Editor’s Note:
This article offers a critical perspective on Elite Blog Academy (EBA) in light of Ruth Soukup’s recent announcement about retiring the program. You can read her full explanation here. While we acknowledge the real impact EBA has had on many bloggers, we believe it’s equally important to examine how traditional course-based models can sometimes hinder creators more than help them. This review is intended to spark thoughtful discussion around what it really takes to build a successful blog today—and why action often beats education.
After diving deep into Ruth Soukup's Elite Blog Academy (EBA), I need to be brutally honest: this is exactly the kind of program that keeps creators stuck in learning mode instead of shipping mode.
Don't get me wrong, Ruth has built something impressive. The testimonials are real, the community is active, and some people genuinely succeed. But at $2,000+ for the full program, EBA represents everything wrong with the modern "course industrial complex."
What Elite Blog Academy Actually Teaches
EBA promises to teach you how to "create a profitable blog that makes money." The curriculum covers:
Finding your niche and ideal reader
Content planning and creation
Email list building
Monetisation strategies
SEO and Pinterest marketing
Course creation and digital products
On paper, it's comprehensive. In practice? It's a masterclass in overthinking.
The Real Problem: Analysis Paralysis by Design
Here's what bothers me most about EBA: it's designed to keep you planning, not publishing.
The program spans 12 months. Twelve. Months.
Think about that. You could publish 156 blog posts in that time (3 per week). You could build a real audience, test real offers, and make real money. Instead, EBA has you spending months on "ideal reader avatars" and "content pillars."
The Avatar Obsession
EBA dedicates entire modules to creating detailed reader personas. You'll know your ideal reader's favourite coffee order before you've written your first post.
This is backwards.
You don't discover your audience by thinking about them in a conference room. You discover them by publishing content and seeing who responds. The market tells you who your audience is, not a worksheet.
The Content Planning Trap
EBA teaches elaborate content planning systems. Editorial calendars, content pillars, seasonal campaigns. It's productivity theatre disguised as strategy.
Here's the truth: the best content plan is the one you actually execute.
Most EBA students spend more time planning content than creating it. They have beautiful Notion dashboards and colour-coded calendars, but their blogs sit empty because they're still "getting ready to get ready."
The Monetisation Mirage
EBA's monetisation strategy follows the typical course creator playbook:
Build an email list
Create a lead magnet
Nurture with email sequences
Launch a course or coaching program
This isn't wrong, but it's incomplete. It assumes you need thousands of subscribers before you can make money. That's simply not true.
You can monetise with 100 engaged readers if you solve a real problem. But EBA teaches you to wait until you have the "perfect" funnel before asking for money.
The Course Creation Cult
The biggest limitation? EBA pushes everyone toward the same "create a course" model because that's Ruth's expertise.
But this one-size-fits-all approach ignores that course creation isn't right for everyone.
Not everyone needs to be a course creator. Some of the most successful bloggers make money through:
Consulting and services
Affiliate marketing
Sponsored content
Physical products
Software tools
But EBA's framework assumes everyone should become an educator, pushing the same "build a course empire" model regardless of your actual expertise or market opportunity.
This creates a strange dynamic where success is measured by how well you can teach others to blog, rather than using your blog to serve your real area of expertise.
The Community Trap
EBA's Facebook community is active, maybe too active. Students spend hours discussing strategy, sharing wins, and asking for feedback. It feels productive, but it's often just sophisticated procrastination.
The community becomes a substitute for real audience building. Instead of publishing content for their actual readers, students post in the Facebook group for validation from other students.
It's an echo chamber of aspiring bloggers talking to other aspiring bloggers about blogging.
What EBA Gets Right (Grudgingly)
To be fair, EBA does some things well:
Email marketing emphasis: Ruth correctly identifies email as crucial for long-term success. Most bloggers ignore this until it's too late.
Systems thinking: The focus on creating repeatable processes is valuable, even if the execution is overcomplicated.
Mindset work: EBA addresses the psychological barriers that stop people from starting. This is genuinely helpful.
Real case studies: The success stories are legitimate, not manufactured testimonials.
The $2,000 Question
Is EBA worth $2,000?
For most people: absolutely not.
You could get 90% of the value by:
Reading Ruth's book "How to Blog for Profit" ($15)
Taking a basic email marketing course ($200)
Joining a simple blogging community ($50/month)
Actually publishing content for 6 months (priceless)
The remaining 10% might be worth it if you have money to burn and need maximum hand-holding. But most creators would be better served by investing that $2,000 in tools, design, or advertising for their actual blog.
The EazySites Alternative
This is why we built EazySites differently.
Instead of a 12-month planning marathon, we give you:
Constraints that force action: 6 content themes max, 3 posts per week
Publishing-first philosophy: Your site goes live on day one
Built-in accountability: Shipping scores and streak tracking
No course creation pressure: Focus on your actual expertise
We don't teach you to plan the perfect blog. We help you ship an imperfect one that gets better with every post.
The Bottom Line
Elite Blog Academy isn't a scam. Ruth Soukup has helped thousands of people start blogs. But it represents everything wrong with the "education first, execution later" mentality that keeps creators stuck.
You don't need a $2,000 course to start a successful blog. You need:
A simple platform (like EazySites)
A publishing schedule you can maintain
The discipline to ship consistently
The patience to let compound growth work
Save your money. Start publishing. Learn by doing.
The best blogging education happens in public, one post at a time.
Ready to skip the courses and start shipping? EazySites gives you everything you need to publish consistently without the overwhelm. No 12-month programs. No avatar worksheets. Just a simple system that helps you show up and ship.