How Jake’s Skillshare Class Launched His Freelance Career
Teaching on Skillshare has given Jake Bartlett the credibility and financial stability to support the freelance career he’s always wanted.
Jake Bartlett had never heard of Skillshare when his wife stumbled on a class. Intrigued, she started enrolling in classes, hoping to build her own career as photographer, and was surprised to find that many of the teachers were everyday artists.
She told Jake about Skillshare right away. Caught up in his day job and client work, Jake was struggling to build a freelance career and take on more artistic projects. He wanted to start growing a personal brand that would leverage his freelance work, but wasn’t sure where to start.
“I always thought I would love teaching, but never saw it as financially realistic,” recalls Jake. “When I discovered Skillshare, it was a unique opportunity I never thought I’d find — in person or online.”
Two years later, that opportunity is paying off big for Jake. He now teaches over 4,000 students in 3 classes while building his personal brand and receiving monthly royalties through Skillshare’s Partner Program.
“Since launching my first class, my online presence has exploded. My first year teaching, I began getting more and more emails from people all over the world asking if I was available to do professional work.”
It was exactly the kind of projects he had been hoping for. His Skillshare classes were increasing his exposure online, getting his work in front of new eyes. Impressed, his students shared his work with their friends and colleagues. Fellow animators were thrilled to hire someone with such robust knowledge. And, Jake’s own confidence continued to grow. In January 2015, Jake struck out on his own full time.
“The income Skillshare provides has given me the opportunity to support my family by doing something that I love. As a freelance artist, I’ll never have all of my eggs in one basket, but Skillshare offers a unique way for me to build income and exposure over time.”
This year, Jake will launch a number of large and small classes, all aimed at different levels of animators and motion graphics artists to help increase their mastery of After Effects.
“My favorite part of teaching is always hearing student reviews. Knowing that I’m helping so many other people become better artists? That’s an amazing reward.”
Enroll in Jake’s classes here.
