Selling a course about making money online

Make money online by teaching people how to make money online. It works only for the person at the top of the chain, and the chain is the product.

Who pays you

Buyers pay you for a course whose content is how to sell a course. The only proven way to make the money the course promises is to sell the course, which makes the buyer's success dependent on finding the next buyer.

Outcomes

0 receipts. Nobody's reported back on this one yet. Receipts open when accounts launch.

The pitch

You've seen the ads. Someone in a rented car explains that they made a fortune with a simple system and will teach it to you for a price that is, conveniently, a large fraction of what you have. The system, when you look, is the selling of the system.

Where the money actually goes

Recursion. A course on making money online, whose primary income model is selling that course, is a pyramid with better lighting. It fails the recruitment test on this site.
The claims. Testimonials, screenshots of dashboards, income promises. Income claims without receipts are exactly what this site doesn't allow, and for good reason: they're unverifiable and often regulated.
The upsell ladder. The first course leads to the mastermind, which leads to the coaching, which leads to the "inner circle". Each rung is priced to what remains of the buyer's savings.
Refunds. Read the terms. Usually there aren't any.

Money flow test: who pays you? People who want what you promised. What do they get? A method whose only demonstrated success case is you.

What to do instead

Teach something real. Run a study group for an exam you passed. Run a workshop on a tool you know. The product has to exist before the course does.

Published 1 Aug 2026