Dabble – Explore Your Talents

You’ve got talents, and Dabble is an application that encourages you to share them with others. People who use the Dabble web-app can take, teach, and host all different types of continuing education courses than run the gamut from knitting lessons and cupcake decorating to Zumba workouts and guitar lessons.

If you live in Austin, Chicago, Milwaukee, Denver, San Francisco, the Twin Cities, or St. Louis, then you’re in luck. Dabble is only available in these select markets at the current time, although the service will likely expand throughout the country as interest grows. Create an account on Dabble, choose a city, and select your interests. Browse through the courses being offered in all six categories – technology, arts & entertainment, business & career, fitness & wellness, and food & drink – until you find something that sounds interesting. Click on the course to see a description, a date, and a location. You can also see how many spots are left and how much the course costs to take. When you’ve decided to take the plunge, click the “Register for Class” button to pay through Paypal and reserve your spot. When the time comes, you can attend your course without worrying about bringing cash or paying the instructor.

If you’ve got the knowledge to teach a course or the space to host one, then you can use Dabble in an entirely different way. Submit your venue, and Dabble will evaluate your location and add it to its database. The application does not pay people to use its venues, but says that hosting a course can be a great way to get more people through your business’ doors. Teachers, on the other hand, do get paid for the courses they put on. Students generally pay $20 per course, and Dabble splits the ticket proceeds with the teachers who run the courses offered through the site. Dabble can be a great way for people to earn money by sharing the skills and knowledge they already have, while knowing that the payment collection and disbursement will happen automatically after the courses are complete

Practical Uses:

• Learn how to cook Vietnamese food from a trained chef
• Make money by teaching yoga in your spare time
• Host an event to get more people inside your new cafe
• Get tips on improving your social media skills

Insider Tips:

• Teachers get $10 from every $20 ticket sold to their classes
• Payments are processed through Paypal
• Teachers get paid two to three days after their courses take place
• Dabble must approve venues before they appear on its site

What we liked:

• People can use Dabble to find courses on all sorts of interesting subjects
• Teachers can make some quick money by sharing knowledge they already have
• Dabble is a great way for new businesses to get people through their doors
• Processing payments online takes away the awkwardness of collecting cash in person

What we didn’t like:

• Dabble takes 50% of the ticket fee before giving the remainder to teachers

Alternatives:

• Betterfly – http://betterfly.com
• School of Everything – http://schoolofeverything.com

Company Info:

• Launched: 2011
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
• Founded by: Jessica Lybeck and Erin Hopmann
• Web site: http://dabble.co

Costs:

• Courses are $20

Rating:

• 4 out of 5 (great)