The 3 Building Blocks of a Great Channel
As you grow your Skillshare channel, we encourage you to think about your long-term vision for teaching. In other words, what does your perfect channel look like? What subject do you want to be the expert on for Skillshare? You can build your successful channel by thoughtfully planning your classes, establishing your brand as a teacher, and marketing to your networks. Read on to learn about these three important building blocks for your Skillshare channel.
As you grow your Skillshare channel, we encourage you to think about your long-term vision for teaching. In other words, what does your perfect channel look like? What subject do you want to be the expert on for Skillshare? You can build your successful channel by thoughtfully planning your classes, establishing your brand as a teacher, and marketing to your networks. Read on to learn about these three important building blocks for your Skillshare channel.
Consistent New Classes
Consistent teaching is the best way to signal to students that you have a Skillshare channel worth following. Publishing at least one new class a month also helps you earn more revenue. Find the publishing cadence that works best for you and stick to it! We recommend picking a certain time of the month or day of the week to get started. When your students know when you expect a new class, they will stay engaged with your channel.
We understand that teaching consistently can be challenging if you don’t know what to teach next. Learning from your students is a great place to start. You can use your Channel Discussions to ask your student followers what they would be interested in learning. Catering your channel to the interests of your followers can help you craft better classes. Beyond student feedback, there are numerous ways you can get inspired and discover your next idea. Check out our five favorite ways to develop new class topics. And if you are looking for some extra guidance or motivation to start planning your next series of classes, join our Channel Challenge.

Thoughtful Channel Design
Hundreds of new classes are added to Skillshare every week. On a growing platform, it helps to stand out from the crowd with a thoughtfully designed channel. An aesthetically-pleasing and attention-grabbing channel starts with your profile.
Your profile is the first thing students see when they go to your channel. Be sure to have a short bio that explains who you are and why you’re passionate about what you teach. This is a great opportunity to establish credibility and trust with students. It also helps to link to your blog, portfolio, Etsy shop or any other platform that’s relevant to what you teach. Anything that you can provide to root your expertise in the subject matter will give students more confidence in your classes.
The way your channel looks matters. Students scan the site to see classes that catch their eye before watching the first video lesson. Having well-designed class cover images not only helps your individual classes, but also your overall channel growth. This goes back to the idea of consistency. Think of your channel as your brand. Your brand needs a consistent and recognizable look. Creating or choosing cover images that are cohesive from one class to the next, helps you establish your channel. For tips on how to create your cover images, check out this Teacher Handbook article.

Focused Channel Marketing
You can take your channel to the next level by creating a focused marketing plan to increase awareness of your existing Skillshare classes. Instead of marketing each individual class, focus on marketing your entire channel. You can market your channel with the classes you have now, and every time you publish a new class you have a new opportunity to market your channel. By presenting potential students with an opportunity to take all of your classes for free instead of just one class, the offer becomes much more appealing (you can find your channel referral link on the Referrals page within your account Settings). When you can tap into an audience that would benefit from all of your classes, you’re likely to see more student sign ups from your marketing.
The easiest way to start marketing to a relevant audience is to leverage your existing following: your social media followers, blog readers, newsletter subscribers and anyone else that is interested in your work and skills. After you’ve reached out to your own network, try tapping into other communities. A low barrier way to do this is to engage with other relevant blogs and websites through guest posts or thoughtful commenting. A more ambitious approach is to reach out to bigger brands for cross promotion. Be creative and resourceful with your marketing tactics! Head to the Teacher Handbook for more ideas.
These three building blocks will help you build a successful channel that establishes your expertise on Skillshare. Check out the Teacher Handbook for more ideas and tactics for each of these building blocks, and use the comments below to share any strategies that work for you!
Try Skillshare for free! Sign up for a 7 day free trial today!
Get Started- Unlimited access to every class
- Supportive online creative community
- Learn offline with Skillshare's app