I Spent 21,840 Hours Learning How to Build & Sell a Course

My name is Seth Kniep kniep’n it real. I have built and sold courses for 8 years now, generating 10.2 million in course sales. 

Today, I bring you my 6 takeaways learned doing this. 

#1. Do not pick a fast-growing market. Create a new one instead. 

Every market falls into 1 of 3 categories: wealth, health, and relationships. 

Yes, even yo-yos, whoopee cushions, and glow-in-the-dark socks fall under one of these three markets.

Let me give you an example. Let’s watch one of the most famous Super Bowl commercials that came out in 2017. The commercial is about Skittles candy and yet it was called “Romance.”

Beneath each market you have “submarkets.” These are subcategories to each of the three big markets. For example, wealth is a market. Investing in crypto is a sub market. 

Beneath each submarket you have niches. For example, if wealth is a market, and investing in crypto is a submarket, then investing in altcoin is a niche. 

This is usually where new businesses plant their flag. Right in the middle of a big fat growing saturated niche. 

And they get slaughtered. Why would someone buy your product when you just entered the market but others have been in the market for years? As the new kid on the block you give no reason for buyers to consider your product. 

This is called a red ocean market. 

And this is why you must create a hyperniche. A hyperniche is a subcategory of a niche. 

But there’s something uniquely different about the hyperniche. You do not find it. You create it. 

Wealth —> Investing in crypto —> Investing in altcoin —> Investing in Ethereum to pay off your debts

Investing in Ethereum (ETH) to pay off your debts = a hyperniche.

Relationships —> marriage —> intimacy with your spouse —> sexual intimacy with your spouse of 20+ years

Sexual intimacy with your spouse of 20+ years = a hyperniche.

If no one else is selling a course in your exact hyperniche, you just created a new market!

#2. Choose a course topic that you love and are good at. Income and impact will follow. 

People overthink Ikigai. It’s so through that it can be paralyzing. 

And once they find the perfect pursuit they realize one of the four does not fit. So they change the pursuit to make that fourth one fit but now another one of the four does not fit. It usually ends up in compromising one of the four.

However, I have found that when you know there is a market for it (the hyperniche) and you know it's something you love and are good at, money and impact will follow as natural byproducts.

When I created my first YT video that followed this concept, I did $97,332 in coaching signups. 

I loved it. I was good at it. And as a result it impacted a ton of people and made me a lot of money. 

#3. The best time to start is now. 

When I first decided to turn my knowledge about online business into a course that entrepreneurs could buy, it was the worst possible time. 

I had 4 kids, a wife, a full time job at Apple, a booming Amazon store, and an online ecommerce business that was barely limping along. But I knew I wanted to help people. 

And I realized in that moment that it will never be the perfect time. If I wait for the stars to line up in my favor then I'll be in the grave before I start helping people. So I started. 

I was building this by scratch. And it took me literally thousands of hours of building, testing, rebuilding, tweaking, testing, failing until I figured out not only how to build this, spending only 1 hour a day, but also how to include content that people wanted, which means they will pay you for it. 

Lemony Snicket said, “If you wait until you're ready, you'll be waiting the rest of your life.” 

#4. Get a mentor. It will save you time and make you money. 

When I launched my first course, teaching people how to sell on Amazon, I had zero course sales.

I tried everything. Funnels, organic marketing, ads. 

I spent hundreds of hours trying and failing. 

And then I heard about this crazy guy from New Zealand, Sam Ovens, who started in his parent's garage and built his consulting business to $80m.

I knew I needed to buy his program. But I kept putting it off, month after month. 

Finally, I came to the realization that I can keep thinking and planning forever, but nothing will change until I commit.

And that's when I made a decision: I'm buying Sam Oven's program to force myself to commit.

So I did. I ended up paying $8,000, and that was the best $8,000 I ever spent. Not because of his content. It turns out over 80% of the content I already knew. But because the sacrifice of $8 grand made the loss too great if I didn’t follow through.

In the next 90 days I broke the $100,000 barrier. 

Everything is possible when you have 2 things…

1) a plan 

2) going all in 

Sam Oven's training cost me $8,000. 

And it was one of the best investments of my life because it forced me to move to action. 

Had I never made that sacrifice, I would never have made $100,000 in 90 days. 

Everyone focuses on the plan. 

But until you go all in, nothing will change. 

#5. Market your course by documenting. Not creating.

Instead of creating content from scratch, just document your process. Document what you are learning. And share it with the world. 

If you want people to pay attention, stop chasing perfection and start showing up consistently. Document your journey instead of trying to create the perfect image—because authenticity beats strategy when it comes to building influence. 

The biggest mistake is overthinking; just hit record, speak what you know, and keep going for 365 days.

If you find yourself always trying to create that perfect piece of content, it will stress you out and you’ll end up discouraged because there will always be someone creating better content than you. 

Instead, focus on one thing: consistency. This will market your course powerfully without you spending a single dime in ads. 

#6 When your course makes a lot of money, remember: your income doesn’t define your worth. 

I went from $24,000 in debt working for the richest company in the world, to full time Amazon seller to consulting for Amazon, Forever 21, and BMW, and later co-founder of a coaching company worth 50 million, and then lost it all in Covid and was selling furniture out of the garage just to pay for food. 

And here was the one constant through it all: God never measured my worth based on my outward success. In fact, my worth had nothing to do with my achievements and failures. It was based on His love for me. 

Jesus did not die for kangaroos. Jesus did not die for dogs. Jesus did not die for rabbits. Jesus did not die for trees. Jesus did not die for angels and demons. Jesus died for humans. 

Jesus bled for you and for me. THAT is how much He loves you! 

The greatest expression of love in the universe is when one person gives up their life so that others may live. 

That is what Jesus did over 2,000 years ago. 

And today, He lives. 

Let your worth be in Him alone. Your business is just an additional blessing in your life. 

And let me tell you–God loves blessing His children! 

👉 Join the Craftsmen community and learn how to turn your expertise into a course and sell it.