If you’re trying to decide between launching an online course or starting a membership, this episode will save you a lot of time and potentially a lot of frustration because this isn’t really a formatting decision. It’s a promise decision.

In this episode of The ART of Online Course Creation, Shannon Boyer breaks down the real difference between a course and a membership in a way most creators never consider.

You’ll learn a practical framework to choose the right model based on three essential factors.

Along the way, Shannon shares a revealing client story that highlights the hidden workload behind “predictable” revenue, and why the best business model is the one that fits your real life, not your aspirational one.

You’ll also get a simple, powerful decision test you can complete in ten minutes. It cuts through trends and helps you build the right offer with confidence.

If you want to create an offer that delivers real results, attracts the right buyers, and supports your long-term capacity as a creator, press play.

At the end, Shannon also shares details about her membership, the Build Lab, which is designed for course creators who don’t just need information, but ongoing implementation support to keep moving all the way to the finish line.

Get started on your own course creation journey or learn how to make your existing course even better at The "Your Best Course" Build Lab, my interactive and supportive online community.

To get started creating your own online course, check out my new freebie that will take you through the steps of choosing a topic that will be profitable for YOU.

To be in the know about new offerings and opportunities, make sure you sign up for my newsletter.

If you’ve ever thought, “I should probably be on Pinterest,” and then immediately felt overwhelmed by the visuals, the time commitment, or the sheer number of pins already out there, this episode is for you.

In this conversation, I’m joined by Tim Adam, founder of Pinterest Skool, who has built a business around helping creators use Pinterest strategically, without treating it like another full-time social channel.

Together, we unpack what makes Pinterest different (and why that difference matters for course creators), how to think about pins when you don’t have an “obviously visual” business, and what it actually takes to build consistent traffic that doesn’t disappear 24 hours later.

This isn’t a “post more” pep talk. It’s a practical look at how Pinterest works as a search engine, and how online educators can use it to funnel the right people into their ecosystem.

In This Episode, You’ll Hear About

• Why Pinterest behaves more like a search engine than a traditional social media platform—and how that changes your strategy
• The real role of keywords on Pinterest (and why it’s the piece most people skip)
• Whether you “missed the boat” if you weren’t an early adopter, and what the data suggests now
• What course creators can pin when their business doesn’t feel visual
• The difference between creating fresh pins vs. constantly needing fresh links
• How Pinterest boards support discoverability and help Pinterest understand what your content is about
• What a realistic timeline can look like for traffic, and what to watch for so you know you’re on the right track
• How to think about using Pinterest within a larger funnel (especially when your paid offer is higher-ticket)
• A quick but important note on affiliate links and disclosures on Pinterest

About Tim Adam

Tim Adam is the founder of Pinterest Skool and has been using Pinterest since its earliest days. He began as a full-time Etsy seller, then started teaching other creators how to grow visibility and traffic through Pinterest. He’s known for practical, clear teaching and for helping people build momentum without relying on followers or daily content performance.

Connect with Tim

Tim’s best starting point is his free community, Pinterest Skool.

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Get started on your own course creation journey or learn how to make your existing course even better at The "Your Best Course" Build Lab, my interactive and supportive online community.

To get started creating your own online course, check out my new freebie that will take you through the steps of choosing a topic that will be profitable for YOU.

To be in the know about new offerings and opportunities, make sure you sign up for my newsletter.

This podcast is produced, mixed, and edited by Cardinal Studio. For more
information about how to start your own podcast, please visit www.cardinalstudio.co
or e-mail mike@cardinalstudio.co

If your current audience-building plan still starts with “I’ll just open a free Facebook group,” this episode offers a thoughtful pause and a practical alternative.

Shannon Boyer breaks down why the free Facebook group model has lost much of its effectiveness, what’s shifted in the online landscape, and why more course creators are moving toward an ecosystem-based approach that reduces friction for both you and your students. You’ll also hear why Shannon—who resisted Skool for a long time—changed her mind after experiencing it from the student side, and how that experience reshaped how she thinks about lead magnets, community, and course delivery.

Rather than treating “community” as a separate add-on you have to constantly coax people into, this conversation explores a model where the community is the front door—and the course content lives right beside it.

In this conversation, you’ll hear Shannon unpack:

• What changed with Facebook groups, and why “dead group” fatigue is becoming the norm
• The hidden cost of building on rented land, especially when your business relies on consistent visibility and engagement
• Why the biggest issue is not reach, but friction (and how friction quietly kills follow-through)
• How Skool flips the traditional course platform model by making community the main dashboard and coursework the adjacent layer
• The freemium concept as a cleaner “front door” into paid programs, without pulling people across multiple platforms
• The specific features that make Skool feel more like a business hub than a content warehouse (including events, reminders, native video, and member-to-member interaction)
• The tradeoffs worth knowing before you switch platforms, including the limitations that may matter depending on how you sell

The Build Lab (Skool community)
Shannon’s community for course creators who want to build high-quality, high-impact courses that deliver real results.

You can start for $12/year, which includes:

• Access to the Validate Your Best Course mini-course
• A full year inside the Build Lab community
• The option to upgrade later if you want deeper support

Skool free trial + affiliate link
If you want to explore Skool for your own offers, you can access a 14-day free trial here.

If you’ve been questioning where to host your course, how to build community without burning yourself out, or how to replace the old free Facebook group strategy with something more sustainable, this episode will give you a clearer framework for what to do next.

Get started on your own course creation journey or learn how to make your existing course even better at The "Your Best Course" Build Lab, my interactive and supportive online community.

To get started creating your own online course, check out my new freebie that will take you through the steps of choosing a topic that will be profitable for YOU.

To be in the know about new offerings and opportunities, make sure you sign up for my newsletter.

This podcast is produced, mixed, and edited by Cardinal Studio. For more
information about how to start your own podcast, please visit www.cardinalstudio.co
or e-mail mike@cardinalstudio.co