Courses Are Dead: This Is The Future Of Educational Products
Here me out ...
The other day, I had a conversation that completely opened my eyes to the future of digital products.
During the conversation, this person told me, “Courses are dead.” I think he’s right.
In today’s issue, I’ll explain the future of digital products and give you some insight on how to take advantage of this new normal.
LFG. 🔥
No One Finishes Courses
This is an unfortunate truth about courses: for every 100 people who buy a course, only about 2% complete it. Seth Godin highlighted this issue as the reason he created the AltMBA, and it’s why I structured The Copyblogger Academy as a membership instead of a standalone course.
To be clear, the fact that customers don’t fully use the products they buy isn’t the creator’s fault. If you created the course, you did your part. You can’t force people to finish what they started.
Still, this data point always struck me as a revealing insight into the effectiveness of courses.
If customers don’t complete the course, will they be blown away by the experience? Will they feel compelled to tell their friends and spread the word?
I don’t think so.
AI Can Transform Educational Experiences
I mentioned the conversation that sparked this idea.
It was with TJ Larkin, who is building Zeel AI.
Zeel is a membership platform that allows coaches and education entrepreneurs to teach AI agents their material. You can create different agents for different content blocks, and members can interact directly with these agents.
Instead of a linear course format, the membership becomes dynamic. Learners can access the material they need, exactly when they need it.
Imagine this: I’ve created a media company about lawn care. Instead of developing a traditional course, I build a platform where AI agents are trained on everything I’d teach.
Customers pay for membership access and interact with these agents on their own time.
The Future of Educational Products
I can’t predict the future, but this shift in learning seems obvious. People now have the freedom to choose precisely what they want to learn. We’re moving away from broad, one-size-fits-all education models.
Education is becoming more specialized. Every niche interest can now be transformed into an educational platform.
It doesn’t matter what you’re into:
Comics
Flowers
At-home gardening
Knife making
Skateboarding
Anything you can imagine.
As AI becomes more mainstream, we’ll see a shift from course creation to back-end AI platforms. Creators will feed their knowledge and skills into AI systems, sell access, and combine it with community-building to generate revenue.
What a time to be alive.
Love you guys. Talk to you tomorrow.
Tim
P.S. Sorry I missed yesterday’s issue. I spent all morning watching YouTube video’s of the Eagles kicking ass in the snow and Saquon becoming a legend. Let’s goooooooo!!!!! 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
Learn How To Create Multiple Streams Of Income
Join the TimStodz Incubator.
As a member, you'll get access to:
A vibrant community of like-minded entrepreneurs and creators.
One-on-one access to me for personalized guidance.
Exclusive courses on topics like building directories, getting clients, and scaling income streams.
Behind-the-scenes insights into my business journey, including how I’m building my portfolio to $10M a year.
VIP access to live lessons, tools, and strategies I’ve used to create real results.
All of this is hosted on Substack, keeping everything simple, streamlined, and effective.
Start building your future today. Click here to join the Incubator before the price goes up!