The Evergreen Course Myth: Why ‘Set It and Forget It’ Doesn’t Work

One of the biggest myths about courses is that they’re the key to “passive income.” Why? Because “passive income” in itself is a myth — it’s not real. Even the most passive income needs occasional check-ins and upkeep.

At least, it does if you want people to continue investing in your offers.

Before You Create an Evergreen Course, Know This:

It takes years to create a good one.

And yes, building your curriculum, designing your slides, and putting it together into a hosting platform usually takes an average of four months on your own. It takes years to create, test, and teach a strategy, topic, or idea that truly provides the transformation your students are looking for. 

Even after your course is created, you still have to monitor it. 

You have to update your curriculum, tutorials, assessments — you may even need to change what’s even included in your course based on student completion rates and results.

That’s not to say that creating an evergreen course is as time-consuming as a 1:1 client (it’s not). I just need you to be aware that an evergreen course, or any course for that matter, still requires upkeep.

The Truth Behind “Passive” Income and Evergreen Course Sales

Have you noticed this trend lately? Where the online community is becoming hyperaware that the courses considered “staples” in their industry aren’t getting the love they used to. That students are excited to buy, but disappointed when they hit the finish line? I have. 

The passive income most of these entrepreneurs promote isn’t a true sustainable method of building income. While it’s great in the beginning, it usually backfires when the platforms (or practices) they’re teaching have evolved but their course hasn’t. 

Once a course hits this “wall,” the referral sales they’d made and audience built thanks to word-of-mouth (or marketing, likely a mix of both), starts to plateau. 

But sales don’t stop because they’re playing a volume game. They have the financial ability and “celebrity” status to continue to place themselves in front of new people willing to invest in them (whether their course is good or not).

Now, while this is technically working in their favor, it’s not sustainable, it’s not realistic for everyone, and it’s borderline(?) unethical.

And it’s still not passive income. They may have outsourced the marketing, paid for ads, or simply let it sit on their website — but there’s still the administrative decisions to do these things, the backend management of tracking sales and ensuring access is given to the course, and all the little things still require their time to continue to produce income. 

So, How Hands-Off Can You Be With an Evergreen Course?

Evergreen courses are designed to be sold year-round (for years), but evergreen doesn’t equal hands-off. How hands-off you are depends on your business, where your evergreen course fits into your funnel and offer suite, and the support you have.

A low-lift, or 90% “hands-off” evergreen course can be sold with a funnel connected to your freebie that you only market in your blogs that get traffic from organic search platforms. You check-in on it occasionally to make sure the curriculum is up to date and students are experiencing the transformation promised, and that’s it.

Or, your evergreen course is your main offer and it needs more marketing, more attention on socials, maybe it even has an ongoing community. You’re in it constantly — so even though it’s “evergreen” it’s only slightly hands-off.

The Reality Check You Need Before Building Your Evergreen Course

Look, I’m not trying to scare you away from creating an evergreen course — they absolutely can transform your business and give you more time freedom than relying solely on 1:1 work. But I am saying you need to go into this with realistic expectations about what “evergreen” actually means.

Your course can generate income while you sleep, take vacations, or focus on other parts of your business — but only if you’ve built it right from the start and you’re committed to maintaining it over time. 

The good news? When you create a course with a solid curriculum, engaging content, and real student transformations, the upkeep becomes so much easier (and dare I say, enjoyable).

Ready to create an evergreen course the right way? Join my free masterclass, “3 Steps to Create More Impact & Income with an Online Course” and learn how to build a course that scales sustainably.