53: “Online Courses Are Dead”? What’s Actually Dying—And What’s Next (Doors Open)

🚨 The Industry Conversation Nobody Wants to Have

You've probably heard the news by now. Amy Porterfield is discontinuing Digital Course Academy, the program that's been THE go-to resource for creating online courses for years. And if you're a solopreneur who's invested in courses (or thinking about creating one), you're probably wondering: are online courses actually dead?

Here's what I'm seeing in my DMs and Stories replies. Women who bought courses from big-name creators and never finished them. Women who felt completely alone in massive Facebook groups with zero personalized support. Women who are skeptical about investing in online education because they've been burned one too many times.

Sound familiar?

In this episode (and this blog post), I'm pulling back the curtain on what's actually dying in the online course world. Spoiler alert: courses aren't dead, but the passive, hands-off, "here's your login, good luck" model absolutely is. And I'm going to show you exactly what's replacing it.

Ready to experience what high-touch online education actually looks like? The Visual Edit doors are open right now with a $300 discount that ends Wednesday at 6 AM. This is my 6-week program where I personally guide 30 women through creating a cohesive visual identity with weekly live coaching, personalized feedback on every single design you create, and me in the community every single day. If decision fatigue is keeping you from showing up consistently, this program will change that. Grab your spot before the discount ends.

💔 The $2K Course That Taught Me What NOT to Do

Let me tell you about fall 2020. I was a new entrepreneur, hungry to learn, and I signed up for Digital Course Academy after watching one of Amy Porterfield's webinars. Actually, I brought my husband to watch it with me because I knew I wanted to buy it and I needed backup to justify the investment.

Amy's sales skills? Phenomenal. She sold us like nobody's business. My husband wasn't even thinking about making an online course, and by the end of that webinar, he was ready to create one too.

But here's what happened inside the program.

Thousands of us were thrown into a Facebook group where we were basically trying to answer each other's questions when none of us knew what we were doing. It was the blind leading the blind. We really needed the leaders to guide us, but there weren't any. You weren't getting to Amy. You weren't getting personalized feedback on your course outline or your sales page or your launch strategy.

That experience disappointed me. Not because Amy isn't talented (she absolutely is), but because the model itself was broken. When you're one of thousands, you're just a number. And when you're stuck without support, you don't finish. You don't implement. You don't get results.

That's when I decided: if I ever create programs, they're going to be different. They're going to be intimate. They're going to include real feedback. And I'm going to show up as a leader, not just a distant teacher on pre-recorded videos.

🔍 What's Actually Happening in the Online Course Industry

When Amy announced she was sunsetting DCA on her podcast a few weeks ago, she said she "just knew" it was time after hopping on a Zoom with her team. And listen, I'm all about intuition. I've made several life and business decisions based on my gut.

But I also heard from an industry insider that Amy's last launch brought in millions less than previous years. Not just one million. Millions. Plural.

My disappointment isn't with the pivot. We all pivot. That's entrepreneurship. My disappointment is with how it was presented. Transparency is one of my core brand values, and I feel like I owe it to you to be honest about big business moves. If I were making a decision like that, I'd tell you the tangible reasons, not just "I hopped on a Zoom and I just knew."

When I talked about this whole saga (let's call it Amy Gate) in my Instagram Stories, the overwhelming feedback from you was:

• "I took DCA and it didn't really work for me"

• "I got little to absolutely no support from anybody behind the scenes"

• "Amy had grown to a point where I unfollowed her years ago because she felt completely unrelatable"

And then you wanted to know two things from me: Are online courses dead? And is AI playing a role in this shift?

📚 No, Online Courses Aren't Dead (But the Bar Has Moved)

Here's my honest opinion. Online courses are NOT dying. Not even close.

What's dying is the low-touch, one-to-thousands ratio with no personal feedback and no hands-on support. Enough people have been burned by enough creators that there's widespread mistrust. Or they've caught onto the pattern: "Hey, I've bought 10 online courses and I haven't completed one of them, so clearly this isn't going to work for me anymore."

The passive "here's a login, good luck to you" approach? That's what's dead.

But even that, I'd argue some people still have success with. I ran a Black Friday sale in 2025 and made $22,500 on one single instant-access online course with zero support baked into it. I was hoping for $5K. So why did it work? Because I've built a phenomenal community and I've worked hard to gain know, like, and trust. If you've ever bought anything from me before, you know the course will be full of valuable information. And you know that if you have a problem or need to ask me something, you can reach me.

You're not getting to Amy P. I was in her course. No one talks to Amy P.

The new standard for online courses isn't about format. It's about support you can feel and transparency from a leader you can trust.

⚠️ Why Low-Touch Online Course Models Struggle

Let me break down exactly why the passive course model is failing so many people.

1. No Accountability Loop

There's no "we're starting on this day, we're ending on this day, we've got a community, here's your homework." Without structure and deadlines, courses get abandoned the second life gets busy.

I'm living proof of this. I bought an online course on how to start a YouTube channel last year. Do you know how many lessons I've gotten through? Two out of like 50. I have so many other things I need to do, and I'm really atrocious at blocking out time for self-paced learning. So I haven't done a darn thing.

2. Zero Personalization

You're hopefully going to purchase a well-made course with examples and templates that gets you from point A to point B. But there's no one to say, "Hey, what do you think of this?" The distance between "watch this lesson" and "I implemented this and got a result" is too big for most people to cross alone.

3. No Community Energy or Leader Presence

Without community energy and a leader who's present in the process, motivation seriously tanks. That's just the fact of it. When you don't have peer accountability, weekly calls to show up for, or a leader checking in on your progress, it's incredibly easy to let the course sit in your bookmarks forever.

✨ What Support Actually Looks Like in My Programs

I want to share how I design my online programs for students to get outcomes and results, not just access. This is how I've always run my live programs (I call them programs or experiences, not just courses, because there's a big difference).

🎯 Capped Enrollment (30 Women Max)

I cap enrollment at a number I know I can serve without freaking out or burning out. If I took more than 30 women, I'd be working more than I want to and I'd be pretty stressed. These women are loved. I get to know every single one of them. I get to know their businesses, what they're trying to achieve, their offers. I don't want someone to just be a number.

📞 Weekly Live Calls (Teaching + Q&A)

I structure my programs one of two ways:

Option 1: I teach live on Monday or Tuesday for an hour, you digest and work on homework, then we do a live Q&A on Thursday (another hour where you can come with questions or submit them if you can't attend).

Option 2: I prerecord everything that gets released Sunday or Monday (takes about an hour to get through), you do that on your own time, then we have a live call on Thursday for Q&A.

Both work really well because there's rhythm, structure, and face time with me.

📝 Weekly Homework Tied to What We Learned

If you do the homework, you move the needle forward in your business. Hands down. You submit it into our private community (open 24/7), and me or my co-coaches weigh in on your homework. When you start seeing "oh, two women posted their homework, oh, seven women posted their homework," something about that accountability really makes people show up.

This is another reason I cap it at 30 women. The feedback needs to be extensive.

💬 Personalized Feedback on Everything You Post

It's either a Loom recording going through what you've provided or shared, or it's an extensive written reply. In The Visual Edit, it tends to be on Loom because there's a lot of visual stuff and I like to just go through your Canva designs in real time. I'm not a writer, so video feedback feels more natural to me. My co-coach is more of a writer, so she prefers to write it out. Either way, you're getting detailed, personalized feedback from someone who knows what they're doing.

I've run The Visual Edit six times now, and the current version has evolved a lot over the last four years. I consistently see about a 70% completion rate, if not higher. That's high, you guys. I'm proud of that number. Not because completion is the only metric, but because completion usually correlates to "I got real-world results that I can feel and use."

You can build any curriculum. The difference is whether your people feel led and supported.

🤝 Accountability Buddies

This is something Amy did in DCA that I loved. She gave us a spreadsheet and said, "Put your name on here and find someone to pair up with." I'm telling you, this works like a charm. If you're getting on a call every week with someone going through the same thing as you, and you told them you were going to finish X, Y, Z, and they said the same, you better believe you're showing up to that call with it done. I'm a people pleaser, I don't like to let people down, and I'm competitive. So accountability partners? Game changer.

👩‍🏫 I'm in There WITH You

I'm not just a teacher. I'm a leader. I'm a teammate. Sometimes I even do the course with you. This round of The Visual Edit, I'm like "I need to do this too." And the first round of The Messaging Edit last fall, the whole time I was thinking, "Oh my God, I need to do this." I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's true.

I'm in the comments. I'm in your Canva designs fixing your templates. I'm in your posts saying, "Okay, this version is close, but let's tweak this, this, and that." I'm all hands-on. Leadership beats passive content every single time.

🔄 How I've Pivoted Based on What My People Actually Need

Two years ago, I had a 12-week program called the Insta x Canva Collective where I combined visuals and messaging together. Everyone was doing signature courses. Everyone was doing 10 to 12-week programs. Everything and the kitchen sink, right? Super comprehensive, very long, amazing in theory.

But the market shifted. What I was hearing from my people was: "This is too long. I want results faster" or "I need the messaging part and not the visuals" or "I need the visuals and not the messaging."

So I separated them. Which is funny because that's how it started. I literally had one program and then the other. Then I put them together when everyone was doing signature courses. And now I'm taking them apart again.

Now I'm doing six-week high-touch experiences to get you out of learning mode and into implementation with me right there beside you.

The market changed, and so I changed. That's not failure. That's responsiveness.

🎨 What You Actually Walk Away With (The Visual Edit Example)

At the end of our six weeks together in The Visual Edit, here's what you have:

✅ A cohesive visual identity that looks like you and feels so good it boosts your confidence
✅ Reduced design time because you're not starting from scratch every single time
✅ A super organized Canva with an optimized homepage, folders, pinned designs, and reusable templates
✅ A reusable template bank for carousels, reel covers, promotional content, whatever you need
✅ Reel and carousel creation skills including the trendy picture-with-text-on-top style
✅ A batching and tracking system so you can do more of what's working and stop reinventing the wheel

It's not a portal with "here, good luck, TTYL." It's leadership. I'm in the community with you. I'm on calls every week. And I love this program so much because I know it works. The feedback gets better and better every time.

If you need proof, go listen to Episode 49 where I interviewed a past Visual Edit alumni about her transformation and how the hands-on support got her from point A to point B.

🌐 Resources & Links Mentioned in This Episode

• The Visual Edit - My 6-week visual identity program (doors open now, $300 discount ends Wednesday 6 AM)

• Episode 49 - Past alumni interview with transformation story

• The Messaging Edit - My 6-week messaging program (waitlist open for 2026)

💪 The Answer Isn't to Burn It All Down

I know this industry can feel noisy. I know it can feel disappointing. I'm a bit disappointed in what I've seen from some of the women I feel like I grew up listening to when I was building my business.

But the answer isn't to burn it all down. In fact, I saw somebody post a Reel saying "online courses are dead," and I wanted to reach out and be like, "Why are you saying that? It's just not true."

If you want to find someone on the internet saying something, no matter what it is, you're going to find it. If you're looking for proof that online courses are dead, you'll see those Reels. If you're looking for proof that they're not, hopefully you come across me.

The answer is to build it differently. To be honest about what's working and what isn't. To show up for your people with real, practical support.

Online courses aren't dead. Low-touch is dead. And if you've been craving a space where you're actually led and not just lectured to, I'd love to see you inside The Visual Edit.

The $300 discount ends Wednesday morning at 6 AM. If decision fatigue is the reason you're not showing up and posting to grow your business, The Visual Edit is going to replace that fatigue with structure, direction, and a super repeatable plan.

Comment below: Have you been burned by a passive online course? What kind of support would actually help you finish and implement? Let's talk about it.

And if this post resonated with you, share it with another solopreneur who's been burned by a passive course, or who just needs to hear that support actually does still exist in our industry.

Ready to experience the difference? Join The Visual Edit before Wednesday at 6 AM to save $300 and become one of 30 women getting hands-on support, weekly coaching, and a visual system that finally feels like you. I'll see you on the inside.