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How much money is being spent on "make money online" or "Internet marketing" courses and seminars?
I have found that no pre-compiled or triangulated figure is available to tell us much money is being spent on "make money online" or "internet marketing" courses and seminars in the US or worldwide. This is because it is an industry that is incorporated in multiple industries simultaneously, and it is not a specifically defined market that has been analyzed independently. I did find however, that the e-learning industry is growing rapidly and was valued at $107 billion in 2015. I also found that the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) market is estimated to grow to $8.5 billion by 2020.
METHODOLOGY
In order to answer your question I first searched for the data as a pre-compiled figure. I looked for market reports, and searched through online databases (such as Statista), as well as through news reports and online articles on the subject. I found that this information is unavailable as a pre-compiled figure because it is an industry that is incorporated in multiple industries simultaneously. It is not a specifically defined market that has been analyzed independently. Therefore, there has yet to be a figure calculated officially regarding how much money is being spent on "make money online" or "internet marketing" courses and seminars.
Next I attempted to triangulate this statistic using various methods of calculation, such as working the figure out as a segment of the e-learning market, or as a summation of the revenues of the top market players. I also attempted to calculate using number of courses taken multiplied by the average cost, or the number of people working in this industry (number of instructors) multiplied by average income (all calculation attempts you will see below). I then looked for information on market sizes of the various areas that encapsulate this market, such as: making money on the Internet, lifestyle businesses, internet marketing, and side hustle, as well as specific ways of making money on the internet, such as online courses, freelancing, blogging and coaching. I also looked for information on questionnaires of how many people are interested in taking "make money online" or "internet marketing" courses and seminars, and how much they are willing to pay. However, the necessary data to allow for this calculation was not available. Again, I believe that this is because the industry is not well-defined, and is incorporated in several markets, and the segmentation of these markets is not available.
USEFUL FINDINGS
In 2014, the global online learning industry was valued at $56.2 billion, and this increased to a huge $107 billion in 2015. I then looked for a breakdown of this figure by country and then course category (e.g. courses on making money online). Forbes offered some information on the subject, but unfortunately nothing that allowed me to make a calculation. I also searched through other industry reports on the e-learning industry, with the intention of finding a breakdown for how much revenue is generated annually in the US through sales of courses related to making money online or internet marketing. This report tells us that the global e-learning market is predicted to be worth $325 billion by 2025. However, it does not provide a breakdown of revenue by country and category.
Next I looked through articles on trends within this industry to discover whether these categories of courses are gaining popularity within the industry. This report suggests that they are not a current top trend.
Statista is another source I searched through for information on a breakdown of revenue by country and category. This data set shows us that the self-paced segment is declining while the entire industry is growing. It would also seem that Statista has historical data on the revenue segmentation of the e-learning industry, but this is only available to those with a premium account with the site.
Another source I searched through for information on a breakdown of revenue by country and category is this article tells us that the e-learning space is broken down in to a large number of distinct segments. For example there are various Learning Engagement Platforms, 3rd party courseware providers, courseware marketplaces to name just a few segments. This demonstrates the complexity of calculating how much money is being spent on "make money online" or "Internet marketing" courses and seminars, because the market is so spread out. But the sub-markets of e-learning are not even agreed on, which makes it more difficult to go about calculating the segment value of activities in the market relating to "make money online" or "Internet marketing" courses and seminars. For example, this article names the sub markets of E-learning as MOOCs, mobile learning, learning management systems, online corporate training and so on.
Next, I attempted to calculate the revenue using number of courses taken multiplied by the average cost, or the number of people working in this industry (number of instructors) multiplied by average income. Forbes tell us the average made per instructor is around $7,000 per month. They also tell us that each individual course costs a student from $47 to $197 on average. However, after a thorough search I found no data regarding how many courses are purchased each year. The number of courses offered by market leader Udemy relating to "make money online" is 4,346, and "internet marketing" is 2,057. However, there are no statistics available for the entire market. There was also no data regarding the number of people in the industry who sell online courses such as these.
I also searched for information on the revenues of the major players within this industry. Tai Lopez is a big name in this space. We know that Tai has 1.5 million subscribers, and his net worth is rumored somewhere between $3.5 and $7 million. Another market leader, Eben Pagan, is reportedly making $20 million a year from his initial eBook alone. However, his or Lopez's total revenue from making money online or internet marketing courses and seminars is not available.
Finally, I looked into the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) industry. Courses and seminars on making money online and online marketing would also be included within this market. I found that "the MOOC market is estimated to grow from $1.83 Billion in 2015 to $8.50 Billion by 2020, at an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.0%." However, as with the e-learning industry there were no breakdowns of the MOOC industry available to illustrate how much revenue is generated from courses and seminars on making money online and online marketing alone.
POSSIBLE CONTINUED RESEARCH
Through my research I have identified a number of markets which incorporate sales of courses and seminars on making money online and online marketing. It may be of interest to pursue further information on these markets in the US, such as e-learning or MOOC. It may also be of interest to look further into online platforms that are helping to grow the online learning market, such as Udemy, and discovering perhaps what the best-selling courses are in making money online and online marketing on this platform.
CONCLUSION
Overall, I have found that no pre-compiled or triangulated figure is available to tell us much money is being spent on "make money online" or "internet marketing" courses and seminars in the US or worldwide. This is because it is an industry that is incorporated in multiple industries simultaneously, and it is not a specifically defined market that has been analyzed independently.