💵 I bought 11 courses for $4,300. Here's what happened.

If ChatGPT could actually do the work, not just talk about it, you'd have Lindy.

Just describe what you need in plain English. Lindy builds the agent and gets it done—no coding, no complexity.

Tell Lindy to:

From sales and support to ops, Lindy's AI employees run 24/7 so you can focus on growth, not grunt work.

Save hours. Automate tasks. Scale your business.

Get $20 Worth of Free Credits

I've spent $4,300 on online business courses.

Some were $47. Some were $2,000.

I took notes. Built spreadsheets. Watched every module.

And here's what nobody tells you:

Most courses won't make you money.

Not because they're scams.

But because you're using them wrong.

Let me explain.

You buy a course thinking it'll solve everything.

"Once I finish this, I'll know exactly what to do."

So you watch module 1. Take notes. Feel motivated.

Module 2. More notes. Still motivated.

Module 3... you get busy. You'll finish it later.

Three months pass. The course sits 60% complete in your account.

You buy another one. "This one will be different."

It's not.

I did this 11 times before I figured out the problem.

Courses don't fail because of bad information.

They fail because of how people consume them.

Most people treat courses like college classes:

Wrong approach.

Here's what actually works.

Out of 11 courses, only 3 generated revenue.

Not because the others were bad.

Because I implemented these three differently.

What it taught:
How to use AI to create 30 days of content in 2 hours.

Why it made me money:
I didn't finish the course.

I watched module 2, learned one prompt framework, and immediately created 30 video scripts.

Posted them over the next month. Gained 8,000 followers.

Started selling my first product. Made $1,400.

Total time in course: 3 hours.
Total revenue generated: $1,400.

Key lesson:
I stopped learning and started doing.

What it taught:
How to create and sell digital products from scratch.

Why it made me money:
I skipped straight to module 5: "How to Validate Your Product Idea."

Followed the framework. Tested 3 product ideas.

One hit. Built it in 5 days. Launched it. Made $800 in week one.

Never finished the rest of the course. Didn't need to.

Key lesson:
Extract what you need. Implement. Come back if necessary.

What it taught:
How to build a faceless brand and monetize without showing your face.

Why it made me money:
This one I actually finished. But I implemented after every module.

By the time I "completed" the course, I'd already made $2,100.

Key lesson:
Implementation speed beats completion rate.

Let me save you thousands.

1. "Instagram Growth Masterclass" ($497)
Taught outdated growth tactics from 2021. Algorithm changed. Strategies don't work anymore.

Lesson: Avoid courses older than 12 months in fast-changing platforms.

2. "Dropshipping Empire" ($997)
Required $5,000+ in ad spend to test. I didn't have that. Course was useless without capital.

Lesson: Make sure you can afford to implement before buying.

3. "YouTube Monetization Blueprint" ($197)
Great info. But required 6-12 months of consistent uploads before seeing results. I needed money faster.

Lesson: Match the course timeline to your income urgency.

4. "Email Marketing Mastery" ($147)
Taught advanced segmentation and automation for lists of 10,000+. I had 200 subscribers.

Lesson: Don't buy advanced courses when you need beginner fundamentals.

5. "Podcast Profit System" ($397)
Required equipment, editing skills, and guest outreach. Too much friction for a beginner.

Lesson: Avoid courses that add complexity when you're starting out.

6. "Amazon FBA Freedom" ($1,497)
Needed $10,000+ inventory investment. High risk. Long timeline.

Lesson: Don't bet your savings on a course model.

7. "LinkedIn Lead Generation" ($247)
Only works for B2B service providers. I was building a consumer brand. Wrong audience.

Lesson: Make sure the target market matches yours.

8. "Facebook Ads Accelerator" ($697)
Needed $2,000+ monthly ad budget. I had $100.

Lesson: Don't buy courses for strategies you can't afford to execute.

I ask myself 5 questions:

1. Can I implement this within 7 days?
If not, I don't buy it. I need fast action, not long-term projects.

2. Do I have the resources (time, money, tools) to execute?
If the course requires $5k in ads or 20 hours a week, and I don't have that, it's a waste.

3. Is this information available for free?
80% of course content exists on YouTube. If I can learn it free, I do.

4. Does this solve my current bottleneck?
If my problem is traffic, I don't buy a sales course. If my problem is conversions, I don't buy a growth course.

5. Is the instructor still doing what they're teaching?
If they made money in 2018 and now only sell courses, red flag.

Here's what I learned:

Free content (YouTube, blogs) is better for:

Paid courses are better for:

But here's the catch: A paid course you don't implement is worth $0.

A free YouTube video you implement immediately is worth $1,000+.

Value comes from action, not information.

I don't buy courses anymore unless I have a specific problem.

Here's my learning system now:

1. Identify the exact problem
"I need more traffic" → Too vague.
"I need to write viral TikTok hooks" → Specific.

2. Search for free solutions first
YouTube, Reddit, Twitter threads. 80% of problems can be solved free.

3. Buy a course only if:

4. Implement immediately
Watch one module. Do the thing. Don't move forward until you've taken action.

5. Stop when I have clarity
I don't need to finish the course. I need to solve the problem.

If you're serious about online business, here are the only ones worth your money:

For beginners starting from zero:
Any course under $100 that teaches one platform (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts) and content creation basics.

For people with traffic but no sales:
"$100M Offers" course or book by Alex Hormozi. Teaches offer creation. This alone will change your business.

For people building faceless brands:
Any course that teaches automation, AI tools, and content systems. Should be $100-$300 range max.

What NOT to buy:

Stop buying courses.

Start implementing what you already know.

You probably have 3-5 half-finished courses sitting in your account right now.

Go finish ONE module from ONE course this week.

Then do what it says.

You'll make more progress than buying another course and "starting fresh."

I wasted $4,300 because I thought buying courses was the same as taking action.

It's not.

Buying a course feels productive. It's not.

Watching a course feels like learning. It's not.

The only thing that counts is implementation.

You could watch 100 courses and make $0.

Or you could implement one idea and make $10,000.

The choice is yours.

If you have a course you bought and never finished, go back to it.

Pick one module. Do the work. See what happens.

If you don't have any courses, don't buy one yet.

Start with free content. Take action. Make $1.

Prove to yourself you can execute before spending money on more information.

And if you want a free resource to get started, I'm giving away 10 ChatGPT prompts that'll help you create content, build offers, and start making money without spending $297 on a course.

Grab them here for free — instant access, zero cost.

Stop learning. Start earning.

— Money Minded