22 Most Interesting Markets From Hundreds of Course Creator Interviews

Our content is reader supported, which means when you buy from links you click on, we may earn a commission.


We’ve interviewed well over 350 successful course creators and sifted through every one of them to find the 22 most interesting markets from the bunch.

These interesting markets are those that are both highly successful (bringing in at least 5 figures in revenue per year up to 7 figures in revenue per year) and unique. So take a look. You may be inspired to come up with your own unique course!

1. Pediatric sleep – How Rachel Mitchell Earned $75,000 in Two Years by Helping Tired Parents Get Some Sleep

Rachel Mitchell's site

  • Industry: Health and Wellness
  • Course Topic: Pediatric Sleep
  • Interesting Stats: 500 email subscribers to 2000 almost overnight from giveaways
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Rachel and Her Course on Pediatric Sleep:

  • Rachel Mitchell founded My Sweet Sleeper and is a certified Pediatric & Maternity Sleep Consultant.
  • The online course serves parents looking to help their babies (aged 0-5) sleep better, with five video modules and a downloadable 50+ page booklet.
  • Parents who have taken the course have reported improved sleep quality and a renewed appreciation for nights free from baby-related duties.
  • After realizing the limits of one-on-one services, Rachel created an online course to reach more families, expand their business 3X, and earn residual income.
  • The initial process of creating the course and launching it took four months.
  • To promote traffic to My Sweet Sleeper’s site, Rachel writes content for other sites. She provides discounts in other communities and uses social media to create awareness about their courses.

2. Birth workers – How Bianca Sprague of bebo mia Supports Birth Workers Around the World

Bianca Sprague's site

  • Industry: Health and Wellness
  • Course Topic: Birth Workers
  • Interesting Stats: 200 – 250 people sign-up per teleseminar session
  • Revenue: 6-figures per year

More on Bianca and Her Courses Supporting Birth Workers:

  • Bianca Sprague’s site, bebo mia inc., is an online training organization that helps birth workers & changemakers gain financial independence, connect with their communities and work on trauma-informed, intersectional care.
  • Courses are comprehensive & immersive, comprising evidence-based skills training, feminist business training, and community support for a lifetime, with no re-certification fees.
  • The move from in-person to digital allowed more people to access their programs worldwide.
  • Bianca’s team created high-touch content through modules over 17 weeks, with 24/7 support & contests activities.
  • Their lead magnet is based on webinars, while Facebook ads provide paid leads; reviews & word of mouth provide unpaid traffic.

3. Zapier training – How James Rose Earned $8,000 in Sales During the Pre-Launch of His Zapier Master Training

Jimmy Rose video

  • Industry: Software
  • Course Topic: Zapier automation
  • Interesting Stats: Course sales are just over $2k per month, and automated
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on James and His Zapier Course:

  • Jimmy Rose is a software developer turned marketer and co-founder of Content Snare, who helps people automate their businesses and become more productive.
  • He created an online course called “Zapier Mastery” that serves two audiences: business owners or operations staff who want to leverage workflow automation in their business better and freelancers and digital agencies who want to offer workflow automation with Zapier as a service to their clients.
  • The most significant benefit of taking the course is cutting much work out of your business or job role.
  • He got into the market due to frequently talking about it and getting asked many questions.
  • The course consists of video lessons with occasional text notes, starting with a simple workflow that builds up to advanced tactics.
  • It took him around a month to record around 54 videos.
  • He promoted the course on his social channels and through relationships already built prior. A lead magnet was created eight months after launch.
  • His traffic strategy is mostly SEO, referrals, and previous audience, though SEO is starting to pick up momentum.

4. Storyboarding – Professional Storyboard Masterclass Launch with Mr. Mo

  • Industry: Art and Creative
  • Course Topic: Storyboarding
  • Revenue Stats: $12,000 + launch
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Mr. Mo and His Storyboarding Course:

  • Jeong Mo Yang (A.K.A Mr. Mo) runs iammrmo.com, offering tips and courses on becoming a professional storyboard artist, the main course being the Storyboard Masterclass – designed to help aspiring Storyboard Artists work their way into the entertainment industry.
  • Mr. Mo created this course to be accessible to anyone who wants to learn from him with the premise of transformation in mind so they can become an efficient storyboard artist and successfully break into the entertainment business.
  • The creation process for the course began in March 2019 and was completed by July 2019, with 99% of the content being video-based with assignments, text, and downloadable extras.
  • The pre-sale for the course was announced via Instagram story and leveraged followers with promotional campaigns and affiliates offering early access to the product.
  • Traffic strategy involves mainly affiliate partnerships who share similar interests and have large followings resulting in a win-win business relationship while building awareness of the course using social media platforms such as Instagram & Facebook stories.

5. Chalk painting and cabinet – How Kristin Smith of BBFrosch.com Created a Profitable Online Course on Refinishing Furniture

Kristin-Smith

  • Industry: Art and Creative
  • Course Topic: Chalk painting and cabinet painting
  • Revenue Stats: $1000 to $1,500 a month
  • Revenue: ~10K/year

More on Kristin and Her Refinishing Furniture Course:

  • Kristin Smith founded bbfrosch.com, which sells BB Frosch painting products and online courses.
  • The courses teach students how to refinish furniture, cabinets, home decor, and more—affordably and professionally.
  • The courses include instructional videos, photos, written instruction, and reference points for students to reinforce concepts.
  • It took about a year for her to create her first course, but subsequent ones were completed in a month. Courses are divided into sections with videos edited into small chunks and picture-in-picture slides of text included.
  • Traffic strategy includes email promotion with discounts and Pinterest with research warranted into what kinds of pins work best.

6. 3d art – How Maria JD Sirotkina, Co-Founder of ArtHeroes.co, Is Building a Professional Development School in 3-D Art

artheroes.co founder

  • Industry: Art and Creative
  • Course Topic: 3D art
  • Interesting Stats: Built a 3K email list over 2-3 weeks
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Maria and Her 3-D Art Training:

  • Art Heroes is an online 3D art academy; the first course they created was about creating stylized characters in 3D.
  • Their educational programs are designed for current and aspiring 3D artists, helping them develop their skills to become employable in the digital art industry.
  • The main benefit of taking Art Heroes courses is the exact workflow behind creating a piece of digital art and the opportunity for students to get unlimited feedback on their work and join a supportive community.
  • The co-founders have extensive experience in the industry; it took 2-3 months to create their first course.
  • Their courses include pre-recorded videos, community access, worksheets, and live sessions.
  • To launch their course, they implemented a “value first” approach by recording mini-lessons for free to build trust with potential customers.
  • They use social media platforms like Facebook/Instagram ads and podcasts to drive traffic.

7. Conflict resolutions – How Dr. Samantha Hardy Earns Her Living Working Toward a More Peaceful Future

Samantha Hardy Video

  • Industry: Career and Professional
  • Course Topic: Conflict Resolutions
  • Interesting Stats: 93 students in the first year (courses vary from AU$99 to AU$1800)
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year 

More on Dr. Samantha and Her Conflict Resolutions Programs:

  • Dr. Samantha Hardy is a mediator, conflict coach, and trainer with 20 years of experience who shares her knowledge and skills on CCIAcademy.com
  • Samantha’s online courses are available to everyone who wants to learn how to manage conflict more effectively
  • The most significant benefit of taking Samantha’s courses is gaining skills to prevent unnecessary conflict and build positive relationships.
  • Samantha set up the online learning platform so anyone can access the course content anytime from anywhere.
  • Her courses include a combination of video lessons, text, interactive quizzes, infographics, and worksheets
  • Promotion of the online courses relies on word-of-mouth networking and referral, as well as free talks at conferences.
  • Lead magnets include Ten Top Tips for Managing Conflict, conversation guides and checklists.

8. Videography – How Ryan Snaadt Created a Course to Help Videographers and Add Revenue as He Continues Shooting Videos

Ryan Snaadt site

  • Industry: Career and Professional
  • Course Topic: Videography
  • Interesting Stats: YouTube Channel to 12,000 subscribers
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Ryan and His Videography Course:

  • Ryan Snaadt is a Des Moines-based videographer and six-figure entrepreneur who created the online course “Solo Video Pro” to help beginner and intermediate filmmakers understand the business side of freelance video production.
  • The course focuses on sales, marketing, mindset, and other business aspects.
  • The biggest benefit of joining Solo Video Pro is its detailed sales training, including email/cold-call templates that offer an immediate return on investment.
  • Ryan was motivated to create the course to share what he learned from years of failures with people just entering the industry.
  • The program includes over 100 lessons in video format with interviews and screen sharing.
  • Ryan’s traffic strategy relies heavily on YouTube and his Facebook group, critical sources for finding new customers.

9. Empath Energy – How Amy Lee Westervelt Started UnstoppableEmpaths.com

Amy Lee Westervelt homepage

  • Industry: Career and Professional
  • Course Topic: Empath energy
  • Interesting Stats: $10K/month
  • Revenue: 6-figures per year

More on Amy and Her Empath Course:

  • Amy Lee Westervelt is a dream design coach who works with intuitive entrepreneurs.
  • Her online course, Unstoppable Empaths, serves women who identify as empaths or HSPS.
  • The biggest benefit of taking the course is understanding how to manage energy in real-world scenarios.
  • She got into the market after her life coach turned her onto the idea of being an empath.
  • She created an online course due to its accessibility to clients and marketed it with Facebook groups and a lead magnet.

10. Finding Remote Work – How Jordan Carroll Makes 6-Figures/Year with a Proven Strategy for Finding Remote Work

Jordan Carroll site

  • Industry: Career and Professional
  • Course Topic: Remote Careers
  • Interesting Stats: Used LinkedIn native video to gain 11K followers.
  • Revenue: 6-figures per year

More on Jordan and His Training to Find Remote Work:

  • Jordan Carroll created The Remote Job Club, an online course platform serving committed, high-performing individuals who want freedom and flexibility.
  • The biggest benefit of taking the course is developing a proven strategy for finding remote work anytime and gaining confidence. Other benefits include gaining clarity on the next steps, becoming accountable, and being excited about the job search.
  • Jordan got into the market after seven years of working remotely for various companies, including IBM and Remote Year, which gave him a unique perspective on learning how to become an efficient and high-performing remote worker.
  • He created an online course to give more people access and reduce his 1-1 coaching time. There were moments of doubt before launching, but he pushed through and made improvements with client feedback.
  • The course has various media formats, including videos, text versions, checklists, and resources in Google Docs & Sheets. It took hundreds of hours to create, but now it helps clients become strategic during coaching sessions since they do the self-paced work outside their calls.
  • To launch it and get sales, Jordan used social media content with CTAs, plus collaborated with influencers & podcasters who share

11. Proofreading – How Caitlin Pyle of ProofreadAnywhere.com Grew Her Digital Training Company to $2 Million/Year

proofreadanywhere.com options

  • Industry: Career and Professional
  • Course Topic: Earning money by proofreading
  • Interesting Stats: $2 million a year + 8 team members
  • Revenue: 7-figures per year

More on Caitlin and Her Proofreading Courses:

  • Caitlin Pyle founded Proofread Anywhere in 2014 to help proofreaders earn extra income.
  • She offers two different courses: Transcript Proofreading and General Proofreading, as well as the online learning program Work-At-Home School.
  • Her target customers are those seeking freedom from a 9-to-5 job and working from home.
  • She offers free workshops for both courses to attract customers, runs ads on Pinterest and Facebook, emails helpful information to soon-to-be new students, creates quality content for her blog, and uses affiliates.
  • Most of her traffic is through paid ads and affiliates.

12. Rapping – How Rob Level Started ‘Rapper Shortcut’ to Create the Next Generation of Superstars in the Music Industry

Rob Level's site

  • Industry: Music
  • Course Topic: Rapping
  • Interesting Stats: 500 memberships in 3 days
  • Revenue: 7-figures per year

More on Rob and His Rapping Course:

  • Rob Level created the Rapper Shortcut, an online music education program geared to create the next generation of superstars in the music industry.
  • It serves a range of independent artists looking to improve their skills and build their business success.
  • Through 12 levels, it teaches essential skills like songwriting, recording, mixing, and mastering and offers personal managers to unlock potential.
  • Its biggest benefit is providing access to an extensive program tailored for aspiring rappers without knowledge.
  • The course was built from recognizing an empty educational market and took two years to produce.
  • Launching involved creating explanation videos, YouTube lives, and a lead magnet calendar with weekly breakdowns.
  • Traffic strategies include Facebook Ads, YouTube videos providing value, and email marketing offering solutions for potential customer queries.

13. Food trucks as a business – Brett Lindenberg of FoodTruckEmpire.com Shares His Course Creation Tips

Screenshot of The Ginger Pig homepage

  • Industry: Business and marketing
  • Course Topic: Food trucks as a business
  • Revenue Stats: $6,000 per month average total revenue from site
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Brett and His Food Truck Training:

  • Brett Lindenberg founded FoodTruckEmpire.com, offering free information, podcasts, and online courses.
  • The Food Truck Academy course helps students start and operate successful mobile food businesses for eight weeks with full-time instructors who own a food truck.
  • Brett got into the market by accident when researching the topic of starting his food truck and created an online course to help more people learn from his experience.
  • The course has two parts: textbook material (videos and PWPs) and live training classes on YouTube Live with a Q&A section.
  • Brett’s biggest tip for launching an online course is to create an outline for the specific steps you need to accomplish; create a landing page, test different lead magnets, and generate traffic on Google over time by publishing high-quality content.

14. Presentation slides – How Daniel Galletta Started SlideScience.co After Many Failures and Now Earns a 4-Figure Monthly Income

Daniel Galletta's site

  • Industry: Business and marketing
  • Course Topic: PowerPoint Presentations
  • Interesting Stats: Earns a Few Thousand Dollars/Month After 10 Months
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Brett and His Food Truck Training:

  • Daniel Galletta is the founder of Slide Science, providing a course on building PowerPoint presentations like leading consulting firms, templates, and toolkits.
  • The online course serves the corporate and professional services market, with the biggest benefit being increased confidence in using PowerPoint for professional purposes.
  • Daniel began his career in management consulting and created the course due to a lack of available help and an interest in teaching.
  • The course includes slides, videos, materials, and resources on crafting arguments, storytelling, visualization best practices, and flow throughout presentations.
  • Upon launching the course, there was a discount for those on an email list; lead magnets were provided as a five-day mini-course; customer acquisition channels were attempted through YouTube & SEO – Google now provides most traffic.

15. Facilitation – How Daniel Wirtz Runs His Facilitation Courses and Launched Them for $995

Daniel Wirtz's site

  • Industry: Business and marketing
  • Course Topic: Facilitation
  • Interesting Stats: Lead magnet conversation rate of almost 25%
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Daniel and His Facilitation Courses:

  • Daniel Wirtz is a designer, developer, and facilitator. He is part of Facilitator School, a learning platform around facilitation that offers a cohort-based course on facilitation.
  • The course is designed to help professionals improve meetings and workshops utilizing various facilitation skills.
  • Participants come from diverse backgrounds, such as tech companies, Non-Profit organizations, and government institutions.
  • Benefits of the course include an energizing “live” element, interaction between participants, and a win-win situation for both parties.
  • Getting into the market was initiated by a client’s request for a training session which then turned into the first version of their course.
  • With this course, the goal is to move from services to productized services and digital products.
  • Uncertainty was present initially due to difficulty signing up people, but they eventually made it through interaction via newsletters, demos, or social media.
  • The course has four weekly modules split into video lessons and two-hour live sessions in an online community platform circle.so. Content is evergreen and reusable, making marketing easier over time.

16. Virtual Summits – How Krista Miller Launched Summitinabox.co as a MVP and Now Earns At Lease $35K/month on Autopilot

Krista Miller video

  • Industry: Business and marketing
  • Course Topic: Virtual Summits
  • Interesting Stats: Often has $60K + launches
  • Revenue: 6-figures per year

More on Krista and Her Virtual Summit Courses:

  • Krista Miller created Summit in a Box, an online course that teaches entrepreneurs how to plan and launch virtual summits without wondering where to start or what to do next.
  • The course caters to online business owners who have been in business for at least two years and have something to sell.
  • Students of the course are provided with step-by-step instructions, templates, processes, and tutorials that make the process easier and less stressful.
  • Miller’s journey into the virtual summit market was accidental, but upon launching her first summit, she quickly realized its potential for her audience.
  • Her online course combines PowerPoint presentations with downloadable slides, Google Docs templates, live-action video tutorials, and workbooks with supplementary planning tools.
  • It took 11 months from the first resource for Miller to create the complete program, but she quickly tested it out by launching a monthly membership of 3 bundles of resources per month, which increased in price until launch day.
  • For her launch, she ran a 5-day challenge with short trainings each day followed by a live webinar at the end, where she made over $30K from her 2200 audience member list.

17. Using Canva – How Simon Mitchell Niched Down from Social Media Marketing to Learning Canva

  • Industry: Business and marketing
  • Course Topic: Using Canva
  • Interesting Stats: Over £25k in the first week
  • Revenue: 6-figures per year

More on Simon and His Canva Training:

  • Simon Mitchell, the owner, and founder of Maverick Goose Ltd. created an online course, Canva Content Mastery, to boost small businesses’ social media presence without a large marketing budget.
  • The course targets entrepreneurs and small business owners looking to grow online and covers topics such as branding, Instagram mastery, hashtag use, etc.
  • Mitchell launched the first version of the course in January 2021 and earned over £25k in its first week.
  • He launched a second iteration with better resources due to its success.
  • The content is video-based and allows for a visual explanation of graphic design principles for users who are not designers.
  • It took four weeks for Mitchell to create the content and plan it out accurately before filming.
  • To launch his course, he used teasers on social media and partnered up with other influencers with large followings.
  • Utilizing scarcity tactics during his launch allowed him to gain more leads quickly.
  • His traffic strategy includes running Facebook ads for a lead magnet eBook ($1 cost per lead), providing high-value content on social media platforms, etc.

18. Science for Kids – How Jonathan Polley Traded in his Teaching Job to Grow MakeScienceEasy.com So He Could Work Around His Family’s Schedule

Make Science Easy YouTube

  • Industry: Youth Education
  • Course Topic: Science for Kids
  • Revenue Stats: Up to £3,500/month
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Jonathan and His Science for Kits Training:

  • Jonathan Polley created Make Science Easy to provide high-quality science education, regardless of background.
  • The online courses target learners aged between 14 and 16, including home-schooled students worldwide.
  • The primary benefit is a fantastic grounding in science fundamentals and complete exam preparation.
  • He developed courses to meet the needs of his students and received positive feedback from them and others teaching elsewhere.
  • Despite the extra work involved, the main concern is appealing to targets (students & parents).
  • To keep motivated, he set goals and tracked progress using spreadsheets for course creation and marketing activities.
  • His courses are instructional videos with multiple choice quizzes, text versions & worksheets, and practical activity instructions.

19. Soccer Training – How Oscar Garcia Helped a Soccer Training Company Earn $70K/Month

Oscar Garcia's site

  • Industry: Youth Education
  • Course Topic: Soccer training
  • Interesting Stats: 325 leads/day
  • Revenue: 6-figures per year

More on Oscar and His Soccer Training Client:

  • Oscar Garcia helps business owners create, run and scale profitable paid traffic funnels, primarily focusing on online courses for youth soccer players in America.
  • The most significant benefit of the course is confidence, and it’s mostly video content.
  • It took one week to create the course, which launched at an affordable price of $27 with an upsell offer.
  • The lead magnet is a free workout; the landing page’s conversion rate improved from 5% to over 70% by focusing on customer language use.
  • Traffic strategy focuses on a blog post as the primary advertisement; Facebook campaigns send people to the website for both reading/opting in and retargeting those who don’t opt in.

20. Spanish for Medical Professionals – How Benjamin Tanner Started a Successful Online Course Helping Medical Professionals Learn Spanish

Benjamin Tanner Spanish course video

  • Industry: Languages
  • Course Topic: Spanish for medical professionals
  • Interesting Stats: 450 clients so far
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Benjamin and His Spanish for Medical Professionals Course:

  • Benjamin Tanner is a physician assistant working in the ER since 2014.
  • He has experience learning Spanish and working with Spanish-speaking patients.
  • He developed an online course called “Essential Emergency Medicine Spanish,” which teaches medical terms to emergency room providers.
  • He targeted a narrow niche of medical providers and designed the course for their needs.
  • The main benefit of taking his course is that it provides efficient learning of medical Spanish valuable terminology for the ER.
  • His large student loan debt inspired him to brainstorm about creating an online business focusing on medical Spanish.
  • The course utilizes video, audio, text PDFs, and a “mobile app” to teach the content. It took him over two years to create the course.
  • Benjamin launched the course by partnering with a company with an extensive email list and offering promotional discounts/incentives.

21. Chinese Training – How Ilya Cheremnikh Earns Over 5-Figures a Month with Live Online Courses for Chinese

Ilya Cheremnikh site

  • Industry: Languages
  • Course Topic: Learn Chinese
  • Interesting Stats: $10,000 from a one-day promo
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Ilya and Their Online Courses for Chinese:

  • Ilya Cheremnikh and Eden Lunde created online courses for learning Mandarin Chinese, targeting everyone from zero knowledge to improving their existing skills.
  • The courses are conducted live online with native-speaking teachers from Beijing, offer exposure to how Mandarin is spoken in real life, and allow learners to become fluent without leaving the comfort of home. Additionally, classes have international students, which adds to the richness of culture and builds friendships.
  • Ilya and Eden have over 20 years of experience living in China and have made classes interactive, combining language and culture with simple explanations.
  • They launched their online course following a physical school’s closure due to Covid.
  • There were some doubts during the launch, but they pushed through it.
  • Their course comprises PPTs, PDF exercise books, Memrise for extra practice, Thinkific for pre-recorded content, quizzes, and other interactive tasks.
  • Ultimately, their first sales came from their existing network by offering free open classes during lockdown; lead magnets include weekly free classes and an Instagram channel with 2000 active followers gained organically via consistency.

22. Money Mastery – When Sarah Becker Realized Her Clients Needed a Money Mastery Course and How it Turned Out

Sarah Becker's site

  • Industry: Finance
  • Course Topic: Money Mastery
  • Interesting Stats: First-course launch brought in $15k
  • Revenue: 5-figures per year

More on Sarah and Her Money Mastery Course:

  • Sarah Becker is a financial educator for solopreneurs and online course creators who have created a signature course, Master Your Money, and a mini-course for small business owners.
  • Her market consists of female entrepreneurs and course creators.
  • The biggest benefit of taking the signature course is having clear financial goals, understanding tax categorization, creating a personalized budget, forming an actionable plan for retirement savings, and gaining clarity and control over finances.
  • After hearing the same story from biz friends about being outwardly successful but failing in financial goals, she got into her market.
  • She decided to create an online course as suggested by her clients, despite initial doubt about her reach or audience, to make it a success.
  • The course consists mainly of videos, text, homework prompts, and PDF guidebooks.
  • Traffic strategy is primarily Instagram, but also building an email list and getting started on Pinterest.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many types of courses people can learn from and create success in. From the more than 350 successful course creator interviews, we’ve highlighted 22 of the most interesting markets.

From hobbyists to marketers, professionals to entrepreneurs, lifestyle coaches to music enthusiasts – a bit of creativity and hard work goes a long way! Everyone has the opportunity to create an entire business around something they enjoy, no matter what it is. We hope this information will help you in your journey to creating a profitable course. With dedication and focus on your goals, such success can be yours too.

Lisa Parmley
Lisa Parmley

Lisa Parmley is the founder of coursemethod.com. After gaining a Master's degree, she worked in research for about seven years. She started a training company in 2001, offering a course helping people pass a professional exam. That course has earned multiple 7 figures. She created SEO and authority site building training around 2007 which went on to earn well into the 6-figure mark.

She has 22+ years of experience in the trenches creating and selling online courses. Get help starting and growing your online course business here.

Grow faster with free step-by-step training for online course founders.

Access Course Method Pro progress tracking and Strategic Planners
+ gain inspiration from successful course creators in weekly emails.

Unsubscribe at any time.