I Bought the Courses. The Only Growth Lesson That Mattered Came From One Creator
Plus essential dates for your diary
Dates for your Diary
For paid subscribers only:
February 2026
7th Power Hour - come join us at 10am and complete those tasks you may have been putting off
7th How to get Started on Social Media (free workshop for GWDC also at 10am)
21st Moving Forward Group
Office Hours w/ Mark or Suzanne: Your FREE 15 minute accountability session
6th/10th/24th/27th February - MARK
17th/24th February - SUZANNE
What are you getting out of Social Media Growth Courses?
Over the years, I’ve paid for more “expert” advice than I care to admit.
I’ve taken Justin Welsh LinkedIn course.
I’ve joined Ana Calin’s paid subscribers for Substack growth training. (And paid for workshops. Twice).
I probably own an Instagram course I’ve never opened.
To be fair, Justin and Ana are excellent at what they do — clear, tactical, and worth every cent. But after a few rounds of growth training across different platforms, I started noticing a pattern that no one talks about enough.
The Growth Gurus Are Mostly Selling the Dream
Many of the “experts” teaching social media growth are best at one thing: selling the idea of social media growth, mostly to people who also plan to teach others how to grow.
It’s not a scam, exactly. But it does start to feel like an MLM of content creators. Everyone’s teaching the next person how to get followers, while few are actually applying those strategies to businesses outside the “teaching growth” niche.
You start seeing copycat businesses, each with just enough personality to look original.
The Real Business Equation Hasn’t Changed
At the end of the day, real success still comes down to a simple formula: solve a big enough problem for a big enough group of people.
Maybe you build a high-end service for a few, or maybe you cater to thousands at a lower price. Either way, it’s still about product-market fit, not clever positioning or viral content.
Finding and keeping your audience, though. Now that’s the hard part.
Finally, Someone Who Walks the Walk
While living in Chiang Mai last week, a friend pointed me to a YouTube growth workshop.
It was run by Megan, a travel YouTuber who creates content for “Tom, 65 — the guy who wants to stay informed about travel advisories without spending his day on Google.”
Not another “how to be a YouTuber” creator — but someone mastering her niche by serving a real audience.
She has over 307,000 subscribers and earned $215K last year.
She’s built a $3K/month system of tools, editors, and freelancers that helps her release one powerfully optimised video each week.
No other platforms.
No repurposing.
Just one channel — done extremely well.
One Channel. Full Commitment.
Megan spends her time where it counts: studying analytics, testing thumbnails and titles, and refining scripts with help from AI and her creative team.
She’s built a machine that works and now she’s tweaking it to adapt to YouTube’s emphasis on Shorts and AI content.
That was my biggest takeaway: if you want to grow on any platform, you have to go all in.
Study the top performers.
Understand the algorithm.
Test, iterate, and use the tools available.
And once you find a channel that rewards your effort — double down.
Why I’m Back on Facebook
Lately, Facebook’s algorithm has been shining on my content. My posts are reaching new audiences, and I’m gaining about 1,000 new followers a week, now creeping up to 40k.
That momentum gives me more shots at going viral and since I’m part of Facebook’s monetisation program, that reach now earns me around $200/month.
Not huge, but it’s real growth and the kind that can scale.
If you’ve ever bought a social media course what’s the one takeaway that’s actually changed how you produce or grow content? I’d love to hear real examples in the comments.
I hope you found this post useful. Like everything else, writing a weekly blog takes time to create and me and Mark want to make sure it adds value to your existing subscription.
As a reminder, paid subscribers receive:
Two monthly check-ins:
The Moving Forward Group where you have the opportunity to ask questions, share your wins, address your challenges in a supportive, safe environment
The Power Hour - a chance to switch off your phone & other distractions and spend an hour completing the task you may have been putting off.
One 15 minute 1:2:1 Office Hours with me or Mark. Let us help you to unblock whatever is holding you back and set your goals for the next month
Free workshops - all the workshops we run as part of Startup School for Seniors are available, for free, to GWDC members.
There is also the opportunity to join the 8.30am GMT Monday-Friday check-in with Mark, starting in February. Email: mark@startupschoolforseniors.com for more info.
Subscriptions are priced at £14.99/month or £149.00 per year, cancellable at any time. We know this represents good value, but if there’s any service you consider would be worthwhile and we haven’t covered already, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
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