)

[@Sophia-zk3tw]

if i wanted to learn how to draw where would you recommend ?

[@akeemhimself]

No, search up youtube videos because it's the same information there

[@saragracie5554]

Who to follow on You Tube??

[@thelastnic]

i am trying to cancel my account with no luck so far. it is a nightmare.

[@RuedRiisCom]

Yes, these platforms hold on to our content!

[@LidiaKotlovaPianoStudio]

Thank you so much for this honest video. Loved every second of it

[@realdimaermakov]

Thanks for sharing this, Rued! Thumbs up!

[@Route765]

6:00 that's ironic considering that they only offer annual subscriptions 😂

[@mylittleoasisstudio]

I started publishing classes last year February. After 7 classes, I’m only making $20-40 per month. 😅

[@mslegalista]

I made over $120 last month, but they changed the algorithm. Looks like it'll be about $30-$40 this month. Last month was my highest month. I was on an upward trend until the change this month.

[@mylittleoasisstudio]

@@mslegalista Oh no, that must be shocking to you. Hope it’s just a temporary trend and things will return to normal for you.

[@CORMACtheCRUEL]

Don't quit your day job is the moral of the story boys and girls....

[@ArtandAlgorithms]

‘’If the bacon tray is empty, they yell at the staff.’’ I’m 😢 and 😂over here thinking of ways to get my team to use LinkedIn learning more effectively.

[@brimstoneclub]

Thank you sir!

[@JB_iAm]

Very useful information. Thank you. Also who is that last content creator @4:52 ???

[@RuedRiisCom]

Kurzgesagt / in a nutshell :)

[@JB_iAm]

@@RuedRiisCom oh... my bad... I meant the 2nd to last content creator @4:52 ???

[@Maanastvm]

@@JB_iAm It is a video of Dr Shini Somara from the channel Crash Course

[@JB_iAm]

@@Maanastvm Thank you so much

[@Maanastvm]

@@JB_iAm Welcome

[@chrismiller5804]

Another great video!!! ❤️ it 😃 that’s: education + entertainment = edutainmet💥😉

[@sindypetronella]

lol nice one

[@rahulagarwal968]

If one of my friend buys Skillshare subscription and watch all my classes , then will it be profitable for me ? I have more than 40 hrs of content. I know this is not the organic way as I am telling my friend to make sure to make all my classes. Will skillshare ban me for doing this ? What happen if my friend rewatch my class again ? Will it be suspicious to the Skillshare platform.

[@RuedRiisCom]

Forget about this immediately - it’s not a viable way. Make quality courses and have people buy it from you. Don’t try to hack these platforms - they’ve seen it all.

[@rahulagarwal968]

@@RuedRiisComOk. I have to focus on creating more good courses. Thank you !

[@green_bicycle]

they may flag it as suspicious, it's part of one of their violations and they aren't nice about it

[@alexgzz7694]

Loved this video

[@Catthepunk]

5:01 Nathaniel Drew!

[@himanshusahu9628]

This is a High quality video.

[@yesyoucandoit2431]

Hi...... I'm from INDIA. SKILLS SHERE IS ONLY ENGLISH LANGUAGE AVAILABLE?

[@bluedenim5979]

No. Depends on the teacher, teachers can also create videos in other languages other than English.

[@smielyface0258]

I’m gonna buy that book :)

[@user-vm5ud4xw6n]

Anyone know how I can cancel skillshare?

[@gudasol]

This isnt true, my girlfriends first course was promoted to front page. My sell art online masterclass has thousands of students there!

[@mscott4376]

i appreciate you! your clearity!

[@ShowUsTruth]

What did you mean by self hosting

[@RuedRiisCom]

By self-hosting, I mean having your course on your own website. You buy a domain, access to a course system of some sort, and then you set up the whole platform on your own territory - as opposed to using Udemy or Skillshare to host and sell your courses. Self-hosting allows you to charge more, but it also requires you to market your courses yourself.

[@ShowUsTruth]

@@RuedRiisCom got it thanks

[@lynnaliya1]

very helpful!

[@joezupko]

I actually learned a lot from this video. Definitely don’t want to waste time on a course no one will enjoy. Also you can probably charge more if your content is better

[@falco5429]

Is skillshare really worth a try?

[@RuedRiisCom]

It's great for market feedback. If you know what you're doing already, I'd say no.

[@JonToons0208]

Cool video

[@RuedRiisCom]

Thanks Jon :)

[@JonToons0208]

@@RuedRiisCom you're welcome

[@Weallgoingtodiesomeday]

keep away , I understand it's in their policy, but how stupid is that to not offer refunds for forgotten subs? This is an awful practice and reinforces me to never use and recommend their service again. I can stomach a $120 loss, but their reputation is dead for me, screw you, Skillshare.

[@Munkaa]

Hahaha, I loved this. It's accurate and fun ... but sadly accurate. Well done. :D

[@RuedRiisCom]

Thank you - warms my heart. I got inspired and did my best to make this work - especially the intro was tricky but fun :)

[@Munkaa]

@@RuedRiisCom I think u did great. It's kind of sad to see how Skillshare goes down that path as you said in the video. But it's a good experience at the end. Just subscribed looking forward to see what u will make. Take care!

[@Avolua]

Amazing!!

[@NeilDuly]

Nice video.

[@TOL42]

skillshare is horrible, got charged $165 several months down the road and i had previously cancled

[@RuedRiisCom]

That does sound pretty horrible..

[@kamydelightsyou6585]

I love your video

[@meivin1624]

and now the monthly subscription costs 50 buckeroos guess making universal education isn't a priority anymore

[@MileHighVibz]

Soooo good!

[@jamacomar4351]

I great teacher I need courses share me clinking

[@charlotteeolsen8397]

Thank youu

[@clapwithonehand9304]

This man is cute. Thanks for the info

[@almenadrawings9611]

❤️❤️

[@RuedRiisCom]

[@Route765]

damn, so you could self host a $10 course and you'd make the same (if not, more) as posting on skillshare 😂

[@ramsaidupati1781]

True :)

[@orie1504]

It's a SCAM. DON'T DO IT.

[@VladyslavKL]

🐋

[@RuedRiisCom]

🐡