Do You Make Money From What You Know? Here Are the 5 Brutal Challenges Facing You (And How to Overcome Them)

Do You Make Money From What You Know? 

Here Are the 5 Brutal Challenges Facing You (And How to Overcome Them)

“I spent over $3,500 on online courses teaching me how to sell my knowledge—and I still don’t know how to make consistent money with it,” says Martin, an entrepreneur who designs programs and online courses for busy CEOs. “I’ve got skills, I’ve got content… but people buy once and never come back. What am I doing wrong?”

Mark isn’t alone.

Thousands of creators—course makers, coaches, consultants—are facing the same wall. You're selling your expertise, but clients don’t finish the course. They buy, but don’t implement, making scaling beyond your small circle feel impossible.

Here are the 5 biggest challenges that keep knowledge-based businesses stuck—and proven strategies to break through.

 

Challenge 1: Clients buy your course… but never finish it

Stats from Udemy and Coursera are merciless: only 10% of learners complete the courses they buy. That’s a problem. If people don’t finish, they don’t get results—and they don’t refer others.

What top platforms do differently:

• Coursera switched from long lectures to bite-sized tasks and mini quizzes. Result? A 35% higher completion rate.

• Duolingo mastered habit-building with daily streaks, gamification, and progress updates.

What you can do right now:

• Break your content into 5–7 minute micro-lessons

• Add a “quick win challenge” that they can complete within 24 hours

• Set up email & SMS reminders

• Create a support community—peer accountability boosts course completion

Tools that help: TalentLMS (gamification), Bonjoro (video messages), ActiveCampaign (automated reminders)

 

Challenge 2: You don’t know how to sell your product—and people don’t see the value

“I launched my course, posted the link… and waited. Nothing happened,” says Anna, a business coach. “People kept asking: why should I care?”

Why most courses flop: Platforms like MasterClass don’t simply sell “courses”—they sell stories and status along with knowledge. It's not "learn to cook." It’s “Cook like Gordon Ramsay.”

How to fix your course:

• Tell a transformation story, “how Sarah went from 3 clients to 300 in 6 months”

• Add urgency, open purchasing for a limited window, for example 3 days to trigger FOMO

• Use email sequences to educate about your product before you pitch

Tools: ConvertKit (sales funnels), Kajabi (automation + content platforms)

 

Challenge 3: You run out of clients once your friends stop buying

Maybe you got your first few sales from your network—but then business dried up. Now what?

What Udemy nailed: They cracked course SEO. By optimizing for Google, they attract thousands of new buyers every month.

You can do it too:

• Optimize your course titles and descriptions with effective search terms

• Use Facebook Lookalike Audiences to target people similar to your most reliable customers

• Launch an affiliate program—let others sell your course for a cut

Tools: Google Keyword Planner, Facebook Ads Manager, PartnerStack (affiliates)

 

Challenge 4: Clients feel lost and overwhelmed

“I gave people access to 40 lessons, and they just froze,” says Paul, an e-commerce expert. “They didn’t know where to begin.”

What Harvard Online did: They introduced personalized learning paths based on user goals and skill levels.

You can do the same:

• Add a welcome quiz to recommend where clients start

• Offer “fast-track” modules for advanced users

• Add checklists for each module to track incremental progress

Tools: Typeform (quizzes), Notion (checklists), Thinkific (personalization features)

 

What to do next? Pick one change and launch it now

Don’t try to fix everything. Just start with the change that’ll move the needle fastest:

• If students aren’t finishing – add fast wins & reminders

• If sales are slow – tell a story, add urgency, use email updates

• If you're out of leads – use SEO and run Lookalike ads

• If clients feel lost – create quizzes and roadmaps

Bonus tip: Add gamification + a community to keep people engaged long term

 

Final word: You can turn this around

The truth? Most knowledge-based businesses struggle at the start. But top education platforms have shown us that it only takes a few smart shifts to:

• Boost course completions

• Sell more without sounding pushy

• Attract clients beyond your personal network

• Help learners succeed faster

Choose one strategy. Implement it this week. Watch what happens. Every successful business started with that first well-placed pivot.

Now it’s your turn.

 

Andrzej Manka