Course From Scratch Review: Danielle Leslie Scam?

Danielle Leslie’s Course From Scratch is a 60-day program that guides you in creating and selling an online course. The goal is to generate passive income while enjoying a beach lifestyle.

The online learning industry is substantial, with a projected global market value of $325 billion by 2025, including $25.33 billion for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

Given the lucrative opportunities in e-learning, lots of gurus have tried to capitalize on this market growth, and Danielle Leslie is one of them.

If you’re considering joining her course, you might be questioning its value and legitimacy.

To help you decide, I’ve invested time in researching Course From Scratch and Danielle Leslie, and I’m here to provide you with all the essential information before you make a decision.

Since I’m not affiliated with Danielle Leslie, you can be sure that my words are unbiased.

At the end of this review, I’ll also tell you a better alternative that enables me to quit my job and make a full-time passive income. 

How Does Course From Scratch Help You Make Money?

Course From Scratch is a 60-day training program designed to teach you how to make money online launching your own course. 

You’ll learn how to create your own course from scratch on Teachable. It’s completely free to try Teachable but a lot of features that are missing in the free plan. 

As a bonus, Danielle Leslie’s course includes a 7-day email list building course. There are also group coaching calls where you can ask questions and get assistance with your course launch.

For those willing to pay a full price upfront, two premium bonuses are offered. These include a live call with Danielle Leslie, where she supposedly helps you create content, and a $100k course launch breakdown. The breakdown includes a worksheet detailing the launch timeline, emails, ads, and strategies.

Learn more: How to Make Money Selling Online Courses

Who is Danielle Leslie?

Danielle Leslie is an online entrepreneur I discovered through an Instagram ad. In the webinar introduction, she claims that her course Course From Scratch has generated $85,000 in its first year and $1.2 million in 2018. However, this is just the revenue from course sales and doesn’t consider advertising costs. It’s likely she spends a significant amount on ads.

Before 2017, Danielle Leslie wasn’t well-known. While she had courses on Udemy, the platform’s pricing structure posed limitations on potential earnings. Courses typically sold for around $10, and since revenue had to be shared with Udemy, it was unlikely for her to make millions through this platform.

Leslie has a YouTube channel with 11.8K subscribers, but it seems inactive, with the last video posted five months ago. Interestingly, her videos focus more on manifestation and self-development than online marketing.

On Facebook, she has about 74k followers. She is quite active on Facebook page where she has updates from time to time. But the engagement rate is quite low.

If you want to get a taste of her teaching style, you can watch the video below:

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Who is Course From Scratch for?

The course is designed for anyone who wants to build an online course and sell it on Teachable.

However, I don’t think it’s suitable for people who don’t have any expertise in a specific niche. It’s hard to win the trust of your audience if you’re not an authority.

For anyone who wants to start from scratch, I’d suggest they get started on YouTube and share their insights for free. That way, you can gradually build an audience who might want to buy your course.

What You Get with Course From Scratch

Below is an overview of what you can get with Leslie’s course:

1. The Course: Step-by-step videos guiding you through creating and launching your course in just 60 days.
2. The Community: Access to live 24/7 support within our private community, connecting you with course creators worldwide.
3. The Coaching: Group Coaching Calls providing live answers to your questions and helping you workshop your course launch.
4. Software: 3 months FREE access to a course hosting platform.
5. Email List-Building: Receive the 7-day Email List Builder package.
6. Webinar Framework: Gain access to the exact webinar slides used for a $25,000 month and a six-figure launch.
7. Bonus #LikesDontBuy Guide: Instagram for Premium Sales Blueprint with tasty content templates.

If you pay in full, you can also receive the following bonuses:

1. Live Session with Danielle Leslie: Collaborate on creating your 6-Figure Course Roadmap.
2. $100k Course Launch Breakdown: Access the detailed launch timeline, emails, ads, and strategies behind a $167,639 launch.

Free Webinar Overview

The free course link leads to a live weekly webinar, a refreshing change from potentially fake ones that start too quickly.

In the webinar, you’re promised to learn the basics of starting a course, covering topics such as selecting your subject, content creation, crafting a premium upsell, and identifying top buyers through social media.

The presentation includes case studies and figures showcasing how Danielle Leslie generates income.

While the initial impression is positive, the webinar eventually transitions into a hard sell for the $2,497 course.

How is the Training Structured?

The Course From Scratch training is divided into 5 modules, along with bonus content and weekly webinars. The content was initially created in 2017, and it’s unclear how frequently it gets updated.

The core modules are as follows:

1. Module 0: Welcome to #CourseFromScratch
2. Module 1: Minimum Viable Course (MVC)
3. Module 2: Course Topic & Customers
4. Module 3: Content & Culture Add
5. Module 4: Conversions
6. Module 5: Advanced Course Launch

However, some aspects make it challenging to follow:

• The videos are confusing and hyped, lacking clarity.
• Video titles use acronyms, adding to the confusion.
• Methods presented seem specific to Danielle, making it hard for others to review.

Additional modules cover topics like Tech Tools, 3 Month Teachable Trial, Webinar From Scratch Series, Success Series, Email Optin & Squeeze Setup, Live Q+A Calls, and Live Coaching & Calls.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

How Much Does Course From Scratch Cost?

Course From Scratch is not cheap. It costs $2,497.

There is a monthly payment plan which costs $499 over 6 months. That means you would end up paying $2994. 

Don’t forget that there are additional costs on hosting fee, website building and advertising. 

Personally, I think the course is overpriced. The information in the course is available on YouTube or elsewhere for free.

Refund Policy

If you want to get a refund, you must prove that you’ve completed all the tasks within the first month, including the course, coaching calls and worksheets, etc. 

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Praise for Course From Scratch

• Home-Based Business Opportunity: Launching an online course business allows you to work comfortably from home.

• Benefit from Danielle Leslie’s Expertise: Gain insights and guidance from Danielle Leslie, who brings valuable experience to the course creation process.

• Cost-Efficient Platform with Teachable: The program utilizes Teachable, offering a free entry point, even though the basic plan may have limited features.

Criticism of Course From Scratch

• High Price Point and Perceived Overpricing: The program comes with a significant cost of $2497, which some may find expensive, and there’s a perception that it’s overpriced.

• Lack of Free Traffic Training: There’s a notable absence of training on obtaining free traffic, such as through SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

• Overly Theoretical Focus: The course leans heavily on theory, primarily teaching how to build a course. However, it neglects crucial aspects like where and how to effectively sell it, hindering its practical application.

• Disorganized Course Structure: The course, hosted on Teachable, lacks a clear organizational structure, making navigation challenging for users

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Are Danielle Leslie’s Students Getting Results?

On the sales page of Course From Scratch, you can find a bunch of success stories:

However, I can verify the identity of these “students.” Are these testimonials fake? Possible…

On Reddit, I found two users who seem to be her real students.

This student (see below) said the course is vague… 

Another student regretted taking her course….

Is Danielle Leslie a Scam?

I can’t definitively label Danielle Leslie as a scam since there isn’t enough evidence to support that claim.

However, my skepticism arises from the course being both overpriced and overhyped. The numbers and testimonials presented seem exaggerated and unrealistic, resembling more of a sales tactic than genuine feedback.

Course From Scratch may not be the best fit for beginners in the online business world. Selling courses is a challenging task that requires building relationships and earning people’s trust, a process that often takes time. Success stories in this field usually involve influencers with massive social media followings, which can take years to cultivate.

Furthermore, selling courses often involves significant financial risks, requiring substantial investments in Facebook ads. This can be precarious, as covering the ad costs might not always be guaranteed, potentially resulting in a net loss.

Given these concerns, I would not readily recommend Course From Scratch to anyone.

Recommendation: Here’s The Best Alternative

Should You Join Course From Scratch?

Let’s be clear, Course From Scratch isn’t a scam, but the reality might not live up to the hype. While it’s a reputable program, it might not be the right fit for everyone.

Now, the big question: Should you invest in this course? From where I stand, it’s just too darn expensive, and the price tag seems inflated without good reason.

Sure, Danielle Leslie throws around some impressive numbers, but at some point, we need a reality check. Those flashy ads and statistics? They’re essentially tactics to lure you into parting with your hard-earned money.

And here’s the kicker: Nothing is a sure bet. If you’re thinking about dropping $2497, be ready for some serious risks. It’s like diving into a pool of uncertainty.

But wait, there’s more at stake than just the course fee. You’ll likely need to dish out extra cash for social media ads. If you’re not an expert in this arena, you could easily end up swimming in losses.

In my book, I don’t recommend it. I’ve got a better suggestion for making money online.

Is There A Better Way to Make Money Online?

If you want to make a full-time passive income, I’d suggest you to start an affiliate marketing business online.

In affiliate marketing, you can run your business almost at zero cost without any trouble from sourcing products or managing inventory.

Also, since you don’t need to spend hours after hours selling things over the phone, it can save you a lot of time. 

If you want to learn affiliate marketing, I’d recommend you to get started with the most reputable platform for affiliate marketing: Wealthy Affiliate.

Wealthy Affiliate is an all-in-one platform for building your affiliate marketing business from scratch. It offers you a free account (including a free website) with comprehensive training on SEO (free traffic methods), which enables you to get started with affiliate marketing right away without paying a penny.

But How Much Can You Earn with Wealthy Affiliate?

A 21-year old student from Wealthy Affiliate was able to earn $7,395 in just 1 week, which means he made more than $1k a day…all while using free traffic methods.

For more information, you can check out our full review of Wealthy Affiliate.