In this article I\u2019ll do a thorough Skillshare review so you can see if they are a good fit for you and your learning style.<\/p>\n
With over 8 million students and 25,000 courses taught by 8,000+ teachers on topics that range from coding to marketing to cooking, Skillshare is one of the leading players in the world of online learning<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Disclosure<\/span><\/strong>: Although I receive affiliate compensation at no additional cost to you to support this site that compensation in no way influences my recommendations, which are strictly informed by my 10+ years of online business experience consulting for clients large and small. My aim is to always recommend tools that offer the best return for your investment (for more details, read my <\/span><\/em>Affiliate Disclosure<\/span><\/em><\/a>). <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
Skillshare is an online platform for knowledge sharing<\/a> that allows users anywhere access to educational courses from their phones, tablets, PCs or Macs using a subscription model.<\/p>\n
The best part is that instead of paying for individual courses, Skillshare gives you access to their entire course catalog for a reasonable monthly or yearly fee. In a way, Skillshare is the equivalent of Netflix for online learning<\/a>.<\/p>\n
With over 25,000 courses, there\u2019s virtually something for everybody.<\/p>\n
There are three main reasons why you should consider joining Skillshare:<\/p>\n
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To access Skillshare you need to create at a minimum a free account, however the basic free level gives you access to a very small number of courses.<\/p>\n
So, this free level is really only good to kick the proverbial tires and see if your learning experience jives with their teaching style.<\/p>\n
After browsing their full catalog you\u2019ll quickly realize that there’s a very limited choice of free courses and you\u2019ll want to sign up for the full access account instead: the Premium level.<\/p>\n
Once you have access to Skillshare’s full catalog, all you have to do is search for a topic that interests you and then filter the results down by class length (less than 15 mins, 15-30 mins, 30-60 mins or more than 60 mins).<\/p>\n
You can also sort results by popular courses or trending courses.<\/p>\n
One of the best indicators of quality is the number of students that have taken the class before (this is not a 100% guarantee but it works in most cases).<\/p>\n
Each course also has a section where you can read reviews by other students.<\/p>\n
And when you complete a course, you get to post your class project so other students as well as the teacher can give you valuable feedback via a comments section.<\/p>\n
Skillshare\u2019s sign-up process is quite straightforward. Below you\u2019ll find the step by step process to get you going and learning new skills quickly!<\/p>\n
Here’s how to start:<\/p>\n
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Click this link<\/a> to sign up for a free 14-day trial to the Premium membership.<\/p>\n
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Once you’re logged in and before you browse the main categories, take the time to check your privacy settings.<\/p>\n
Do to so, click your account avatar icon (top right-hand side of your screen) and select Account Settings from the pull-down menu. Remember to save your changes.<\/p>\n
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Alright, if you’re ready to learn new skills it’s time to check out the wide variety of courses Skillshare offers under each category (over 25,000 in total!)<\/p>\n
To do so, click the Browse<\/strong> link and a new window will pop up showing the different top categories of online courses<\/a> divided into the three super-categories: Create, Build<\/em> and Thrive<\/em>.<\/p>\n
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Now it’s time to click a category on the popup screen to be able to see all the courses in it. Here you can scroll down to see a sampling of top rated Skillshare offers grouped as Featured<\/em>, Popular<\/em> and Trending Courses<\/em>.<\/p>\n
If you want to see all courses under each group, click on the View All<\/strong> button and you’ll be able to thin out your list by clicking the Filters<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n
This will reveal two filters: Class Type<\/em> (Premium or Free courses) and Class Length <\/em>(from under 15 to over 60 minutes).<\/p>\n
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Next, select the course of your choice by clicking one of the available panels and start your learning experience by clicking on the play icon in the middle of the video screen.<\/p>\n
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Alternatively, if your preferred way to learn involves more structure than a self-paced approach, you can click the Workshop<\/strong> link to view scheduled workshops that involve multiple classes with different teachers on set dates.<\/p>\n
Skillshare offers over 25,000 courses in a variety of topics, ranging from entrepreneurship to calligraphy. The courses are divided into three super categories: Create, Build <\/em>and Thrive<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Each super category houses a number of main categories and each in turn contains hundreds of courses.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the breakdown from the top:<\/p>\n
Skillshare operates in two modes: a free membership and a paid Premium membership with a free trial.<\/p>\n
Unpaid Skillshare members get access to free classes, but only a brief 1-2 minute introduction for Premium-level classes while the rest of the content remains locked down.<\/p>\n
Now, the number of free classes on offer is quite limited and it excludes content from popular teachers, but it’s sufficient to get an idea about the platform and also to see if Skillshare meets your expectations for quality.<\/p>\n
Skillshare Premium, on the other hand, gives you unlimited access to the entire catalog, free and paid, and also allows you to download classes to view offline if you don\u2019t have access to Wi-Fi or mobile coverage.<\/p>\n
Skillshare pricing is very straight forward. You have the option to either pay monthly for your Skillshare membership ($15\/mth) or pay for an annual subscription ($99\/yr or $8.25 per month equivalent).<\/p>\n
To help you decide, they offer a 14-day free trial<\/a> with full access to the entire catalog so you can test it out fully before committing.<\/p>\n
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The main benefit for teachers is exposure to Skillshare\u2019s audience of over 8 million students. A secondary benefit is income, since you get paid for your content (based on meeting certain rules.)<\/p>\n
In essence, Skillshare pays their teachers royalties based on how much of their content is viewed by students.<\/p>\n
Skillshare allocates 30% of all revenue from Premium accounts to a royalty pool, and then disburses those funds to all teachers on the basis of share of viewership.<\/p>\n
So for example, if on a given month a teacher\u2019s courses receive 3% of all minutes watched by Premium account holders, then 3% of the pool will be paid to that teacher (subject to a minimum of 30 minutes a month.)<\/p>\n
The average first-time teacher earns $200 a month, so we’re not talking fire-your-boss type income here.<\/p>\n
However the most watched teachers are known for bringing in several thousand dollars a month in payments and some even make over $100,000 a year.<\/p>\n
In addition, if a teacher brings in new students to the platform through their own promotional efforts, they\u2019ll get paid a commission of $10 for every student who signs up to a Premium account.<\/p>\n
Also, if a teacher refers a new teacher to the platform, they\u2019ll receive a $50 bonus when the new teacher publishes their first class.<\/p>\n
Skillshare is a great online learning platform for students because:<\/p>\n
For teachers, Skillshare can provide great exposure through their worldwide student body of over 8 million accounts, and over time it can become a significant source of income via royalties and referral payments.<\/p>\n
In summary, here are Skillshare\u2019s pros and cons:<\/p>\n
If you want to try Skillshare, click this link<\/a> and let me know what you think in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"