Seventh grade teacher earns $25,000 in first year selling online courses

It’s well known that teachers face tons of challenges - but you may be shocked at just how pervasive these challenges are. According to a 2022 National Education Association survey, almost three fourths teachers feel that schools are short staffed and they are having to pick up the extra work. It also found that in some schools, up to 25% of the support staff were out sick at a time during the Omicron wave of late 2021; teachers and schools were running on a skeleton crew to keep educating students. The impact of the reduced workforce means teachers are having to do more with fewer resources.

Middle school math and science teacher Asia Hines has first-hand experience with these struggles. As a result of the pandemic, she reported that many teachers in her community had to adjust to a more digital way of teaching while grappling with filling in the learning gaps. And as the survey shows, even when returning to in-person instruction, teachers had fewer staff resources to lean on. 

During her six years of experience, Asia honed her skills in creating resources to use with her students. Those came into play when addressing her students’ learning gaps. She shared her educational resources with her community of teachers - then realized she could monetize.  

She recounted, “After I started sharing my process of creating classroom resources on Instagram, I started to get flooded with messages about how I created them. I immediately started brainstorming ways that I could help. Even though creating a digital course had been on my mind for months, my first thought was to host a free Zoom class. When one of my colleagues said, ‘you should charge for that!’ - that was the moment the idea for creating Resources Made Easy was born!”

Now, her online business serves as a secondary income stream, supplementing her pay as a classroom teacher. Keep reading to learn what Asia was able to accomplish in her first year as a knowledge creator, and how she did it.

Note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Q: What was the topic and type of the first digital product/offering you launched? Why did you choose it over other types of digital products?
A: My first digital product was a digital course that taught teachers how to create math activities. I wanted to teach teachers how to create step by step, from beginning to end. After much thought, I figured a course would be the best way to do that! My modules would start with the basics and then I’d have modules dedicated to each type of resource.

Q: When did you launch your first offering for sale?
A: June 2021, and at the time, it was called Math Activity University. It has since evolved into Resources Made Easy.

Q: What tools did you use when starting your online business?
A: I started with MailChimp to build my email list. When I realized I wanted to create a digital product, I signed up for the Kajabi free trial. I fell in love!

Q: Why did you choose Kajabi over other online business platforms?
A: I first heard about Kajabi through my business coach, Kayse Morris. I loved the idea of having everything in one place: email marketing, landing pages, and my digital product(s).

Q: What was the first thing you did in Kajabi? 
A: I migrated my email list from MailChimp and set up an email sequence to start building my list.

‍Q: What is your favorite feature on the Kajabi platform, and why?
A: My favorite feature is how easy it is to automate sales funnels! It helps that Kajabi’s platform is super user-friendly.

Q: What milestones or accomplishments have you reached on Kajabi?
A: I have earned $25,000 in sales since starting one year ago and have grown my email list to over 5,000 teachers.

Q: What do you plan to do in the next year to grow your knowledge business?
A: I plan to start using affiliates and create more digital products!

Q: What is the biggest impact Kajabi has made on your business and entrepreneurship journey? 
A: As a full-time classroom teacher and business owner, it’s crucial that I have systems in place. Kajabi has allowed me to set up systems that keep my business running like a well-oiled machine! The cost was daunting in the beginning, but it is 100% worth it!

Get started with Kajabi

Are you ready to build a life around your passion? If you have niche knowledge or existing teaching skills, like Asia, you’re a great fit for monetizing your expertise online. Many of our Kajabi Heroes find they can improve their quality of life with a substantial secondary income stream - and some find they can take it full time!

Kajabi is here to support teachers as they leverage their teaching skills to monetize their expertise.

With our all-in-one tool, Kajabi makes it easy to launch and scale your knowledge commerce business. Easily sell digital products based on your expertise - online courses, membership sites, coaching programs, podcasts, and digital downloads. As easily as you sell, create a website, collect payments, and automate email campaigns to support your business. 

Start your 14-day free trial today!

Read more Kajabi Hero stories:

Former teacher replaces salary with passive income using Kajabi

Teacher-turned-entrepreneur coaches educators with the help of Kajabi

Former high school art teacher makes first online course sale in 10 days on Kajabi