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Comment by fiftyacorn | Hacker News Reader

I created a course a long time ago - didnt generate that much but was only about 3 weeks work - but it did improve my understanding of the subject, and also made it easier to get work and consultancy opportunities

It comes down to how you view the opportunity

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That's a reasonable argument. It's the same reason people write tech books, for the most part. But it also results in a market full of courses that people aren't that invested in, since even a fairly poor class can make you look like an expert at a superficial level.

With very few exceptions, the value of creating content is in support of "real" income. Made very little from the books I've written. But being known as an author, doing book signings at industry events (where someone else was paying for the books), etc. was probably pretty valuable to my career.

Artists can be paid with exposure, teachers with the self-learning opportunity ;)

More seriously, teaching is usually the best way to learn.

I find that putting together a presentation is a good way to think about a topic more deeply.

I'm sure you know this given the ;-) but in case someone takes it the wrong way, although I speak at events even now that I'm not being paid a salary because I feel like it, very few things irk me more as analyst/consultant than someone who asks me to do something free "for the exposure."

I doubt very much that teaching on Udemy is the best way to learn, because you don't get the kinds of questions and experiences that challenge your understanding in the way you do teaching in-person.

Or, maybe what it's the best way to learn is how to make videos for Udemy. Not sure I think that has much value.

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