5 Secrets to Start or Scale Your Business with a Digital Course
Do you ever sit at your day-job desk or wait in the carpool line for kids and think, "If I had just an extra $10K, I could . . . (fill in the blank) . . . ?
It might be more possible than you think.
Amy Porterfield, who has more than earned her stripes selling and teaching digital courses, shows us how she provides a simple roadmap and step-by-step how to's on how you can build a digital course, too.
Fourteen years, more than 82 million dollars earned, 50,000 students, and a New York Times bestselling book are all proof that Amy just might be the "Queen A" of all things digital courses and online marketing.
And today she's bringing you a "mini-course" in business (meta, I know) to tell us everything we should know about how to decide if building a course might be a good fit for you, too.
The Smart Better Life with Annie Bauer
5 Secrets to Start or Scale Your Business with a Digital Course | Ep 003
1-Courses Scale . . . 1:1 Coaching and Consulting Don't
This one might seem so obvious that you're saying "well, duh" right now. But what seems so easy to see isn't always what we end up doing. If you're a coach or consultant, you most likely got your business off the ground doing one-to-one work. This is a great way to start for a lot of people. But it's not the right fit for everyone, especially if you're teaching a skill that everyone is basically going to do in the same way (like how to bake bread or teaching yoga).
But, as Amy points out in this episode, often once you start trading time for dollars, it's hard to get out of it. As business owners, we can get stuck in the "solopreneur" identity. We get entrenched in showing up for 1:1 or small group sessions and trainings because we are only seeing one way to keep the lights on and provide our services. But this will put a limit on your business growth, your income, and your freedom.
2-LiterallyAnyoneCan Create a Course . . . on Any Topic
You might be saying, "Anyone?" And my answer would be, "Yes. Anyone." Creating a profitable digital course has nothing to do with age, background, your subject matter, or just about any other factor.
Teaching Self Worth
Adia made $26,048, enrolling just 16 students in her very first launch teaching self worth.She's a clinical psychologist who wanted more time, freedom, and a way to supplement her thriving practice.
Tax Instruction
Or Mark, a tax accountant, who made $62,000 right out of the gates with his Reseller Tax Course.(Update: As of August, 2023,Mark has now earned one million dollars with his course!Wow.)
Making Sourdough
You can also make a lot of money teaching your creative skills like Sarah did. She was the mother of a young son who had meltdowns when she had to leave the house to teach her sourdough workshops because the commute and hours away from family were so demanding.Sarah built a digital course, The Sourdough Institute, and made $17,820 on her first launch . . . without using ads.
More Examples and Ideas
Amy mentions many other examples of ideas and knowledge that her students have turned into profitable digital courses. They include dog training, sex therapy, how to clean out your closet, and how to style yourself for your job. Here are some more stories I dug up for you just so you could see the wide variety of profitable ideas out there:
Cheryl: $47,000, sex therapist
Sukaina: $14,900, food photography
Audrey: $107,000, style and wardrobe
3-Digital Courses Can BeHighlyProfitable
If the examples above aren't proof enough, Amy explains to us how a simple launch that brings in $10,000 in the first launch can turn into $100,000 or more over time. Each time you launch, you're actually building your list, too. Over time, you can also make your course better, and you'll get better, too.
Calculating How Much You Want to Make
She explains her concept "Course Math" in really simple terms.
First, figure out how much money you're going to charge for your course. Let's say it's $500.
Then decide how much money you want to make. Maybe it's $10,000 on your first launch.
Divide $10,000 by $500 to get the number of units you'd need to sell. ($10,000 ➗ $500 = 20 units)
So to make $10,000, you'd only need 20 people to sign up.
Choose the Type of Course That Works Best for You
There are three different types of courses you can build, too. Amy teaches you how to choose which one is right for you and how to start.
Starter Course: A basic 101 course that is shorter and more general, $100-200
Spotlight Course: Take one area of your expertise and do a deep dive on it, $200-500
Signature Course: A start-to-finish full course with a bigger promise, $500-3,000
Once you know how much money you want to make and the type of course you want to build, then you just follow the step-by-step framework and roadmap to get there.
4-Simple Frameworks and a Roadmap from an Expert Make Course Building Fast and Easy
One of the things I personally want when I take a course or program with someone is to log in and open up my program to find a clear, easy, and fast program to follow. I don't want to waste a lot of my time watching hours and hours of videos and hunting around the site for what I need.
I own practically every single program that Amy teaches, and I can promise you that they are organized, logical, to-the-point, and easy to navigate.
Whether you want to do a Starter, Spotlight, or Signature Course, you will have theexact roadmapfor what to do. She is the Queen of processes, simplicity, and structure. Amy has spent 14 years perfecting how she teaches and how her material is organized, and it just keeps getting better and better. (Side note: you get the future updates and improvements, too! For life.)
Amy also recognizes that most of her students have full-time jobs, families, and lots of other obligations filling up their schedules. She gives you valuable advice on how to structure your time (Tiger Time) and how to choose your course type based on your bandwidth (flexibility to set your own expectations) as well.As she says in this episode, "Never once have I heard a student say, 'that took me too long'."
