• Who: Julie Berninger
• Website: goldcityventures.com
• Course Topic: Printables
• Interesting Stats: 6-figures per year

Who are you and what course have you created?

I’m a Mom who sold on Etsy in the bachelorette niche for years as a side hustle. My bestselling products were temporary tattoos and printable scavenger hunts. I also blogged and podcasted about achieving financial independence on top of my day job in tech. In 2019 I partnered with Cody Berman to launch Gold City Ventures which is our course company. Our flagship course, E-Printables, helps students start Etsy shops selling digital products from scratch.

What market does your online course serve?

We help people who don’t have much time start a side hustle on Etsy. Many of our students have tried other online businesses but haven’t found one that stuck yet. Etsy is a great offering because they don’t have to go out and get customers of their own on a blog or on a Shopify store. Etsy brings the customers.

What’s the biggest benefit of taking your course?

Our students don’t have to waste hours spinning in circles on YouTube. We teach the step-by-step of using the tool Canva to create designs and how to keyword research using tools such as eRank. And we get results. We have many four-figure, five-figure, and even a six-figure seller who started with our course!

How did you get into the market?

I was selling on Etsy but physical products. I learned about printables and never switched back! At the time I had a podcast and the episodes about printables were my top episodes. I launched a mastermind and sold out back to back. Then I launched a course and it’s been steady growth from there!

Why did you decide to create an online course in the first place?

I could only host 8 people max on one Zoom call for the mastermind so everyone got time to ask questions and I had more demand than I could offer. Now thousands of people can take the course.

Did you have any moments of doubt before you created/launched it?

Yes, only doubts on how I could personally make it work. I was having my first kid and very pregnant and tired. My business partner, Cody, is amazing and I credit so much of our success to him stepping up at times when I needed to be there for my family!

If so what made you turn it around and do it anyway?

Too many people try to start businesses alone. Pick the right business partner and you can scale faster! - Julie Berninger Click To Tweet

What’s your online course like?

It’s video based with text. We have a Live Q&A component too. All videos are screenshare with no slides. Personally, we find slides to be too theoretical for our niche.

How long did it take you to create your course?

It took about 4 months and we could have sped it up but we tried to create three courses at once – huge mistake! It worked out in the end though because we retired the other 2 courses and focused on the bestseller within the first year.

Tell us a little about the process of launching your course and getting your first sale(s).

We already had podcasts so we reached out to our network and we launched with friends as affiliates.

Do you have a lead magnet?

Yes we have a free PDF that teaches people how to sell on Etsy. It’s a basic primer and it’s very helpful in getting started. At first we worried it was giving away too much, but it is not.

What’s the traffic strategy that works best for you?

We are big networkers and that has always been our greatest strength! It’s who you know even in the online business world too!

What online course platform are you using?

Teachable

Do you like it?

We do like it!

Are there any features you wish it had?

The affiliate dashboard is poor and we use another tool for that because of that.

What made you decide to use your chosen platform over others?

We had taken Teachable courses and knew the experience looked good to the students.

What other tools do you use to run your online course business?

We communicate via Slack and that has been a gamechanger for efficiency. We use Asana for project management.

What books or training programs have you found useful on your journey to a successful business owner that others might find valuable too?

Every entrepreneur should start with the 4 hour workweek. It’s just such a classic and those principles apply years later.

After that, I really like the Hello7 The Club group by Rachel Rodgers.

Do you have any big mistakes you’ve made along the way that you’d be willing to share?

I think sometimes we try to take on too much but who doesn’t?! Every time we reach a new milestone of success we set the bar higher.

Please share some idea of revenue.

Our first launch in 2019 was a $70,000 weekend. - Julie Berninger Click To Tweet

Please tell us a little about what the money you’ve earned from your course has done for you.

I left my well-paying tech job where I loved it but I had back to back meetings and was glued to my chair. Now I can raise my kids in a more flexible lifestyle and tell them that Mom loves every second of what she does! I hope they find their passion too.

In addition to revenue are there any numbers you would like to share?

We hit our first 7-figure year within 3 years in 2022.

What has creating your course done for you personally?

It has allowed me to impact other families and particularly other Moms. - Julie Berninger Click To Tweet

We are a team of mostly women and many other parents. I like helping to support female business owners and freelancers.

Do you have a story of a transformation from any of your clients?

We have students who left their jobs and made high five-figures selling on Etsy! That’s incredible because this is a side hustle course. Our goal is to have them make hundreds to $1,000 per month and some people really take the material and fly!

What advice do you have for people just starting out?

Just do it! The longer you wait, the longer it is until you reach your goal.

Learn more about Julie Berninger of goldcityventures.com:

• Website: goldcityventures.com
• Instagram