Interesting, Alex. I also use Thinkific for my courses. Skillshare rubbed me the wrong way and I wasn't sure why so you've given us a lot to think about.
Thanks, I really wanted Skillshare to work out, but looking into it, it seemed too good to be true...and then the pay disputes proved it! Hopefully Thinkific is,working out for you, it looks to me like a great platform 🙂
I have really enjoyed having a subscription to skillshare,I have thought a lot about putting up classes on that platform. I found what you were sharing very interesting and am rather glad I haven't posted any classes there. I'm sad they changed their policies for how they pay teachers. Thank you so much for sharing your research.
I am much happier using my own platform. I am sure that there are some advantages to skills hare for some, but I don't think it's really a fair deal anymore. Thanks for watching 😊
Hi Alex, I'm not weighing in on the Skillshare vs. RU-vid debate, but just want to say how much I enjoy and am using your RU-vid botanical ink videos. They are SUPER. I have not become a paying subscriber on your Patreon platform yet, but plan to do so. Meanwhile, here I am in Fairbanks, Alaska--so excited to come back to the studio tomorrow and see how my four pots of horsetail look after they've stewed overnight. They are from the same stand of horsetails, and were resting together in a big plastic bag for too long, so that they began to senesce. I separated out 45 g each of green from yellow-green from greenish-yellow from tannish-brown plants, and have treated them identically. You are a great teacher, Alex, and I'm eager to learn from you. Thank you for being thorough, forthright and considerate in your explanations, including in this video. It all helps!
Thank you for your comment, I am definitely hoping to make some more ink videos this autumn. I hope your horsetail inks come out really well and thank you for thinking of joining my Patreon. I just uploaded a free tutorial from my Patreon to this channel that you might enjoy 😊
I used to have a skillshare subscription but canceled after a few months. I enjoyed a lot of the content but it was overwhelming. When I recently decided to go back they wouldn’t allow me to purchase only monthly. I didn’t want to subscribe for the whole year so haven’t gone back at all. I just discovered your channel and because I’m currently interested in botanical art as well as nature journaling I’ll be watching and will definitely check out your Patreon! Thank you for your honesty! Also your music in the background is pleasant without being intrusive. ❤.your style is inspiring.
Thank you Cathy, glad you like my channel. Yeah, I agree with the issues you mentioned too. I think having access to that much content can be a bit overwhelming and I just think that there's enough amazing stuff here on RU-vid for students and then when you find a tutor you really like, you can support them in other ways. I'm pretty convinced Skillshare isn't the best for either teachers or students 🙂
I'm thinking about starting animation courses on Udemy. I did watch a few courses on Udemy. It says 4 years ago on my profile. I was still in school back then. The only problem with patreon is my own personal perspective about monthly payment. Everything seems like monthly payment these days. I'm paying monthly for adobe products, streaming services, and other things. I've never paid monthly for animation courses online, but I have paid one time purchases for individual courses. I plan to use both youtube and Udemy, or another platform if I can find one that is good and popular. The other issue is the amount of time and dedication it takes for patreon. I'm still starting in my animation career and focusing on learning and building multiple businesses. What happens if I have to leave for one or two months to seriously focus on crunch time for a project on a job, or my own personal projects? What if I need a break for a few months? This is my main concern with anything monthly. Many students or concerned students could simply refuse to follow the video content if it comes to a pause or stop like that. I know anime reaction channels who took advantage of patreon and told people to watch the full, unedited versions of the videos there. I asked myself, "Why would anyone do that?"
Well, since I made this video I have actually mostly quit Patreon. I do have a presence there, but I don't put any energy into it anymore. I still do monthly membership though, just moved the whole lot to Thinkific. As a creator, the monthly membership model is great, it is a reliable form of continued income, that's why we do it. As a member, my members get a lot out of it - they get all my courses (these can also be bought one-off, but most join the membership) and they get Zoom classes each month. But yes, this requires continued effort from me. I have to run the Zoom classes, put up new courses from time to time, keep up with my community and do associated admin. So actually, that becomes a big part of your job, and so you have to WANT it to be your job. If you don't, then honestly I wouldn't recommend starting your own membership at all and instead just make a single course and sell it on like Udemy or Skillshare (if you must...) But even then you will still have a conitnued job out of it in terms of marketing that course. At least if you market it on your own platform, you aren't just doing Skillshare's marketing for them while they pay you minimally. That's my two cents anyway, I hope you work out a plan that works for you 😊
I tried Skillshare many years ago and had buffering issues but thought the content was good quality. I guess it depends on the teacher and I think it's more important to follow the teacher and content you like than the platform even if there is lots to choose from. I also would no longer host courses on Skillshare for these reasons, but instead opt for my own website or another fairer platform. I'd be keen to hear your experience of Thinkific in a years time or so. 😊 Other platforms I'd consider would be Kajabi and Teachable. P.S. Love DaVinci resolve for editing! 🙌
Ohh yes, DaVinci is the best, I'm amazed something so great is available for free! I think my point RE Skillshare is that there is good quality content on there, bit if they don't pay fairly anymore, it won't be there for longer, or will be diluted by loads of low quality stuff. In terms of the tech and business stuff, I've found as good, if not better, for free on RU-vid 😊
This was very interesting and informative. I had a free trial offer for skillshare and wound up not using it. I would prefer to support individual creators and teachers. I wasn’t crazy about the site, particularly the layout and the enormous amount of spam that was coming from it even after unsubscribing. I’m very much enjoying your classes and posts from Patreon. The only downside for me is that I can’t access them from my tv and have to watch them on my laptop.
On Thinkific you just pay a platform fee. Then the only costs are for the transactions, which are quite small. So I'm paying for the Basic level, which is about £350 a year for unlimited courses. I made that back in my first month.
