Investing into your channel brand–from a teacher, curriculum, and merchandising perspective–can go a long way in earning you more revenue on Skillshare. When your channel has a strong brand, you’re able to attract more student followers and earn more passive income from your existing classes. If your student enjoyed your first class and your newly published class builds off of that same topic, they’re more likely to watch your new class. Plus, if a new student spots your well-branded class on the site and then explores your channel, they’re also more likely to watch your older classes if they’re consistent with one another. In short, your channel brand touches each part of the student experience, from the first moment the student notices your class cover image to the time they start diving into your older classes, leading to more earnings for you.
With that in mind, it’s important to spend some time developing your channel’s brand to ensure you’re set up for success. In this post, we’ll share five useful strategies to create an amazing brand for your channel.
Decide how you want to position yourself
Write down all the characteristics that describe who you are as a teacher and how you would like to be perceived by your students. Think about what you want students to associate your class catalog with. For example, do you want to offer an inspirational take on watercolor painting, or a more serious approach to icon design? The adjectives and feelings that make up your brand will help inform your future class topics and ensure they’re cohesive and consistent.
Stick with what’s working
Take a look into your existing classes and try to notice what worked. Leverage your learnings and ensure they inform your next class topic and overall channel direction! Since you’ve already built a small student following around your first class, try to recapture their attention with a consistent next class topic. For example, Business Teacher Peg Fitzpatrick saw great success with her first class “Pinterest Marketing for Creative Entrepreneur.” She leaned into her success around creative marketing and did a follow up class around Creating an Influencer Marketing Strategy for your Brand. Notice how her second class topic is likely to recapture students from her last class, allowing her to earn more minutes watched and build a more consistent channel brand.
Curate your content around your target student
Identify who you are speaking to–it will provide you with clarity as they plan your content and it allow them to gauge whether or not information is clear or necessary. Are you talking to a student fresh out of Business school or a seasoned Graphic Designer? Once you have a target student in mind, the teaching process becomes easier: Your class topics start becoming more consistent, your content decisions become easier to make, and your channel becomes even more cohesive.
Thoughtfully merchandise your classes
Merchandising your class is key to attracting students on Skillshare. Just a few small details go a long way to increase visibility, click-throughs, and overall minutes watched. Optimize your class for discovery and student engagement by choosing a clear class title and a high-quality, visually-compelling cover image. Head here to review all our best practices and check out Ohn Mar Win’s beautifully branded Skillshare channel for some inspiration!
Make a plan
Take some time to think through your brand ideas and set your channel vision. Feel free to use this channel planning doc to set a few measurable goals and define your brand. When you develop a consistent, comprehensive channel brand, you’ll attract new students and keep them coming back for more!
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