As a teacher, you can earn additional revenue for each new subscribing member you bring to Skillshare.
In this article:
- How Skillshare Referrals Work
- How Your Referral Revenue is Calculated and Distributed
- Example Scenarios
- How to Find Your Referral Links
- Tracking Your Referral Earnings
- Resources
How Skillshare Referrals Work
Every new class you publish on Skillshare has a unique class referral link that you can share with your followers outside of Skillshare. Also, when you become a teacher on Skillshare you are also automatically granted a channel referral link, which gives you the benefit of being able to market all of your classes at once through your profile page.
Wherever you promote classes or your channel — on social media, via email, on your blog, or elsewhere — you will earn every time someone signs up for Skillshare through your referral link.
The amount you earn will be equal to 60% of that student’s first subscription payment for a Skillshare membership. Read below for specific information on how your referral revenue is calculated.
Additionally, where available, people who click your referral links and sign up get a free one-month trial to try out Skillshare.
All earned referral revenue is sent on or around the 16th of each month through Tipalti. For more on the timing of teacher payments, visit When and how do I receive payments from Skillshare?
Class and channel referral links are unique to you and they look a little different than the regular URL for your class. Be sure you’re using the right one when marketing your class so you can earn! Here are two examples:
Class referral link: https://skl.sh/3QJdXQ8Channel referral link: https://www.skillshare.com/r/user/teachonskillshare
In terms of earning revenue from your referrals, it doesn’t matter what link you use — the payout is still the same regardless if you use a class or your channel referral link.
How Your Referral Revenue is Calculated and Distributed
For every new student you refer to Skillshare through any of your referral links, you will earn an amount equal to 60% of that student’s first subscription payment for a Skillshare membership. The exact amount is calculated based on the membership fees Skillshare receives from a user who becomes a paid subscriber via your referral link, net of refunds, and will not include amounts collected from the user for taxes, if any. Take note that the cost of a Skillshare membership may vary by country, and that students have a 14-day period in which they can cancel their membership and request a refund.
Skillshare calculates this payment by aggregating payments received in that month from first-time memberships, not including sales taxes, paid by students you referred (Membership Payments). Then, we subtract any refunds processed on those Membership Payments (Refunds).
Membership Payments - Refunds = Net Membership Payments
Your referral earnings for each month will be equal to 60% of your Net Membership Payments for that month.
60% of Net Membership Payments = Your Monthly Referral Earnings
See the examples below for an illustration of when you can expect to receive any referral payment you've earned.
Example Scenarios
It may be helpful to consider these hypothetical scenarios to understand how the model works and its impact on your expected revenue as a teacher. For both examples, let’s assume the membership fee is $100* before taxes.
In Example 1, a student signs up for Skillshare using your referral link on April 9th and receives a free 1-month trial of Skillshare. After the free trial ends on May 9th, the student will be charged for a full year of membership, unless they decide to cancel before that point. Since the amount the student paid was $100* before taxes, your referral earnings will be a 60% share of the membership fee the student paid, or $60. Because the student was charged on May 9, and there is a 14-day period after they’re charged in which a student can cancel their account and request a refund, you will earn the referral payment on May 23, so long as the student isn’t refunded before that time. That $60 payment will be added to your May earnings, and sent to you on or around June 16th.
In Example 2, if the student began their free trial on April 20 and was charged on May 20, their 14-day period to cancel and request a refund would expire on June 3. In that scenario, the $60 payment would be added to your June earnings (even though the student paid in May) and sent to you on or around July 16th.
*Take note this is purely an example. The exact amount a student pays for an annual membership will vary.
How to Find Your Referral Links
For step-by-step instructions on how to find either your class or channel referral links, refer to the article Where can I find my referral links?.
Tracking Your Referral Earnings
Your Teacher Stats dashboard shows your total earned revenue since you started teaching on Skillshare. Your Referrals dashboard shows details on your referrals, in addition to your channel referral link.
Visit Where can I find information on my class performance and earnings? for a detailed breakdown of the information displayed on this dashboard.