How to Build Course Creation Blog Making $300K/Year

 

Picture this: You’re stuck in a corporate job that pays well but slowly drains your soul.

Every day feels like Groundhog Day.

You dream about traveling the world, working from a beach in Bali, or just having the freedom to set your own schedule.

But there’s a problem…

You need money to make that dream a reality. And that paycheck keeps you chained to your desk.

Now imagine if someone told you that you could escape that trap by teaching people how to blog.

Sounds crazy, right?

Yet that’s exactly what Lauren McManus and Alex Nerney (now Noah Riggs) did with Create and Go—a blog that rakes in nearly $400,000 annually by showing aspiring bloggers how to turn their passion into profit.

Here’s what makes their story absolutely fascinating:

Lauren wasn’t some internet marketing guru with decades of experience. She was a freshly certified CPA working at a small accounting firm in Dallas. Alex was an overworked EMT desperate for an escape route. Two regular people who figured out the blogging game through trial and error—including a failed first attempt that taught them everything about what NOT to do.

And now?

They’re living proof that the “teach what you know” business model actually works. No fancy tech background required. No million-dollar ad budget. Just strategic thinking, persistence, and a willingness to share the playbook with others climbing the same mountain.

Let’s break down exactly how they built this six-figure teaching empire.

What Create and Go Actually Does (And Why People Pay)

Create and Go isn’t trying to compete with massive content farms or established media companies.

Instead, it operates in a brilliantly focused niche: helping aspiring bloggers and course creators build profitable online businesses.

The entire business model revolves around one powerful premise…

People desperately want to escape their 9-to-5 jobs and build location-independent income streams. But they don’t know where to start. They’re overwhelmed by conflicting advice, paralyzed by technical hurdles, and terrified of wasting time on strategies that don’t work.

Enter Create and Go.

The site offers comprehensive courses teaching everything from starting your first blog to creating and selling online courses. We’re talking detailed modules on SEO optimization, email marketing strategies, affiliate income generation, and course creation frameworks that have helped thousands of students launch their own online businesses.

But here’s the genius part that separates Create and Go from random “make money online” schemes…

Lauren and Alex actually did it themselves first. They built Avocadu, a successful health and wellness blog, before launching Create and Go. This isn’t theory from someone who read a few articles—it’s a proven system from people who generated six figures with their first blog and then scaled that knowledge into a teaching business.

The credibility factor? Off the charts.

When you’re buying a course on how to make money blogging, wouldn’t you rather learn from someone who’s actually pulling in $100,000+ annually from blogging rather than someone who just talks about it?

That authentic “been there, done that” positioning is exactly why Create and Go resonates so strongly with their target audience.

The Revenue Model: How This Blog Prints Money

Ready for the numbers that’ll make your jaw drop?

Create and Go generated nearly $400,000 in 2022 through two primary revenue streams. And understanding this dual-income approach is critical if you want to replicate this model in your own niche.

Revenue Stream #1: Affiliate Marketing ($242,000+ Annually)

Affiliate marketing isn’t just a side hustle for Create and Go—it’s a massive income generator that brought in over $242,000 in a single year.

Here’s how the magic happens…

Throughout their blog content and courses, Create and Go strategically recommends tools and platforms they genuinely use and love. When students or readers purchase these tools through Create and Go’s affiliate links, they earn a commission—sometimes recurring monthly commissions for subscription-based software.

Their top affiliate partnerships include ConvertKit (the email marketing platform they use themselves), Bluehost (web hosting for new bloggers), Leadpages (landing page software), and Canva (design tools for creating course materials and graphics).

The beautiful part about this approach?

These aren’t random product recommendations thrown into blog posts to make a quick buck. These are tools Create and Go actively uses in their own business, which means they can create authentic tutorials, detailed comparisons, and honest reviews that actually help their audience make informed decisions.

According to research from affiliate marketing experts, the key to high-converting affiliate content is solving a specific problem for your audience while recommending the exact solution they need. Create and Go nails this by creating content like “The Best Email Marketing Tools for New Bloggers” or “How to Start a Blog on Bluehost in 15 Minutes”—content that serves the reader first while naturally incorporating affiliate recommendations.

Revenue Stream #2: Online Courses and Digital Products ($150,000+ Annually)

The second pillar of Create and Go’s revenue comes from their premium courses hosted on Teachable, an online course platform that makes it ridiculously easy to create, market, and sell educational content.

Their flagship offering, the Pro Blogger Bundle, packages together three of their best-selling courses covering blog setup, SEO strategies, and course creation. Students can learn everything from choosing a profitable niche to building email funnels that convert subscribers into customers.

But wait—it gets better…

Unlike one-time product sales, many of their courses offer ongoing value that students return to repeatedly. Some courses include membership components with regular updates, group coaching calls, and community access where students can network and get feedback on their progress.

According to Teachable’s own data, successful course creators in the business and entrepreneurship niche typically earn between $25,000 and $50,000 annually. The fact that Create and Go is generating well over that benchmark proves they’ve cracked the code on course creation and marketing.

The secret sauce?

They don’t just throw together a course and hope it sells. They use their blog as a powerful lead generation engine, attracting thousands of aspiring bloggers through free content, building trust through valuable insights, and then converting those readers into paying students when they’re ready to level up.

Content Strategy: Building Trust That Converts

Want to know the real secret behind Create and Go’s success?

It’s not fancy marketing tactics or expensive advertising campaigns. It’s their methodical approach to creating content that positions them as the go-to authority while simultaneously funneling readers toward their paid offerings.

Free Value That Actually Teaches

Most “guru” blogs gate everything behind paywalls or serve up shallow content designed to frustrate you into buying something.

Not Create and Go.

Their free blog content delivers genuine, actionable advice that readers can implement immediately. Articles like “How to Start a Blog in 2024: Complete Step-by-Step Guide” or “SEO for Beginners: Get Your First 1,000 Visitors” provide enough detail that someone could actually follow the instructions and see results.

This seems counterintuitive, right?

Why give away valuable information for free when you could charge for it? Because this strategy accomplishes three critical objectives. It builds trust by demonstrating expertise without asking for anything in return. It creates reciprocity where readers feel compelled to support someone who’s already helped them. And it showcases the quality of their teaching style, making paid courses an easier sell.

When readers see the depth and clarity of the free content, they naturally think: “If this is what they give away for free, imagine what the paid courses must be like!”

Strategic Content Upgrades and Lead Magnets

Here’s where Create and Go’s content strategy gets brilliantly tactical…

Nearly every major blog post includes a content upgrade or lead magnet—a free downloadable resource that expands on the article topic. These might be PDF checklists, worksheet templates, email scripts, or mini-courses delivered via email.

To access these bonuses, readers must join the email list.

And once someone’s on that email list? That’s when the real relationship-building begins. Welcome email sequences introduce new subscribers to Create and Go’s story and teaching philosophy. Regular newsletters share tips, case studies, and behind-the-scenes insights. Strategic promotional emails present course offerings when subscribers are most likely to be ready to invest.

According to email marketing data from industry leaders, subscribers who download content upgrades convert to paid customers at 3-5 times higher rates than general email list subscribers. That’s because they’ve already demonstrated both interest in the specific topic AND a willingness to take action.

YouTube Integration That Amplifies Everything

While their blog serves as the foundation, Create and Go brilliantly leverages YouTube to expand their reach and serve visual learners who prefer video content over text.

Their YouTube channel features tutorials, course walkthroughs, income reports, and motivational content that all funnels viewers back to either the blog or course sales pages.

The smart part?

Every video includes links in the description to related blog posts and courses. Someone watching “How I Made $30,000 Last Month Blogging” gets directed to a blog post breaking down the exact strategies—which then offers a course teaching those strategies in comprehensive detail.

This multi-platform approach means Create and Go captures audiences regardless of their preferred content consumption method.

SEO Strategy: Ranking for Goldmine Keywords

Here’s something most aspiring bloggers completely miss…

You can create the best content in the world, but if nobody can find it, your business is dead in the water.

Create and Go understands this at a fundamental level, which is why their SEO strategy is absolutely surgical in its precision.

Targeting High-Intent Keywords

Instead of chasing ultra-competitive terms like “make money online” or “start a blog” (which are dominated by massive sites with decade-old domain authority), Create and Go targets specific long-tail keywords that indicate genuine intent to take action.

Keywords like “how to start a blog on Bluehost,” “ConvertKit vs Mailchimp for bloggers,” “how to create an online course on Teachable,” and “affiliate marketing for new bloggers.”

Notice something about these search terms?

They’re incredibly specific. They include brand names. And they indicate someone actively researching solutions rather than casually browsing.

When someone searches “ConvertKit vs Mailchimp for bloggers,” they’re not just curious about email marketing—they’re comparing specific platforms and likely ready to make a purchase decision soon. That’s when affiliate content becomes incredibly valuable (and profitable).

Research from SEO experts shows that long-tail keywords with 4+ words convert at nearly 3 times the rate of generic short-tail keywords, while being dramatically easier to rank for.

The Content Depth Advantage

Here’s another SEO secret Create and Go executes perfectly…

Their articles aren’t thin, 500-word pieces stuffed with keywords. They’re comprehensive, 2,000-3,000+ word guides that genuinely answer every question someone might have about the topic.

Google’s algorithm increasingly rewards content depth and user satisfaction. When someone lands on a Create and Go article about starting a blog and spends 8 minutes reading the entire guide, that signals to Google that this content satisfied the searcher’s intent.

The result? Higher rankings, which means more free organic traffic, which means more email subscribers, which means more course sales.

It’s a virtuous cycle that compounds over time.

Strategic Internal Linking

Every Create and Go article strategically links to other related content on their site using descriptive anchor text.

An article about affiliate marketing might link to their guide on choosing a blog niche. That niche selection article links to their tutorial on setting up a blog. And that setup guide? It links to their course on building a six-figure blog.

This internal linking structure helps visitors discover more content (increasing pageviews and time on site), helps search engines understand topic relationships, and naturally guides readers down the path from free content to paid courses.

Email Marketing: The Real Money-Maker

You want to know where the real revenue comes from in the Create and Go business model?

It’s not the blog traffic. It’s not even the YouTube views.

It’s the email list.

That email list is where trust deepens, relationships strengthen, and course sales happen at the highest conversion rates.

The 5-Day Email Bootcamp Strategy

One of Create and Go’s most effective lead magnets is their 5-Day Email Bootcamp—a free mini-course delivered via email that teaches condensed versions of their core concepts.

Here’s why this works brilliantly…

New subscribers receive valuable training over five consecutive days. Each email delivers one specific lesson with actionable steps they can implement immediately. By day five, subscribers have experienced genuine wins and built trust in Create and Go’s teaching style. Then the bootcamp naturally transitions into an offer for the comprehensive paid course.

This isn’t pushy or manipulative—it’s genuinely helpful content that proves the quality of their teaching while simultaneously warming up cold leads for a purchase decision.

According to email marketing data, multi-day email sequences convert 10-15x better than cold sales emails because they build relationship momentum before making any ask.

Value-First Email Content

Not every email from Create and Go is a sales pitch.

In fact, most aren’t.

Their regular newsletter emails share tips, case studies from successful students, behind-the-scenes updates about their own business, and valuable resources—all without constantly asking for money.

This approach builds genuine goodwill where subscribers actually look forward to emails rather than immediately deleting them.

Then when Create and Go does launch a new course, run a promotion, or open enrollment for a program, their audience is primed and ready to buy because they’ve received so much value leading up to that moment.

Segmentation and Personalization

Here’s where things get sophisticated…

Create and Go doesn’t send the exact same emails to everyone on their list. They use email marketing software (specifically ConvertKit, which they also promote as affiliates) to segment their audience based on interests and behavior.

Someone who downloaded a resource about affiliate marketing gets different emails than someone who downloaded a guide about course creation. Someone who purchased the blogging basics course receives follow-up content designed to help them succeed with that course, plus strategic upsells to their advanced programs.

This level of personalization dramatically increases engagement rates and conversion rates because every subscriber receives content tailored to their specific interests and stage in the journey.

What Create and Go Could Improve

Despite generating nearly $400,000 annually, there are some obvious opportunities Create and Go is leaving on the table.

And identifying these gaps is valuable for anyone looking to build a similar business—you can implement these strategies from day one rather than discovering them years later.

Expanded Service Offerings

Create and Go has built an incredibly successful business with courses and affiliate marketing. But there’s massive untapped potential in additional revenue streams that would serve their existing audience beautifully.

Imagine if they offered…

One-on-one coaching or consulting for established bloggers ready to scale to $10,000+ monthly income. Group mastermind programs where successful students could network and collaborate. VIP days where clients could work directly with Lauren or Noah to audit and optimize their entire blog strategy. Paid webinars diving deep into advanced topics beyond their standard courses.

These premium offerings would naturally attract students who’ve already completed the courses and are ready to invest more for personalized guidance and faster results.

According to research on education business models, course creators who add high-ticket coaching or consulting typically increase their average customer lifetime value by 3-5x without requiring significantly more marketing effort—they’re simply serving existing customers at a deeper level.

Community Building Beyond Facebook Groups

While Create and Go likely has some community elements within their course platforms, there’s enormous potential in building a thriving standalone community that becomes its own revenue stream and retention tool.

Platforms like Circle, Skool, or even a premium Slack community could offer members ongoing support, networking opportunities with fellow bloggers, regular Q&A sessions, monthly challenges, and exclusive resources.

This creates recurring monthly revenue while dramatically increasing student success rates (which leads to better testimonials and case studies for marketing purposes).

More Aggressive YouTube Growth

While Create and Go does utilize YouTube, there’s room for more aggressive content production and optimization on that platform.

YouTube is arguably the second-largest search engine after Google, and video content around topics like “how to start a blog” gets millions of views from people actively seeking solutions.

A more consistent YouTube publishing schedule with optimized titles and thumbnails could 3-5x their organic reach without spending a dollar on advertising.

Your Blueprint for Building a Teaching Business

Ready to build your own six-figure blog teaching others what you know?

Here’s your step-by-step blueprint based on what Create and Go did right (and where you can improve on their model from day one).

Step 1: Prove the Model Yourself First

Don’t try to teach something you haven’t personally achieved.

This is the golden rule that separates legitimate educators from scam artists. Lauren and Alex built a successful health and wellness blog before launching Create and Go. They earned six figures with their first blog, learned what worked through trial and error, and documented their process.

You need to do the same in whatever niche you choose.

Want to teach people how to freelance? Go freelance first and build a profitable client base. Want to teach e-commerce? Launch and scale a successful online store. Want to teach productivity systems? Prove your system works in your own life and career.

Your credibility—and therefore your ability to charge premium prices—comes from proven results, not theoretical knowledge.

Step 2: Choose a Profitable Teaching Niche

Not all teaching niches are created equal.

Some topics have massive audiences willing to invest thousands in education. Others have tiny audiences with no money to spend.

The sweet spot? Topics where people are desperate to solve painful problems and have both motivation and budget to invest in solutions.

Create and Go chose “making money online through blogging and courses”—a topic where the target audience is literally seeking ways to increase their income and views education as an investment that will pay returns.

Other profitable teaching niches include career advancement and professional development, digital marketing skills for business owners, health and fitness transformations, creative skills like photography or design, and relationship and dating advice.

The key criteria: your target audience must have both a painful problem they’re motivated to solve AND the financial means to invest in a solution.

Step 3: Build Your Content Foundation

Before selling anything, you need to establish authority and build an audience.

Start publishing high-quality blog content targeting specific long-tail keywords in your niche. Aim for comprehensive guides that genuinely help readers achieve small wins. Focus on topics where you can rank in Google’s top 10 results within 3-6 months (use keyword research tools to find opportunities).

Simultaneously, start building an email list from day one using content upgrades and lead magnets. Create valuable bonuses related to each major article that require an email signup to access.

Your target? Get your first 1,000 email subscribers before you launch your first paid course. This gives you an audience ready to buy when you’re ready to sell.

Step 4: Start with Affiliate Marketing First

Don’t wait to start monetizing.

While you’re building your content library and growing your email list, implement affiliate marketing for tools and resources you genuinely use and recommend in your niche.

This serves two crucial purposes. It generates early revenue that validates your business model and funds further growth. And it teaches you the skills of persuasive content creation and conversion optimization that you’ll need for course sales.

Focus on high-quality affiliate programs with recurring commissions (like ConvertKit, Teachable, web hosting) rather than one-time commission products.

Step 5: Create Your First Course

Once you have 500-1,000 email subscribers and consistent blog traffic, it’s time to create your first paid course.

Don’t overthink this.

Your first course doesn’t need to be a 50-hour masterclass. Start with a focused mini-course addressing one specific transformation your audience desperately wants. Price it between $97-$297 depending on the value delivered.

Use platforms like Teachable, Kajabi, or Thinkific to host your course—they handle all the technical details of payment processing, content delivery, and student management.

Launch your course to your email list first. The conversion rate might be 1-3%, which means if you have 1,000 subscribers and sell a $197 course at 2% conversion, that’s $3,940 in revenue from your first launch.

That validates the model and funds the creation of additional courses.

Step 6: Build the Email Marketing Engine

Once you have a course to sell, invest serious time into building sophisticated email marketing sequences.

Create a welcome sequence that introduces new subscribers to your story and teaching philosophy. Develop a multi-day bootcamp or challenge that delivers value while warming up leads for your course. Set up promotional sequences for course launches that combine value with strategic selling.

Test different email timing, subject lines, and calls-to-action to optimize your conversion rates.

Remember: your email list is your most valuable asset. Treat it like gold.

Step 7: Expand Your Course Catalog

After your first course proves successful, create additional courses that serve your audience at different skill levels or address related pain points.

Create and Go offers beginner courses for people just starting their blogs, intermediate courses on SEO and traffic generation, and advanced courses on scaling to six figures through course creation.

This product ladder means you can continue serving and monetizing customers as they progress rather than losing them after one purchase.

Key Takeaways: Your Roadmap to Teaching Success

Let’s distill everything into the essentials you absolutely cannot ignore.

Prove it yourself before teaching it. Your credibility comes from actual results, not theoretical knowledge. Build a successful blog, freelance business, or whatever you plan to teach about. Document your process, track your results, and learn what actually works through real experience. Then teach from that proven foundation.

Start with free content that builds genuine trust. Create comprehensive blog posts and videos that deliver serious value without asking for anything in return. This positions you as an authority while attracting your ideal audience through organic search traffic. The better your free content, the easier it becomes to sell premium courses.

Your email list is everything. Social platforms can ban you. Google can change its algorithm. But your email list is yours forever. Build it aggressively from day one using content upgrades and lead magnets. Then nurture that list with valuable content that builds relationships before you ever make a sales pitch.

Diversify your income streams. Affiliate marketing provides baseline recurring income while you build courses. Course sales deliver higher profit margins. Coaching or consulting can serve premium buyers. Each revenue stream reduces risk and maximizes the value you extract from your audience.

Teach transformation, not information. Nobody buys courses to collect information—they buy to achieve specific outcomes. Create and Go doesn’t sell “blogging information”; they sell “the ability to quit your job and make six figures online.” Focus your marketing on the transformation your students will experience, not just the content you’ll deliver.

Leverage multiple platforms strategically. Your blog builds authority through SEO. YouTube expands your reach to visual learners. Email marketing converts browsers into buyers. Social media creates community. Don’t rely on any single platform—build a presence across multiple channels that all funnel toward your email list and course sales.

Your Turn to Build Your Teaching Empire

Here’s the beautiful truth about the teaching business model…

You don’t need a massive audience to generate life-changing income. Create and Go proves that with a focused niche, proven expertise, and smart marketing, you can build a six-figure business serving a relatively small but passionate audience.

The market for online education continues exploding. People are desperate to learn skills that will improve their careers, finances, health, and lives. And they’re willing to invest serious money in high-quality courses taught by people who’ve actually achieved the results they’re seeking.

That opportunity isn’t going away.

The question isn’t whether the teaching business model works.

The question is: what valuable knowledge or skill do you possess that others are desperately trying to learn?

That’s your entry point.

Start there. Prove your expertise through free content. Build an audience of people who trust your guidance. Then package that knowledge into courses and programs that transform their lives.

Sites like Making Sense of Cents demonstrate that bloggers can earn multiple six figures teaching affiliate marketing strategies, while platforms like Smart Passive Income show the massive potential of the teaching-focused business model.

Lauren McManus started as a CPA who didn’t know the first thing about blogging. Alex Nerney was an EMT with zero marketing experience. They figured it out through trial and error, built something valuable, and then taught others to do the same.

If they could do it, so can you.

Your move.