Note: originally a post on LinkedIn

I have been working on a side project for the past 3 months. It was a course teaching people Vibe Coding. Yes it does seem a bit far fetched but I thought a course targeted to non tech people so they can create their own apps would definitely close the tech gap. What started as a way for me to earn some quick money on the side led me down the weird world of course sales, sales funnels and endless statistics.

I remembered somewhere I read that the normal conversion rate from social media to course sales is around 1%. My Goal was 10,000. Easily achievable by a beginner I thought. Therefore I focussed all my energy on creating the course. Once it was completed I did all the calculations and reached the conclusion that I need 100K views to earn 10 thousand since my course was priced at $99. The course value was great because I was giving each student that enrolled personal access wherever they get stuck. I thought that would be my killer feature.

So my calculation was 100000 x 1% = 10000, and 10 thousand views meant even if I only get 10% of those people to convert Ill easily achieve my goal. I immediately started making content, mostly just filler material. Some memes, some insights, some straight up ads. A lot of help from GPT to create content. I quickly reached 10 thousand views on tiktok and also 5 thousand on Youtube shorts. No sales and only 2 actual Page Views on the course page.

I thought this is just beginner problems more views will fix it. Kept churning out vids and making content, all short form. 20K views and then 30K and 40K, No sales, 15 page views. Something fell off. I went full psycho in the numbers. Turns out the conversion rate for short form content is not 1% its actually around 0.03 to 0.05% much less than 1%. No wonder the creators are always shouting Click the link In bio, cuz no one clicks on it. that is why they ask people to comment and then send them links in DM because short form platforms like TikTok and Instagram are created to keep the user watching and not leave their app.

1% is the conversion rate from the page views you bring to your sales page. So the actual views required for earning 10 thousand euros/dollars is actually 100000000 (One Hundred Million).

100000000 x 0.01%(beginner) x 1% (conversion rate) x 100 (Course Price) = $10000

100 million views is not only hard to achieve that is like having a full time job creating content. Needless to say I was disappointed. Short form content views are sort of meaningless for any sort of conversion but good for established brands and general awareness. And Long form content views are hard to get. Rock and a hard place. At 50 thousand views I decided to stop this project. And focus on the things I am actually motivated about. Apps and Services.

This project was not a complete failure though. I learned the following lessons that I share with all of you now.

Choose Side hustles carefully. Almost all of them will require you to work full time. Ship Quickly, preferably As soon as possible. There is a lot you will learn after shipping. Avoid tunnel vision and shut down projects you are not motivated about. And Finally stick with your passions, they are easier to follow.