I went from $30,000 to $9,000 in monthly skillshare income in what feels like overnight. The cut has been brutal and it has frustrated the lion share of the teaching community on skillshare. I am very active with the skillshare community and most feel totally defeated by the cuts. I am one of those people. I am frustrated as Udemy and other platforms are preforming very well for me still. I am also going to shift gears and focus more on my UA-cam channel and writing books. Perhaps this cut will be good for me to challenge myself more. Making that kind of money on skillshare was a sure way for me to get too comfortable with myself and not push myself to achieve something else. I guess I have to have a positive outlook at it all even though it has added a bit of stress in my future planning. Thank you for sharing and being open with your earnings. It is always refreshing to see this type of honesty and how this is affecting more people than just me. I worry about skillshare a year from now still being alive and well. We shall see and I do hope for the best for everyone.
Oh wow... That's a huuuuge blow. So sorry to hear that. 😔 Love your resilience and positivity. I agree, maybe it's the kick in the pants we need to take action and grow more on our own terms. Thank you for sharing your story here, and I wish the the best! 😊
Diversity in income sources can definitely help when platforms make these kind of shifts. And you are so right, these changes can sometimes give us a moment to reflect more on what changes we need to make. Thanks for sharing.
@@ashleyjeziorski3662 It used to be but things have been changing so much so fast with the pay cuts and lower traffic coming to the site. They might be able to turn this thing around but I am not going to hold my breath. If you are looking for a little side income it might be worth a shot, but I am not sure the same amount of money can be made there than last year for example.
Another SK teacher here. In a matter of 3 months my earnings went from 3000-1500 a month to 300 a month for the same number of minutes watched and students subscribed. I’m moving to another platform
I got a survey monkey email from Skillshare for a 5 question survey. Q1 was how likely to recommend teaching on Skillshare to friends/colleagues. My answer = 0. Q2 was why did you leave that number. Answer was because they showed me in Oct how little they respect the teachers who are working hard to make themselves and Skillshare a success. Another Q was are you planning to create and upload more classes (how many) in the next 6 months. Answer = 0. I was, I nearly finished one, but I'm not now. I really wanted to let them know how I feel about their exciting improvements. I was really excited to make this a worthwhile part of my income, focus and identity. I was enjoying it a lot. Now I feel like a chump, working for chump change. I'll leave my drawing tutorials up until I move them somewhere else. Might be soon, might be not soon. Or they might kick a grumbler like me off, I don't know. Not going to waste my time and energy making more classes for them though. I agree that they are trying to turn us teachers into marketers for them and feel they are turning quickly into a Ponzi/pyramid scheme.
I was actually thinking about getting classes up on Skillshare in 2023, but I definitely won't be doing that now. I'd rather focus on my UA-cam channel, maybe set up a Patreon, update my website, etc. I felt something similar to you, I think, as a student on Skillshare. Both overwhelmed and underwhelmed.
Thank you for the refreshing honesty, as a new skillshare teacher, I see the same 60% result and the same discouragement. I have found them open and willing to work with me thus far, so I hope videos and opinions like yours give them food for thought regarding the direction of the company. Agree though, sharp changes and not great communication, make you wonder if there's more going on behind the scenes too.
Love your transparency, always so refreshing and really useful. Well, they claim they 830,000 members world wide (according to their site) and they charge $32 a month... lets hope their not pulling in $26,560,000 a month and still squeezing the artists. I try not to be cynical, but geez, they have nothing without creative content to sell / share. Thanks for the video.
Keep in mind that they're not charging the same monthly amount everywhere, a lot of countries it's a lot less. They used to take 30% of the monthly revenue and divide it pretty evenly amongst the teachers. That was roughly 3-4 million. Now they have a set amount for teacher revenue, which is about 1 million, so only 10%. Out of this 1 million they take all these bonusses, incentivises and extra's for certain teachers. What's left is divided amongst all the teachers. That's why most teachers have seen a 60% or higher drop in payout. Skillshare takes 90% or more and pay their most valuable assets, teachers, next to nothing. 30% wasn't great, but 10% is just terrible.
@@artbybenjamin Very thoughtful reply. Unfortunately it is hard to imagine a business moving backwards from what appears to be a healthy profit margin. If only there was a system that was collectively owned by the teachers.
Thank you for this thoughtful and honest video! I appreciated your points about how you want to interact with courses as a student--the overwhelm and yearly billing especially, and it's good to hear someone talk about how they would want to interact with a course and move away from the game to something more simple and on their own terms.
I love watching your UA-cam updates over the months as your journey takes turns and grows. It's inspiring to me and I just really appreciate not just your candidness but also your ability to make videos, courses, and to write on Substack. It makes me want to diversify my offerings and income. I was really vulnerable over the summer when several lesson students had to stop around the same time. Realizing that even those things that are small paychecks at first can all contribute to the whole. Thanks Louise & keep doing what you do!
Brilliant - love the sound of your voice, the style of your teaching and your candidness and transparency throughout this video....keep doing you lousie
Thank you so much. Also being a UA-camr, I was thinking about doing a course on Skillshare and your video has "saved the day"! I deeply appreciate this video. Best wishes!
I absolutely agree with you, I also dislike this way of doing business. I did videos about my income on Skillshare in the the first two years and it shows the same changes. I will also not produce more content for them, and I am currently trying to remove a few of my classes - which seems to be a long-term project because we are not able to do it ourselves and their support is non-responsive… 😝
Thanks much , sooo much for sharing this… its today when I thought I must start my painting lessons and should start with skillshare…. But now definitely thinking a lot about it!!!!
Wow, this is exactly how I've been feeling for the last few months! Thanks for making this video. It's so sad - I was so excited to create courses on Skillshare, but as you said, it's not surprising that things aren't changing in favor of teachers.
As a student I've tried skillshare a couple of times with two different mediums and it's frustrating. There's some really good content, but you have to really dig for it. There's also A LOT of very low quality content. I'm not a fan of the annual subscription model or even the monthly subscription. I prefer to out right pay for a class. And of course how they treat creators/ teachers isn't great either. I've moved on to an online art school and I'm much happier. I'm sorry SS isn't working out for you and other teachers, it's not fair, you guys put a lot of work into your classes. You've spent a lot of time and money honing your skills. ❤
I've been a Skillshare teacher for 2 years now. I release 2 classes a month, one on digital art and one on traditional art. Don't think I've ever met another teacher that does 2 classes a month. As you can imagine my stats are a bit different than yours 😉 Yet... I've never been invited to any program by Skillshare. I've never seen a bonus. They never sent me anything special. They never incentivised with anything at all. I don't seem to be egilible for anything at all. All they have done is hassle me with rules that don't exist anywhere. Still I'm staying with them for now, even if they hassle and exclude me from all kinds of things. Thanks for sharing this. Change can be good, but it seems like Skillshare is making contraproductive changes and it definitely doesn't make teachers happy. I'm on Teachable too, but standalone is way harder to get students for, but I keep on going and trying.
I am very disturbed by your experience. I have very much enjoyed my SkillShare classes. I have done your Bird watercolor class and it was very useful 🥰 I will definitely engage with your Facebook page. By the way, your watercolor Birds are what I enjoy and what I will follow. Best wishes to you❣️
Basically every change companies make usually result in less money being paid to "employees". So called restructuring, remodeling, reimagining. Every business entity does it unfortunately, corporate America or content platforms (Skillshare, Twitch, UA-cam, etc). Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thank you so much for this invaluable input. I have paid Skillshare for the past three years, and I am ashamed to say, I use it so very little, and have even found myself being invited via email to teach on the platform, when I haven’t even been brave enough to so much as show a pencil sketch on their platform. Has anyone else been confused by their asking them? I have had a total of three invites (so far), all of which I have simply binned. This simply made me doubt the validity of the current teachers, which is quite obviously an unfair thing to do. It’s difficult to maintain perspective though. What I do know now is that I shall never pay for that platform again. I have paid for several courses using both Teachable and Udemy. Teachable being my preferred site to use. I feel I have benefitted so much more in just over two months, than three years on Skillshare! I wish you the very best luck going forward Louise. 🖌🎨👩🎨❤️
Such a shame and I thank you so much for sharing the reality of what they have done. I have loved and shared Skillshare endlessly since first discovering of it - the gifts of teachers has been profound for my personal creative pursuits and life-changing. Now, I am so disheartened for teachers that are no longer paid adequately. I read a few comments below and to drop from 30,000 to barely 1/3 is absolutely inappropriate and ruins the entire platform.
Sad. But I have a feeling of these things would hapen. I was so excited on my first project back then but I was diacouraged. My class closed in less than 24 hours because of video techniqualities. I tried to motivate myself again but it did not work. This is why I took a step back in every thing I just started online. Now I thought of making fulltime on Homebased Services as before and UA-cam for online.
Thanks for soothing and calm take on cheating and dishonesty of Skillshare. They have clearly ditched their teachers including me and untill they reverse this nonsense, this company is doomed!
thanks for making this transparent. I don‘t like these changes either. Engagement is just another term for „we play the music and you have to dance“ no, thanks.
Hi Louise thanks for this. This is one of the things I've been considering as I've been working out where best to host my first course. I decided against skillshare in the end as I felt that I would have less control over it and my communication with students. Have now gone with Teachable and really enjoying the platform, I'm on the basic plan but thinking about upgrading. I'd love to hear more about your experiences with Teachable. I plan to launch my course in the next month and am excited to see how it goes and build my own school community there.
Så ärligt! Modigt av dig att berätta hur det är att vara konstnär och lärare via företag som har som affärsidé att tjäna pengar på er, och se hur mycket de kan få ut. Kram
Great Video! i stopped teaching on skillshare and Udemy alltogehter, I felt I'm a pawn in thier algorhitmic games..Will probably start self host my courses soon.
Create your own courses via UA-cam. Make the videos unlisted and when students buy your course they can get access to the videos via links. Google classroom is great for developing a 1 to 1 scenario. It does mean you have to market yourself but you will get the majority of the revenue. Avoid all platforms - there whole business model is about squeezing those who supply them. All the tech companies are at it.
I’m so sorry to hear about the drop in income. It just stinks and is unfair. I always thought it is wonderful that we get the opportunity to work with platforms like Skillshare, Patreon, Etsy. But through time I see more and more what the downsides are and it indeed all comes down to trust. For the extra eyes that see courses and products, we lose so much of our autonomy. Etsy also keeps upping their fee and rules regarding shipping, etc. etc. I feel these platforms are sadly mostly working for themselves and the profit, and forget the creatives that really deliver the essence of it all. It would be refreshing to see a company that values the creator above all else and works to make it easier for us to deliver creative content instead of the other way around.
Thanks so much for sharing! Even though I'm a top teacher on Skillshare, the changes have hit me very hard too :( It makes me question a lot whether my work is valued properly. Actually, I do have an answer to that - it isn't :( I'm looking right now into self-hosting options, sigh...
Great video! I'm totally disincentivized by Skillshare's new payment system. My monthly income was reduced by 50-70% and I won't be posting new classes there.😉
My earnings have been cut in half ^^' brutal. Luckily I've had a lot of original art sales the past couple of months, which gives me a little leeway of figuring out what the heck I'm going to do in the coming months. It's frustrating. Right now I'm thinking of just putting the classes on my website and focus on original art selling and commissions. But I don't have the time to think about it as I've got shows to work for. As usual, as a creative I'll just have to adapt somehow >
Thank you Louise. I have just finished putting a course together and was on the cusp on joining Skillshare but your video has completly put me off. I am going to create my own platform and sell my course then though am no businessman and have no idea how i am going to market it. I'll find a way. Thank you!
When a company does this to consistent hardworking teachers then the teachers should leave. Plus when these types of websites are created for teachers then there should be a way (ie union type situation) which can help teachers to fight against the platform that feels they can change up the rules whenever they want knowing for well that teachers wont just leave instead work harder for less. Its not right! Well done for explaining this so clearly. I hope they change the rates so you can earn more again for your time and skills. :)
You are right Louise. Why did they not ask for input from the users and teachers? I remember how I felt creating content for Skillshare and it made me feel like I should not give them too much because it felt like I was being used and exploited. Feeling like that affects my work so I am trying to find other ways to teach online. I was one who had my account removed due to some false accusations. I've been with them since 2012 and it was really great back then but now it's really ugly.
I took a look at skillshare middle of this year both because I was thinking of teaching classes, as well as being interested in taking courses. The courses not being curated and being vastly different in quality put me off it, as well as the "monthly fee" that is, in reality, yearly (honestly feels like scam). I also looked through topics that I'm very confident in, and the filters and tagging was exceptionally bad, (also again, quality is not ensured on this platform) so I cancled pretty fast during my trial period.
dang that really sucks. it's definitely discouraging when a platform that seemed like it wanted to support these amazing online teachers does something like this. I wish you the best and look forward to more UA-cams from u 🤓 still sorry it's been a bummer for u and other skillshare teachers.
Hi Louise, As you said, these online platforms always follow the same pattern, and it's good advice not to rely on them. I think you have a lovely voice and you are so articulate. Perhaps you could start your own podcast or record audio books.
I cancelled my Skillshare just because that I found myself very often to find better content on UA-cam and to me an income reduction by 60-70% are not simply "Buisiness-Development" - that's GREED. And the price is way to high for what I get. Most courses are mediocre at best and the surch functions on the platform are awful. I would have paid the money happily if it would be worth it and if they wouldn't have changed the way teachers are treated that massively. My Money is invested better in my YT Premium and some Patreons.
Great video. You mention at the end of your video about using Skillshare to build an email list. How? We don't have any sort of access to students' emails. We can't even answer reviews, only student projects.
I am a student in Skillshare and I feel there are more courses done by teachers from developing countries. Is it because of this reason the payment has reduced? I am guessing the low payment from Skillshare will be a huge amount for teachers from developing countries. So they are focussing on those teachers more than us. Anyways it’s sad to hear this.
Have to keep in mind that you are using "someone else's platform" means, you are a customer/employee of someone else's business, whose purpose is to make Them money. I know, it's really annoying, but that is as simple as it is. Don't even have to go so far to compare it with MLM, just compare it with any type of Agency that has employees. The agency was not founded "for the employees", it's the founders business and the employees who do the work are means to an end to be able to Scale. Plus, keep in mind, referral systems is simply free/cheap marketing, it's like growth through word of mouth, without YOU having to advertise yourself
It’s so sad to hear it 😢 I had this downshift when Instagram changed its algorithm, a few times again and again. Did you think about starting a Patreon page? It can be overwhelming but at least you can control it better then SkillShare
Thanks for sharing. I was researching them today...and did not feel good about it, right away. What do you think about Udemy? Can you answer a basic question for me please. Do teachers have to pay a yearly fee or any other fee to publish classes?
Hi! Thank you for sharing. Teacher here too. Feeling discouraged as well. Question: any advice on paying the taxes on line in Europe for the earnings on Skillshare. Ya, not sure it’s worth using Skillshare as much anymore…
wow as a newbie doing some research, this is sad to hear, but also I'm thankful you have made this video as a warning. Do skill share let you duplicate and put on UA-cam as well or is it exclusive? I hope they made it clear to their subscribers they are paying you less .... yeah right!
Yes you can put your course on other platforms, and that's what I'm going to do with my class on Storytelling. Right now I'm on UA-cam, Kajabi, Udemy, Teachable. Sounds like I'm not going to pursue Skillshare after watching all of this.
Sure, a business model will adjust and evolve at Skillshare over time, but you would think the model should IMPROVE an instructor's opportunities (without pressures). Very insightful video. So, what platform are using now?
OUff ! This is on many levels an absolute NO-GO. WTF!? Wonder what made them think, that the teachers should be paid by the engagement of their students? Sounds like they have a new guy for new company-structures... What a mistake. I thought starting teaching on skillshare ... but these are obviously not the circumstances I need to give good lessons... Thank you so much for this honest feedback...
Yep, my pay from skillshare dropped drastically. I emailed Skillshare with my concern and all I got is a canned reply that they're improving the experience for everyone... I guess everyone doesn't include course developers. Time to look for another venue to publish my courses.
Im skillshare instructor as well and I went through the same thing even in udemy forums everyone is talking about it, so I stopped putting courses on skillshare, unless I see the price model go up I wont be putting up anymore courses its just going to make your courses go down on other platforms
I’m a bit disappointed. This month I made half what I did before Skillshare recently changed its teacher payment structure. I made half what I did, but actually had more minutes watched than I have ever had.
@@LouiseStigell Yes. Thankfully a few months ago I started using Patreon to list classes. I like it, so I may continue there with a little youtube mixed in. Not sure yet. Working on a game plan for 2023.
you never showed october's revenue. and you were comparing total money not just view revenue. you said its lower, but i didnt see how much lower. was it by half? or 40%? i don't count referrals since that's a different for of revenue on the platform.
The engagement thing is weird to me bc I was leaving a review on every class when I was on there and a pop up came up and discouraged me. Something about “take more classes first” or some weird thing. So I was engaging and they discouraged it. Then pay you based on engagement? That’s shady.
Thank you for this video. I was considering Skillshare, but I'm not sure after this video. I also want to avoid having to create content for engagement. I've had enough of that on Instagram. Do you use the free Teachable version? I'm considering this, but I can't afford the paid version now.
I used the free version when I launched my first course there, to see if there was enough interest from my audience to justidy going paid. And luckily, there was. So now I'm on their Basic plan. 😊
Thanks for sharing, it was very useful! As a Udemy Instructor I was planning to put my courses on Skillshare but after watching your video and hearing such huge changes I don't have any inspiration for putting my courses on Skillshare. Can you suggest any other platforms that we can sell our courses like Udemy?
I think the artists on skillshare should gather and create their own platform where everyone would be an actionary. This platform is not even "good", it is impossible to really search for courses with advanced search. It is just bullshit. And how come they can change the conditions after the artists signed a contract with them ? Hmm....
I know. 😔 You should still do it though. But you can offer it as a standalone purchase too. Or sell via other platforms. You don't have to be Skillshare exclusive. 😊
so I’ve been thinking about whether I want to renew my membership when it comes up in a couple of months. I don’t think I will if most of it goes to some wanna-be Elon instead of the teachers… Thanks for helping me make up my mind 😊
I had a membership for about 2 months so that I could really check the type of content published. While there are definitely some great classes and teachers on Skillshare I didn’t feel it was worth the money. Also my goal was to make money not pay money.
Do you have any interest in trying out a privatized content delivery platform for your students? Let me know as we have a solution that may be a good fit for you! This would likely eliminate the issues you're expressing regarding using Skillshare for your use case :)
Har du några tankar/åsikter om domestika? Till och från ser jag väldigt mycket reklam/annonser från dom på sociala medier. Btw, tråkigt att ni som lär ut får mindre pengar för jobbet ni har lagt ner. Har ett tag varit sugen på att bli medlem på skillshare men blir mindre och mindre sugen nu när man hör hur lite ni får tillbaka.
At this point I have seen so many of these videos from different youtubers that I think we should all be boycotting Skillshare, both teachers and students alike.
I went from $30,000 to $9,000 in monthly skillshare income in what feels like overnight. The cut has been brutal and it has frustrated the lion share of the teaching community on skillshare. I am very active with the skillshare community and most feel totally defeated by the cuts. I am one of those people. I am frustrated as Udemy and other platforms are preforming very well for me still. I am also going to shift gears and focus more on my UA-cam channel and writing books. Perhaps this cut will be good for me to challenge myself more. Making that kind of money on skillshare was a sure way for me to get too comfortable with myself and not push myself to achieve something else. I guess I have to have a positive outlook at it all even though it has added a bit of stress in my future planning. Thank you for sharing and being open with your earnings. It is always refreshing to see this type of honesty and how this is affecting more people than just me. I worry about skillshare a year from now still being alive and well. We shall see and I do hope for the best for everyone.
I just subscribed by the way! I love to support fellow teachers!
Oh wow... That's a huuuuge blow. So sorry to hear that. 😔 Love your resilience and positivity. I agree, maybe it's the kick in the pants we need to take action and grow more on our own terms.
Thank you for sharing your story here, and I wish the the best! 😊
Diversity in income sources can definitely help when platforms make these kind of shifts. And you are so right, these changes can sometimes give us a moment to reflect more on what changes we need to make. Thanks for sharing.
Oh well. I was considering to post my first class here since they have been trying to recruit me. Sounds like it isn’t worth it.
@@ashleyjeziorski3662 It used to be but things have been changing so much so fast with the pay cuts and lower traffic coming to the site. They might be able to turn this thing around but I am not going to hold my breath. If you are looking for a little side income it might be worth a shot, but I am not sure the same amount of money can be made there than last year for example.
Another SK teacher here. In a matter of 3 months my earnings went from 3000-1500 a month to 300 a month for the same number of minutes watched and students subscribed. I’m moving to another platform
I got a survey monkey email from Skillshare for a 5 question survey. Q1 was how likely to recommend teaching on Skillshare to friends/colleagues. My answer = 0. Q2 was why did you leave that number. Answer was because they showed me in Oct how little they respect the teachers who are working hard to make themselves and Skillshare a success. Another Q was are you planning to create and upload more classes (how many) in the next 6 months. Answer = 0. I was, I nearly finished one, but I'm not now. I really wanted to let them know how I feel about their exciting improvements. I was really excited to make this a worthwhile part of my income, focus and identity. I was enjoying it a lot. Now I feel like a chump, working for chump change. I'll leave my drawing tutorials up until I move them somewhere else. Might be soon, might be not soon. Or they might kick a grumbler like me off, I don't know. Not going to waste my time and energy making more classes for them though. I agree that they are trying to turn us teachers into marketers for them and feel they are turning quickly into a Ponzi/pyramid scheme.
Do let me know the Alternative for skillshare
Skillshare is a horrifying company. They discriminate against corporate employees and retaliate when they report. I used to work there.
I was actually thinking about getting classes up on Skillshare in 2023, but I definitely won't be doing that now. I'd rather focus on my UA-cam channel, maybe set up a Patreon, update my website, etc. I felt something similar to you, I think, as a student on Skillshare. Both overwhelmed and underwhelmed.
I wasn't making much. But I was happy making 600-700 dollars per month for an one time uploaded course. It has reduced to $40-50 now
Now it is below $10
Thank you for the refreshing honesty, as a new skillshare teacher, I see the same 60% result and the same discouragement. I have found them open and willing to work with me thus far, so I hope videos and opinions like yours give them food for thought regarding the direction of the company. Agree though, sharp changes and not great communication, make you wonder if there's more going on behind the scenes too.
Thank you Louise!!!! This is so helpful!
Love your transparency, always so refreshing and really useful. Well, they claim they 830,000 members world wide (according to their site) and they charge $32 a month... lets hope their not pulling in $26,560,000 a month and still squeezing the artists. I try not to be cynical, but geez, they have nothing without creative content to sell / share. Thanks for the video.
Keep in mind that they're not charging the same monthly amount everywhere, a lot of countries it's a lot less. They used to take 30% of the monthly revenue and divide it pretty evenly amongst the teachers. That was roughly 3-4 million. Now they have a set amount for teacher revenue, which is about 1 million, so only 10%. Out of this 1 million they take all these bonusses, incentivises and extra's for certain teachers. What's left is divided amongst all the teachers. That's why most teachers have seen a 60% or higher drop in payout. Skillshare takes 90% or more and pay their most valuable assets, teachers, next to nothing. 30% wasn't great, but 10% is just terrible.
@@artbybenjamin Very thoughtful reply. Unfortunately it is hard to imagine a business moving backwards from what appears to be a healthy profit margin. If only there was a system that was collectively owned by the teachers.
@@middleburyastrology such a platform be great for sure.
@@middleburyastrology Nebula, perhaps?
Thank you for this thoughtful and honest video! I appreciated your points about how you want to interact with courses as a student--the overwhelm and yearly billing especially, and it's good to hear someone talk about how they would want to interact with a course and move away from the game to something more simple and on their own terms.
I love watching your UA-cam updates over the months as your journey takes turns and grows. It's inspiring to me and I just really appreciate not just your candidness but also your ability to make videos, courses, and to write on Substack. It makes me want to diversify my offerings and income. I was really vulnerable over the summer when several lesson students had to stop around the same time. Realizing that even those things that are small paychecks at first can all contribute to the whole. Thanks Louise & keep doing what you do!
Thank you, I'm so happy to hear that! 🖤🙏🏻
Brilliant - love the sound of your voice, the style of your teaching and your candidness and transparency throughout this video....keep doing you lousie
Thank you, I was going to try skillshare but was glad to see there are other options ❤
Thank you so much. Also being a UA-camr, I was thinking about doing a course on Skillshare and your video has "saved the day"! I deeply appreciate this video. Best wishes!
I absolutely agree with you, I also dislike this way of doing business. I did videos about my income on Skillshare in the the first two years and it shows the same changes. I will also not produce more content for them, and I am currently trying to remove a few of my classes - which seems to be a long-term project because we are not able to do it ourselves and their support is non-responsive… 😝
Thank You for speaking out loud Louise
Thanks much , sooo much for sharing this… its today when I thought I must start my painting lessons and should start with skillshare…. But now definitely thinking a lot about it!!!!
Wow, this is exactly how I've been feeling for the last few months! Thanks for making this video. It's so sad - I was so excited to create courses on Skillshare, but as you said, it's not surprising that things aren't changing in favor of teachers.
As a student I've tried skillshare a couple of times with two different mediums and it's frustrating. There's some really good content, but you have to really dig for it. There's also A LOT of very low quality content. I'm not a fan of the annual subscription model or even the monthly subscription. I prefer to out right pay for a class. And of course how they treat creators/ teachers isn't great either. I've moved on to an online art school and I'm much happier.
I'm sorry SS isn't working out for you and other teachers, it's not fair, you guys put a lot of work into your classes. You've spent a lot of time and money honing your skills. ❤
Thanks for sharing, Louise. Honest and informative insight, as usual. Cheerio!
I've been a Skillshare teacher for 2 years now. I release 2 classes a month, one on digital art and one on traditional art. Don't think I've ever met another teacher that does 2 classes a month. As you can imagine my stats are a bit different than yours 😉 Yet... I've never been invited to any program by Skillshare. I've never seen a bonus. They never sent me anything special. They never incentivised with anything at all. I don't seem to be egilible for anything at all. All they have done is hassle me with rules that don't exist anywhere. Still I'm staying with them for now, even if they hassle and exclude me from all kinds of things. Thanks for sharing this. Change can be good, but it seems like Skillshare is making contraproductive changes and it definitely doesn't make teachers happy. I'm on Teachable too, but standalone is way harder to get students for, but I keep on going and trying.
Great video, thank you for sharing.
I am very disturbed by your experience. I have very much enjoyed my SkillShare classes. I have done your Bird watercolor class and it was very useful 🥰
I will definitely engage with your Facebook page.
By the way, your watercolor Birds are what I enjoy and what I will follow.
Best wishes to you❣️
Basically every change companies make usually result in less money being paid to "employees". So called restructuring, remodeling, reimagining. Every business entity does it unfortunately, corporate America or content platforms (Skillshare, Twitch, UA-cam, etc). Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thank you so much for this invaluable input. I have paid Skillshare for the past three years, and I am ashamed to say, I use it so very little, and have even found myself being invited via email to teach on the platform, when I haven’t even been brave enough to so much as show a pencil sketch on their platform. Has anyone else been confused by their asking them? I have had a total of three invites (so far), all of which I have simply binned. This simply made me doubt the validity of the current teachers, which is quite obviously an unfair thing to do. It’s difficult to maintain perspective though. What I do know now is that I shall never pay for that platform again. I have paid for several courses using both Teachable and Udemy. Teachable being my preferred site to use. I feel I have benefitted so much more in just over two months, than three years on Skillshare! I wish you the very best luck going forward Louise. 🖌🎨👩🎨❤️
Good advice. Thanks.
Your honesty made me watch with ALMOST my full attention. Keep it up!
Great Video thanks for your honesty. Mine was reduced by 70%. Now I'm actually reluctant to make any more classes for skillshare.
Glad that you just released a new class on skillshare!
Such a shame and I thank you so much for sharing the reality of what they have done. I have loved and shared Skillshare endlessly since first discovering of it - the gifts of teachers has been profound for my personal creative pursuits and life-changing. Now, I am so disheartened for teachers that are no longer paid adequately. I read a few comments below and to drop from 30,000 to barely 1/3 is absolutely inappropriate and ruins the entire platform.
Thank you for being transparent. I appreciate this video.
Sad. But I have a feeling of these things would hapen. I was so excited on my first project back then but I was diacouraged. My class closed in less than 24 hours because of video techniqualities. I tried to motivate myself again but it did not work. This is why I took a step back in every thing I just started online. Now I thought of making fulltime on Homebased Services as before and UA-cam for online.
Thanks for soothing and calm take on cheating and dishonesty of Skillshare. They have clearly ditched their teachers including me and untill they reverse this nonsense, this company is doomed!
Honest video, congratulations for being courageous to speak up. Well done
thanks for making this transparent. I don‘t like these changes either. Engagement is just another term for „we play the music and you have to dance“ no, thanks.
Hi Louise thanks for this. This is one of the things I've been considering as I've been working out where best to host my first course. I decided against skillshare in the end as I felt that I would have less control over it and my communication with students. Have now gone with Teachable and really enjoying the platform, I'm on the basic plan but thinking about upgrading. I'd love to hear more about your experiences with Teachable. I plan to launch my course in the next month and am excited to see how it goes and build my own school community there.
Så ärligt! Modigt av dig att berätta hur det är att vara konstnär och lärare via företag som har som affärsidé att tjäna pengar på er, och se hur mycket de kan få ut. Kram
Great Video! i stopped teaching on skillshare and Udemy alltogehter, I felt I'm a pawn in thier algorhitmic games..Will probably start self host my courses soon.
Create your own courses via UA-cam. Make the videos unlisted and when students buy your course they can get access to the videos via links. Google classroom is great for developing a 1 to 1 scenario. It does mean you have to market yourself but you will get the majority of the revenue. Avoid all platforms - there whole business model is about squeezing those who supply them. All the tech companies are at it.
I’m so sorry to hear about the drop in income. It just stinks and is unfair. I always thought it is wonderful that we get the opportunity to work with platforms like Skillshare, Patreon, Etsy. But through time I see more and more what the downsides are and it indeed all comes down to trust. For the extra eyes that see courses and products, we lose so much of our autonomy. Etsy also keeps upping their fee and rules regarding shipping, etc. etc. I feel these platforms are sadly mostly working for themselves and the profit, and forget the creatives that really deliver the essence of it all. It would be refreshing to see a company that values the creator above all else and works to make it easier for us to deliver creative content instead of the other way around.
Thanks so much for sharing! Even though I'm a top teacher on Skillshare, the changes have hit me very hard too :( It makes me question a lot whether my work is valued properly. Actually, I do have an answer to that - it isn't :( I'm looking right now into self-hosting options, sigh...
Great video! I'm totally disincentivized by Skillshare's new payment system. My monthly income was reduced by 50-70% and I won't be posting new classes there.😉
My earnings have been cut in half ^^' brutal. Luckily I've had a lot of original art sales the past couple of months, which gives me a little leeway of figuring out what the heck I'm going to do in the coming months.
It's frustrating.
Right now I'm thinking of just putting the classes on my website and focus on original art selling and commissions. But I don't have the time to think about it as I've got shows to work for.
As usual, as a creative I'll just have to adapt somehow >
Thank you Louise. I have just finished putting a course together and was on the cusp on joining Skillshare but your video has completly put me off. I am going to create my own platform and sell my course then though am no businessman and have no idea how i am going to market it. I'll find a way. Thank you!
When a company does this to consistent hardworking teachers then the teachers should leave. Plus when these types of websites are created for teachers then there should be a way (ie union type situation) which can help teachers to fight against the platform that feels they can change up the rules whenever they want knowing for well that teachers wont just leave instead work harder for less. Its not right! Well done for explaining this so clearly. I hope they change the rates so you can earn more again for your time and skills. :)
You are right Louise. Why did they not ask for input from the users and teachers? I remember how I felt creating content for Skillshare and it made me feel like I should not give them too much because it felt like I was being used and exploited. Feeling like that affects my work so I am trying to find other ways to teach online. I was one who had my account removed due to some false accusations. I've been with them since 2012 and it was really great back then but now it's really ugly.
I took a look at skillshare middle of this year both because I was thinking of teaching classes, as well as being interested in taking courses. The courses not being curated and being vastly different in quality put me off it, as well as the "monthly fee" that is, in reality, yearly (honestly feels like scam). I also looked through topics that I'm very confident in, and the filters and tagging was exceptionally bad, (also again, quality is not ensured on this platform) so I cancled pretty fast during my trial period.
dang that really sucks.
it's definitely discouraging when a platform that seemed like it wanted to support these amazing online teachers does something like this.
I wish you the best and look forward to more UA-cams from u 🤓 still sorry it's been a bummer for u and other skillshare teachers.
Excellent video, well done. Sound business advice.
Hi Louise, As you said, these online platforms always follow the same pattern, and it's good advice not to rely on them. I think you have a lovely voice and you are so articulate. Perhaps you could start your own podcast or record audio books.
Haha, thank you. 🙏🏻 I did try to start a podcast, but it turns out it was not my thing. A lot of my videos feel more like podcasts though. 🤗
I cancelled my Skillshare just because that I found myself very often to find better content on UA-cam and to me an income reduction by 60-70% are not simply "Buisiness-Development" - that's GREED. And the price is way to high for what I get. Most courses are mediocre at best and the surch functions on the platform are awful. I would have paid the money happily if it would be worth it and if they wouldn't have changed the way teachers are treated that massively. My Money is invested better in my YT Premium and some Patreons.
Great video. You mention at the end of your video about using Skillshare to build an email list. How? We don't have any sort of access to students' emails. We can't even answer reviews, only student projects.
Thanks for posting this. Is this still how they are doing things? Is there a better platform(s)?
Thanks for speaking about this! 💗
Id love to hear an update on this ... If anything has changed
I love your background music, where did you get it from?
Thanks for sharing what I could see was happening to the creatives.
I am a student in Skillshare and I feel there are more courses done by teachers from developing countries. Is it because of this reason the payment has reduced? I am guessing the low payment from Skillshare will be a huge amount for teachers from developing countries. So they are focussing on those teachers more than us. Anyways it’s sad to hear this.
You make a very good point. This could be a big part of it ...
Have to keep in mind that you are using "someone else's platform" means, you are a customer/employee of someone else's business, whose purpose is to make Them money.
I know, it's really annoying, but that is as simple as it is.
Don't even have to go so far to compare it with MLM, just compare it with any type of Agency that has employees. The agency was not founded "for the employees", it's the founders business and the employees who do the work are means to an end to be able to Scale.
Plus, keep in mind, referral systems is simply free/cheap marketing, it's like growth through word of mouth, without YOU having to advertise yourself
Thanks for share it!
Corporate greed. It's everywhere.
Ooooh yes...
It’s so sad to hear it 😢 I had this downshift when Instagram changed its algorithm, a few times again and again. Did you think about starting a Patreon page? It can be overwhelming but at least you can control it better then SkillShare
I tried Patreon for just a short while and didn't like it, but now I'm on Substack instead, which is similar. 😊
Hello, thank you very much for your insight. Can I ask which microphone are you using ? thank you
Thanks for sharing. I was researching them today...and did not feel good about it, right away. What do you think about Udemy? Can you answer a basic question for me please. Do teachers have to pay a yearly fee or any other fee to publish classes?
Hi! Thank you for sharing.
Teacher here too. Feeling discouraged as well.
Question: any advice on paying the taxes on line in Europe for the earnings on Skillshare.
Ya, not sure it’s worth using Skillshare as much anymore…
I was thinking about starting skillshare, but I don't want to now.
That's the issue with platforms.
You bring in customers and they consolidate.
wow as a newbie doing some research, this is sad to hear, but also I'm thankful you have made this video as a warning.
Do skill share let you duplicate and put on UA-cam as well or is it exclusive?
I hope they made it clear to their subscribers they are paying you less .... yeah right!
Yes you can put your course on other platforms, and that's what I'm going to do with my class on Storytelling. Right now I'm on UA-cam, Kajabi, Udemy, Teachable. Sounds like I'm not going to pursue Skillshare after watching all of this.
Sure, a business model will adjust and evolve at Skillshare over time, but you would think the model should IMPROVE an instructor's opportunities (without pressures). Very insightful video. So, what platform are using now?
Never mind, you answered your platform going forward at the end of your video. Thanks!
OUff ! This is on many levels an absolute NO-GO. WTF!? Wonder what made them think, that the teachers should be paid by the engagement of their students?
Sounds like they have a new guy for new company-structures...
What a mistake.
I thought starting teaching on skillshare ... but these are obviously not the circumstances I need to give good lessons...
Thank you so much for this honest feedback...
i was already planning to not renew my skillshare! ill be gone after my membership expires. disgusting.
Yep, my pay from skillshare dropped drastically. I emailed Skillshare with my concern and all I got is a canned reply that they're improving the experience for everyone... I guess everyone doesn't include course developers. Time to look for another venue to publish my courses.
Im skillshare instructor as well and I went through the same thing even in udemy forums everyone is talking about it, so I stopped putting courses on skillshare, unless I see the price model go up I wont be putting up anymore courses its just going to make your courses go down on other platforms
My plans are to get a day job start focusing on YT more publish course whenever I can like once every 6 month ill publish some short courses
Yes!!!!! I already have a day job but I’m doubling down on UA-cam.
I’m a bit disappointed. This month I made half what I did before Skillshare recently changed its teacher payment structure. I made half what I did, but actually had more minutes watched than I have ever had.
Wow, that sucks. I'm sorry. 😔 Really kills one's motivation...
@@LouiseStigell Yes. Thankfully a few months ago I started using Patreon to list classes. I like it, so I may continue there with a little youtube mixed in. Not sure yet. Working on a game plan for 2023.
you never showed october's revenue. and you were comparing total money not just view revenue. you said its lower, but i didnt see how much lower. was it by half? or 40%? i don't count referrals since that's a different for of revenue on the platform.
I was very disappointed when they got rid of the monthly membership and now, with this update, I'm really disappointed in Skillshare.
The engagement thing is weird to me bc I was leaving a review on every class when I was on there and a pop up came up and discouraged me. Something about “take more classes first” or some weird thing. So I was engaging and they discouraged it. Then pay you based on engagement? That’s shady.
With engagement they mean that teachers should bring in more students.
Thank you for this video. I was considering Skillshare, but I'm not sure after this video. I also want to avoid having to create content for engagement. I've had enough of that on Instagram. Do you use the free Teachable version? I'm considering this, but I can't afford the paid version now.
I used the free version when I launched my first course there, to see if there was enough interest from my audience to justidy going paid. And luckily, there was. So now I'm on their Basic plan. 😊
Thanks for sharing, it was very useful! As a Udemy Instructor I was planning to put my courses on Skillshare but after watching your video and hearing such huge changes I don't have any inspiration for putting my courses on Skillshare. Can you suggest any other platforms that we can sell our courses like Udemy?
Yep, discouraged that's the word.
I think the artists on skillshare should gather and create their own platform where everyone would be an actionary. This platform is not even "good", it is impossible to really search for courses with advanced search. It is just bullshit. And how come they can change the conditions after the artists signed a contract with them ? Hmm....
New subscriber ✅
they also don't have any forums for us to gather in protest I am sure that is no coincidence
This sucks. I was planning to release the class I'm working on there next year 😭😭😭
I know. 😔 You should still do it though. But you can offer it as a standalone purchase too. Or sell via other platforms. You don't have to be Skillshare exclusive. 😊
@@LouiseStigell I'll already start looking for alternatives! Thank you for the suggestion 😊
It's like you work for them.
Is Teachable an option for you? or patreon?
Teachable is what I'm using for my courses now. Love it! 😊
I had this same question! I’ll look for you on Teachable!
so I’ve been thinking about whether I want to renew my membership when it comes up in a couple of months. I don’t think I will if most of it goes to some wanna-be Elon instead of the teachers… Thanks for helping me make up my mind 😊
I had a membership for about 2 months so that I could really check the type of content published. While there are definitely some great classes and teachers on Skillshare I didn’t feel it was worth the money. Also my goal was to make money not pay money.
Do you have any interest in trying out a privatized content delivery platform for your students? Let me know as we have a solution that may be a good fit for you! This would likely eliminate the issues you're expressing regarding using Skillshare for your use case :)
it's a joke now with their revenue split and harsh 'minutes' closure of classes needed
Har du några tankar/åsikter om domestika? Till och från ser jag väldigt mycket reklam/annonser från dom på sociala medier.
Btw, tråkigt att ni som lär ut får mindre pengar för jobbet ni har lagt ner. Har ett tag varit sugen på att bli medlem på skillshare men blir mindre och mindre sugen nu när man hör hur lite ni får tillbaka.
nice video and nice voice
👍
Great video! I agree with many of the things you shared. It is a shame though how Skillshare is treating their instructors.
As far as I can tell, skillshare hates both teaching and learning.
At this point I have seen so many of these videos from different youtubers that I think we should all be boycotting Skillshare, both teachers and students alike.
❤❤❤❤👍👍
They don't even care anymore
Ah well, if i ever thought about becoming a teacher on there, then that is now not going to happen lol...ah well.
did they get bought out?? sounds like some greedy ceo took over. suuucckkksss!! they are making a big mistake. thx 4 posting!