Did Taylor and Matty meet on Myspace? (And other early coincidences!)

Early on in their careers, Taylor and Matty both utilized Myspace as a way to promote their music. Taylor, specifically, would message with other teenagers on Myspace:

"I'd post my songs on my MySpace and, yes, MySpace, and would message with other teenagers like me who loved country music, but just didn't have anyone singing from their perspective."

Matty, too, described himself as "King of Myspace" when he was fifteen. But he brought it up more recently on the Ion Pack Podcast, even mentioning his age as seventeen at the time. And here's a retro clip of Taylor talking about how she wasn't some corporate entity on Myspace, if you messaged her account, you were talking to her! She also filled out her profile in her own words.

She has some things in her profile that might've caught Matty's eye, a fellow teenage country fan and fan of American music specifically, that might've emboldened him to message her:

"I love people who like my music. I love people who are nice to me. I like people who are excitable. I think it's endearing when people cry when they're happy. I'm pretty excitable too. Guys don't ask me out because they know I'll write songs about them. But I'm also the girl who still believes prince charming exists somewhere out there -- fully equipped with great hair and an immature sense of humor. I'm fascinated by black and white pictures. I like people who can be sarcastic and laugh about tense situations. I'm a fan of fans."

Say whatever you will about Matty, but that man is a genuine fan of Taylor's music. When he became a fan is open for discussion, but let's just pretend, for fun, that he found her via Myspace early on in her career.

Now, here is the old Myspace page for The 1975 back when they were known as 'Drive Like I Do' in 2008. Note the James Taylor in the list of Influences! (as well as the Jamie Squire in the top 8! How sweet, I'm sobbing!)

Taylor was a bit of a firecracker on Myspace (and not just there, there's a whole conspiracy theory she used to troll 4Chan!). A few of her comments were screenshotted and you can find them around the internet. Here are some. The one from October 31st, 2005 about a queer fellow ("I'm sorry that I'm kinda queer, it's not as weird as it appears") with a Sex van ("take your shoes off in the back of my van") really caught my eye, anyway…

"Listen my queer fellow. I thinketh we shall hangeth out sometime soon, eh? yes, I do believe I am growing fond of this idea. drive over in your sex van and come pick me up, farewell knave."

Notice the spelling here, too. Thinketh? Hangeth? Knave? Feels a little bit Shakespearean, at least for say, a fifteen-going-on-sixteen-year-old girl (as we would later discover, Love Story and Robbers were both inspired by Romeo and Juliet, both written around the same time so far as I know, but it's hard to find exact dates!)

Matty, by the way, used to refer to himself as the "Prince of the Tyne". He's also got some old Drive Like I Do lyrics from 'We Are the Streetfighters' that are suspicious to me: "Well in four thousand miles we'll meet you" (The nearest airport to Macclesfield is in Manchester, and the distance between Manchester and Nashville? Roughly 4000 miles)

Two months later on December 21st, 2005, just after turning 16, Taylor says she's in England.

Did they meet? Who knows! But there's enough weirdness there to make me wonder. Speaking of weirdness… we're going to go on a side tangent about Fearless, but that's part of the puzzle, so bear with me…

I don't know about anyone else, but when I saw Matty's Fearless Love Gaze™, I was rocked to my core! Men do not look at women like that, but especially not brand-new flings. They're too concerned with trying to look cool and unaffected. For most men (stereotypically), romance and love are "dumb" and "stupid" and perceived as a "woman thing" that men can't be bothered with. But not Matty. Matty was utterly transfixed by her. Something about that touch of mischief in the lip bite when she says the bit about "absentmindedly making me want you", the way he just barely mouths along to the words at the end of the clip, well… sirens started going off for me. So, I followed my intuition and started researching all of this.

Now, Taylor wrote the song 'Fearless' sometime in 2006. The hidden message liner note for Fearless? "I loved you before I met you". Taylor describes 'Fearless' as a song she wrote about a perfect first date she hadn't had yet, about something she didn't have but dreamt of. She debuted it for the first time on April 6th, 2007 in Reading, PA (if you don't already know it, that's two days before Matty's 18th birthday). At this show, she debuted 'Sparks Fly' (yes, in 2007! Original lyrics were brown eyes rather than green eyes, by the way) and 'Tied Together With A Smile'. She also played a cover of John Waite's song 'Missing You' which seems to be about a long-distance relationship: "And it's my heart that's breakin' down this long distance line tonight"

Speaking of Matty's birthday, the release of Fearless TV happened to coincide with Matty's birthday! She dropped a sneak peek of Fearless on his birthday in 2021, and the album would release one day later on the ninth (perhaps because albums release on Fridays and that's as close as she could get?)

Taylor describes the Fearless album as her diary from when she was seventeen (misplaced my source on that quote, d'oh!) That said, 'Love Story' interests me as well. There are some interesting facts about Love Story:

Hidden message: Someday, I'll find this. Taylor wrote this song in a very short amount of time after her parents had told her that she couldn't be with the person she wanted to be with. And in her own words:

"'Love Story' is actually about a guy that I almost dated. But when I introduced him to my family and my friends, they all said they didn't like him. All of them! For the first time, I could relate to that Romeo-and-Juliet situation where the only people who wanted them to be together were them. That's the most romantic song I've written, and it's not even about a person I really dated."

Taylor's UK television debut (like first time ever performing on TV in the UK) was on Loose Women (Matty's mother's show). Now, Denise was not there during this period as a host, but she had been before that and would be afterward, so maybe there's some significance? Maybe not. But if Taylor and Matty knew each other, he would definitely get to be in the audience to see her if he wanted to. The song she chose to perform was 'Love Story'.

Now, 'Robbers' is also based on Romeo and Juliet (and also written circa 2007), and Matty describes that here in a fan video from 2015. We'd see Romeo and Juliet imagery pop up again in 2014, both in Taylor's video for Blank Space (where she's on a balcony looking down at her lover) and in November where she stood up on a balcony at Matty's show as he serenaded her with Fallingforyou (visual comparisons here)

Blank Space, too, might reference Fallingforyou. There's a scene where she rides bikes with her lover inside her enormous house, perhaps reminiscent of Matty's lyric: "All we need's my bike and your enormous house":

Matty even dresses a bit like the lover from 'Love Story' music video at the 2017 BRITs:

When you fall down the Myspace rabbit hole, you start noticing other strange similarities in their lyrics - like Matty referring to a "girl on the screen" in 'If You're Too Shy', which perhaps parallels Taylor's "guy on the screen" in 'Karma'. In 'The 1' (another song that lyrically parallels 'Robbers'), Taylor imagines "the 1 that got away" meeting a woman on the internet and taking her home, which might be another reference to Matty, perhaps lyrically paralleling The 1975's 'Playing On My Mind'. This theory, of course, makes the entire album 'A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships' suspect, especially given that 'Be My Mistake' is a song Matty wrote "about Nashville", the striking similarities between 'Sincerity is Scary' and 'Me!', a song called 'Mine' that references the year 2009, and the inclusion of a Drive Like I Do track Matty wrote when he was just fifteen years old, '102' (the same age he was when he was "King of Myspace"). Considering 'Love Story' was written for someone who Taylor's parents disapproved of, it makes this lyric all the more striking:

"I hope this song will remind you I'm not half as bad as what you've been told."

Lastly, if Matty is the confirmed 'Cardigan' muse and if 'Willow' is the continuation of 'Cardigan' (based on where the music video begins), the scene where she gazes into the water at her lover could perhaps represent a visual metaphor for looking through a screen, no?

Back to the NYU commencement speech! I recommend listening to the FULL clip. She talks about: feeling lonely, chatting with other teenage country fans on Myspace, and then segues into her motivation behind protecting her private life:

"Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and twenties, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely."

All of this seems correlated to me (also why it's hard for me to reconcile this whole football charade! But for me, it's easier to believe Taylor here about privacy being important to her, and not assume that some boyfriend kept her locked away in a dungeon against her will or something)

Now, to tie this all into a very nice bow, here's a quote where Taylor talks about how she uses easter eggs:

"Easter eggs can be left on clothing or jewelry. This is one of my favorite ways to do this, because you wear something that foreshadows something else, and people don't usually find out this one immediately, but they know you're probably sending a message. They'll figure it out in time."

What shirt was she wearing during her pap walk with Matty? Think of the "He lets her Bejeweled" meme… She had on an NYU sweatshirt.

Now, could be just a giant coincidence, trust me, I know, I get it. However… maybe she's really hinting about an old Myspace pal that she has protected fiercely. I mean, she did seem to use that speech to easter egg/foreshadow YOYOK & Labyrinth lyrics…

Speaking of 'Bejeweled'… On July 15th, 2023 Taylor flubbed the lyrics: "Sapphire tears on Myspace", and then she giggled. Freudian slip, perhaps? But this is the woman who assures us that "nothing is accidental"... and in a song that mentions a "Top 5", no less! (reminiscent of a Top 8, perhaps?)

Maybe James and Betty were involved in a "teenage love triangle" for a reason, and maybe TTPD references "teenage petulance" for that same reason… or maybe it's nothing but a bunch of eerie coincidences! Who knows! In the meantime, I'll keep on clownin'! 🤡

I used to do these fuckin’ things constantly. Let’s kill some time while my laundry is drying. :P

What’s your favourite cereal? I’m not a huge cereal person, but my favorite would probably be frosted shredded wheat.

Is there a bus stop near your house? Yeah, I’m sure.

Do you prefer red wine or white wine? Red.

What’s the last airport you were at? Why were you there? Probably Nashville’s airport. I think I was there when I went to visit Tiffany in Orlando a few years ago.

Who do you live with? I recently moved in with my boyfriend and his mom.

Do you read reddit? If so, how often and what subreddits do you like? Yeah, sometimes. A good friend of mine got me on it a year or so ago. My favorite sub is probably Let’s Not Meet.

Have you recently broken up with a significant other or even just a friend? Yes, actually. I ended a seven-year relationship about a month ago.

What’s the weather like today? Is it nice enough to go outside? It’s cloudy and sprinkling, but still feels rather nice.

Do you know anyone who’s had a baby recently? Not that I can think of.

Have you used a pen or pencil today? What did you write down? No.

What does your last text message say and who is it from? Tiffany said, “Ironically looked at his twitter yesterday and he had in his bio ‘don’t cry at my funeral’ or some Shit. I was like uhh 0.0 I’m hurting for her :/ I kno she loved him.”

Can you count how many times you’ve seen your favourite film? No, I can’t. I’m not even sure I could pick just one favorite.

When was the last time you ate marshmallows? It’s been a long time. I’m not a fan.

Do you listen to any podcasts? How do you listen to them? No.

How old will you be in the year 2030? 38. Ew.

How often does the kettle in your house get used? I’ve never seen them use a kettle.

Does your skin bruise easily? Do you have any bruises right now? What from? Hahaha. I have some bruises and hickeys. 😉

What was the last thing you spent $150 or more on? Fuckin’ bills and groceries. Other than that, probably makeup.

Do you prefer yes or no questions or more open-ended questions? I like both.

What brand of toilet paper do you usually buy? Quilted Northern.

If I knocked on your door right now, would you be acceptable dressed? For sitting at home, yeah. I’m in a tank top and pajama shorts, as always

Why did you leave your last job? I moved back to Nashville.

What colour were the last socks you wore? Black.

Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and left without paying? Once, but I went back and paid the following day.

What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud? Darrell trying to act like he was pissy with me.

What’s your favourite scent of air freshener? Um, I’m not sure if I really have a favorite.

How many weddings have you ever been to? Five or so.

Do you know anyone named Nora? No.

Are your hands and feet in good condition or could you do with a mani-pedi? I could use a mani-pedi. The polish is chipping off pretty badly, especially on my fingernails. I’m awful at painting them.

When was the last time you played a board game? What did you play? I’m not sure, which means it’s been far too long. I love board games.

How old were you when you first became sexually active?  15.

Have you ever been to a festival for beer or other type of alcohol? I think so.

Do you own a record player and/or vinyls? No. I had a few vinyls, but I left them with my ex.

When was the last time you went out for drinks? A couple of weeks ago, I think. I typically drink at home.

Have you ever been to a strip club? No.

What’s your favourite kind of smoothie? Blueberry or mango.

Have you taken out the trash today? Not today.

How often do you wear make-up? I’ve gotten so into makeup over the past six months or so, but I’ve been slacking lately with everything else that’s been going on. I wore a bit yesterday, though.

What’s your opinion on The Simpsons? I’ve never watched a full episode.

Do you prefer horizontal or vertical stripes? Vertical.

What’s your favourite brand of deodorant/antiperspirant? Secret.

Do you know anyone who has been through a divorce? Yes.

If you had the money, would you take taxis everywhere instead of driving? No, I have my own car.

Have you ever done a juice cleanse? No.

Do you have any friends who you can’t decide if they’re attractive or not? No.

Is the inside of your fridge clean right now or does it need a clean out? It’s pretty clean.

When was the last time you washed the dishes? A few days ago.

Are there any magazines that you read on a regular basis? No.

Do you have to pay for parking in most places in the town/city you live in? Yes.

What’s the first thing you tend to do when you have a headache? Take Ibuprofen and drink caffeine.

Can you hear lots of traffic from your house? Does it bother you? No. Our apartment faces the back of the complex away from the road.

Have you ever had proper Canadian poutine with the squeaky cheese? No.

Do your parents know how to operate smartphones and/or computers? Yes, my mom more than my dad.

When was the last time you wore a uniform of any kind? What colour was it? Thursday when I went to work. It’s all black, at least until I get my blue shirts instead.

Have you ever lost enough weight to drop a dress size? Yes.

Do you own Monopoly? Is it the original or a special version? Yes, I have Fallout Monopoly.

What was the last thing you said out loud? “Okay, have fun.”

You have to choose one: cats or dogs? Cats.

Would someone being either a cat or dog person effect you dating them? No.

How do you travel to and from work? I drive or carpool with my boyfriend.

Do you primarily use cash or card for your purchases? Why? Card. I hardly ever have cash.

Have you ever been to a stadium concert? Yes.

What’s your favourite flavour of soda, pop or whatever else you call it? Mello Yello.

What level of brightness do you usually keep your phone at? I typically keep it as low as it will go, but it automatically adjusts to the lighting.

Have you ever attended a religious or private school?  No.

Do you have any pets and are they cuddly? I left my cat with my ex.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?  Fucking Captain D’s. I took the first job I could find when I was taking care of my mom after her surgery. It was the most miserable four months of my life.

How many cars does your household own?  All three of us have our own cars.

Do you know anyone named Edward or any nickname of that? Yeah, my brother-in-law.

What time do you usually have dinner?  I think we typically end up eating between 6-7 PM, but it varies.

Are there any cracks or scuffs on your phone?  Probably. My case is busted.

What’s your favourite meat? Steak.

Do you need glasses to read or drive or need them all the time?  I don’t wear glasses, though lately I’ve been thinking I could use them while driving at night.

How did you celebrate your last New Years Eve?  Man, I don’t even remember at this point. I don’t think I did much of anything.

Is the internet fast where you live?  Yes.

What is your favourite meal of the day and why?  I love breakfast foods, though lately I haven’t been eating breakfast most days.

Do you like long surveys or short surveys better?  Either are fine. I used to do these things constantly.

Xbox, PlayStation or neither? PlayStation.

Have you ever been to a cocktail bar? Yes.

Do you consider yourself a fast typer? Yes.

What’s the best amusement park you’ve ever visited?  I’ve only ever been to Beech Bend.

Do you keep the cabinets in your kitchen and bathroom organized? Yes.

Have you ever had a romantic fling?  Yes.

Are you a very forgetful person?  Sometimes, though it’s not as bad as it used to be since I’ve stopped smoking pot.

What was the last movie you saw in the cinema?  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

What colour is your shampoo?  It’s like… silvery gray.

Are you doing anything tomorrow?  Yes. I need to go to the old apartment and get the last load of my things, take my ex a couple of things, grocery shop, etc.

Do you know anyone who’s gotten pregnant over the age of 40? Not that I know of.

Who does most of the grocery shopping in your home? My boyfriend’s mom, though I went with her last week and probably will this week, too.

Are you listening to music right now?  Yes. Wish U the Best by Blackbear.

What was the last thing you had to eat? An oreo cheesecake blizzard from Dairy Queen.Bottom of Form

What would you say is the worst part of high school, period?  Probably the cliques.

What is your favorite color of apple? Red, green or yellow?  Red.

How old will you be on your mother’s 68th birthday? Is that ‘old’ to you?  36. I suppose that’s not too old.

Ever thought you were dying of something you weren’t even close to having? Probably.

Ever want to be a doctor? Is it because of all the hospital shows?  Yes.

What do you think of all these reality shows that try to alter personality?  I don’t know or care. I’m not a fan of “reality” television.

Where are your favorite pair of shoes in the whole world right now?  They’re at my old apartment.

Do you live anywhere near a mall? Which one exactly?  I think the closest one is probably Rivergate.

Do you like drawing smiley faces or do you think they’re overrated?  Uh, they’re fine.

If you were dying who would you say goodbye to first out of everyone?  My nephews, I guess.

Are you someone who actually likes to babysit children?  I typically don’t mind.

Do you ever have those ‘ah ha!’ moments? Do those annoy you? Yes, but they don’t annoy me.

Do you hardly ever remember where you put things at?  No.

When is the next time you’ll eat a cupcake, if you know when?  I don’t know.

Does your family go on a lot of vacations? Are they more boring or exciting?  Unfortunately, no. I was actually talking to Betty about this a couple nights ago.

Where did you last buy socks from? What do those socks look like?  I bought some plain black crew socks from Walmart a few weeks ago.

Do you ever lay in the grass and look up at the sky, just because?  It’s been a while.

When do you normally go to sleep on the weekends?  I’ve been going to bed about midnight every night for past few weeks.

Have you ever met someone with the same ‘biggest fear’ as you? Probably.

Do you ever have movie nights with your significant other?  Yes, though it’s been a couple of weeks. I got him to watch Orange is the New Black with me before the next season so we’ve been grinding those out.

Would you rather write with a pen or a pencil? Why is this? Pen. It’s smoother and lasts longer.

Do you like candy bars? Are you trying to slack off of them?  They’re okay. I don’t eat a lot of candy.

Who was the last person to call you fat, if anyone at all?  I don’t know or care.

What color skin does the last person you danced with have?  White.

What is your favorite number? Is it significant with your life?  My favorite number has always been three, though I’m not entirely sure why.

Does anyone ever constantly act like a pervert around you?  Hahahahaha, something like that.

Are you afraid of being kidnapped if you go outside at night time?  No.

Has your mother ever called your school because of your grades?  Yes.

What is the worst name a friend has ever called you? Do you remember?  I don’t remember, but they’re probably not that great of a friend if they’re seriously calling me names.

The best field trip you’ve ever been on; where was it to anyway?  Umm, probably a farm I went to as a kid, I guess.

In the next twenty minutes, what will you be doing and where will you be? I’m going to finish this, smoke a cigarette, get my clothes out of the dryer, put them away, and take a shower.

Do you like showers or baths better? Why did you choose your choice?  I prefer showers. They make me feel more clean than baths do and hot water is a must.

Do you have a religion? Is it the same as your best friend’s?  I’m not religious, no. I’m more spiritual, as is my best friend.

Are you a controversial person? Do your views oppose other’s?  I have some views that differ from people I know, yes.

Have you ever thrown a surprise party for someone? Who for?  Not that I recall.

Do you work? If so, have you ever been fired, then rehired from the place?  I work. I’ve never been fired.

Can you tell when people are lying or telling the truth?  Sometimes.

What would you say your average word per minute time is on the keyboard?  I have no clue. I can type pretty quickly, though. I’ve been using computers for as long as I can remember.

What is your least favorite class in school? Why is this?  I always dreaded math classes because it didn’t come naturally to me like English did.

Do you bite your fingernails or tap them on desks? I tap them.

Have you ever wanted to be in a band? What position exactly?  When I was younger, I wanted to be a singer or a drummer in a band.

Who is your role model or hero in life if you have one?  I don’t know if I really have one.

Do you ever call your cousins just to talk to them randomly?  I don’t think so. I’m not very close with my extended family.

When did you last spend the night at someone’s house?  A few nights ago before I actually moved in.

Do you find any of your friends’ parents creepy or really mean?  No.

Do you ever have to wash your clothes at someone else’s house?  No.

When is the next time you’ll go to the library? Why is this?  I have no idea.

Do you like fiction or non-fiction books more? What’s your favorite?  I tend to prefer non-fiction. The Harry Potter series will always be my favorite.

Do you constantly have to be told to shut up? By who?  No.

Ever have a drug overdose? What did you OD on exactly?  No, but I’ve probably had alcohol poisoning before.

Have you ever wanted to change your skin color because you’re not satisfied?  No.

Do you know how to play pool? Are you any good at it?  Yes. I used to be pretty damn good when I played all the time, but I’m sure I’m rusty now.

Do you treat others as you’d like to be treated? Have you always?  I try to.

Were you a really mean kid or a sweet and quiet kid?  Both at different points of my life.

Have you ever been beaten up by someone before?  No.

Are you someone who likes to get in arguments or fights a lot?  No.

Six months ago, I had an idea for an online course. Today, I've made over $7,000 teaching online.Here's what worked.Writing OnlineI've been writing online since 2014. I would condense and simplify pieces of information I learned into helpful articles. At the time, I wrote for myself––I needed to keep my skills sharp.I repurposed the knowledge I was paid to learn at work into content for others. After five years of writing online, I hadn't made a single dollar. All of the content I produced was free. I saw other creators making millions teaching online. Why couldn't I do the same?I realized I hadn't been giving away my content for free. I was building an audience and establishing credibility.CredibilityWriting online is difficult. Clearly explaining technical content is twice as hard. You have to understand the subject deep enough that you can explain it at an entry-level. Many fail at this.Over the past six years, I created my niche with front-end web development. I started a small newsletter where I'd share my latest writing with my audience. I'd distribute my content to social media. Occasionally, a post would go viral on Reddit or Hacker News.Slowly, I became credible in my niche. My tutorials and blog posts helped others learn. I established myself as an "expert". I say expert, but you can do this.Most people spend the majority of their time online consuming instead of creating. Be a creator. I focused on writing about topics I found interesting. Along the way, I built an audience.Building an Audience through LearningWhen I learned something new, I would share it––with my newsletter, on Twitter, everywhere. I gave value to my audience. The content I created for myself was now a reference for others.Over time, this grew into a hub of inbound traffic to my website. Today, over 80% of my traffic comes from organic Google Searches. Without an audience, you cannot sell a product. Be helpful on the internet and you will create an audience.At the beginning of 2019, I became obsessed with a specific technology called Next.js. It allowed me to create websites faster. I rebuilt my website using it and documented the process along the way. I continued to write about Next.js that year. In September, I realized I'd found my niche.Finding Your MarketIt's impossible to measure your success if you can't track it. Whatever your metric is (post views, number of likes), you need a baseline to improve.I use Google Analytics and Search Console to monitor the performance of my site. I'm able to see which articles perform best and how people find my site. To my surprise, almost all of my highest ranked articles were about Next.js. I'd found my market.Creating demand is hard. Filling demand is much easier. Don’t create a product, then seek someone to sell it to. Find a market—define your customers—then find or develop a product for them.Creating a CourseThe idea of creating an online course seemed daunting. It would take six months, at least. Based on my analytics, people were interested––but would they buy it?After researching teaching online and marketing, I had a eureka moment. To figure out if people would buy the course, I would launch it. Now. Why should I treat this course any different than a software product? With software, you can start small and rapidly iterate over time. I applied the same methodology to the course.First, I defined the content. I created an outline for the course I wish I had when starting to learn Next.js. Working backward, I made a list of 15-20 main concepts to cover. Then, I created a website to market the course and allow people to pre-order. The main benefit of your course should be explainable in one sentence or phrase. How is it different, and why should I buy it?On November 3rd, I launched the course.I placed a small bet––only 15-20% of the content was finished. If this launch failed and no one bought the course, I'd cut my losses and walk away. Instead of wasting the next six months, I wanted validation now people would pay for this.I intentionally priced the course high at $199, with a launch price of $99. With ten pre-orders, I'd have $1,000 of revenue. No cards were charged––I wasn't stealing their money. I was validating my idea and confirming I had a market. With no idea how long it would take to create the course, I set a launch date of April 2020.Two days after the launch, I had my first sale. It was breathtaking. Someone on the internet spent $100 on a digital asset I created. I couldn't believe it.The next day, another sale. And another the day after. In the first week, I made seven sales for $700 in profit. I was motivated to continue working.Should I Use A Platform?You'll need to make two platform choices: how to accept payments and where to host content. For payments, I'd recommend Gumroad, Paddle, or Stripe. Depending on your volume of sales, there are different processing fees. This article goes more in-depth about how fees compare across platforms.The second decision is where to host your content. For e-books or a small number of videos, I'd recommend Gumroad. If you have a large video course, YouTube (with private videos) worked well for me. Another option is a fully-managed online course platform like Teachable.Marketing & AdvertisingWriting online was effective at growing my site, so I took the same approach for the course. I wrote three articles to attract inbound traffic from social media and search engines. I released a 26-minute introduction video on YouTube. Not only did this promote the course, but it further established my credibility. The video has over 2,500 views, almost all from organic searches.Providing value by giving is the fastest way to grow. If your audience has learned from you, they'll want more. Only after you've provided value can you sell a product. To give back, I ran a Twitter giveaway for the course. Initially, I planned for five winners. The response was so overwhelming that I ended up giving away ten instead.I spent $0 and reached 7,331 potential customers. Here's the full statistics on that tweet.Impressions: 7,331Engagements: 488Detail expands: 119Profile clicks: 101Link clicks: 72I realized it was time to spend money on advertising.AdvertisingMy first attempt at advertising was through Google Ads. Again, I started with a small bet of $5/day. The initial results were promising.Impressions: 5,255Clicks: 24Ad Spend: $26.75Sales: 2 x ($99)Profit: $171.25Comparing impressions against Twitter shows how valuable of an asset it can be. I continued advertising with Google, increasing the daily spend to $20/day for another week. Here are the final numbers.Impressions: 53,357Clicks: 189Ad Spend: $208.91Sales: 6 x ($99)Profit: $385I also tried Reddit. I iterated over a few ads with this approach.Use A/B tests to try different adsTake the ad with a higher click-through rateRinse and repeatI'd optimize each ad by targeting specific subreddits. For example, this subreddit had twice the click-through rate for the same cost-per-click.Even though I was new to advertising, it played a critical role in growing the course. Now, I needed to launch.Launch DayFor months, I worked closely with early customers to get feedback on the course. Feeling confident, I soft-launched with 95% of the content finished.After a week with no issues, it was time for the real launch. I posted to Product Hunt, Reddit, Indie Hackers, and everywhere else I could. By the time I had launched, I had $2,000 in pre-orders.Ten days later, I broke $3,000.When I started the course, my original goal was $5,000 in total. I thought that seemed aggressive. In retrospect, I aimed too low. Never underestimate the power of teaching online.Since launching in February 2020, I've surpassed $7,000 in revenue. I'm averaging ~$1,500/month, putting me on track to make $18,000 this year.You Should Teach OnlineThere's never been a better time to become a creator. Blog posts, YouTube videos, courses, podcasts, streaming––if you have something others find value in, share it. Publish that article. Make that video.Stop waiting for a once in a lifetime idea and start teaching others online today. The opportunity outweighs your fears. Even if your audience is small, teaching others will improve your understanding of the subject.My story isn't unique. Here are some other creators that inspired me.Adam Wathan made $2.5MM from books/courses.Daniel Vassallo made $100K from a book and video course.Emma Bostian made $40K before her book even launched.Never underestimate the power of teaching online. I hope this helps and I'm happy to answer any questions for others wanting to teach online.