Skillshare Review: Become an Amazing Skillshare Teacher in 2023

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Have you ever dreamed of making money passively with your skills?

We’re here to tell you that it’s possible. Skillshare has created a community where talented people can share their skills and knowledge with others in an online learning environment—and get paid for it.

You might be thinking: “I’m not creative enough to make my own tutorial videos! I don’t have the technical experience or know-how.” But Skillshare supports their teachers in learning, and teaching a topic you’re an expert in is easier than you think! What you’re doing now—teaching others—is the key to their learning platform.

Interested in seeing Skillshare courses for yourself? Grab our exclusive one-month free trial.

Your big question answered:

Is Skillshare worth it as a teacher?

The answer is yes. You can get paid for sharing your knowledge—and it’s easy. The money earned on Skillshare goes directly into your PayPal account, and you’re paid every month at the end of the month!

This is a great way to receive a passive income for your course content, as Skillshare does the marketing for you.

In this article, we’ll show you how you can get started as a teacher at Skillshare and earn a passive income for your knowledge and experience! But first of all, let’s dive into the basics…

What is Skillshare?

Skillshare is an online learning community and one of the largest websites in the e-learning space. Students and teachers come from around the world to learn, share and master new skills in writing, photography, digital marketing, and so much more.

Skillshare is a growing educational platform. In 2020, daily views and time spent on Skillshare almost tripled and Skillshare had over 12 million registered users. They currently offer over 30,000+ classes on their platform.

It’s free to sign up to Skillshare and start taking classes immediately. You can create a profile with your name and photo for others to see who you are. Check out Skillshare classes with the one-month free trial here.

What types of classes can I teach?

As this website is dedicated to ESL teachers, I will first start by saying that you can teach the English language on the platform!

We can see many teachers who focus on a specific part of English, such as “English for Medical Professionals” or “IELTS.” These courses have received attention from thousands of students!

If there is something else you are passionate about teaching, you can make sure it is popular by searching for similar classes and checking the demand for those classes.

If you see that there is a reasonable demand and not huge competition, or you can put your own unique spin on the classes to make it stand out among the competition, then it is worth giving it a go!

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Other popular courses to teach at Skillshare:

• Photography
• Social media marketing
• Productivity hacks
• Art, illustration, and graphic design
• Self-care

You can find classes for almost anything though, so don’t limit yourself to these courses. Find more great course ideas when you sign up for Skillshare’s 30-day free trial.

Teaching Courses on Skillshare

With Skillshare, you can teach online courses to students around the world.

What’s great about teaching on Skillshare is that you only need a laptop, some knowledge of your course topic, and internet access to get started. You don’t need any fancy equipment! And because it’s online, there are no fixed times either – you choose when you want to create and upload your class.

Teaching a course on Skillshare is easy but can be a learning curve if you’ve never made a tutorial video before. However, if teachers make bite-sized videos (the recommended is 20-60 minute long course videos), then the whole process is a lot easier.

Teacher Earnings

What are the potential earnings for a Skillshare teacher?

According to Skillshare, the average teacher earns around $200 in their first month with one class. Long-term teachers earn $3000/mo on average.

According to Skillshare, top teachers earn $40,000 a year.

How it Works

Skillshare teachers are paid a percentage of the price students pay for their monthly subscription. 30% of the membership revenue is put into a royalty pool to pay teachers every month. This is not a set figure every month but fluctuates depending on the number of students joining.

Teachers are also paid $0.05 to $0.10 per minute watched by premium students. 

Teachers are also given a special referral link. If someone signs up for a free month’s subscription using the special referral link, the teacher is given a $10 referral fee.

When teachers create a video, they are encouraged to share their video link with their family and friends to start earning straight away! The teacher can share their special referral link as many times as they wish!

How to Teach on Skillshare

1. Choose a topic for your class
2. Make sure your course idea is in demand
3. Create an outline for your class
4. Convert your outline into a script or free speak
5. Make the recording
6. Upload your class to Skillshare

1. Choose a Topic for Your Class

Now that you’ve got the lowdown on teaching with Skillshare, it’s time to start thinking about your class topic.

Before you can begin recording, you’ll need to come up with a topic for your class. Think carefully about what you want to teach and make sure it is something people are looking for– courses that aren’t demanded won’t get a huge following.

Start by using Skillshare’s search feature to browse classes and see what other teachers have been successful with in the past.

If you’re feeling stuck deciding on your first class, try brainstorming a list of potential topics that could be interesting for people to learn about. When choosing a topic, keep it relevant to your personal skills or expertise – teaching a topic that you know about.

2. Create an Outline for Your Class

When you have a topic that people will want to learn about, you’ll need to create an outline for your class. Again, brainstorm all of the areas you want to cover in your course and organize them logically.

You’ll find that there are a lot of things to talk about on a given topic. Try to narrow it down and keep your outline simple.

You’ll find that some topics might fit well with others, say, “designing posters in Photoshop” and “designing posters in Canva.” You can break down topics into more than one course to improve your earnings, reach and engage a wider audience.

If you’re not sure what to teach about, think back on past skills you’ve mastered – such as cooking or woodworking. Perhaps you want to share the recipes you used or the techniques that made everything so easy.

3. Convert your outline into a script

Once you are finished creating your outline, decide what elements you want to highlight in your course. You can start writing your script while leaving room for adding photos, video clips and links.

4. Develop your content

Now that you have a roadmap for what you’ll cover, it’s time to create the actual course material. Use the outline as an easy reference when recording videos. If you’re using slides, be sure to include bullet points for each slide.

5. Make the Recording

To make the recording, you might want to consider some basic equipment, such as:

• A lavier microphone for clearer audio, also known as a body mic or clip mic, which is as cheap as $12
• Laptop or smartphone
• Canva: make presentations and graphics (free)
• Google Slides/ Powerpoint: make presentations (free)
• Open Broadcaster Software: record your screen, your camera or both at the same time (also known as OBS, free)
• Natural lighting or artificial lighting

I use Windows Movie Maker (equivalent to iMovie for MAC) to make quick, easy edits, as professional editing is difficult. I then hire someone from Upwork or Fiverr to add all the nice trimmings and give the video the wow factor I am looking for.

Alternatively, you can learn how to edit videos yourself using professional-level digital editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro which costs $21 per month (think about taking a course or two from Skillshare to help!)

Other video editing tools: DaVinci Resolve (Windows and Mac, free), Filmora (Windows, free and paid), Final Cut Pro (Mac, $299), Lightworks (Windows, free and paid), Screenflow (Mac, $99) or Camtasia (Windows, $199).

Upload Your Class to Skillshare

Go to the “Teachers” section of Skillshare to upload your class.

You can upload your video along with the class title, description, and a short work project for students to complete on doing your course.

The project is a place where students can show their work and practice the skills they’ve learned from doing your course. It can be something simple, like “make a sentence with the new idioms learned in the English lesson.”

You may also be interested in: The best English Teaching Companies in 2022.

Types of Video Content for your Skillshare Class

• Slide voiceover
• On camera
• Screencast something related to your topic

Slide Voiceover

A slide voiceover is a lecture with accompanying slides on the screen as you talk about your topic. You can upload this type of video onto Skillshare so students can follow along with what you are saying. This is an effective way to share information, especially if it’s something complicated or takes many steps to explain.

On Camera

An on-camera video that you record is a more personal way to share information. This approach allows you to establish rapport and be remembered by your students. You can use this type of video if you are working on something that requires explanation or something related to an activity.

Screencast

A screencast is a video that you record on your computer desktop screens. If you are working on something with the aid of technology, then recording a screencast can be useful. This is another way to share information and teach students on Skillshare.

Advantages of Teaching on Skillshare

• Little to no promotion of your teaching videos
• 100% passive income
• You own all of the IP in your class
• You are free to host your videos outside of Skillshare
• Video content and online learning continues to grow in popularity
• Funnel traffic to your website and email list
• Build a community of fans around your brand

Disadvantages of Teaching on Skillshare

• Earnings vary from month to month
• Learning curve making video content
• You must follow the standards of teaching set forth by Skillshare.com

Tips for Skillshare Courses

Here are some top tips to help you get started:

• Make classes 20-60 minutes long, made up with short 3-5 minute lessons.
• Practice your script (or freespeak) at least twice before recording
• Add your course to Udemy, Teachable, or other online learning platform
• Pick a specific skill or concept and teach that
• Pro tip- add your website or email link for a loyal following
• Share your free enrollment link with family and friends
• Produce quality content that your students will want to watch
• Don’t stop at one course! Create new courses to increase your income

Skillshare Resources for Teachers

If you are serious about creating successful tutorial videos on Skillshare, why not join their monthly Teach Challenge. This will give you all the skills and know-how moving forward with your first course.

The Teach Challenge is a way to build partnerships by meeting other new teachers starting on the platform. You will also learn tips on how to earn more with Skillshare.

The Skillshare Teacher Handbook also provides a comprehensive guide for teachers to help them get started.

Skillshare Vs. Udemy

Skillshare was founded in 2011, while Udemy started in 2009. While Udemy has more than 35 million users, there is higher competition.

Teachers can also consider adding their Skillshare videos to Udemy and vice versa to maximise their income.

On Udemy, most courses are priced between $20-$200, but there are often discounts and other incentives. The downside to using Udemy is that students will have to pay for individual courses, unlike Skillshare, where students can just click away if they don’t like a video.

If you don’t have much experience making tutorial videos, it might take you some time to start earning with Udemy.

Skillshare vs Teachable

Teachable is an online education platform that allows you to create, manage and market your online classes. The teacher has more power to decide the domain and choose a website design that matches the course’s look and feel.

This may be a good option as it allows you to potentially earn more money if you have a social media following or drive an audience to your course.

Teachable charges a monthly fee to host your course, whereas Skillshare charges nothing.

Skillshare Vs YouTube

YouTube offers shorter, individual videos that viewers can watch to learn a topic. However, Skillshare offers courses that flow together seamlessly. YouTube pays content creators when they reach a certain number of subscribers, whereas Skillshare pays per minute watched from the beginning.

YouTube has a very large audience, however, and could be used in combination with Skillshare. For example, your YouTube channel could be used as a way to drive more viewers to your Skillshare videos by providing the referral link in the video description.

In Conclusion

Skillshare is a great platform for an online business developing creative courses. It’s possible to teach a wide variety of topics and create video lessons at your own pace.

While it can take some hard work and creativity to make your own course, it can pay off substantially in the long run as it produces a passive income stream.

The bottom line is that a high-quality course can do very well, and the Skillshare team will ensure its visibility to their growing online community of students.

Have ideas for your course? View other Skillshare classes by signing up for their free trial.

Caitriona Maria

Education writer at TPR Teaching | https://www.tprteaching.com

Caitriona Maria is an education writer and founder of TPR Teaching, crafting inspiring pieces that promote the importance of developing new skills. For 7 years, she has been committed to providing students with the best learning opportunities possible, both domestically and abroad. Dedicated to unlocking students' potential, Caitriona has taught English in several countries and continues to explore new cultures through her travels.