As someone who is currently building a mini course, I couldn’t agree more. I have also taken expensive courses that were so broad, that they had too much information that became irrelevant. I teach people how to elevate their cooking. In order to learn that, they would have to pay a lot at culinary school or work 50-60 hours a week in a very skilled job for barely over minimum wage. Lots of recipes out there, not a lot on skill development. First course is on how to develop a fine dining dish.
I am so glad you said this! As a professional, I cringe at all the fakes out there trying to compete. But the course sellers promising to teach how to create a course are also to blame. The one claim I hate the most is that you only need to be one step ahead / know a little more. Ugh!
I agree 💯! I’ve been burned by a class that swore they would help solve a problem, then went through all the classes to realize it was just a scam. It’s sad and disappointing. Also reminds me of the MLM recruiters looking to sign up kids to do their bidding. Lol times haven’t changed, only the medium used. It’s cool to see you on your own channel and hear what’s on your mind. Bravo and looking forward to more! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I agree with you for the most part. Only thing I don't totally agree is the part where you say the person teaching has to have achieved X or Y to have the authority to teach. Look at tons of sports and athletic coaches - many of them have never reached the levels of the people they're coaching but their coaching and understanding of their craft is beyond anything one could glean from simply playing the game. And look at athletes - just cause they were successful in performance doesn't necessarily mean they are especially insightful or knowledgeable on how others could be successful in their specific sport. In my experience it's often the contrary - the extremely gifted often get by with less work and less attention to detail than those that are less naturally gifted. Then there's the good ole 'being at the right place at the right time'. Lots of successful people did things that had already been tried (and failed) but external forces outside their control thrust them into a situation where their model happen to fit. They will certainly take the credit saying it was all a work of their mastery and intelligence when it was really just luck (and access to resources). Few of us acknowledge how much luck contributes to our success.
I agree - there are many coaches that are quite good at coaching the skill that the person they're coaching is actually better at. That argument though falls apart with a digital course disseminated @ scale. There's no personalization of the knowledge, there's no actual coaching.
I agree with so much of this. I remember three years ago when a person with a large homesteading channel offered a Growing Gardeners course for the first-time gardener. She said the course "Is not just going to be informative, but also encouraging, as in you can do it, you can garden." I thought, "Folks can get encouragement from your UA-cam videos, if they are going to fork over money they should be getting so much more." I remember your words in one of your previous videos telling us we have to provide VALUE to the viewers in our videos. Those words resonated. Like you said with the herb garden course example. The course should be specific, as in "Do this, then do this, then do this to attain your end goal." Folks are paying for something of value. That one word you used has put the lense of, "Does this have actual value?" on the way I look at everything now from my videos to other people's videos, to the courses they offer. "What is the value of this?" is the first thing I ask now.
@@DixieLivingHomestead I've heard that too...and I am sort of an example, sort of. I spent 40 years as an engineer in companies both large and small. I learned a lot, was successful and advanced up the chain to senior leadership positions but got tired of the daily grind and all of the "overhead" BS that large government-servicing companies force on their employees--foolish training courses that made no difference in our productivity or increased our skills. I bailed and retired. But, I have a lot of knowledge in niche areas of engineering and was hired to teach those skills. Teaching (and developing) these courses, which are online, is fun, doesn't take too much time and pays, though not much. I have no expectation of riches from teaching, but it is rewarding when students actually "get it" and want to go beyond in their learning adventure. WRT creators putting out classes...I see that as the next way to make money. Creators start out doing videos, then they add merch, then they introduce live streams (because I suspect they have much less editing/post-processing) required and then move on to develop classes because, once developed, they produce mostly passive income. If the content is good, I'd have no problem paying for it; the catch is not knowing how valuable or how detailed the content is before you punk down your money.
@@DixieLivingHomestead This statement is an insult to teachers everywhere. Teachers have the skills to do what they teach more often than not. My son would not be a Neurologist without all of the people who taught him how to do it. It takes a great surgeon to teach others how to be a great surgeon. This applies to most teachers in general. Give us the data to support your claim that those who can’t - teach. Without teachers it would be much more difficult to uplevel our lives. What an insult! Where would YOU be if you had never gone to school? I owe MUCH of my life to all those who have taught me - online, in books or in the classroom. My family also has teachers in it and they put up with a TON of bull crud to teach your children for not much reward. IMO, you owe them an apology, Ms.Dixie Chick! ☹️
I completely agree with you! MONEY! Courses that are worthy of your money are the ones that actually add value and solves a problem. Love this type of content.
I bought a $400 UA-cam growth course recently. There were definitely some golden nuggets in there, but only a few! Thankfully they had given an outline and description of each video module on the sales page so they were upfront. It was a lot of information that they already had in 2-3 videos on their channel. Then I needed help with mastering a color correction software and got totally scammed on a coaching call. 🤦🏼♂️ Lessons learned. Great points!
After buying a ton of courses, the one person I don’t trust is Peter Sage. He is the biggest blow hard windbag with the most charisma. His ‘course’ felt like a fake shell game only created to push you into private coaching for a gazillion dollars. It was such a racket & when I kept saying’No’ the aggressive calls and texts persisted. After analyzing my detailed notes on his course it was clear it was almost 100% worthless. I don’t trust him and would never give him another penny. 🤮
Finally, someone who said the truth out loud. The only thing I look on UA-cam for is how to fix , grow, and learn for free things I want to sew. Which i am a fast learner and that is how I learn to sew. For free. Now I have to learn my Gardening for free😉❤ thank you Kevin. Keep us the great advice, rants😉
Oh boy! You are so right! I've been suckered into courses and I would say 90 % of them were all about the $$$. The only courses that I think work are instructional, like learning to draw. Maybe you won't be an artist at the end, but you'll have the steps to draw. These other courses out there saying you'll get 1,000,000 followers if you take this course is well.... bs.
I don't pay for courses unless it's really specialized knowledge I need in the short-term. I learned from buying craftsy courses I never watched way back in the day that it's not worth spending the money. Even then, only if I can't find UA-cam, a blog, a book, or some other resource first.
I find with some courses that the real benefit is their Facebook or other similar group. The information they give is easily accessible in other places, but the connections from the course group are certainly valuable in their way, the most often not as valuable as the costs of the course.
Hi Kevin, Ty for another great video! It seems like most successful channels have “hosts” with that “It” factor (something cannot be taught). You have it! And you tell stories well! I was watching one of these course videos, and it was so tempting based on what it was promising. I even checked out the price. Before purchasing it, I decided to check the comment section. I noticed patterns. The channel would only respond to short and concise positive compliments, but offered no responses to comments with questions and no responses to comments that were meaningful and thoughtful in observation. The “likes” under certain comments were suspicious too. So that was all a red flag for me. For others reading this, please go through the comment section first before buying anything; it may help guide your decision in the right path.
Those guaranteed results are why I stopped working on the idea I had for one. All the concepts are simple enough, but they have to be able to deal with people and get people on board with the collaboration..... and I couldnt figure out how to make that a for sure because its been the biggest issue Ive had. I have the HR skills to get people on board once they want to join, Ive only failed 2 or 3 times in 3 years, but getting people to the point they want to join or lots of outside viewers from small creators is difficult.
@@kevinmespiritu well thank you for the video! I had been feeling bad that I hadn't finished it, but couldn't really enunciate why, and you just hit the nail on the head.
I wish I held half the knowledge you do! Your musings are always a treat, and I love your note about determinism. Throwing a little philosophy in there 😁
I forked over a TON of money to finish my college degree. First time it was on my Asian parents tab. The end result was the part I paid for was specific to what I wanted to do at the time. Well, I gave screenwriting a shot and do not regret getting the degree. FYI did not sell a single script. Second or maybe third time the courses were as you said an A to Z type course with lots of info but it was up to you to put it to work. No instant “start your own business and start making money now.” Been there, done that. What I got out of all that is you have to know before the course your specific goal before buying into it or finding a mentor willing to help you or at least point you in the right direction.😊
I haven't purchased any courses that were being sold by the social media world, but this is interesting for me to reflect on. I am always interested to teach people in person, so many different things I have learned over my lifetime. Automotive repair, welding, gardening, wood working, appliance and home maintenance, etc. In each of these lessons I try to teach somebody, I always realize about halfway through it, it requires a vast amount of knowledge in other things that I just assumed people knew. This may actually help me put a plan together, and to break up my lessons in to easier to consume bits so have a guaranteed result. Kevin's course: How to a better teacher for $Free.99. Thanks!
Love these rants and I totally agree. Some great courses out there but many are highly questionable. Recently came across a course targeting folks with little practical experience who are wanting to be a consultant in whatever field they’re looking to get into. Basically said “you don’t need to be an expert as long as you live/look the part of a professional and are willing to say you’re qualified… we’re gonna teach you how we faked it til we made it so you can find clients”. Like what?! So many wrongs here.
Its like college vs courses. College is just a big course that usually cost more money. Getting a job isnt guaranteed because you go to college. Yet college still exists. Some Professors teach you how to run a business but many of them haven't ran a business. Does that make them less qualified?
I agree that there are a lot of course sellers out there and most of the courses are bs. It just seems to be the natural progression of how you can monetize your audience. Although, I do think that some people can benefit from a sort of "coach", someone that does have some experience and knowledge that they can share. Even if they are not a pro themselves. It's kind of motivation and maybe helping someone get started but then that person starts to progress on their own. Of course, it all depends on the credibility, price and promise of the course. Also, yes, you do wonder why people are selling courses instead of doing that thing and making the money there, but it may be that courses are just an easy way to make money. As they say, in a gold rush, sell shovels. Cheers and thank you for the video.
Can we mention names? :) *cough* think media *cough cough*. And the gaslighting from their followers when you question anything- a big push to hustle hustle and it'll work out and if it doesn't, well you didn't try hard enough and weren't committed.
I’m so trained to expect all influencers to sell a course, I kinda assumed you were doing your own channel about business to establish yourself as an expert to…sell us a course. 😂 The internet has broken my brain.
I must have great luck because I've taken a bunch and gotten tons of value out of them. One wasn't good and another turned out to be good, but stuff I already knew & both gave me refunds. Maybe I'm good at recognizing nonsense ahead of time
Kevin, love your content and everything you talk about :) Respectfully, on camera at least, please do not wear this shirt again - the shimmer was a bit much as you organically move around (and me watching on a TV didnt help me) - no hate, just sharing honest feedback from my side
As someone who is currently building a mini course, I couldn’t agree more. I have also taken expensive courses that were so broad, that they had too much information that became irrelevant. I teach people how to elevate their cooking. In order to learn that, they would have to pay a lot at culinary school or work 50-60 hours a week in a very skilled job for barely over minimum wage. Lots of recipes out there, not a lot on skill development. First course is on how to develop a fine dining dish.
Awesome, that sounds like a good specific topic!
@@kevinmespirituhow can i send you a business idea
I totally agree 100%, Kevin. I see so many selling online classes and always wonder about the level of expertise in these fields.
Surprise surprise, it's shockingly low
I am so glad you said this! As a professional, I cringe at all the fakes out there trying to compete. But the course sellers promising to teach how to create a course are also to blame. The one claim I hate the most is that you only need to be one step ahead / know a little more. Ugh!
Course about how to sell a course is comical hahaah
@@kevinmespirituand there are so so many of these - the “I make 10 million per year” folks are all selling courses on courses. (Or on launching)
I agree 💯! I’ve been burned by a class that swore they would help solve a problem, then went through all the classes to realize it was just a scam. It’s sad and disappointing. Also reminds me of the MLM recruiters looking to sign up kids to do their bidding. Lol times haven’t changed, only the medium used.
It’s cool to see you on your own channel and hear what’s on your mind. Bravo and looking forward to more! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Yeah, to me, it’s one of the lowest types of business you can run!
KE is the BEST for sharing the behind the scenes.
I agree with you for the most part. Only thing I don't totally agree is the part where you say the person teaching has to have achieved X or Y to have the authority to teach. Look at tons of sports and athletic coaches - many of them have never reached the levels of the people they're coaching but their coaching and understanding of their craft is beyond anything one could glean from simply playing the game. And look at athletes - just cause they were successful in performance doesn't necessarily mean they are especially insightful or knowledgeable on how others could be successful in their specific sport. In my experience it's often the contrary - the extremely gifted often get by with less work and less attention to detail than those that are less naturally gifted.
Then there's the good ole 'being at the right place at the right time'. Lots of successful people did things that had already been tried (and failed) but external forces outside their control thrust them into a situation where their model happen to fit. They will certainly take the credit saying it was all a work of their mastery and intelligence when it was really just luck (and access to resources). Few of us acknowledge how much luck contributes to our success.
I agree - there are many coaches that are quite good at coaching the skill that the person they're coaching is actually better at. That argument though falls apart with a digital course disseminated @ scale. There's no personalization of the knowledge, there's no actual coaching.
I agree with so much of this. I remember three years ago when a person with a large homesteading channel offered a Growing Gardeners course for the first-time gardener. She said the course "Is not just going to be informative, but also encouraging, as in you can do it, you can garden." I thought, "Folks can get encouragement from your UA-cam videos, if they are going to fork over money they should be getting so much more." I remember your words in one of your previous videos telling us we have to provide VALUE to the viewers in our videos. Those words resonated. Like you said with the herb garden course example. The course should be specific, as in "Do this, then do this, then do this to attain your end goal." Folks are paying for something of value. That one word you used has put the lense of, "Does this have actual value?" on the way I look at everything now from my videos to other people's videos, to the courses they offer. "What is the value of this?" is the first thing I ask now.
LOL paying for "encouragement" is a total snake oil thing, wow
Yes, I have often heard it said,;"Those who can do; those who can't, teach." Definitely some truth to that.
@@DixieLivingHomestead I've heard that too...and I am sort of an example, sort of. I spent 40 years as an engineer in companies both large and small. I learned a lot, was successful and advanced up the chain to senior leadership positions but got tired of the daily grind and all of the "overhead" BS that large government-servicing companies force on their employees--foolish training courses that made no difference in our productivity or increased our skills. I bailed and retired. But, I have a lot of knowledge in niche areas of engineering and was hired to teach those skills. Teaching (and developing) these courses, which are online, is fun, doesn't take too much time and pays, though not much. I have no expectation of riches from teaching, but it is rewarding when students actually "get it" and want to go beyond in their learning adventure.
WRT creators putting out classes...I see that as the next way to make money. Creators start out doing videos, then they add merch, then they introduce live streams (because I suspect they have much less editing/post-processing) required and then move on to develop classes because, once developed, they produce mostly passive income. If the content is good, I'd have no problem paying for it; the catch is not knowing how valuable or how detailed the content is before you punk down your money.
@@DixieLivingHomestead
This statement is an insult to teachers everywhere.
Teachers have the skills to do what they teach more often than not.
My son would not be a Neurologist without all of the people who taught him how to do it.
It takes a great surgeon to teach others how to be a great surgeon.
This applies to most teachers in general.
Give us the data to support your claim that those who can’t - teach.
Without teachers it would be much more difficult to uplevel our lives.
What an insult!
Where would YOU be if you had never gone to school?
I owe MUCH of my life to all those who have taught me - online, in books or in the classroom.
My family also has teachers in it and they put up with a TON of bull crud to teach your children for not much reward.
IMO, you owe them an apology, Ms.Dixie Chick!
☹️
I completely agree with you! MONEY! Courses that are worthy of your money are the ones that actually add value and solves a problem. Love this type of content.
Love to hear it!
Abrupt ending - I thought the video got cut off at first
Ended on a bang
Ended on a bang
Dude you nailed it. Especially in the homesteading realm. They're vultures.
There are a ton of them aren’t there
I bought a $400 UA-cam growth course recently. There were definitely some golden nuggets in there, but only a few! Thankfully they had given an outline and description of each video module on the sales page so they were upfront. It was a lot of information that they already had in 2-3 videos on their channel. Then I needed help with mastering a color correction software and got totally scammed on a coaching call. 🤦🏼♂️ Lessons learned. Great points!
Sorry to hear this!
After buying a ton of courses, the one person I don’t trust is Peter Sage.
He is the biggest blow hard windbag with the most charisma.
His ‘course’ felt like a fake shell game only created to push you into private coaching for a gazillion dollars.
It was such a racket & when I kept saying’No’ the aggressive calls and texts persisted.
After analyzing my detailed notes on his course it was clear it was almost 100% worthless.
I don’t trust him and would never give him another penny.
🤮
I so appreciate this video. You articulated a lot of feelings I have.
I'm so glad!
Finally, someone who said the truth out loud. The only thing I look on UA-cam for is how to fix , grow, and learn for free things I want to sew. Which i am a fast learner and that is how I learn to sew. For free. Now I have to learn my Gardening for free😉❤ thank you Kevin. Keep us the great advice, rants😉
Hey, we might do a course! But it'll actually get you to a successful specific type of gardening if we do!
@kevinmespiritu
Hey! Remember, if I can get it for free it a better solution to my pocket😉🙃
Oh boy! You are so right! I've been suckered into courses and I would say 90 % of them were all about the $$$. The only courses that I think work are instructional, like learning to draw. Maybe you won't be an artist at the end, but you'll have the steps to draw. These other courses out there saying you'll get 1,000,000 followers if you take this course is well.... bs.
Instructionals are amazing, I agree
Kevin thank you for saying what needs to be said. I have been saying the same thing for awhile now.
Appreciate it!
I don't pay for courses unless it's really specialized knowledge I need in the short-term. I learned from buying craftsy courses I never watched way back in the day that it's not worth spending the money. Even then, only if I can't find UA-cam, a blog, a book, or some other resource first.
Absolutely agree
I find with some courses that the real benefit is their Facebook or other similar group. The information they give is easily accessible in other places, but the connections from the course group are certainly valuable in their way, the most often not as valuable as the costs of the course.
Agree, the community tends to accrue most of the value of any course
Totally agree with this, I have learned way more from the course communities than the course itself.
Hi Kevin,
Ty for another great video! It seems like most successful channels have “hosts” with that “It” factor (something cannot be taught). You have it! And you tell stories well!
I was watching one of these course videos, and it was so tempting based on what it was promising. I even checked out the price.
Before purchasing it, I decided to check the comment section. I noticed patterns. The channel would only respond to short and concise positive compliments, but offered no responses to comments with questions and no responses to comments that were meaningful and thoughtful in observation. The “likes” under certain comments were suspicious too.
So that was all a red flag for me.
For others reading this, please go through the comment section first before buying anything; it may help guide your decision in the right path.
That’s a huge red flag. Glad you didn’t get caught up in it and thanks for the kind words
@@kevinmespiritu yw! I was glad too!
Those guaranteed results are why I stopped working on the idea I had for one. All the concepts are simple enough, but they have to be able to deal with people and get people on board with the collaboration..... and I couldnt figure out how to make that a for sure because its been the biggest issue Ive had. I have the HR skills to get people on board once they want to join, Ive only failed 2 or 3 times in 3 years, but getting people to the point they want to join or lots of outside viewers from small creators is difficult.
It's a tough game!
@@kevinmespiritu well thank you for the video! I had been feeling bad that I hadn't finished it, but couldn't really enunciate why, and you just hit the nail on the head.
I wish I held half the knowledge you do! Your musings are always a treat, and I love your note about determinism. Throwing a little philosophy in there 😁
Thank you :)
I forked over a TON of money to finish my college degree. First time it was on my Asian parents tab. The end result was the part I paid for was specific to what I wanted to do at the time. Well, I gave screenwriting a shot and do not regret getting the degree. FYI did not sell a single script. Second or maybe third time the courses were as you said an A to Z type course with lots of info but it was up to you to put it to work. No instant “start your own business and start making money now.” Been there, done that. What I got out of all that is you have to know before the course your specific goal before buying into it or finding a mentor willing to help you or at least point you in the right direction.😊
Feel you on college! I didn't really use my degree much either!
Great content as always! Appreciate your perspective on this as a creator who one day would like to create a course. 👍
Thx for watching!
Been binging the Colin and Samir channel recently, time for a long form plant daddy sit down!
My boy!!!
Thank you soooooo sooooo much, this was so helpful to me!
I haven't purchased any courses that were being sold by the social media world, but this is interesting for me to reflect on. I am always interested to teach people in person, so many different things I have learned over my lifetime. Automotive repair, welding, gardening, wood working, appliance and home maintenance, etc. In each of these lessons I try to teach somebody, I always realize about halfway through it, it requires a vast amount of knowledge in other things that I just assumed people knew. This may actually help me put a plan together, and to break up my lessons in to easier to consume bits so have a guaranteed result.
Kevin's course: How to a better teacher for $Free.99. Thanks!
Yeah it's crazy how much contextual knowledge you pick up that is hard to convey!
I love these new videos!
Love these rants and I totally agree. Some great courses out there but many are highly questionable.
Recently came across a course targeting folks with little practical experience who are wanting to be a consultant in whatever field they’re looking to get into. Basically said “you don’t need to be an expert as long as you live/look the part of a professional and are willing to say you’re qualified… we’re gonna teach you how we faked it til we made it so you can find clients”. Like what?! So many wrongs here.
The lack of ethic is shocking sometimes...
I am curious to know why you take the otter case off your phone when you are videoing.
So it fits in the tripod mount
Its like college vs courses. College is just a big course that usually cost more money. Getting a job isnt guaranteed because you go to college. Yet college still exists.
Some Professors teach you how to run a business but many of them haven't ran a business. Does that make them less qualified?
Yes, it does
I agree that there are a lot of course sellers out there and most of the courses are bs. It just seems to be the natural progression of how you can monetize your audience.
Although, I do think that some people can benefit from a sort of "coach", someone that does have some experience and knowledge that they can share. Even if they are not a pro themselves.
It's kind of motivation and maybe helping someone get started but then that person starts to progress on their own. Of course, it all depends on the credibility, price and promise of the course.
Also, yes, you do wonder why people are selling courses instead of doing that thing and making the money there, but it may be that courses are just an easy way to make money. As they say, in a gold rush, sell shovels.
Cheers and thank you for the video.
Coaches are def. important - big difference between them and the type of people I'm talking about in this vid
💚💚💚
Good audio! Yay :)
Can we mention names? :) *cough* think media *cough cough*. And the gaslighting from their followers when you question anything- a big push to hustle hustle and it'll work out and if it doesn't, well you didn't try hard enough and weren't committed.
Never taken anything from them, but if so that's unfortunate to hear!
I’m so trained to expect all influencers to sell a course, I kinda assumed you were doing your own channel about business to establish yourself as an expert to…sell us a course. 😂
The internet has broken my brain.
Don't really care to sell a course on this stuff, though I could probably sell a better one than 99% of the people doing it LOL
@@kevinmespiritu I would buy it! 😂😂🤪
I must have great luck because I've taken a bunch and gotten tons of value out of them. One wasn't good and another turned out to be good, but stuff I already knew & both gave me refunds. Maybe I'm good at recognizing nonsense ahead of time
That is awesome!
@@kevinmespiritu Thanks :) Enjoying your inside takes
Kevin, love your content and everything you talk about :) Respectfully, on camera at least, please do not wear this shirt again - the shimmer was a bit much as you organically move around (and me watching on a TV didnt help me) - no hate, just sharing honest feedback from my side
I'll give this a test!
💣
All the people selling courses on how to use AI to create new courses it’s so morally wrong
Kevin, I watch all your videos, and find them very informative. I always find myself thinking that your IQ is over 300!❤
At least 350.
Hahaha, more like 80