Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Stay-at-Home Parent Built a 5000 Monthly Side Hustle in Online Course Creation
Transcript
- Lucas: So earlier this week I was talking to a woman named Karen Whitaker. She's a stay-at-home mom of two in Columbus, Ohio, and she's been building a side hustle that now brings in about five thousand dollars a month. And the kicker? She does it entirely by creating online courses. Luna: That's impressive. I know a lot of people think about courses as passive income, but actually getting to five K a month is a whole different ballgame. Lucas: Exactly. And what's interesting is she didn't start with a big audience or any teaching background. She was a former administrative assistant who just really loved organizing her home. Like, deep-dive into closet systems, meal prep workflows, that kind of thing. Luna: So she turned a personal passion into a curriculum. I love that. But how did she go from 'I like organizing' to 'I'm making five grand a month'? Lucas: She started on Udemy back in 2022. Her first course was called 'Home Organization for Busy Parents.' She spent about two weeks outlining it, filmed everything on her iPhone with a simple lapel mic, and published it. First month, she made about two hundred dollars. Luna: That's not nothing. But it's a long way from five thousand. What changed? Lucas: She learned that Udemy's algorithm rewards courses that have high engagement and positive reviews early on. So she focused on getting her first fifty students by promoting in some Facebook groups for moms. She also updated her course description with better keywords — things like 'decluttering for beginners' and 'time-saving routines.' Luna: So SEO was a big part of it. Did she stay on Udemy or branch out? Lucas: She branched out. By early 2023, she had five courses on Udemy, but she also launched two of them on Skillshare. On Skillshare, she earns based on minutes watched, not direct sales. That gave her a second revenue stream. Between the two platforms, she was averaging about two thousand a month by mid-2023. Luna: But five thousand requires more than just two platforms. What else? Lucas: She started selling her most popular course directly on her own website for forty-nine dollars. She used a simple WordPress site with a WooCommerce plugin. No fancy funnel software. She built an email list of about two thousand people by offering a free downloadable checklist. And that direct sales channel now brings in roughly half her revenue. Luna: So she's essentially running a mini media company. And she's doing this while her kids are at school or after they go to bed. I think that's the part that resonates — it's not a side hustle that demands a nine-to-five schedule. Lucas: Right. She told me she works about ten to twelve hours a week on it. Most of that is filming and editing new content, responding to student questions in the course forums, and occasionally tweaking her sales page. The production upfront for each course is maybe thirty hours total. Luna: That's a pretty good return on time investment. But I imagine not every course succeeds. What's failure looked like for her? Lucas: She had one course on 'Craft Room Organization' that flopped. She spent a lot of time on it, but it turns out the audience for that niche is much smaller on Udemy. She sold maybe forty copies total. So she learned to research demand first by looking at Udemy's search volume and comparing with Google Trends. Luna: So the lesson is: pick a niche with enough search volume but not so broad that you're competing with a million other courses. Lucas: Exactly. Her sweet spot turned out to be courses that combine a specific pain point — like 'organizing your kitchen on a budget' — with a clear outcome. She also keeps her courses short. Most are under two hours of video. She says that leads to higher completion rates, which boosts her rankings on both platforms. Luna: That's smart. And I think the bigger takeaway is that course creation is one of the few side hustles where the product can keep selling while you sleep. But it does require upfront effort and some willingness to learn the platform mechanics. Lucas: And she didn't have any special equipment. No fancy camera, no studio lights. Just an iPhone, a cheap tripod, and a clip-on mic from Amazon that cost twenty dollars. She records in her living room when the kids are at school. Luna: That's encouraging. A lot of people think you need a professional setup. She's proof that content quality matters more than production polish. Lucas: If today's episode gave you a few useful ideas for your own side hustle, I want to mention that this show stays ad-free because of listener support. A lot of people have found it valuable enough to buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure — just a low-key way to keep these conversations going. Luna: Yeah, and honestly, it's because of listeners like you that we can do deep dives like this without cutting to a commercial break. So thanks to anyone who's contributed. Lucas: Now, back to Karen. One thing she emphasized is that course creation isn't a get rich quick thing. It took her about eighteen months to hit that five-thousand-dollar month. And she's still only at about six hours a week of active work. So the passive income is real, but it compounds over time. Luna: What's her next move? Does she plan to scale further? Lucas: She's considering a subscription model — a monthly membership where she adds a new mini-course every quarter. That would smooth out revenue and increase lifetime value per student. She's also thinking about a course specifically for other stay-at-home parents who want to start their own online course business. Luna: So she's becoming a meta-course creator. I like that. And I think it shows that once you have the skills and the audience, you can keep expanding. Lucas: Right. And one more detail that stuck with me: she doesn't do any paid advertising. All her growth has been organic — through Udemy's internal marketplace, Skillshare's recommendation engine, and her email list. So the barrier to entry is really just your knowledge and your willingness to talk into a phone camera. Luna: I think that's the most actionable takeaway. You don't need a big budget. You need a niche, a willingness to learn the platforms, and consistency. Lucas: So if you're listening and you've ever thought about teaching something online, Karen's story is a real example that it can work. Start with one course, focus on quality and engagement, and see where it goes. Luna: And maybe don't start with craft room organization unless you're sure there's a big enough audience. Lucas: Exactly. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with another side hustle deep dive.