Creating an online course is a smart and attractive way to share knowledge and earn passive income. But It’s not as easy as it sounds. When I launched my first course, I hit almost every possible pothole. I rushed the wrong parts, skipped what mattered, and then scratched my head when sales flopped. This article is a real-world breakdown of what went wrong, what I’ve learned, and how you can avoid the same traps when making online courses for money.
Where most first-time creators go wrong when making online courses
When you’re starting out, making an online course feels exciting. You’re finally putting your expertise into a product. But that same excitement often turns into tunnel vision. You think, “If I just record great videos and label them with something like online courses for making money, customers will come.” That’s exactly what I thought.
Why recording online course videos too soon is a common trap
I made this mistake almost immediately. I spent weeks scripting, recording, editing, and polishing videos before I even had a clear structure for the course. Why? Because video making courses online look like the hard part, and once you’ve done that, the rest should be easy, right?
Wrong. I ended up with a bunch of isolated, polished lessons that didn’t connect well. There was no real journey or logic between them. I had to go back and restructure the whole thing—doubling my workload. Recording videos should be the last step, not the first. You need a clear course framework, learning outcomes, and student journey mapped out first.
How I underestimated online course structure and user experience
When you’re making online courses, take it as guiding people through a transformation. A mistake I made was that I didn’t think enough about what a student actually experiences when they go through a course. I dumped information without checkpoints. There were no progress indicators, interactive elements, or reflection prompts, so it felt more like a content dump, not a course. People got overwhelmed. Some dropped out halfway, some asked for refunds. I had focused on delivering more, not better. And it backfired.
What I learned from the low sales of online courses and confusing feedback
After launch, I expected at least modest success. I got a few sales, some polite feedback, and then… crickets. When I did get responses, they were vague: “I liked the content, but something felt off.” That vague “off” was everything.
I realized I had skipped customer validation. I hadn’t tested the idea with real people. I hadn’t built any pre-launch interest. I had no email list. I relied on hope instead of strategy—and hope doesn’t sell.
What those early mistakes taught me about making online courses and personal brand
That first course didn’t take off the way I wanted. But it taught me more than any guide or “how to” blog ever could. Mistakes have a way of cutting through your ego and showing you what really matters, and that shaped my brand in unexpected, powerful ways.
In this video I share my personal insights on implementing these tips into your own courses:
Why launching “good enough” beats perfect-but-late
Perfectionism killed my momentum more than once. I kept tweaking scripts, re-editing videos, redoing thumbnails—all while weeks passed. In hindsight, I should’ve launched with a basic but clear MVP (Minimum Viable Product), collected feedback, and improved from there.
When I finally tried that approach with my second course, the difference was night and day. I sold more, faster. People appreciated the responsiveness and updates. They didn’t need perfect; they needed useful.
How I rebuilt trust with better onboarding and communication in online courses
A great upgrade was improving onboarding. In my first course, students logged in and had to figure everything out on their own. In my next course, I added a welcome video, clear roadmap, email check-ins, and short wins early in the course to boost momentum.
This drastically improved engagement. People stayed longer, completed more, and rated the course higher. When learners feel guided and heard, they trust you more, and that trust builds both your brand and your bottom line.
Why this online course journey strengthened my personal brand voice
Falling flat with my first course forced me to get real. I stopped mimicking what I thought “online course creators” should sound like and started writing and speaking in my own voice—direct, human, and transparent. People resonated with my emails, posts, and videos more because they could sense I wasn’t trying to be perfect—I was trying to help. That shift made my personal brand stronger, more relatable, and more trusted.
