I have never been a fan of weddings. A few weeks ago I was delaying going to a family wedding by checking my email and noticed I had received numerous emails saying “you have a new student.” I was both surprised and excited. A couple of weeks before I had finally (and I mean after way too many months) released my first product. It was a video course called how to design a logo – a beginner’s course”.

I had been so scared to release that video course. It had started as an ebook, which when I had finally finished decided I was really not sure it worked on its own. I decided I should break the whole logo design process down into bite size video chunks. But I wanted it to be different, to stand out from other design courses. They always focused heavily on learning software.

I decided I would include actually taking a brief from a client. Just one slight problem, I needed a client who was prepared to be recorded on Skype and willing to be part of my course. In a tweet and blog post I offered a free logo design in exchange for anyone who would be willing to take part. Two people volunteered and I recorded the Skype briefings (using one for the course) and then kept all my work from start to finish to use for the video tutorials.

When the course was finished I uploaded it to Udemy, an online learning platform and felt slightly sick with nerves when I finally made it live. Putting your first product out there feels like putting yourself on the line and opening yourself up for the harshest of criticism. I needn’t have worried, with my small blogging audience, a competition and mini promo I only sold a few to make the grand total of under 200 dollars. I know I did everything the wrong way round. I should have tested the idea first, I should have marketed the course before I finished it, but for me I knew my biggest barrier was just getting something made and so I concentrated on that.

After some lovely feedback by email and from reviews from my small number of students I began to feel a little more confident. On the day of the family wedding it turned out that Udemy had decided to make my course, “course of the week” and were offering it on a promotion. That was why every time I checked my email I had new students. Later on after the meal at the wedding, my boyfriend checked my course on his phone to find it was totalling two thousand dollars. By the next morning before breakfast it had made nearly 1000 dollars more.

For anyone scared of releasing their first product like me, just go for it, each day I now see a new sale or two. Earning an income online suddenly seems more possible.