From the Wild to the Web: Chris' Journey to Thriving Online
Learn about Foraging & Growing Mushrooms for Food, Medicine, and Connection with Chris Outdoors.
When Chris Gilmour first set out to make a living online, he was a wilderness survival guide with a passion for outdoor living but no clue how to translate that into sustainable income.
Today, Chris has built a thriving online education business centered around foraging, growing mushrooms, and connecting people with nature.
We recently caught up with Chris to unpack his journey from guiding people through the woods to guiding them through online learning.
His story is a goldmine of insights for anyone transitioning from hands-on, in-person work to building an online business.
The Dream of Online Income: Fantasy vs. Reality
Like many creators, Chris started out with the common fantasy of passive income—build it once and watch the money roll in.
Reality hit hard, though. After diving into every gimmicky course and marketing trick out there, Chris quickly realized that making money online wasn’t as easy as it seemed.
“I thought the internet just gave money away,” he laughed. “I was pretty disillusioned by how much work it actually took.”
He created his first online course on wildlife tracking and made some sales through a partnership with a brand called "We Are Wildness."
But despite a moderate degree of success, he found that people didn’t complete the course. The boring, talking-head video format just wasn’t engaging enough to hold their attention.
That’s when he discovered the Great eCourse Adventure (created by yours truly) and learned how to make his courses feel more like immersive experiences rather than tedious lectures.
This shift was key to creating content that was not only valuable but also engaging and enjoyable.
Hustle, Burnout, and the Reality Check
As Chris moved deeper into the world of online business, he faced the common creator dilemma: trying to do it all.
Social media, newsletters, podcasts, YouTube—it was a never-ending cycle of content creation with little payoff.
“I was burned out from trying to be everywhere at once,” Chris admitted. “The hustle was unsustainable.”
The turning point came when Chris realized he needed to focus on what was actually working—partnering with people and platforms that already had audiences.
One of his first big wins came through a licensing deal with a well-known survival expert. Another breakthrough came from hosting a webinar for someone else’s audience, which grossed over $10,000 in one session—more than he’d ever made from a single online event.
These two strategies—licensing and signature workshops—became Chris’s guiding stars. Instead of trying to build an audience from scratch, he started collaborating with people who already had audiences and looking for licensing deals with established brands.
This approach gave him the reach he needed without the burnout of constantly creating content from scratch.
Leveraging Signature Workshops for Consistent Success
Chris’s real breakthrough came with signature workshops—free, live, high-value sessions that naturally led to paid courses or memberships. Signature workshops not only allowed him to connect directly with potential students but also opened doors to new collaborations and licensing deals.
“One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was trying to do everything myself,” Chris said. “Once I focused on building partnerships and leveraging my best content through signature workshops, everything started to fall into place.”
By creating one solid, repeatable workshop and presenting it to new audiences regularly, Chris found that he could significantly grow his email list and revenue without having to hustle on social media every day. He’s even hired his first signature workshop tour manager to keep the momentum going, allowing him to focus more on his passion for the outdoors and less on the business grind.
Consistency Over Time: The Secret to Long-Term Success
Chris’s story is proof that online business success doesn’t happen overnight. His journey took almost a decade and involved plenty of trial and error. The key takeaway? Consistency over time really does pay off.
Chris learned that it’s not just about having the best product or the most followers—it’s about:
Leveraging Relationships: Partner with people who already have audiences instead of trying to build one from scratch.
Focusing on Signature Workshops: Host repeatable, high-value sessions that naturally lead into paid programs.
Licensing Your Content: Find platforms and educators that can sell your courses for you, generating passive income.
Building a Real Connection with Your Audience: Tend to your newsletter with valuable content, not just sales pitches.
“When you’re authentic and consistent, people can feel it,” Chris said. “They’re not just buying a product—they’re connecting with a person.”
Moving Forward: What’s Next for Chris
This year, Chris is doubling down on:
Signature Workshops: Hiring a tour manager to expand his reach.
Licensing Deals: Working with online schools, institutions, and experts to distribute his content.
Engaging His Audience: Improving his newsletter to be more valuable and less sporadic.
Creating High-Quality Content: Focusing on courses that bring real value while aligning with his lifestyle goals.
Chris is also exploring the idea of transforming his evergreen courses into cohort-based models, where students join for a few months and then transition into a membership community.
This model allows him to maintain regular touchpoints without the intense workload of constant course launches.
Lessons for Creators: Authenticity and Relationships Win
At the end of the day, Chris’s journey reminds us that building an online business is about more than just making money. It’s about creating connections, delivering real value, and aligning your work with your longterm lifestyle desires.
If you’re an aspiring creator or educator struggling to make your vision work online, take a page from Chris’s journey:
Stay Consistent: Real growth takes time.
Build Relationships: Find partners who already have audiences and create win-win collaborations.
Be Authentic: Let people get to know the real you—don’t hide behind a gimmick.
Leverage What Works: Double down on successful strategies and cut out what doesn’t.
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Join Chris For His Upcoming Signature Workshop
Curious to see Chris in action? Join his free signature workshop:
Foraging & Growing Mushrooms for Food, Medicine, and Connection
In this engaging session, you’ll learn to:
Confidently identify wild mushrooms.
Grow mushrooms at home with minimal space.
Use fungi to support your health and self-reliance.
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