Note : This class was originally recorded in April 2021

THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR ONLINE CLASS! I know I know there are soooo many online classes floating around the world wide web WHY add another one?! Because no one can teach what you know exactly like YOU CAN!

Visioning a class alone can be hard - so I invented this class because I absolutely love helping my 1:1 clients design their own online courses! We’ll get rid of creative blocks, understand how to set it your course up digitally, and we will talk marketing as the artist you are and not sounding like someone who just uses a lot of marketing jargon :)

COURSE CONTENT : 

Week One : OFFERING + PRACTICE

In this first week together we will get clear about what it is you even want to teach and we will base this off what you’re excited about through a series of journaling exercises. We’ll talk about what formats these offerings can exist in, how to find the WHY behind your teaching, and how your own practice in art or business will live in harmony with your teaching

Week Two : MAGIC SYLLABUS + DIGITAL TOGETHERNESS

Creating a syllabus is SO FUN! We get to plan the different weeks or modules of class, decide if you want to teach live or pre-record, and discuss all the different platforms and places for digital togetherness.

Once you start to lay the bricks of the foundation down for class it’s just about jumping right in!

Week Three : MONEY + MARKETING  

Pricing an online offering is HARD! Well it’s hard if you have a lot of buried money trauma and want to be affordable and also pay your rent! So in week three we will dig into what does “affordable” even mean, how to value your time, and how integrating scholarship and sliding scale options doesn’t mean you make less money - in fact it might just mean you are in more alignment!

We will talk MARKETING and how it can actually be really fun and not weird and cheesy and trashy. I promise I will never encourage you to buy ads with big social media companies and we will also talk A LOT about marketing OFF social media - hint, I am finding it works just fine!

This week is jam packed with feelings so we will stretch and move our bodies a bit too.

Week Four : COMMUNITY, VIBE, AND BEING AN AMAZING TEACHER

How do you want your class to feel, how do you want your students to feel? And what do you need to set yourself up to be an amazing teacher? In our final week together we will weave all the part of the process together to prepare you to be able to show up as your whole self with the confidence to lead a group of people on their own learning journey. We will discuss how to attribute credit to your own teachers and the importance of naming where we gather information from. YOU ARE THE TEACHER! It’s going to transform the world.

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Each week's materials will be delivered in the form of a short video lesson and an audio recording (they're a little lo-fi but they are their own tiny performances that are both light hearted and seriously addressing the work at hand) as well as journal prompts, activities, writing exercises, and more

Videos in this class have closed captioning and audio notes are transcribed

LEVELS OF INTERACTION : 

This course is an independent study

WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR : 

This class is for artists, herbalists, weirdos, freaks, writers, poets, activists, hope filled humans who are ready to share their knowledge in a way that is of service to their own practice and those it could benefit!

This class is for anyone who doesn’t feel in alignment with other courses that are not rooted in questioning capitalism. This is for people who read marketing emails and hate them and feel gross and don’t know how they’d ever write one.

This class is for you if instead of a get rich scheme online course you just wanted to reach a small group of students to work in an intimate setting and get fairly compensated for your time.

You DO NOT have to know what you want to teach in order to take this class. Maybe the universe just gave you a whisper that you would like teaching and it feels like it’s time to follow that

WHO THIS CLASS IS NOT FOR : 

If you are trying to create a $300,000 online workshop launch this probably isn't the class for you. However it might be just what you need to believe in yourself enough to try something like that :) Many of my creative advising clients have launched classes that make anywhere from $5k - $45k for a four week class and I like to be honest with these numbers because if you want that $1mil online course business there are a ton of classes like that out there for you and this isn’t it! However the lessons here could absolutely open up a door to that path for you!

This class is directed more closely to the artist/creative person who wants to teach art, writing, or on any topic of their choice.

If you think I am not very funny or my art is stupid you probably won't want to take this class. If you want someone with an MFA in art to teach you that is not me. But if you want someone who has a BFA in Dance and takes the work seriously but doesn’t take themselves seriously - you’ll probably like class.

If you want someone to teach you in real time, that is not this class. If you want a one on one experience with me this is also not the course - although there may be times I interact in the discussion - this is an independent study. 

TESTIMONIALS 

Marlee's expertise and generosity supported me to get over the daunting task of launching and promoting online classes. She gave incredible advice on how to organize lesson structures, clarify expectations, and price out classes - lessons that I applied to organizing an entire online event series. I'm also so grateful for her commitment to accessibility and was reminded in our consultations of how easy and joyful making our offerings accessible can be. 

Jade Marks, 69herbs 

There’s a soulful simplicity to the way marlee has helped with developing my online courses that honors the work - it’s not about more information, or more marketing, it’s gaining clarity and figuring out how to get it done and out into the world - without having to create a bunch more *stuff*. Some words I wrote two years ago after my time at Center Residency: "New life emerging: rushing rivers of melting snow, creating... An openness. An acceptance. A freedom to feel and explore and ponder and laugh, without judgement. An embrace of modern society with all its flaws and errors and everything that makes us human." 

Looking back on the list I made two years ago when I first started working with marlee, I’ve managed to move most of these goals from desires on paper to actual life happenings thanks to the clarity and focus she’s helped me sharpen. From undervaluing myself to splitting my efforts in too many different directions, Marlee's been pivotal in helping me see the ways I hold myself back in the online space and in the real world. Working with her has allowed me to grow both my skills and my confidence in sharing my work.
Christi Johnson, Mixed Color

I've been lucky to be in conversation and community with Marlee over the years when launching an artist residency program as well as my first online class, Turning Toward The Flower. Marlee is a caring catalyst, an activator. She has an incredible willingness to show up for the work that wants to emerge with an open heart. She sees the big picture but also holds space for the small details, the anxieties and bumps in the road that are guaranteed to arise in the process of putting your work out into the world. Sessions with her have been both playful and action-oriented; I always leave our time together feeling inspired, grounded, and believing in the work I am doing.
Liz Migliorelli, Sister Spinster

MY BELIEF AND HOPE IN THIS COURSE'S IMPACT : 

I really believe in this work, the work of showing up for ourselves and our art practice or small business - I believe in trusting ourselves as teachers. Getting rid of what is blocking us so that we may be of maximum service to those who might shine a bit brighter from our classes.

FAQ’S

Q : Do I need a nice camera and editing skills to create a profitable online class?

A : NO NO NO! I have created multiple successful online courses where I create the pre-recorded videos using my iPhone or recording myself using zoom, or teaching live on zoom. Also, need better lighting? You’d be surprised how far a $30 ring light will take you! This is a huge block for a lot of people - you need very little to create your own online class!

Q : As a teacher are you a whiz at automating and scalability and marketing?

A : Yes and no :) My strengths as a teacher are getting you through the blocks of deciding what and how to teach, creating a beautiful syllabus, selling and teaching your course. I will give you the exact formulas and systems I use for organizing emails, communicating with students, and marketing - which has all proven successful for me and those I have coached 1:1. I do not buy ads for my courses, use affiliate links, or some of the other more scalable models other online marketers teach. ALAS I would say I am pretty good at the intuitive side of marketing and promoting your class!

Q : Does this class work if I want to create one night of performance, an online fundraising event, a weekend retreat over zoom, etc?

A : Absolutely! We will go over a lot of different formats for teaching and sharing that can be applied to all sort of digital sharing

Q : Will you teach this class again?

A : I plan to teach this class NOW and probably just once a year! It’s possible there will be a Fall session but I AM JUST NOT SURE - a fun thing is in class we’ll talk about the pros and cons of planning your year of teaching out

Q : I took one of your other classes and am wondering if this one is for me?

A : YES! This is a perfect class for anyone who took Creativity and Permission or Everything is a A Sunset - we get really specific in this class and build off a lot of the ideas we started with in that class!

FIVE REASONS THE WORLD REALLY DOES NEED YOUR ONLINE CLASS

1) It roots you into your own practice : I have found that when I teach dance, I dance more. When I teach quilting, I make quilts. When I guide people to teach their own online classes, I become a better teacher

2) You will learn so much from your students : One of the most important aspects of my quilting class is learning from my students. In no way do I identify as an expert quilter, which means I get to hold a strong container and also be a learner

3) It’s a way to increase your income, which increases abundance in your community : Making more money isn’t bad it’s actually cool. You might actually make the same amount of money, but be less burnt out. This is a way to reach more people with less of your time, if you see clients in a 1:1 fashion you can only schedule so many sessions a week. With an online class you can reach dozens or hundreds or even thousands of people 

4) Creating a course that generates income is an invitation to generate more generosity : You could find yourself having more time, money, joy, and freedom from teaching online. Hosting a weekend retreat. Sharing your knowledge. This may open uproar emotional capacity to be there for your friends and family, take on a new hobby in your new free time, set up reoccurring donations to organizations that support a more equitable world - the possibilities are endless and you will see them open up

5) It's fun and inspiring  : Teaching online is fun, an amazing way to facilitate digital togetherness, and connect with others. You get to witness growth, see growth in yourself, and laugh along the way. Even when bringing up serious topics in your courses, you can find ways to bring levity and humor and joy to the process, the world needs that.