Amy Porterfield’s Blueprint for Creating, Marketing & Selling Digital Courses
28 Aug 2024 · 73 min
Amy Porterfield breaks down how to build and launch a digital course, from picking a specific niche to running a webinar that sells. She walks through her 30-day pre-launch timeline, why short videos work better than long ones, and the metrics that actually matter when you go live.
Questions this episode answers
A 30-day pre-launch runway of daily/value content before inviting people to a webinar.
Aim for a 10% conversion rate on webinar attendees.
Aim to have around 250 people on your email list before launching (as a practical baseline).
$47
Chapters
Let's chat about niche or broad. There is a lot of courses out there that are like, we're going to teach you how to have a good life or how to be aligned with your highest purpose. Can you tell me about why that doesn't work anymore?
Yes. Nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks, I want to learn how to be my higher self. No, they wake up and they're like, I have so much anxiety. I am a single mom with anxiety. I need to figure out how to, how to get support here. It's that specific.
Hey everyone, welcome back to the Earn your happy podcast. I have such an exciting show for.
You today with one of my really.
Good friends, Amy Porterfield, who is pretty much the queen of courses. Like the absolute queen of courses that is out there. And she's helped over 90,000 students. You guys, this woman is so much of a buzz that I literally have been on an airplane in first class where people were talking about her and how they also in first class, have used her course teachings to launch their own courses and become really successful. And these are like people I don't even know. Her name is just on everybody's lips because of how incredibly good she is. Before I tell you a little bit more about her, I just want to remind you that you guys can use code happy and go to getglosi.com to get 25 off of your glossy subscription. You guys, if you want to feel less bloated and have glowing skin, it all starts with better digestion in your gut. So go and check it out. We have a clinically studied probiotic in there, not to mention other skin and gut loving ingredients. Go to get Glossy.com right now and check that out. And back to Amy. She is a New York Times bestselling author of the book Two Weeks Notice which is so incredibly good. It's about how to quit your job and start the online business of your dreams. This episode is seriously a masterclass on creating profitable courses. She shares tactical ways to grow your email list, drive traffic to your course, and the 30 day pre launch Runway to do leading up to the launch of your course. So many people have no idea how much work actually goes into a really successful pre launch.
You guys.
We talk about how to establish yourself as an expert, whether you should do live launches or evergreen courses, and how to identify if you have good conversion rate when you launch your course. We also got some good laughs in this conversation. Sharing embarrassing moments caught on camera from a course Chris and I did together and a time Amy went live. You Guys are never going to believe this story about something that happened with her and her husband when she went live. This podcast is worth listening to just to hear these two funny moments. So get ready for tools to create a successful course and the reminder that anyone can do this. And just so you know, I have paid for Amy's courses and taken them long before I actually got to be her close friend. So not only is Amy the best at course creation, everything that you need to do to make them successful, she breaks it all down and she makes it so simple. That is why I love her. She's such an incredible teacher. So if you feel curious about creating a course but don't know where to start or you have a business business and know a digital offering is something that you want to do as a revenue stream, she has a bootcamp that is going to go even more in depth on everything we talk about today. And she only does this course confident boot camp once per year. So if you guys want a discount and you want to check this out, make sure you go to loriharter.com forward/boot camp to grab your spot. That's lorihunter.com forward slash boot camp to grab your spot. You guys, I am a student of her courses. I am a success story. So I absolutely want you to go and check this out. She also shared some incredible freebies that you're going to get if you go and do this right now. So before this even starts, if your curiosity has already peaked, go sign up. Go get the free stuff right now. I want everyone to take advantage of this. Check them out in the show notes too. Otherwise, go to loriharter.combootcamp and let's get started on the episode.
Amy, welcome to the earn your happy podcast. Thank you so much for coming back on the show.
Yes, I am so happy to be here. Thank you, my friend.
This time we're in person.
We are. Which is so fun.
It's so fun. We're just missing some wine.
Just one.
One glass.
I. Next time, I expect it.
I know it's a little early.
It is.
No, it's not noon yet. Dang it. I should have put you in the afternoon.
Yes, you really should.
I'm so excited that you're on because you are literally the queen of courses. Like, truly the queen. Of course I have taken your courses. I have gotten so much value out of everything that you've taught. Whenever people ask me about courses, I'm like, go to Amy because she is the most clear, linear teacher.
That's a huge compliment. Like my, my objective is to make it as easy as possible for someone who has no idea what they're doing. I think with a lot of teaching, when the teachers assume that the student knows so much going into it, with Internet marketing and courses and webinars and all of that, we are not taught that anywhere.
Yeah.
And so to break it down in a way that makes sense from the get go is like my whole goal. So that's a huge compliment.
And it's, it's so huge because when I'm taking your courses, it's like you forget so much and it's, it's important to go back even to the beginning and like relearn and remember. And also so much changes.
Yes.
So much, so incredibly fast that if you did a course last year, it's probably going to be different on how people are consuming now. What is best for you and your cadence. Like, what does your audience want?
There's. Yes.
It's so complex. There's so much that goes into it. So we're going to dive into all of that. And you have so much that you're going to also be able to leave people with, which is really exciting. But something that I need people to know about you is that you're hilarious.
Coming from you, that means a lot. We were talking about you last night and this is a compliment. What I'm going to tell you. It was me and Jess Swag and we were talking about how you have the funniest personality. We know. And you remind us sometimes of like a 12 year old boy. And we love that we can laugh at anything with you. But when you and I get together, we do. We started this. We literally looked at each other and started laughing. It's just who we are.
I'm like, are we supposed to pretend we're serious on this? Because this is going to be a challenge for me. Literally just feel like you're that friend that I look across the room and I'm like, she's getting this right now. I know what she's thinking. And she's either embarrassed, wants to laugh. That's another thing just, just for people, because I think they only see you, like, you are such a teacher online. You know this about you. Yes, I do like it. It's Amy Porterfield. She is a teacher, she has courses. She is gonna like rock your world in business. But I was so surprised when I got to hang out with you. No, I loved you for all of those things. But you know that my favorite thing is humor.
Yeah, it's so true. And I don't know why it doesn't necessarily always come out in everything else I do, but I hear it all the time. I came from corporate, I was in corporate forever and ever till I was 30. And so I get into my own business and I've always been a little bit more polished and buttoned up than I would like to be. I can't shed it. So it truly is who I am. Yeah, like I had a mom that she wouldn't even go to a grocery store without like full makeup and hair and looking good. And it was always a part of, just like, you have to present yourself. So I got the hugest compliment the other day. A girlfriend of mine, she wrote a book and someone was writing or saying like, I love your book. I found you from this girl who her hair and makeup is always done and she has a good looking firefighter husband. I can't remember her name. I was like, best compliment ever. So like, I think I am known in the industry as kind of a little buttoned up and polished. But behind the scenes, when I'm not on camera, I think my personality probably comes out more. So it is fun to meet my students in real life and get, have them see like all of me. But the reason I bring this up is that my Persona online is not fake. I know you know that, but I want to say this for those listening. It's okay to be one way in your business and show up as you are authentically and also be a little bit different behind the scenes when you just kind of let it, let it all hang out kind of thing. And so I think that's very normal. And people really struggle with who they are online and who they are in real life. Whoever you feel is absolutely you when you're teaching, when you're showing up, just do it. Just do that. Because so many times this is the funny part. People will say, Amy, you're a little too buttoned up. You're a little too polished. And I'll say, my bank account doesn't say, so.
Yeah.
So I'm good.
Yeah, I'm like, before I knew. You know what? You're also like offline. I loved learning from that teacher. Yeah, I loved it. And I think there is a bit of a, like there are parts of my life that I keep a certain way because it, it feels sacred or safe or easier or not easier. Just like that part, you as a teacher feels authentic to be a teacher. And that's what you truly are.
Just feels right for me. And it Works how I show up. It works for me. And if I had to be someone else, if I had to be more casual or whatever online, I just wouldn't show up as much.
Interesting.
That's the part, like, if I'm really who I am, I'll show up every single day. And so that has served me well.
Yeah. It is crazy. Like, as I. As I started showing up more, like, put together online, because for me, it was easier to not be put together, really. Oh, my gosh.
Okay. Talk to me about that, because it's so foreign to me. Why do you feel more comfortable not being put together than. And I would have never guessed that of you, actually.
Yeah. This has been a real goal and challenge for me.
Yeah.
Get ready every single day, for sure.
Okay. Did not know that about you.
Oh, well, when I really started showing up online, I. Which has helped with. I mean, this so applies to courses. This is actually the conversation that's really important to have in order to show up for courses, let me tell you.
Yes.
So when I first started trying to be consistent online, I would only be. I would only want to show up if I was all put together. I'm like, oh, I must need to. I must need to look like an expert, because the people I'm looking at are experts, and they're always put together. It was not my personality at the time to be all dressed up. I was, like, still total tomboy. Like, that became an interest to me much later.
Okay.
And so, yeah, I liked to look, you know, cute once in a while, but I'm such a gym girl. I was just, like, always in leggings and a T shirt or whatever. And so one day I was like, I'm not showing up because I'm not getting ready. It's too hard.
Exactly.
Andre was like, I'm already tired, exhausted, stressed out from just going online. I can't go put makeup on every single day to go and do this. So I said, screw it. I'm gonna go do a Facebook live every single day for a year. And I made it a challenge.
Okay.
And the only time I could do it was in the morning in my bathrobe because I found I wouldn't do it later. So I would go, no makeup, in a bathrobe.
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I am jealous of that because I actually think people respond to that even more. They want to see the real part. That's why I thought it was important for me to say the professional side of me is very real. It's genuinely who I am. But if I was like you and wanted just to be, like, put my hair in a messy bun, no makeup, and go live, I love that. You just have to do what feels most comfortable. And when you do that, the audience responds. They respond well to me. Kind of put together well to you not is because who we are and that's all that matters. Right.
I'm going to throw in a real. A real talk though. What So I, when I wanted to start, like really up leveling and maybe charging more for different things, audience I wanted in the room wasn't responding until I looked different.
I've never had a conversation like this. No, wait a second. I did not know that's where you were going. I was going to ask you then, why do you get ready now? And so it attracts a different audience for you.
And I found for myself, I'm like, I feel like I'm respecting myself more by giving myself the time to get ready.
I feel better. I just feel good on camera.
I'm in a different energy.
Different energy. 100, very much in a different energy.
And it took extra work to put together. Like, how do I want to show up? What do I want this to look? And whether people like this or not, it showed in my numbers and it showed in who showed up in the room. And so I think it was, am I aspirational in every part of my life? So maybe it was the fitness in the beginning and I attracted that girl. But then I was like, aspirational in clothing doesn't just mean you have to be stylish. It means, like, you are taking more time to put yourself together. It means that maybe you're taking the time to go, hey, I want a stylist or someone who can maybe help me. Or I want this type of clothes because I want it to represent this out in the world.
Yes.
And so it's very real. I. I've done this. It's been an experiment since, like, since I started, like, probably two years ago now.
Okay.
Total shift.
Okay, well, that's real. And I know some people listening will not love to hear that and you don't have to make.
And I don't do it all the time. I don't do it.
Good point.
And in the beginning I got a lot of amazing people because of the other, because of how I showed up. So I think both are, both are great. Just depends on what you want, who do you want in the room? Because you're going to attract the person like you're going to attract how you're showing up.
It's so true. So you had mentioned this is such a great conversation for courses and you're right about that because when you show up a certain way for your course and you know who you want to attract, you will attract those people, they will resonate you with you, they will come into your world and when you get to work with people you love and the right type of people, that's where it all takes off. It's courses, memberships, masterminds, whatever it is. So I guess the whole point is just be you and if you want to up level, there's no problem with that. Like you are totally given permission to go a different direction or up level your look, your style, whatever you want.
So the thing about that with, with courses is that you will attract exactly who you want to attract by how you're showing up.
Yes.
And it was authentic to me to want to go and up level my whole look. So it was only when I wanted to shift my, myself that then I also started attracting that new person that I wanted to work with. So okay, so why are you such an advocate of digital courses?
Oh, it's a loaded question. Because there's many reasons now. Sure, I could say I'm biased. I've been teaching digital courses for 15 years now. I create digital courses, they're 80% of my revenue. So I only teach what I know and what I do. And, and so it's very meta. But beyond that, why am I so just a huge advocate? Number one, if you want to be known for something online, if you want to cut through the noise and be a go to source, digital courses are the number one way to do so. Now why is it so important to be known for something? When I look at all the entrepreneurs that I admire that have millions or billion dollar businesses, each of them are known for something. It is very easy to pinpoint. Oh, that is, he does this or she does that. And so when you're a jack of all trades and your name or a topic comes up in a room, your name usually doesn't come up with it. So as an example, when someone says, I want to create a digital course, I am very, very sure that my name's going to be in the top three. Oh, do you know Amy Porterfield? She teaches digital courses. Now there's other things I know and a few other things I do in my business, but I am very intentional that this is the one thing I want to be known for. And courses do that. They put you on the map. Doors start to open, opportunities come that are the right opportunities because people know what you do and how you can help them. So digital course does that. Another thing it does is for the newbies listening. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you want to get out into the online space. They are a great way to start a business. So you. I started my business with the digital course, essentially. And so they're a great way to take your skill, your knowledge, have an offer that you can launch over and over again. If you're more advanced. Let's say you're a coach, a nutrition coach, a fitness coach or a consultant, you're doing one on one work. Specifically, you will not be able to scale or grow your business to the level you want if you only stick with one on one. I don't have any problem with one on one. However, I do think you need to supplement with it with a digital course. When you do that, it does two things. Number one, you start to bring in more money because now you have two different streams of revenue. But number two, the people that can't afford you now have an option and the people that want to work with you, you can increase those prices because now you're more exclusive. So adding a digital course or using it for a business, it works both ways. And so putting you on the map, making you a go to person, starting your business of the course or adding additional stream of revenue, These are all the reasons why a digital course can work in your business.
We, we started in digital courses.
Did you?
Yes, years ago. Years and years. Well, we actually started with an online fitness membership which kind of is like a gateway drug as well.
Yes. To digital memberships and courses kind of go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly.
Yeah, totally. And I loved it. It was amazing. And I also at the time, so I had a brick and mortar. And that's how it started. Which makes me always think about, you know, if somebody's listening who maybe. I have a lot of friends who own, you know, aesthetic spas or salons. What would you say to people like that for digital courses?
Yes, I have a student who she had a brick and mortar, a skincare line in New York City. She's a single mom, built this from nothing and it was thriving. But she also knew there's so many people out there that I can't reach. Sure, she could take her products and go online, but she just felt like she wanted to go a little bit of a different direction and get a new audience. So she created a digital course teaching skincare how to do your morning routines, your nighttime routines, how to choose your products. And of course she can interject her products, which is so smart. But this absolutely created an entirely new stream of revenue. But here's the part that we don't talk about enough. And it created freedom for her. So when you are a coach or consultant and do one on one, or you have a brick and mortar, if you are not showing up, you are not making money. And that is a very important aspect. Life happens, things get in the way. God forbid someone in your family gets ill and you need to step back. That digital course can still run for you when you're not necessarily showing up one on one. And the way that works is through Evergreen. So let's talk about Live and Evergreen a little bit. So if you are listening right now and you think, you know, I might want to create a digital course down the road, but I don't want to always be live launching. I don't want to always have to be on and selling. You don't have to be. I'm a big fan of Live and Evergreen and pairing them together. I do think you should do a live launch. I think it. How much have you learned from showing up live in a launch? Right?
I mean, yeah, it's pretty that you can you.
Can you do anything from doing webinars to showing up on video to selling online. You are invincible if you are able to figure out that skill. So I recommend it to all my students. But there will come a time that you think, okay, I got enough lessons here. I'd like this to run on Evergreen so I can make money every day and not think about it. I have a course. It's a list building course. It runs every single day in my business and it will generate over $3 million this year with me not having to ever show up live once. Like, that's freedom to me.
And do you talk about it? Do you? I advertise it. How do they find it?
Paid ads. Great question. We use paid ads and we also will email my list maybe once a quarter to remind them we have it. And that's that's the number or two ways that we drive traffic to it. And the reason we have money to run paid ads is because it's making money every day. And you can take a little of that, put it back into your advertising. And so live launching and Evergreen, they go together so well. I recommend both ways, but it also allows you to kind of step away and have a little bit more freedom when you go the evergreen route.
Okay, what is working now? Because there, let me just tell you, being in this for years and years, it changed all of the time. Something stayed very much the same.
Yeah.
But there was always something different.
I totally agree. So the number one thing that has stayed Constant. So for 15 years of me teaching this, webinars, they have not gone away. They still work. We're going to talk a little bit about how they work, but they still work. So if anyone ever tells you webinars don't work anymore, it's because they don't know how to convert on a webinar. So in my program, I teach people how to do a webinar like slide by slide by slide. And the secret to a webinar is if someone shows up for an hour long webinar, they get to see your personality. They get immense value. I always say on a webinar, no matter if they buy or not, they walk away feeling inspired, excited, driven to take action. So webinars still work, but what I'm seeing is I like to pair a webinar with something like a challenge or a boot camp.
Okay.
So I'm seeing boot camps and challenges work really well and I think, think the shorter they are, the better. So we're not like people used to do 30 day challenges. Yeah, we're not seeing that as much anymore.
Totally.
Five days is enough. So you take someone like five days, I'm going to give you a challenge every single day. You start getting small results. At the end, I'm going to do a webinar teaching you what you need to know to get results and invite you into my program. It works like gangbusters. So right now, boot camps, challenges, webinars, video series have worked forever and ever. So there's a lot of different options here. The secret is that it's not enough to create a course and think, well, I've got a sales page, people are going to find it. Yeah, that doesn't work with any kind of marketing online. Right. You need a selling vehicle. We so wish it did, but it doesn't also with social media. So people are listening and they're like, okay, Amy, I want to create a course, but I don't really have an email list, But I do have some people on social.
Yes.
So I do think you want to start growing your email list while you create your course. You can start really focusing, focusing on growing your email list. But social media helps immensely with digital courses. And the one thing that helps more than anything is reels. And here's what I'm loving about reels right now. And you already know this B roll is crushing it.
Yeah.
And for someone like you and I, who have been making videos for years and years to not have to show up on video and talk and we could just get coffee in our kitchen or walk out to our car and then put some text over a reel. I don't know why this is working, but it is.
Yeah.
So these reels, to talk about people, to talk to people, to get them in your course, they're working like gangbusters as well.
Okay, so what are some other ways that you have seen outside of the box to get more audience?
Yes. Okay, so like, list building and that kind of thing. Yes. Okay, so quizzes. Let's talk about this. I just had a gal on my podcast. Her name is Harley Jordan. She got 30,000 new people on our email list with three Instagram reels. Three.
Can you tell me what these reels were?
I know they were super simple, but here's why the reels work. So a lot of B roll. But the reason they worked is that Harley decided to put a quiz together. And the question with the quiz was, are you a bunny, deer, cat, or fox? Okay, so are you bunny? I mean, I'm curious. Right. I know you're gonna need to take the quiz.
Okay.
And so that was, find out what you are. And then she had a little bit more language around it. It was really scrappy. There wasn't much like. But for some reason, we want to know. And so you take the quiz and you find out about your personality. Essentially, like a cat. I think I. Yeah, I know. I was a cat, which I wanted to be a fox. It sounded a little sexier and a little bit tough, you know? I know, I know. I was like, I bet she wants to be a fox, too. So I was a cat. And a cat is organized and put together. I wasn't surprised. It was just my personality. But then she talked about how to use that in your market. So she applied it somewhere. But I said, harley, why would it have worked so well with just three reels online where you were telling people to go take the quiz or giving them a little information. And she said because it was fun, it was interesting, it sparked curiosity. So a lot of times in the past I've created quizzes like what kind of course should you create? Fine, it's good, but there's nothing fun or sexy or interesting about that. But if you can meet people where they're at, where they want to be entertained online first, and then give them value on the back end, that's what's working with quizzes right now. And the reason I bring up quizzes. I think it's the number one way to grow your email list and you can do them for free. There's Easy software bucket IO try interact.com these are tools that are super easy to use with quizzes, but the reason I'm spending some time on this is you don't want to launch anything online. A membership, a course, a mastermind without an email list. Everything is hard when you only bank on social media. Yes.
There are so many challenges to business that I don't want starting to.
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It, it's, I don't want to say impossible, but you tap your audience out pretty quickly and there's not, there's not a way when you're just talking on social media to really get super meaty with people. Meaning, like to give them, you know, a ton of value where they're going to then purchase. Like, you get to talk to people on your email list and they get to opt in and be like, I'm here for all of this marketing.
Yes. Yeah.
How much do you have to market to someone before they purchase this?
I like to do, I teach this thing called a 30 day pre launch Runway.
Okay.
I like to do 30 days of immense value freebies. You might do a little live videos, you're doing some Instagram reels, and you're not telling anyone that you're going to sell a course, but you are talking about the topics inside your course. You're attracting the right audience. I call it priming the pump. And get them, getting them very excited for what's to come. And so once they have engaged with you for those 30 days, inviting them into a webinar is very easy. They're already a warm audience now. And then selling on the webinar becomes easier because of that. So I like a 30 day Runway.
Okay. And do you see when people are making quizzes and getting people into their email lists, like, how important is it to make sure that that topic aligns with what you're selling?
Okay. It is very important. But it doesn't have to be, like, right on the nose. Okay, so let's say you're going to create. Okay, let me tell you about two of my students, agents, Katie and Alyssa. They're real estate agents, okay. And they decide they're really good friends, and they decided to start a podcast for other real estate agents. And one day they put out an email template as a freebie. They wanted to grow their email list. So they're like, this is a template we use in our business to get more business, and this is how we use it. It was super popular. People kept saying, do you have more of these email templates? Do you have things that we could do for this or for that? So they decided we're going to create a course for real estate agents. That's not very normal. We don't see it a lot.
Right.
And so they decided to put an entire course together of all the email templates they use in their business with short little videos teaching people how to use the templates was $197. And they promoted it on their podcast, sent it to their email list, and use social media, and they were able to make a million dollars in two years with a $197 product for real estate agents. And they were just email templates that they used. So I can't even remember the question you asked me of why I was even telling you that story. Do you remember what it was?
No, I don't.
But it was a good story. And I've.
So good. And I have my next question, too.
She's ready. She's ready for her next question. Okay. But the point being is you don't need to create an expensive course, and you could take something you already have.
Oh, I remember what it was.
Okay.
It was, does it need to align with what you're selling? Selling.
Oh, I'm so glad you said that. Good for you. Okay, so you, yes, you do want the free stuff to align with what you're selling, but it doesn't have to be exact. In that case, it was exact. I wanted to show you one, but I want to tell you another story where it's not so. One of my students, she is a dog trainer, okay. And so during her 30 days, she talked about different things that you could do with your dog to make sure that they're more behaved. But her course was. Was only about how to train a dog. When someone comes to the door, my dog Scout jumps on everyone. Like, makes love to them when they walk in the door. Do you ever have. What do Your dogs do that?
They've been to boot camp twice.
And I just.
Now I need the training because I'm the problem.
I am super the problem. He jumps up and I was like, oh, isn't that cute? He loves you. So we need her course, but her course is just about that. But her pre launch was. The point is she cast a wider net to bring people in with the topics they're thinking of. And then everyone kind of deals with the door issue. So then she got him through that.
Oh, my God, that's so good. All right, so teaching.
Yes.
So for people who are like, this sounds great, but I've never, like, sat down on camera and taught what is important.
Yes. Okay.
To think of.
So before we talk about teaching, I want to back up a little bit and talk about choosing your topic for a course. Because once you get your topic, the teaching becomes a little bit easier. So people will be listening right now, and they're like, wow, I don't even know what I'd create a course online. Right? And so I always say, look for your 10 edge. And that's all you need. You need to be 10 ahead of those that you serve. You don't need to be light years ahead. You don't need more certifications, more time, more education. You just need to be a few steps ahead of those you serve so you can show them the way. So right there, it should take off a lot of pressure that you need more time or more education. You already have the skillset. Look for where you've gotten results for other people or for yourself. And then from also when you're coming up with your topic, I call this a sweet spot. First, your knowledge and know how. The second thing you want to think about is where are people struggling? Like, what problem am I solving here? Because if you're not solving a problem or meeting a desire, this isn't going to work. So get really clear on the problem you're solving. Solving. The third thing in this sweet spot is where are people spending money? So you want to make sure that there's evidence that people have spent money to solve this problem or meet this desire. It's usually a little market research, easy to find. But if you're like, no one's ever purchased anything like this or spent money on this, I'd stay away from that topic. Let's let it be easy. And then the fourth one is, you gotta enjoy talking about it. You're gonna eat, sleep, and breathe it. It has to bring you joy or you're going to dread this whole process.
Us.
Yeah.
So that's kind of your sweet spot, but essentially, what's your 10% edge once you have that? When you think about teaching it, I do like a post it note strategy. I want you to every idea you would create in your course, put it on a little post it, put it on the board, every idea, and then you start organizing them into modules. Which is the top part? Like, I'm going to teach writing a book. Exactly. It's very. When I wrote the book, I was.
Like, you're like, I got this.
Yeah, I got this. So you're first saying, okay, what are the modules, the big points? Like, here are the five main points and then under that, what are the little lessons that you're going to teach in order to teach the main point there?
So good.
So it's modules in lessons, so you're thinking in terms of layers. And so once you do that, it's so much easier to put it together and to create it.
Okay, so I see a lot, which I am so guilty of. And I used to work, but it's, it really doesn't work anymore. So let's chat about niche or broad. And when I say that, like, there is a lot of courses out there that are like, we're going to teach you how to have a good life or how to be aligned with your highest purpose. Like, I see events like this and I feel like I'm like, people don't necessarily understand what that is. Can, can you tell me about why that doesn't work?
Yes. It's way too noisy online. You will get lost the minute you put yourself out there. When I talk about becoming a go to source in your niche.
Yeah.
The reason that's so important is that you cut through the noise and when a topic is mentioned, your name comes at the top of the list. When it's, I want to teach people how to be their higher self. Nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks, I want to learn how to be my higher self. No, they wake up and they're like, I have so much anxiety. I am a single mom with anxiety. I need to figure out how to get support here. It's that specific. So like one of my students, she now is a single mom teaching other single moms how to navigate raising their kids alone, how to, how to deal with the issues they're having. But also only toddlers. She only teaches parents of toddlers when they're teenagers. It's not, she's not their go to source anymore.
Right.
She catches them right away because of that, that. So I cannot stress enough how important it is to be very specific of who you serve and who your topic is for in terms of the detail behind it.
Let's talk about limiting beliefs around people who are like, well, my topic is, you know, very niche.
Yes.
Can I not get people because it feels like such a small percentage of.
People, I still am going to encourage them to create the course. Because as long as if you said, Amy, there was a study, there's only 50 people in the world that would need my course, let's not create that. Yeah, but if there are, you know, if you can identify a few thousand people out there that you know, you could get access to around this topic, the more specific you can be, the better. Like here's the thing. I do not teach people how to create physical products. I don't teach people how to get paid to speak on stage. I don't teach people how to fill up a mastermind. Number one, I don't do those things, so I'm not going to teach it. But number two, if I added all that to the mix, my name would not be at the top of the list when someone says how to do courses. So let I want to mention something. You didn't ask this question, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway. So one of the secrets to my success is that I believe that less is more. So last year we generated $20 million in the business and we have two digital courses. One master or membership. Not a mastermind, one membership. And then I do some affiliate marketing for my friends.
Yeah.
And so two courses and a membership. And the membership you can't even get into unless you go through one of my digital courses. So I have a very small product suite. I rarely get paid to speak on stage because I don't enjoy it.
Yeah.
I do not have any physical products. I do not do one on one consulting. So to generate $20 million in a year with two courses in a membership and some affiliate marketing, very little compared to the other stuff. The reason I do that is because I built this business for freedom. I worked in a cubicle, I didn't want a boss and I wasn't making enough money. All I wanted to do was be my own boss and have more freedom. So if you are getting into entrepreneurship because you want more freedom, the last thing you want to do is start piling up the offers, the products that everything else. You've got to keep it simple and again, be known for something.
Are you constantly building your list?
Every single Day.
How many like people? You don't have to say the whole number, but how many new people? Is it important? Like what should an aim for people be?
Okay, in my business we try to add 50, 1500 new people a week, but that is not anyone listening. That is not what you need to do. So first you want to have 250 people on your email list before you launch your course.
Okay.
Now a lot of my students are very new and they don't have that yet. So I teach them. Let's create the course and grow the email list at the same time. Okay, so once the course is ready to go, you've got an email list. You could make a few thousand dollars or more with 250 people on your email list. If you also have some people on social media. So we're not looking at a huge email list. But what I always teach in list building, it's how you do business. It's not a one and done thing. You want list building goals every single month and you do that through your quizzes and you reels and your DM strategies. But it has to be important. No matter if you're creating courses or anything else, it's so important. And so yeah, every year it's a goal. We know how much we want to grow by and we are constantly looking for new ways to grow the list.
We see people all the time who will launch and they don't have the list or they have a small list and they had a much bigger expectation. I did this years ago. I was like, have this expectation because you hear online what people do, but you never hear about where their lists are actually at. So it's really powerful to know. Could you tell us a little bit about even? What really freed me up is like average conversion rates for your list.
Okay, that's such a great point. So when it comes to selling courses, remember we're not just selling through our email list or through social. We have a selling mechanism and I believe the best one is it a webinar. And so if you grow your email list and do a webinar, our goal is to get you to 10%. So you want to convert 10 on that webinar. Will it happen with your first webinar? Probably not. Oh, let me tell you just real fast. In my first webinar, I used to work for Tony Robbins and the first time I did a webinar was with Tony and it was the first time he ever had done a webinar. So that was really great. Blind leading the blind at that point. And so we did this webinar. Well, we practiced the night before. He was at his home in Palm Springs at the time. I was at the offices in San Diego. And we got on and we practiced. Did a practice run. He did great. And now back in the day, he had people pay to be on his webinar. He's a baller. He can do that now. We do them for free, but people paid to be on this webinar the next day. So we ran through it, and he's like, okay, good. I'm good. I'm like, great. I just press a button. And he's like, why did I just get a notice that the whole webinar has been deleted?
What?
It's deleted and canceled. I'm like, no, no, no. It went out to everyone who paid for the webinar that this webinar has now been canceled.
No.
And we will not be doing it. No. I was mortified. I cried for, like, five hours. And you couldn't get it back up? Well, the great news is we used Gotowebinar at the time. They stayed up with me all night. I never left the office. Stayed up with me all night. Piece it back together. I don't even know what that means. But the next morning when Tony woke up, the webinar was back in check. We did have to email everyone saying, just joking. But, like, I got.
You never forget.
Yes, but if I can cancel a webinar for Tony Robbins, then those that are listening, you can do a webinar for your first time and not know how to do it. Like, if you. It's okay if it's messy and all of that, but it is essential. A selling vehicle is essential. So I teach people how to get to 10%. But if you think about it, so you've got a thousand people on your email list, likely from that webinar on live. And then the emails you send after you when you get good, you can get 10% to buy. But that's putting in perspective. I think you're so right. If you don't do the math. We call it course math.
Yeah.
You could just think, I could make a hundred thousand dollars. How? Let's break it down. So in my programs, I teach my student how to break down every single number so they know how they're getting there.
It's the most powerful thing that I learned because I spent the first, like, five years, which we actually did really well in the beginning. Yeah, I had such high expectations that I thought I was doing terrible. Because if I would have looked at our numbers. We were converting amazingly for. But I didn't understand that at all.
That's the thing, you didn't know. So then you're beating yourself up thinking you need to do better. Little did you know you were kicking. Can ask and I say that.
Yes. Say whatever we want.
Okay. Wow. This is an adult boy.
It's 12 year old boy humor.
That's true, that's true.
The other thing is, is if you're not doing well, because I've also had that. Whereas like, wait, the numbers are there, why is it not converting? It tells you where to go and look. It doesn't tell you exactly where to look. But let's talk about that. Let's say they have the numbers.
Yes.
And I know that you're, you're, you guys, if you really want to deep dive like Amy has all of this for you, we're going to talk about that in the boot camp that you have, which is, is so exciting. So if you have the numbers but things aren't going right, tell me just a couple of things that could be going on.
Okay. I love this question. So let's say that you've got this email list, you've got your social. It's not big, but it's enough. Okay. And you're doing your webinar and no one is buying. Yeah, usually it's a few things. Number one, if this is such a technical thing, but it means all the difference. I had a friend recently who did a webinar and he got to the, the selling point in his webinar at an hour and a half in.
Dang it.
Yes.
I just did this. Yeah.
Okay. Hour and a half in. And I called him and I said, and I never do this if you don't ask for my advice. I'm not giving it. But I could not help myself. So I broke my rule and I said, can I give you some feedback? And he said, please, because I knew it didn't do so well. And I said, you have to get to the selling portion at 45 minutes in. It doesn't even matter. It doesn't even matter if people, if they knew the webinar was 90 minutes minutes in their minds, they are checked out at 60 minutes. We've seen it over and over again. And he actually told me I lost 700 people over a 20 minute period after I went over the hour mark. That's a lot of people on the webinar. So I said, you gotta get to the selling portion of your webinar at 45 minutes. Now, that doesn't mean you have to give the URL at 45, you have to start selling before that hour hits. They need to have heard the URL. They need to know where to go because they tend to check out. They might even still be there. But now they're taking a call, checking their email or whatever. Just tell yourself I've got about 45 minutes before I start to lose them slowly. So just let's go for it. So you get to the selling portion at 45 minutes. That makes all the difference. Another thing is a little trick I do for the Q A. So when someone's on a Q A with you, they are there because they are genuinely interested. They are thinking about buying. They might be super scared, but they're thinking about buying, buying. So about 10 minutes into my Q A, I'll say if you are still here and you are on the fence, you are not buying yet, you're on the fence. Type in I'm on the fence because and tell me why. I will answer every single one of those. So for about an hour, if I have a lot of people on, I'll just do on the fence. On the fence. I'm on the fence because I don't. I think this is too expensive. I'm on the fence because I think it's going to take me too much time. I'm on the fence because I don't think I'm ready and I should wait till next year. I address them all and you will see sales boom, boom, boom. Because one, they got personal attention and two I address their specific issue. And I will make sure to find the questions where I say you're not right for my program because they need to trust me and know that I'm not telling everyone to buy. So I'll find the questions like, yeah, you're right, you can't pay the mortgage this month. This is not time to buy this digital course.
Right.
It's time to wait. So I will always address those as well. But the on the fence strategy, anyone listening that does webinars use it. You will love it, thank me later and also get to that sale sooner.
So for email marketing, when you have that list and things are going wrong, do you also have that in your bootcamp or your course about like where to kind of look or how.
Yes.
How to help with email marketing?
Absolutely. This is something I teach in a lot of my programs. So let's say that you are using email marketing and you're promoting your program. Your let's say it's a course and people just are not buying. The first thing you're going to look at is are they clicking the offer and then like they're clicking the link in your email and then not buying time. That's going to tell you it's over there on that sales page.
Got it.
But if they're not even clicking anything in that email, your message is not resonating. I think we all need to become students of copywriting.
Yeah.
And I don't mean you need to go buy a digital course, although I think that's a great idea. There's so many books on copywriting to help us, but you have to know how to talk to your audience. And to me, the best way to do that is we do these. These course calls where I teach my students how to get on a few zoom calls with their potential students and listen to the words they're using. What are they struggling with? What have they tried before? Why are they frustrated? You take all of that and it's all in your emails. So that's how we make emails convert better through our course calls. But if you are emailing and it is not converting, it's likely the words you are using in those emails, it is not resonating. Or if they're clicking through do. It's something with that sales page that is not saying, I get you and I see you.
Right about now, people are starting to understand why you're the best in courses is because they're about to go do a ton of work or they have.
Yes.
And I wish I would have found you earlier because, I mean, we even. We even worked with great people. But at the it, there's little tweaks that you do that make it so simple. And. And like right now I'm sitting here listening to you going, you're breaking this down so simply of if this, then that, then that.
If this, then that.
And I think you make it very like, it's so digestible. And so you guys can. You're listening and you're seeing why this works when people go through your stuff. I think I told you this, but I was on an airplane and this was actually a really embarrassing moment for me, but it was also really cool. So there were women in front of me who were talking about you.
They were.
It was a woman who was 100% your number one hype girl.
Oh, my gosh, I love it.
This guy was like, you know, I have this business, but I think we need to do this and blah, blah, blah, and she's like, you need Amy Porter.
Okay, I forgot about this story. That is wild that you're sitting behind them and you and I are such good friends and you hear my name. I think that's very rare.
Back from a weekend with you or something.
Oh, my gosh, Yes.
I spent time with you.
Okay.
And so, you know, I'm sitting here for, like, hours listening to her rave about you. And like, this guy is bought. He is buying everything. Amy Porterfield. And you're getting that feeling where you're like. Like, I'm actually have anxiety because I.
Would have to say something. I know. I'd be like, I know that girl. If it was you, I would have been like, you did okay.
Stands up and we're. We're leaving the plane. And I'm like, I just have to tell you, I know Amy and I just came from a weekend with her. And then I had this. She looked at me like, no, you don't. This is weird.
Or a little embarrassed.
So then I. In Amy and Lori fashion, if you don't know this about Amy and Lori, I'm speaking in third person. I then go and feel like I just name dropped. And the woman didn't believe me.
Lori and I get much anxiety.
I have anxiety for a day. I wanted to go back to the woman and be like, show her.
You should show her a picture. It might have been right after we went fly fishing. Yes, that's what it was. You should have showed her a big fish.
Okay, so I. You guys, literally, Amy is the person for courses because you are so good and it works. That's why this woman was raving about you, not because of what a good teacher you were.
Her results.
She was, like, freaking out about her results.
Love this woman.
So I know we need to go find her. I'm like, this is the best.
Yes.
Okay, so let's talk about.
You had.
You had chatted about objections. And that's kind of where we're at right now with objections, potentially what's going on in email or objections that happen on the webinar. But then there's also all of the objections that are in our head.
Okay. And this is more important than any strategy I can teach you. A lot of my students will come in and their biggest, biggest fear is, what if I look like an idiot? Like, I'm teaching and I don't have all the answers? People are going to ask me questions in my course. What if I don't know the answer? Or another one is, what if I sell this thing and nobody buys. So let's, let's address both of those because these are the self doubt is like rearing its ugly head. It happens to all of us. So let's go with the one what if nobody buys.
Yep.
So when I launched my very first digital course, I was on the, the end point of my time with Tony Robbins and we were launching digital courses. That's where I had learned, learned and started to learn how to do this. So I thought, well, he's made millions. I could at least make a hundred thousand dollars with my first launch. I know how to do this. I've started to grow my email list to 600 people. I'm gonna go for it. So I launched my first digital course, and after all was said and done, I made a whopping $267. And I cried for a week. And this is very unsexy. I had this robe from a Target. It was a black robe. Okay? It was not a sexy black robe. It's just a cotton black ro. I wore it all the time. And at some point after that launch, it was like five days later, my husband Hobie goes, I need you to get dressed and take that ugly robe off. I cannot watch you anymore. I, like lived in it, cried in it, snot everywhere. I was devastated in my Target black robe because I made it mean I am not cut out to be an entrepreneur. I am not good at this.
The robe of shame.
No one likes me. The robe of shame was real. And so I was devastated for a long time. And then I thought, okay, I've got two options. Number one, I could go grovel back from my job. And the whole point was I didn't want a boss anymore and I got to figure out my own thing. Or I could go and do this again. Thank God I did this again. But here I am sitting here saying, you know, I, I have a hundred million dollar business. But my first course, I made $267. The part I didn't tell you is the course was 2. 97. But if you backed out, a few thousand dollars in expenses that I didn't even need to spend. But I didn't know what I was doing. I only made 267. So it happens to the best of us and we get back up and we get back out there. So number one, you're resilient. You can figure this out. Number two, the idea that, what if I don't know enough? Like, what if people ask me questions and I don't know? That happens to me. Me all the time people will ask me questions. If I don't know the answer, I'll say, I'm not really sure about that one. Let me go and do a little research and talk to a few peers of mine. I'll be back. I'll let you. Next time I'm on Live, I'll do. I do it all the time. You're not expected to know everything. And then the third thing that comes up is, what if I can't guarantee results? Now, number one, where you talked about earlier, when you have this big kind of gray topic like, I want to help people be enlightened, well, then, yeah, it's going to be really hard to get people results because what does that absolutely look like? Yeah. But also, let's say you are a nutrition coach, coach, and you're helping people lose their first 10 pounds. Okay. And you say, well, what if I can't guarantee it because. And the answer usually comes because I can't force feed them. I can't work out with them. This is a digital course. And my point is exactly. It takes two. You show up and you do your thing. You teach them what they need to know. You tell them how to get results and you support them along the way. I teach in my programs how to support, whether it be through Voxer or Slack or email or Zoom calls, but you can support them for a short period of time through the journey. They have to show up. It's not all on us. As a course creator, you give them what they need, they show up and take the action. There's two involved in this, so don't put the whole burden on yourself.
What's been like a mistake or something embarrassing that you've put out, like on a course? Have you done any mistakes where you're like, dang it, this went terribly.
Absolutely. So we did. So at one point in one of my courses, Hobie and I were recording some videos together. You should never do that. Oh, you have the best. Okay. Promise you'll tell it after Mike's. Yours is better than mine. Okay. So Lori's got a great one that I almost fell over. Done. Sign for. So Hobie and I were recording some videos together for this one course. He was just a little added. Anytime you bring my husband in, it just tends to get a little more attention. It really pisses me off. So we were doing a recorded video and I had pressed the button and he's super silly and ridiculous, so. And very inappropriate. So we got on and he's like, so I can cuss. Yeah, okay. So he got on and he's like, like, so I'm gonna talk to you about this course. And I'm like, what are you doing? So that I re recorded it. Then I started again. He's like, this course is just the. The tits. And I was like, hobie, why are you doing this? Because he's thinking we're pre recording, so he's being funny. I was hitting go live. I was hitting go live in a Facebook group. Every single video was my husband cussing or being inappropriate.
Were you dying?
I wanted to never record another video because you know me, that is. I am. You were mortified. Every video. And he thought he was so funny. And I thought it was just all pre recorded. But what happened was I started getting calls from my community director. You're live. You're live. Please stop going live. Please. I could not believe I did that.
What did you do?
Three times I went live.
Did you get anything from your community? Did they say anything?
They thought it was the best thing that's ever happened to them with me. Yeah. Because they do want to see that side of me. Even when I'm like, can I cuss? Like, I don't even cuss on my podcast. Podcast. Although, you know I have a sale. Right. In real life. So I'm so buttoned up that they were like, we want this every day for me. So, yeah, that might be. Thank you, Hobie.
That's like as good as. That's as good, if not better.
I think it would have been so fine. It was pre recorded. No, we were live, so.
And that's. I think that's what people are so afraid of is like looking dumb or saying something stupid or something going wrong. No, no. We will make sure that you know that everybody's done this and it doesn't. It doesn't hurt your down. In fact, they go, oh, she's normal.
She's normal.
Oh, my God, they're normal.
That lets me.
Let it be. Okay. If something happens. So I'll tell mine real quick.
We were.
We were recording a course called Aligned. Don't do that. First of all, with a partner.
Meaning?
Meaning.
Oh, the name of the course.
Like, you're gonna be Aligned.
I don't know.
It was.
It was here.
It was like. It did. It actually did pretty good at the time, but nothing like what we thought, so. No, it wasn't. It wasn't good.
Great.
And recorded it with Chris. It was the first thing that we've worked on like. Like that together. Like a course together.
Okay.
And it had a deadline. Because, Amy, I was recording this because I was speaking on a big stage that said we need a course.
That's so much pressure. So much.
I was recording it for all the wrong reasons. It was so misaligned and it was called aligned. And like we were dying, like afterward we were dying laughing about just how crazy that was, that how out of alignment it actually, actually was.
Didn't really work. Yeah.
So we're recording the course and we. We're on a deadline. Like, we need to get it done in three days.
Okay.
So it's a. It's a thick. It's a thick course.
I love a thick course. I love a thick course. It's a thick course in my marketing. It's gonna sell so much.
Amy, you're welcome.
Thank you.
When that happens. So we're recording it, we're trying to get it done, and Chris is like messing up his lines over and over again and throwing a tantrum. Like a full on motherfucker. Like full, full tantrum for like a minute. But this happens multiple times. And I'm like, you need to stop.
Yes.
We need to reset. We need to calm down. Like, so we're getting through it. But it is like a serious soul journey getting through this because it was so much pressure and we didn't really have it all figured out. So we released the course and you know, we. You have those students who go through it right away and they're normally your diehards.
Die hards.
Thank God.
Thank God they're the die hards.
Because anything wrong in their mind. Okay, so what happens is right away, on the day of release, in my. I think it was module three, someone emails us and they're like, you might want to take module three out right away or re edit it. And we're like, why? They're like, oh, just go watch. Chris is having a full on F bomb tantrum.
In the aligned course. In the aligned course, I would die. Who do you think you or him? Who freaked out more?
Him.
Okay. I was gonna say yeah, but although.
Maybe you just doubled with me because I was then like, freaking out. Because he was freaking out. Because I was just like, he needs to calm down. But we got it edited out. We don't know how many people saw. We have no idea.
So I would be mortified. These things happen. I gotta tell you one more quick story that made me think of that. This isn't even my story, nor do I even know if she's ever told it publicly, but we have a mutual friend Jasmine Star. Okay, if. Don't ever tell her I told you the story. Okay. Okay, good, good. No one will hear. Tell Jasmine. She once sent me a video of. She was on her computer waiting to go live. Okay, so you know when you're. You guys know. Well, you guys can't even know.
But what I'm gonna look at this.
Camera for a second.
This is.
They told me not to do this. Okay, so you know when you're typing and the screens here, but you're like this the whole time, like.
Yes.
Because you're not live yet.
Frowning.
You're frowning.
So she. Yeah, she's fully frowning. She's like. And she's live. Burped so loud. And she just kept going too, like. And then someone's like, you're live, you're alive. So it happens to all of us. I know. Especially knowing Jasmine. So just know my friends. Just get started. Let's go.
You're gonna be. In fact, you know, get one under your belt. Get it under your belt.
Exactly.
Then you'll know that, you know, that's the, that's the initiation.
There you go.
That's the initiation.
Gets easier.
Okay, so let's talk about some mistakes that you see people make. Because we don't want to make.
Oh, we don't want to make them. So one, we're not going to burp when we think we're going to go live. And also, let's not have your husbands do anything in the business. Let's wait on that. Yes. So other than that. Okay. Number one mistake people make with courses. And everyone should take a big sigh of relief after I say this. They put way too much information in their courses. And I think they do it because they want to justify the price. No matter if the price is 47 or 4000, we want to give value. And we're scared to sell our first course. We're scared to say, this is how much you have to pay me for my knowledge. And so because we're worried, we say, I'm gonna give you so much value. So everything I've learned since I was three years old will go into this course and every bonus and every live. And I will give you 20 weeks of one on one coaching with me as well. It's just too much. People are looking for the fastest way from point A to point B. They want to get there as fast as humanly possible. You have to take out the fluff. So when I teach people how to create outlines for their course, because I teach people how to create the Outline, then sell it, then record it. So number one, we are not ever creating something that might not sell. So never worry about wasting your time or energy. We're going to sell first and I teach my students how to sell it and then, then we're going to create it week by week as our students go through it. So with that we can one, we've got to pare it down. So I teach my students, here's your outline. Now let's strip it down to only what they need. This means you record it faster and your students get through it. Also putting too much in the video, where the videos are so long you've been in courses where you're like, my gosh, the video is an hour and a half long for one lesson.
I need to accomplish something, right?
Yeah. So I tell them 10 to 15 minutes max. I'd love like a 12 minute video. So if you have a topic and you're going to teach people how to meal plan, that's part of your nutrition program, how to meal plan. And it's going to take about an hour to teach. We're doing 10 to 12 minute videos. Until you get it all done, people feel like they're getting momentum and that gets them to the finish line faster. So we're going to stay away from long videos. My secret is that I'll tell them what they're going to learn and I'll give them the big picture. I do a lot of step by step training, so that's all in the PDF. It's not in my videos. So you don't have to watch me do a video that's an hour long. Step by step by step by step, step. When you're ready to do what I just taught you, here are the detailed instructions in a PDF. Okay, so we call that the added value of a, of a lesson. It works so well and it's less filming time. Another mistake is people think they need to be on camera the whole time. Jenna Kutcher creates digital courses and makes millions of dollars. You and I are friends with Jenna. She never shows her face in most of her videos and she has been in business for many, many years. If someone like that with a huge business can do it, I promise my students can as well. You don't need to be live on camera. You don't need to show your face all the time. I'd love for you to have a welcome video where you show your face, but that's another thing. You don't need fancy equipment. Here we are in this really cool Studio, we've got people supporting us, we've got all these cameras. You need an iPhone if you're just going to be on camera for a little bit, and slides and audio. So we're going to keep it simple. My moddy motto is keep it simple if you want, get fancy later. But that's not how we're getting to success, by making it fancy and complicated right out of the gate.
I love that I, I the less is more thing is so incredibly important and not only from the teaching perspective, but from being a student of courses as well. For so long. We need to, your student needs to feel like if they only have 30 minutes that day, they could accomplish something within that. And it's like, oh, I can look at Amy's course and I can knock out two to three videos. Yeah, it feels so good. Like I'm getting through something which makes me then go back the next day where if I only got through half a video, I'm like, I'm not through the lesson. I feel scattered. I don't feel like I can commit my time to this. It's truly like being able to check something off the box is really, really.
Important in a short amount. Yeah. Knowing the psychology of how people navigate through courses and that's just something I teach my students, allows you to get them to the finish line.
Fine.
Because we all care that people get results. One, you're going to get more success stories out of it. But two, you're going to deliver on your promise. But there's little things. Here's another thing that I teach my students how to do in a course. They are going to record pep talk videos. So when you get through module three of my program, it's how to outline a course. And it's kind of heavy. There's a lot of steps involved, but once you have it, then you've got the full outline. But I know they're going to get a little stuck there and it's not the same sexiest stuff they have to do, but they have to do it. So right away they'll find a pep talk video and it will be me. I've pre recorded it. All my stuff is pre recorded. And I'll say, hey, I know what you're going to feel when you dive into this. You're going to feel overwhelmed. You're going to think that you don't know enough and you're going to feel whatever, whatever. And here's what I want you to do instead. It's a five minute pep talk video, but it Gets people moving forward. So I teach my students how to do that in their courses.
That's so important because you can hit that video, which I have, like, the videos where you're like, oh, this is where. This is where I'm not going to be good. This is where she can do it because she's more organized. This is where. And it's like, no, she felt that exact.
Yes way as well.
So do we feel like courses are around forever? Is this something that's going to last?
Absolutely. And I'm glad you brought that up, because some people are listening and they're like, well, what about AI? So some people that say you could create a course with AI in 10 minutes, never trust them because AI is going to spit out the most generic kind of confusing content that if you do not work on that content, you will never be able to sell courses over and over again. So never trust anyone that says, this AI tool can bust out a whole course in a few minutes. But also with AI, people will think, well, I can learn anything with AI, they want to connect with somebody who's gone before them. The stories I tell in my programs, the success stories that I share, the. The stumbles and falls that I teach them how to get past, you will never get that through AI or. Yeah, through AI or Chat GPT. And so number one courses are absolutely here to stay. But the most important thing is that you lead with yourself. You let people know who you are and what you're about, and you start sharing your journey or the journey you've helped other people. That's who they want to work with, someone who's gone before them. So that part's important. They want a guide, they want a leader. That's who you are in your course. The second thing is, we didn't talk about a lot, but AI will absolutely help you create your course faster. Your course, your webinar, your social media posts. I teach that throughout my entire programs because it's important. But never would I let something come out of Chat GPT and I post it. It always needs to be massaged. It always needs to have your personality, but at least it's a place to start. Back in the day when I, you know, went uphill both ways to school and I had a really rough life in the beginning when I was creating courses is we didn't have AI and it took forever to create a course outline. AI can help you do that. Absolutely, but you just need to know the right prompts and how to use it right.
Okay, so you have A boot camp?
Yes.
Course Confident Bootcamp. Tell me about it.
Yes. So the course Confident Boot Camp is something I designed a few years ago. I only do it once a year and it's to help people get started with their very first digital course. So if you are a newbie and you don't have a business yet, you're invited into the bootcamp and we'll get immense value you. But if you're someone more advanced, you already have a business, you just want to add a course to your business.
Totally.
This is for you as well because it's anyone who wants guidance on how to kickstart their digital course journey. Now, the bootcamp is $47, so it's not free. However, you will walk away with immense value that you can make that back over and over again. And we will go through exactly the steps you need to take in order to create the course. Course. And I will give you guidance each step of the way. Every training I do has a PDF step by step guide. I'm live, I'm answering questions. You'll leave with your road map of how to get that course up and running.
Okay. So will there be list building strategies in there?
Absolutely. I can't teach people how to create courses without also teaching them how to build their audience. Totally. So we're going to talk about how to build up your social, how to build up your email list and then how to create your course while you're doing that as well. Well, so there will be a lot of list building strategies as well.
Okay. Amazing.
You guys go to lori harder.com forward/boot camp. You can sign up for this boot camp and you know, I'm like a forever student of you. I'm not even kidding you.
I don't know if you know this.
But Chris and I want to do a course on masterminding, so.
Ooh, I love.
Who knows?
Maybe it'll be. Maybe it'll be out. But I will be following all your stuff.
Okay.
It's just such a.
It's such a good reminder. So, you know, Chris and I have. Have now created. We've created quite a few courses.
Yeah.
But you forget. You forget about all of the steps. You forget about what's important to say.
You forget about.
Okay. That's right. I need to focus here and here because people who are listening have other things going on in their life.
Yes.
And you need a template. And you're the best template because you're the person in it all the time, which means you're getting the most data you're getting the most students. She's learning from her students. So you have to have thousands and thousands of people who are giving you exactly what you should be teaching on. So that's why you are the best person to learn.
I appreciate that. And I think what's unique about the bootcamp is I'm going to share a lot of stories of people that have gone before you so that you can see how they did it and also realize you are not unique in the sense of, I don't have enough time or I don't have enough focus here, or I'm. I'm not really sure if I have enough education. I'm gonna to prove to you that these people had the same exact thoughts and they got success, then I'm going to show you how they got success. So it's really unique. It goes by so quickly. You don't want to miss it. So sign up right away because doors will close very soon, and it's. It's a lot of fun, and I am live throughout the entire experience.
Amazing. I'm so grateful for you. So, loriharter.com forward/bootcamp, is there anything else that you want to share with anyone?
I think the last thing I'll say is that digital courses are your way to more freedom in your business. If you got into entrepreneurship because you want to be your own boss, make your own money, have the sky be the limit, but also be able to step back and enjoy the life you've created with the money that you're making, digital courses absolutely will allow you to do that, and I'd love to teach you how.
So good. Yeah, I think it's. If you're getting asked a question all the time, it also really serves you to answer that question. Be able to drive everybody to that place. So it saves you a lot of time too.
So.
So you guys go follow Amy Porterfield on Instagram. It's just at Amy Porterfield on Instagram. Let her know what your biggest takeaway was as well. And go sign up. We have all of that info in the show notes below. And until next time, earn your happy.
Bye, everyone.
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