65 Online Course Success Stories [2024]
An online course business involves creating and selling digital classes teaching specialized skills or knowledge to subscribed students.
As an entrepreneurial course creator, you identify educational gaps around topics you have expertise in and develop engaging video lessons and supplementary materials.
With flexibility around self-paced or cohort-based structures, building a student base provides passive income potential.
For founders who enjoy information-sharing, launching an online course platform presents a lucrative way to monetize your instructional talents with small startup costs by serving eager lifelong learners seeking convenient access to emerging subjects.
In this list, you'll find real-world online course success stories and very profitable examples of starting a online course that makes money.
1. Animal Behavior College Inc. ($12M/year)
Steve Appelbaum, founder of Animal Behavior College, came up with the idea when he realized that there was a need for a school to train dog trainers. He combined a distance learning portion with hands-on training in pet stores, offering a unique hybrid model. The school has seen remarkable success, with double-digit growth every year from 2001-2014, and generates around $1 million in revenue per month.
How much money it makes: $12M/year
How many people on the team: 72
Animal Behavior College, a vocational school that trains animal lovers to become professional dog trainers, pet groomers, veterinary assistants, cat trainers and aquatic management specialists, achieved double-digit growth every year from 2001-2014, with revenue reaching $1 million per month on average, thanks to its innovative hybrid model of distance and hands-on learning and strong focus on the needs of pet owners and animal welfare.
2. ClickMeeting ($10.8M/year)
ClickMeeting was born out of Simon Grabowski's desire to support small- and medium-sized businesses with modern communication and marketing software. In 1998, he founded GetResponse, a platform for email marketing, which eventually expanded to include a separate tool for webinars and online meetings. ClickMeeting quickly gained traction, particularly in the American market, and has since grown to host over 2.3 million events with 30 million attendees in 2020 alone.
How much money it makes: $10.8M/year
How many people on the team: 93
ClickMeeting, a platform for webinars and online meetings, has grown to host over 2 million events with 30 million attendees and has been profitable since its launch in 2010, with a focus on reliability and quality customer service.
3. Stukent, Inc. ($6M/year)
Stuart Draper, founder and CEO of Stukent, came up with the idea for his digital courseware company after realizing that the current instructional resources for digital marketing were not adequately preparing students for the industry. By combining regularly updated text, guest lectures from industry experts, and a hands-on simulation, Stukent provides students with the real-world experience they need to succeed. Despite facing funding challenges and nearly running out of money, Draper's vision for the future allowed Stukent to thrive and become one of the fastest-growing companies in the US.
How much money it makes: $6M/year
How many people on the team: 50
Stukent, a digital courseware company with a focus on providing students with hands-on digital marketing experience through a variety of texts, videos, and projects, was ranked the 268th fastest-growing company in the US in 2018, an impressive feat considering it was bootstrapped by founder and CEO Stuart Draper, and faced the challenge of raising funds for several rounds of funding to stay afloat.
4. Ship 30 for 30 ($2.5M/year)
Dickie started writing online in 2020.
He was writing a newsletter, but after 9 months, he only had around 300 subscribers.
He decided that if people weren’t going to find him, he needed to go to where the people were and double down on it.
The people were on Twitter, so he committed to writing 30 threads in 30 days to grow his account.
That personal writing challenge turned into the foundation of Ship 30 for 30, which started as a Slack accountability group to help people publish consistently.
How much money it makes: $2.5M/year
How many people on the team: 0
Discover how Dickie Bush grew Ship 30 for 30 from a newsletter with 300 subscribers to a $2.5M/year business using Twitter as a main growth lever and a pricing strategy that went from $50 to $800 for the course.
5. Proofread Anywhere ($2.4M/year)
the most influential resources for me have been "The Four Hour Workweek" by Tim Ferriss, "You Are a Badass" by Jen Sincero, and "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo. Podcasts like "The Smart Passive Income Online Business and Blogging Podcast" with Pat Flynn and "The Life Coach School" with Brooke Castillo have also provided valuable insights and inspiration.
How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How many people on the team: 1
Proofread Anywhere provides courses for proofreading that have helped founder Caitlin Pyle go from making $4,000 per month to $200K per month in income through creating a digital business with high profit margins, automated systems, and using ads, content, and affiliates to attract and retain customers.
7. Product Focus ($1.8M/year)
Ian Lunn and his co-founder Andrew Dickenson started Product Focus after seeing a need for high-quality product management training. With their background in product management and marketing, they launched their first public course in 2006 and have since grown to become the European leaders in product management training. They have adapted their business model during the pandemic and continue to provide world-class training online. [Word count: 36 words]
How much money it makes: $1.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 5
Product Focus has become the European leaders in product management training, running multiple courses every week and receiving over 20,000 subscribers for their resources in 2018, now providing both face-to-face and online training options after COVID forced them to pivot their business model.
8. EMDR Consulting ($1.8M/year)
EMDR Consulting training, I included the consultation fees in the overall cost, making it a more comprehensive and valuable offering. Marketing: I utilized online platforms such as websites, social media, and email marketing to promote my training events. I also leveraged my reputation and network within the EMDR community to spread the word about my new training organization. Word-of-mouth: As attendees experienced the effectiveness and quality of my training, they shared their positive experiences with their colleagues, which generated further interest and traction for my events. Through these strategies, I was able to establish credibility, attract attendees, and build momentum for EMDR Consulting's training events.
How much money it makes: $1.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 8
How one founder grew their business, EMDR Consulting, from a one-person operation to one of the largest EMDR training organisations in the US, annually conducting over 150 EMDR basic training courses a year teaching over 1500 mental health professionals how to integrate EMDR into their clinical practice.
9. Pushtak ($1.8M/year)
Adam Tal, a high school dropout and ex-musician, started an online education business in Israel that offers courses on "money hacking" and "equity hacking" to teach people how to build online businesses and assets. Initially planning to teach marketing to SMBs, Tal realized that by breaking traditional small business marketing rules, he could create something bigger. With over 100,000 subscribers, 7,000 students, and generating over 21,000,000 ILS ($6 million) in revenue, Tal's business has become a movement, empowering individuals to have more freedom in their work.
How much money it makes: $1.8M/year
How many people on the team: 10
A high school dropout turned entrepreneur started an online education business teaching "money hacking" and "equity hacking", generating over $6 million in revenue in the past 5 years, and plans to expand globally to revolutionize the way people make a living remotely.
10. Millennial Money Man ($1.8M/year)
After paying off his own debt and becoming passionate about personal finance, Bobby Hoyt started his blog, Millennial Money Man, to teach millennials how to make more money, save more money, and pay off debt.
After realizing the success of his own Facebook ads for local businesses, Hoyt partnered with Mike Yanda to create the Facebook Side Hustle Course, which teaches others how to run ads for local businesses.
The course had a six-figure launch, leading Hoyt and Yanda to start Laptop Empires, where they help people start and grow online businesses.
How much money it makes: $1.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 4
Millennial Money Man founder Bobby Hoyt and partner Mike Yanda created Laptop Empires, which boasts a seven-figure revenue through their flagship Facebook Side Hustle Course, helping retirees and millennials launch and grow their local Facebook ad agencies.
11. SI Certs ($1.5M/year)
Gabriel Kramer, a former construction inspector, came up with the idea for SI Certs while studying for certification exams himself. Frustrated with the limited and expensive options for test prep courses, he saw an opportunity to create affordable online courses that would be accessible to aspiring inspectors across the country. With hard work and patience, SI Certs has grown to generate over $60,000 per month in revenue.
How much money it makes: $1.5M/year
How much did it cost to start: $2.5K
How many people on the team: 1
SI Certs CEO Gabriel Kramer shares how he turned his experience as a construction inspector into an online test prep course business that made over $45,000/month in revenue last year, and is projected to make $60,000/month this year.
12. Kindlepreneur ($1.44M/year)
than the leading software, but it will also work seamlessly on both Mac and PC. With a proven track record of success in the software industry and a strong customer base, the future looks bright for Dave Chesson and his new venture.
How much money it makes: $1.44M/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 6
Founder Dave Chesson shares how he created a successful book marketing software, generating $120k a month, and offers advice for non-techies on how to hire programmers, prioritize support, and innovate continuously.
13. Publishing.com ($1.44M/year)
Christian and Rasmus Mikkelsen, also known as the Mikkelsen Twins, started their online education company after finding success in book publishing. They initially enrolled in community college to redirect their energy and prove their ambition. After finding success in publishing and growing their businesses, they started a YouTube channel and eventually launched their online course, Audiobook Income Academy, which generated $43,865.62 in pure profit in just 24 hours.
How much money it makes: $1.44M/year
How many people on the team: 2
Mikkelsen Twins grew an online education company from scratch with over 800 students, making over 6-figures in profit every month thanks to their successful program, Audiobook Income Academy 2.0.
14. Your Lessons Now LLC ($1.2M/year)
Alexandra Exeter, the CEO and owner of Your Lessons Now LLC, came up with the idea for her business based on her personal experience as a transgender woman who transitioned her voice. She developed a curriculum that combined speech-language pathology, vocal therapy, music theory, and other techniques to help transgender individuals modify their voices. With a focus on providing a safe learning environment and offering both group and individual instruction, Your Lessons Now has experienced consistent and rapid growth, earning around 1.2 million dollars a year and acquiring 52% more users since last year.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 32
An entrepreneur who is a transgender woman started a profitable company that offers music lessons and vocal coaching to the LGBTQ+ community and has acquired 52% more users since last year.
15. Angela Cote Inc ($1.2M/year)
Angela Coté came up with the idea for her business, AC Inc., after spending over 25 years in the franchise industry and realizing there was a need for a fresh and progressive approach to coaching franchisors. She used her expertise and empathy from being on different sides of the franchise relationship to provide actionable advice, and through networking and offering valuable services like the AC Roundtables during the COVID-19 pandemic, she attracted and retained loyal clients.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 5
Angela Coté Inc, a franchise advising and improvement company, shares their success story of using their signature method, The AC Method, which has already helped over 5500 franchisors in just 3 years, through refining their offerings, building trust with their clients, and taking imperfect action.
16. The Recording Revolution LLC ($1.2M/year)
When Graham was laid off from a finance startup that ran out of money, he wanted a freelance source of income. Eventually, he started blogging about his experience in studio as an audio engineer while in college. This content resonated with a huge audience on google and youtube, and Graham ultimately decided to monetize them through courses and bootcamps.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
Recording Revolution founder, Graham Cochrane, generates over $1.2m per year whilst only working five hours per week, through his online music education business that teaches people how to record and produce their own music at a professional level from home.
17. Create and Go ($1.2M/year)
Attracted a lot of subscribers, but it also helped us build trust and establish ourselves as experts in the blogging industry. We also focused on providing valuable and actionable content on our blog and social media platforms, which helped us attract and retain customers who were looking for guidance and support in starting their own successful blogs.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How many people on the team: 0
Two friends built an online blog that grew to generate an average of $130k per month, eventually turning it into a successful course business Create and Go with over 10,000 students, by focusing on what their readers needed, investing in their business, building an email list, and utilizing social media platforms like Pinterest and YouTube for traffic.
18. Doctrina ($1.08M/year)
Doctrina's co-founders, Jure Pučko and Tomaz Erjavec, were working in the pharma industry when they realized the potential for a more efficient way to educate healthcare professionals (HCPs) beyond traditional methods. After successfully testing their business model in Slovenia and expanding to other countries, they secured an angel investment of $50,000 and built a user-friendly video platform that reaches over 1 million HCPs worldwide. Since 2013, Doctrina has helped 60 companies grow and has an average view rate of over 50%.
How much money it makes: $1.08M/year
How many people on the team: 10
Doctrina CEO Jure Pučko co-founded a global educational platform for healthcare professionals (HCPs), delivering short and focused e-learning videos coordinated with research and case studies that benefit independent courses, while helping over 60 companies worldwide grow through a multichannel marketing approach powered by technology since 2013.
19. Ellen Yin Media LLC ($960K/year)
Ellen Yin, founder of Ellen Yin Media and creator of Cubicle to CEO, started her business after quitting her corporate marketing job. She initially took on small projects, but when a coworker became her first client, she realized she could monetize her skills into a service. She then made a pivot to focus on creating and scaling digital products, launching her first program with zero content and pre-selling it to beta students. To attract and retain customers, she leveraged partner campaigns, utilized a self-liquidating offer funnel, and gained media features. Today, the business has reached seven figures in lifetime revenue and is on track to make over one million dollars in annual revenue.
How much money it makes: $960K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 3
Founder Ellen Yin shares how she profitably bootstrapped growth from a $300 client project into 7 figures in lifetime revenue and how she launched a $10K/month online course using pre-selling to test and validate her offer.
20. Buildapreneur ($960K/year)
Spencer Mecham, the founder of Buildapreneur, was introduced to the concept of affiliate marketing while working at a digital marketing agency.
Inspired by a co-worker's successful blog that reviewed vacuum cleaners, Spencer decided to enter the affiliate marketing space.
He initially struggled with starting a blog and trying other platforms like Instagram, but found success by accident when a YouTube video he created blew up and received hundreds of thousands of views.
From there, he pivoted to YouTube and has since grown his audience to nearly half a million people across various platforms, using content marketing to attract and retain customers.
How much money it makes: $960K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0
This case study explores how Spencer Mecham founded Buildapreneur, an affiliate marketing business, and has made over half a million dollars in profit with no employees, relying solely on content marketing through platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
21. Snooze Fest by Jayne Havens ($720K/year)
Jayne left her career to focus on being a mom and became an expert in infant sleep. She started helping her friends, which led to more referrals. She turned her hobby into a career by enrolling in a sleep consultant certification program and launching her own business.
How much money it makes: $720K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 0
Pediatric sleep consultant earns up to $12,000 per month within the first year of launch and surpasses $454,000 in annual income by offering sleep consulting services and creating her own sleep consultant certification course with mentorship and support for students.
22. Taro ($600K/year)
Rahul Pandey came up with the idea for Taro through a combination of his personal experience and feedback from the community he built. Initially, he created a YouTube channel to share career growth advice based on his experiences moving up the ranks in tech companies like Facebook and Pinterest. As his channel grew to 100,000 subscribers, he noticed a significant demand for this type of content, revealing a gap in resources for helping software engineers navigate their careers.
This realization was further validated through seminars he hosted with his co-founder, attracting thousands of engineers and confirming the need for more focused career development resources. Before fully committing to Taro, they refined their concept through the Tech Career Growth community, adjusting their content based on user feedback and the specific concerns raised during events. Despite the challenges of narrowing down a broad idea into a coherent product, Pandey's commitment to addressing a well-defined problem eventually led to Taro’s focused mission of providing insider career growth advice for software engineers.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How many people on the team: 3
23. Swim University ($600K/year)
Matt worked in pool stores from the age of 13 to 25, where he gained extensive knowledge about pools. During this time, he also taught himself how to create websites. One day, his boss noticed him working on a website and asked him to make one for the pool company.
As he became more skilled in web design, Matt envisioned creating a website to educate people on pool and spa care. It took him two years to develop the website and an additional seven years to transform it into his full-time occupation.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How many people on the team: 2
Learn how Matt Giovanisci built Swim University from scratch, turning it into a successful business that brings in an average of $50K/month and $600K/year, using SEO and social media as the main growth strategy.
24. WeAdmit ($600K/year)
Pradeep, the Cofounder and CTO of ConnecPath, came up with the idea for their EdTech business after realizing the lack of college counseling available to high school students. With the ratio of high school counselors to students at 1:500, and 40% of college students experiencing issues with their majors or graduation, Pradeep decided to create WeAdmit, a platform that provides data science-backed counseling for parents and students, while also supporting underserved college counselors and mentors. Despite facing challenges in selling software to schools, the company pivoted their product and now boasts a $50,000 per month run rate with plans for significant growth in the future.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How many people on the team: 1
EdTech company ConnecPath created WeAdmit, a platform for data science-backed college counseling, acquiring a $50,000 per month run rate, 20 paid contracts and 10 about to be signed, which aims to match students with the right mentors and offer a predictions service based on IQ and personality.
25. Horkey HandBook (Fully Booked VA) ($588K/year)
Gina started a virtual assistant side hustle while working a full-time job in personal finance. She documented her journey and soon gained a following of like-minded individuals. This led her to launch a VA foundation course, which has grown into a 7-figure business.
How much money it makes: $588K/year
How much did it cost to start: $205
How many people on the team: 0
Gina, a personal finance worker turned virtual assistant, started a side hustle that evolved into a 7-figure business, The #FullyBookedVA System, which offers courses and support for new and existing virtual assistants seeking to launch and grow their business, with features including weekly group coaching, client leads, and specialization tracks.
26. Oki Doki Digital Inc ($480K/year)
Marie Poulin came up with the idea for her course, Notion Mastery, after discovering the software tool Notion in 2018. She found that Notion helped her with organization and productivity, and she began sharing her tips and tricks on YouTube. After receiving requests for a course, she launched Notion Mastery, which now generates an average of $40k/month in revenue.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How many people on the team: 2
Marie Poulin built a digital strategy and design company, Oki Doki, with her husband and pivoted the niche to course creators, culminating in their signature course, Notion Mastery, which generates an average of about $40k/month for the company.
27. ryrob.com ($480K/year)
Ryan Robinson started his blog ryrob.com in college as a way to share the lessons he learned from starting a business around his product, the iStash. After a viral post on HackerNews and Twitter, Ryan saw the potential to build a community around his blog and turned it into a full-time business. Now, his blog has around 500,000 monthly readers and generates between $25,000 to $55,000 in revenue each month through affiliate partnerships, sponsorships, and the sale of his own digital products.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
Ryan Robinson explains how he built a blog with over 500k monthly visitors and generates $25,000-$55,000 in revenue each month through affiliate partnerships, sponsorships, and his own digital products like courses and books.
28. HYLS ($456K/year)
Max, the founder of HYLS, came up with the idea for his donation-based online course platform after being inspired by a yoga training program in the Philippines led by Dada Dharmavedananda, an author he admired. With a background in meditation, yoga, and healthy lifestyles, Max saw the opportunity to share his knowledge with others and created HYLS. Since then, HYLS has attracted over 90,000 students, generated $1 million+ in donations, and averages $40,000 in monthly revenue.
How much money it makes: $456K/year
How much did it cost to start: $15K
How many people on the team: 12
Max, CEO of HYLS, a donation-based online course platform, shares how they've attracted $1M+ of donations from 90K students with an average revenue of $40k per month, through a "pay what you want" model and targeting their audience through Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Youtube advertising.
29. Sustain Academy ($420K/year)
Auste and Ieva founded Sustain Academy after realizing the lack of practical resources to educate sustainability professionals. They spoke with over 100 field experts and tested their concept in the Lithuanian market before launching their 10-week online sustainability course. The business has since attracted over 100 companies from 10 different countries and uses a combination of PR, social media, email marketing, and personal branding to attract and retain customers.
How much money it makes: $420K/year
Sustain Academy is an online sustainability academy that offers a 10-week LIVE online sustainability course followed by 1:1 mentorship, taught by the world’s best field experts; so far, more than 100 companies from over 10 different countries have trained their employees with them.
30. EntryLevel ($360K/year)
Ajay Prakash, the founder of EntryLevel, started the business in 2021 with the mission to make tech education more accessible. Inspired by the World Economic Forum's goal to reskill 1 billion people by 2030, Prakash saw an opportunity to create a high-volume, low-cost reskilling platform. With a unique pricing model, active community, and AI teaching assistant, EntryLevel has trained almost 30,000 people and is making $40,000 per month.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
How many people on the team: 12
EntryLevel, an online education platform founded by Ajay Prakash, provides accessible and effective tech education through cohort-based programs that have resulted in training nearly 30,000 people since its launch and generating $40,000 per month, with a unique pricing model allowing 100% refund for those who complete the course.
31. OneHourProfessor.com ($360K/year)
Ron Stefanski, the founder of OneHourProfessor.com, came up with the idea for his online business when his step-brother asked for help finding a job with a felony record. Seeing a need for employment resources for those with criminal records, Stefanski launched a website that quickly went viral, attracting thousands of visitors in a short period of time. The business has since become highly profitable, with Stefanski making over $1 million in profit and earning $30-$40k per month.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $140
How many people on the team: 3
Learn how Ron Stefanski generated over $1 million in profit from his online business, OneHourProfessor.com by obsessively measuring and following data, using SEO, and focusing on reinvesting profits into growth.
32. Piano In 21 Days ($360K/year)
Jacques Hopkins, creator of Piano In 21 Days, came up with the idea for his online piano course after realizing he could turn his piano hobby into a business. Inspired by books like The 4-Hour Workweek, he decided to create a course that would help adults learn to play piano quickly and conveniently. With the power of YouTube, a strong sales funnel, and a focus on student success, Piano In 21 Days has become a profitable business that allows Jacques to work on his own terms.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 1
Piano In 21 Days built a low pressure and flexible online piano course, bringing in 5 figures every month while allowing the founder to spend time on other interests and family while its profitable business runs itself.
33. Frontend Mentor ($360K/year)
Matt Studdert, founder of Frontend Mentor, came up with the idea for his business while teaching a front-end web development course. He noticed that his students often struggled to find professional designs and projects to practice their skills and build their portfolios. This led him to create a platform that provides developers with challenges, designs, and optimized assets, ultimately launching Frontend Mentor.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $8K
How many people on the team: 0
Online learning community Frontend Mentor has over 200,000 members, with over 1,500 paid subscribers generating over $15,000 MRR, offering professionally designed challenges to improve front-end coding skills with a freemium business model and a focus on real-life experience.
34. Write of Passage ($300K/year)
After taking Tiago Forte's course, David wanted to help 1,000 people start writing online. He was so excited he even tweeted about it and approached it as a challenge.
How much money it makes: $300K/year
Unlock the growth strategy of Write of Passage, a business making $25K/month and $300K/year in revenue, with founder David Perell's laser focus on shareable content and driving people to his email list.
35. Cary Jack - The Happy Hustle ($300K/year)
Cary Jack, founder of The Happy Hustle, experienced burnout while working 100+ hour weeks for his tech startup. After rejecting a 7-figure funding deal and taking time off in Thailand, he developed a way to find happiness within the hustle and created The Happy Hustle™ to help entrepreneurs achieve work-life balance. Through various revenue streams, such as podcasting, books, and mastermind adventures, Cary has built a successful business that focuses on serving his tribe and creating positive impact.
How much money it makes: $300K/year
How many people on the team: 4
Cary Jack started The Happy Hustle to help fellow purpose-driven entrepreneurs avoid burnout and achieve blissful balance in their personal and professional life while putting the Happy in their everyday Hustle, offering multiple revenue streams including a mastermind, book, and course.
36. Writing Revolt ($300K/year)
Getting fired was what had finally propelled her into starting her own freelance writing business, and she thought that the urgency of having no backup plan was what had really pushed her to succeed.
How much money it makes: $300K/year
How many people on the team: 0
A freelance writer who started from scratch and built a multiple six-figure online business, helping freelance writers learn how to make money online, through online courses in freelance writing and blogging, and focusing on YouTube and email newsletter marketing efforts.
37. Cultivated Culture ($240K/year)
Austin Belcak came up with the idea for Cultivated Culture after struggling to find a job in tech. He realized that the traditional job search process was broken and decided to create his own system based on building relationships with hiring managers and adding value. After using these strategies to successfully land job offers from Google, Microsoft, and Twitter, Belcak wrote an article detailing his process, which gained 60,000 views in the first month and inspired him to start Cultivated Culture.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How many people on the team: 1
Austin Belcak's Cultivated Culture teaches people how to land jobs at top tech companies, with 50,000+ graduates having landed roles at Google, Microsoft, and other leading firms.
38. The Savvy Couple ($240K/year)
Kelan and Brittany Kline started their personal finance blog, The Savvy Couple, over three years ago with the mission of helping families find financial freedom. Through their blog, digital workbooks, and flagship course, they have helped thousands of families budget, pay off debt, and make money online. They are on track to make over $250,000 this year alone and have created products and services to solve their readers' biggest problems.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 2
Learn how one couple created a successful personal finance blog, The Savvy Couple, that now makes over $20,000 per month and has sold thousands of digital workbooks and courses, by focusing on purposeful content and optimizing their ROI with efficient time management.
39. Freelance Cake ($240K/year)
In 2009, Austin L. Church started his freelance writing business after getting laid off. Over the years, he developed various creative services and eventually launched an online course called Freelance Cake, which aims to help freelancers and consultants make more money. The course launched in December and Austin plans to scale up sales from $1,000 to $3,000 per month.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How many people on the team: 1
Learn how writer and brand strategist Austin L. Church accidentally started his own freelance writing business, and eventually launched his $1K/month business growth course, Freelance Cake, distilling a decade's worth of hard-earned insights on how to thrive as a freelancer or consultant.
40. Una Vida Online ($216K/year)
Pau, the founder of Una Vida Online, came up with the idea for his business when he was looking for ways to make extra income online. He discovered the world of affiliate marketing and started creating affiliate websites. After achieving success and making more money from his websites than his full-time job, he decided to quit his job and focus on his online projects. He then created an online course to teach affiliate marketing and expanded his business to offer WordPress templates and plugins, as well as a tokenized private community for bloggers and affiliate marketers. With a strong focus on SEO, Una Vida Online has seen significant growth and currently generates about 18K per month in revenue.
How much money it makes: $216K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 1
Una Vida Online started as a side gig in 2018 to share knowledge on affiliate marketing and blogging, and has since grown into a business employing a full-time assistant and many freelancers with a monthly income of around 18K, offering online courses, WordPress templates and plugins, and a tokenized private community for people interested in generating income via blogging or affiliate marketing.
41. PM-by-PM ($204K/year)
Praveen Malik, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®), started his eponymous blog, Project Management by Praveen Malik, in 2014 to enhance his reputation in the professional training world. Over time, Malik learned about blog monetization and transformed his classroom training into an online business, selling his own eBooks and marketing third-party project management training programs through his blog. The blog has grown substantially since its inception, with an average revenue of about $17K per month and a target of achieving 100% revenue growth by the end of next year.
How much money it makes: $204K/year
How many people on the team: 2
Praveen Malik shares how he started a $17k per month project management blog business in 2016 with negligible revenue, and grew his gross profit margin to about 80% by selling his own eBooks and marketing third-party training programs through his blog.
42. Sauce Writing ($150K/year)
He realized the potential of writing when he landed his first job in Marketing. His mission was to learn everything he could about copywriting. In parallel, he created a personal blog and built a decent following. People loved his writing, so he decided to launch a writing school.
How much money it makes: $150K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
How many people on the team: 0
Sauce Writing's Valentin Decker started an online writing school just before the pandemic, helping over 100 students last year and aiming for up to €150,000 in revenue in 2023 with an emailing list of 5K people.
43. Higher Levels ($120K/year)
After transitioning from engineering to tech sales and quickly excelling, Eric was shocked by the lackluster tech sales bootcamps charging $2,000 without delivering results. Motivated by this gap, he began offering free advice on YouTube, which rapidly grew, culminating in a platform generating $10,000/month organically and helping hundreds secure top tech sales jobs.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $750
How many people on the team: 0
Case study synopsis: In just 2 years, Eric and Kris grew their YouTube channel 'Tech Sales With Eric' into a full educational platform, higherlevels.com, generating over $10,000/month in revenue from organic YouTube traffic, and are now exploring paid advertising and affiliate marketing to fuel their hyper growth phase.
44. Content Intelligence Media ($120K/year)
Thomas Oppong, the founder of AllTopStartups, came up with the idea for his business while studying software entrepreneurship at Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology. He started by aggregating the best and top technology ideas on his personal platform, and after receiving interest from readers, he transformed it into a startup blog focused on sharing promising startups that were growing rapidly or changing the way we live or work on a large scale. Today, AllTopStartups collaborates with hundreds of content marketing agencies and generates approximately $10,000 per month in revenue.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How many people on the team: 2
From blogging about the best technology ideas to earning $10K/month through paid newsletters and courses, this case study explores the journey of entrepreneur and blogger Thomas Oppong and his successful online platforms.
45. Writing Income Accelerator ($120K/year)
friends who turned out to be a nightmare to work with. They were demanding, changed their minds constantly, and didn't want to pay my fees. But I learned to be firm with my boundaries, set clear expectations, and communicate effectively to avoid any misunderstandings or difficult situations in the future. It's important to remember that not every client is going to be a perfect fit, and it's okay to say no to those who don't align with your values or work style.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How many people on the team: 1
A freelance writing program that teaches intermediate-level writers how to command $1,000 - $3,000 per article, with creator Arlie Peyton generating $10k a month from writing custom long-form articles that get premium results in the eCommerce and SaaS industries and for personal brands.
46. TrumpExcel.com ($120K/year)
Sumit Bansal, the founder of TrumpExcel.com, came up with the idea for his business after realizing the demand for Excel tutorials and courses. Working for a tech company, Sumit saw the need for efficient Excel skills and decided to create a blog and offer online courses to teach people how to use spreadsheets effectively. With over 1 million monthly pageviews and an average monthly revenue of $10,000, Sumit has successfully built a profitable business helping millions of people learn Excel.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How many people on the team: 1
A one-man business teaching people how to use Microsoft Excel effectively has gone from getting ~15k pageviews a month in 2014, to more than one million pageviews every month as of today, generating an average monthly revenue of ~$10,000, with the majority of the money coming from online course sales and a newsletter, which has 40k+ active subscribers.
47. Simply Hudson ($84K/year)
based on Simply Hudson's core values and vision. By offering strategic advising and process design services, along with additional public speaking packages and online business development courses, Simply Hudson attracts and retains customers by providing tangible and effective solutions for their businesses. The company's focus on simplicity, effectiveness, sustainability, integrity, and trust resonates with clients, leading to meaningful and impactful results.
How much money it makes: $84K/year
How much did it cost to start: $16K
How many people on the team: 0
Simply Hudson, a process design and strategic advising company, has saved over 800 manual work hours and $80,000 in annual overhead costs through designing streamlined, semi-automated processes for their fully remote, globally distributed team.
48. No-Code MVP ($72K/year)
Bram had extensive experience working and coaching with early-stage startups, and No-Code MVP became an outlet to let all that knowledge into a product.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How many people on the team: 0
A stay-at-home father created No-Code MVP course, which teaches people the mindset, process, and tools they can use to build and validate their startup and business ideas without any knowledge or learning how to code, generating $8,000 in a pre-sale over 3 weeks and is on track to make $6,000/month.
49. Made Urban ($60K/year)
Erin Mooney came up with the idea for MadeUrban when she realized the overwhelming competition on Etsy. After several unsuccessful attempts to build a rival online marketplace, she shifted her focus to the blog section of her website, which gained significant traction and led her to create her first ebook. She now earns between $5000 - $8000 per month and has sold close to 5,000 copies of her ebooks.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 0
A small business owner and blogger shares how she turned her failing handmade marketplace into a successful e-book business that generates between $5,000 - $8,000 per month, by focusing on a blog that resonated with her audience and providing unique value in her e-books.
50. Chefs Resources ($60K/year)
David Buchanan, a professional chef, came up with the idea for Chefs-Resources.com because he wanted easy access to culinary knowledge he had learned.
After starting the website as a personal resource in 2005, he added content, studied SEO, and eventually monetized the site through paid subscriptions, resulting in revenue of $44,800 in 2020.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $50
How many people on the team: 1
Chef David Buchanan generates over $6,000 per month through his website Chefs-Resources.com, which provides professional chefs with free and paid access to detailed culinary information and kitchen management resources such as Excel sheets, resulting in gross revenue of $46,000 to date and a subscriber growth rate of over 1300% from 2015 to September 2021.
51. Let's Reach Success ($60K/year)
Lidiya started her blog as a hobby in 2013, combining her passion for personal development and writing. Over the years, she gained traffic, learned about SEO and monetization, and turned her blog into a 5-figure online business. Inspired by other bloggers, she created her signature course, "Financial Freedom Through Blogging," to help others achieve the same success.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 0
How a full-time blogger created a 5-figure online business from a hobby, and now helps people start a side hustle and earn passive income with a signature program that teaches how to start and grow a blog, reach 100K page views and $5,000/month, and live life on their own terms.
52. Markeko ($48K/year)
Diego launched Markeko after realizing the lack of content and study guides for the Facebook Blueprint Certification exams. He initially created a free study guide and shared it in a Facebook group, which gained traction and validation for his idea. With a meager investment of $150, Diego built a thriving community and monetized his blog, generating $4K a month in revenue while still working a full-time job. He has ambitious plans to grow the business and increase revenue to $10K per month.
How much money it makes: $48K/year
How many people on the team: 1
Diego launched Markeko, a blog helping people pass Facebook Blueprint Certification exams, generating $4K a month and having a community of over 11K members, using a lean launch strategy and focusing on building and retaining a community.
53. Tracking Happiness ($36K/year)
Hugo Huijer, founder of Tracking Happiness, came up with the idea for his online media company after discovering the power of tracking his own happiness through journaling and data analysis. Realizing the impact this habit had on his own well-being, Hugo launched Tracking Happiness to share his experiences and insights with others. Since its launch in 2017, Tracking Happiness has generated around $3,000 per month from display ads and is now diversifying its revenue streams by launching digital courses.
How much money it makes: $36K/year
How much did it cost to start: $49
How many people on the team: 0
Hugo Huijer started Tracking Happiness in 2017 and generates $3k per month revenue from mostly display ads, but is looking to diversify income streams through a digital course and hiring freelance writers in order to build a brand and have a positive impact on mental health.
54. MindEasy ($36K/year)
Griff, the founder of MindEasy, came up with the idea for his business after discovering meditation during a trip to India. As a firefighter, he found that meditation helped him cope with stress and wanted to make it more accessible to others. He created MindEasy to provide meditation courses and content in a language that is relevant and meaningful to people's goals, focusing on mental optimization, health and wellbeing, and spirituality.
How much money it makes: $36K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 1
Meditation company MindEasy offers personalized, relevant courses to help people find their way into mindfulness and meditation in a way that helps them achieve their career and personal goals, with focus on mental optimization, health and wellbeing, and spiritual approaches.
55. ESL With Purpose ($18K/year)
Alex, the founder of ESL With Purpose, LLC, came up with the idea for his business after realizing the need for fun and dynamic learning tools for English language learners. Starting with a dice game to help learners with phrasal verbs, he later developed the Phrase It™ cards. After testing the products with teachers and receiving permission from local schools, he embarked on the journey of designing and manufacturing the dice and cards. Despite facing setbacks and a failed product launch, Alex persisted and now averages 2-3 sales per day, generating between $600-$1,000 per month.
How much money it makes: $18K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Phrase It™ is an English language learning tool that was started with an initial investment of $4,500 and has since grown to an average of 2-3 sales per day on Amazon, with ongoing customer engagement and retention through social media, conferences, influencers, and valuable content.
56. Duomly ($14.4K/year)
Radoslaw Fabisiak and Anna Danilec, co-founders of Duomly, came up with the idea for their e-learning company after realizing that the traditional learning process for IT skills was not enjoyable or efficient. As full-stack programmers themselves, they wanted to create a platform that made learning programming more fun and engaging, while also providing valuable content for beginners and advanced programmers alike. Their goal is to continue growing their user base and providing high-quality content, with a target revenue of $60k per month by July 2020.
How much money it makes: $14.4K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Duomly, an edtech application that helps beginners gain knowledge in software development such as Machine learning and AI, Front-end and Back-end development, Blockchain development, and building Mobile apps, has achieved sales of around $1200/month since giving customers the possibility of paying by credit cards 3 months ago.
57. Mini Startups ($14.4K/year)
Stefan, a former NASA analyst with a passion for space, launched Martian to fund his dream of flying to space. His new venture, Mini Startups, sold over $1,000 in pre-orders for a course on building “mini” tech companies before even beginning development.
How much money it makes: $14.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $80
How many people on the team: 1
Stefan, founder of Martian, launched an online course called Mini Startups that sold over $1000 (11 pre-orders) before it even started, teaching how to build "mini" tech companies from scratch without requiring a technical co-founder.
58. SketchUp For Woodworkers ($12K/year)
Zack Hall, a software developer and woodworker, came up with the idea for SketchUp For Woodworkers after struggling to find updated SketchUp tutorials for woodworking. He saw the potential in an old website that had valuable SEO and purchased it for $5,000. Zack then partnered with an experienced woodworker to create a comprehensive online course teaching woodworkers how to use 3D design software. The business is currently earning about $1k/month and Zack plans to focus on SEO, affiliate marketing, and video marketing to grow the audience and increase sales.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How much did it cost to start: $7.5K
How many people on the team: 0
Zack Hall started SketchUp For Woodworkers, an online course for teaching woodworkers how to use 3D design software, after acquiring an old website and investing $5,000, with the business now earning around $1k per month and attracting almost one sale per day through organic SEO traffic.
59. Mandarin Monkey ($12K/year)
Tom and Ula Cain, the founders of Mandarin Monkey, came up with the idea to start a YouTube channel teaching Mandarin/Chinese when Ula was six months pregnant and they wanted to keep busy during that time. They initially had the idea to create a live teaching platform for English speakers studying Chinese, but after some bad experiences with web design companies, they decided to focus on creating educational content through YouTube and other platforms.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How many people on the team: 2
Mandarin Monkey is a Mandarin/Chinese content creator business run by a husband and wife team, with over 250 videos on YouTube and 62 podcast episodes, and has seen their Patreon support grow steadily every month.
60. Coursesity ($12K/year)
Keyul came up with the idea for Coursesity when he was preparing for a software engineer interview and realized he was spending more time searching for online courses than actually learning. He collected free programming courses from different e-learning sites, posted them on GitHub and Reddit, and received validation when the list became an instant hit, with 17,000 course visits in just 4 days. This inspired him to create a search engine to help learners find and compare online courses across different subjects.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How many people on the team: 1
Coursesity is a search engine for online courses and tutorials with courses in seven different learning domains and 230 subjects, attracting 10,000 people within the first three days of launching the site on Product Hunt, and using a side projects strategy has helped to attract 8,000 new users.
61. FVA Business Consultancy ($12K/year)
Julmar Grace Locsin, founder of Filipino Virtual Assistance, came up with the idea after experiencing the challenges of transitioning from office jobs to freelancing. Recognizing the potential for freelancing to improve the lives of individuals and families, Locsin and her husband launched FVA to provide training, coaching, and services to empower freelancers. Since its inception, FVA has trained over 25,000 students and aims to become the top online academy in the world.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 14
Filipino Virtual Assistance by FVA Business Consultancy, founded by Julmar Grace Locsin, offers online and offline training to empower marketers, enable businesses, and equip freelancers which has trained 25,000 students from their 31 courses, has 16 coaches assigned from different territories, and fifteen in the FVA team for global digital leadership that will impact the world through digitalization, one life at a time.
62. TypeScript Course ($4.8K/year)
Joe Previte, an Open Source TypeScript Engineer, came up with the idea for his business after finding success teaching coding through platforms like egghead. Recognizing the growing demand for TypeScript education, Previte partnered with the Badass Team to create a comprehensive TypeScript course, leveraging industry trends and his passion for education to provide valuable content. With plans to expand into workshops and self-paced courses, Previte aims to make his course the go-to resource for learning TypeScript.
How much money it makes: $4.8K/year
How many people on the team: 1
Joe Previte teaches a course on TypeScript, offering a free email course with 3 modules that teaches how to ship TypeScript production code faster and safer than any other course out there, currently with over 1,500 subscribers and high ambitions to become a million-dollar course.
63. Growth Ecole ($4.2K/year)
Lucas Chevillard, a growth marketer at home.ht and formerly at Airbnb, started his email marketing course and consulting as a side project. He was inspired to create the course after being approached by a founder to become their email marketing lead, realizing there was a need for companies to kickstart their email programs. With over 1,050 people taking the course already, Lucas has found success and plans to continue growing his SEO presence and expanding his lead volume.
How much money it makes: $4.2K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Lucas Chevillard turned his email marketing consulting for startups into an actionable course that over 1050 people have taken, which he has accomplished through word of mouth, blog posts, and reviews rather than paid acquisition.
64. PurposeCards ($3.6K/year)
Jared Gold, founder of PurposeCards, came up with the idea for his business while sitting at a coffee shop sketching out a new tab Chrome extension. After realizing he wanted something physical and easy to commit to, he created PurposeCards, daily micro-journaling cards that fit in your wallet and help make every day successful. With minimal marketing, the product has gained traction, and the Kickstarter campaign has raised $1,565 as of April 6th.
How much money it makes: $3.6K/year
How many people on the team: 0
PurposeCards, a daily micro-journaling card business founded by Jared Gold, has raised $1,565 since launching its Kickstarter campaign on March 24th, with its minimalist and credit card-sized design providing users with an easy, tangible way to track their daily focus and goals.
65. The Girl with the Tree Tattoo ($3.3K/year)
Katie, also known as The Girl with the Tree Tattoo, started her business as a simple blog to share her experiences as a ballroom dancer. After realizing there was a gap in the training of adult ballroom dance students, she wrote two books and developed a solo practice guide, which she launched through a paid beta group that quickly sold out.
How much money it makes: $3.3K/year
How many people on the team: 0
A ballroom dancer turned author created a successful business by starting a blog, writing books, and launching a signature offer, The Solo Practice Guide, which helps ballroom dance students build an effective routine for practicing on their own that fits their life.
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