187: The $100K Course Formula With Amy Porterfield
Are you sitting on a wealth of expertise that you're itching to share with the world? Our latest Creator's MBA Podcast episode might just be the catalyst you need to transform that knowledge into a thriving digital course business.
In this episode, with Amy Porterfield, we're diving deep into the world of lucrative digital courses. She's sharing her tried-and-true formula for creating courses that not only resonate with your ideal customer, but also have the potential to generate serious revenue.
Here's a taste of what Amy reveals in this episode:
The three types of courses and how to choose your money-maker
Simple yet powerful "course math" to reach your income goals
Strategies for both live and automated launches
How to stand out in a crowded digital marketplace
Whether you're just starting your course creation journey or looking to scale your existing offerings, Amy's practical advice and step-by-step approach will give you the confidence to take action.
So why not turn your commute, workout, or coffee break into a mini masterclass? Tune in to this episode and take the next step towards turning your expertise into a thriving online course business.
Key points with timestamps:
03:01 - Amy explains the three types of digital courses and their pricing structures
08:18 - Discussion on creating courses without appearing on video
10:05 - Breakdown of course math and strategies to reach six figures
16:01 - Amy shares statistics on the growing online learning market
22:01 - Overview of Amy's upcoming Course Confident Bootcamp
Mentioned in this episode:
Course Confident Bootcamp (affiliate link)
Unlocking Six-Figure Success: The Power of Digital Courses with Amy Porterfield
In the ever-evolving world of online entrepreneurship, digital courses have emerged as a powerful tool for generating income and establishing authority in your niche. But how can you tap into this potential and create a course that not only resonates with your audience but also generates significant revenue? In a recent episode of the Creators MBA Podcast, host Dr. Destini Copp sat down with online marketing expert Amy Porterfield to uncover the secrets of creating a six-figure course in less than a year.
The Three Types of Digital Courses
Amy Porterfield, known for her best-selling courses and top-ranked podcast "Online Marketing Made Easy," kicked off the conversation by introducing the three main types of digital courses:
Starter Course: This is a basic, introductory course that covers the fundamentals of a topic. Priced between $100 to $200, it's an excellent entry point for new course creators and students alike.
Spotlight Course: Focusing on a specific aspect of a broader topic, this type of course allows you to dive deep into a particular skill or technique. With prices ranging from $200 to $500, it offers more value and depth than a starter course.
Signature Course: The most comprehensive option, a signature course promises a significant transformation and covers a topic from start to finish. These courses can command prices from $500 to $3,000 or more, reflecting the extensive content and value they provide.
For those just starting their course creation journey, Amy recommends beginning with either a starter or spotlight course. These options are easier to create, require less content, and allow you to keep the technology simple - perfect for building confidence and gaining experience in the digital course world.
Breaking Down the Course Math
One of the most intimidating aspects of course creation can be determining pricing and sales goals. Amy simplified this process by walking through some basic "course math." She suggests starting with a modest goal, such as earning $10,000 in a month from your course.
If you price your course at $500, you would need to sell 20 units to reach this goal. While this may seem daunting at first, Amy assures that as you build and nurture your audience, achieving these numbers becomes increasingly attainable.
To boost your earnings, Amy suggests offering VIP packages or upsells. For instance, you could offer one-on-one coaching sessions to a limited number of students for an additional fee. This not only increases your revenue per launch but also provides extra value to your most engaged students.
Launching Strategies: From Live to Automated
When it comes to launching your course, Amy advocates for a hybrid approach. She recommends starting with live launches, which allow you to interact directly with your audience, gather feedback, and refine your offering. Live launches typically involve a promotional period of about 10 days, creating a sense of urgency that encourages people to make a decision.
As you gain experience and understand what works best for your audience, you can transition to automated or "evergreen" launches. These allow you to sell your course continuously without the need for live presentations, potentially generating income around the clock.
One key to successful launches, according to Amy, is growing your email list between launches. "The easiest way to double a launch is to grow your email list between those launches," she notes. This gives you a larger audience to market to with each subsequent launch.
Overcoming the Saturation Myth
A common concern among aspiring course creators is market saturation. With so many courses available online, is there still room for new offerings? Amy's response is a resounding yes.
She points out that the e-learning market is expected to be worth $848 billion by 2030, and the number of online learning users is projected to reach 57 million by 2027. These statistics indicate a growing, not shrinking, market for digital courses.
Moreover, Amy emphasizes the unique value that each course creator brings to the table. "Don't underestimate the power of your personality, your own style of teaching and experiences," she advises. Your unique perspective, teaching style, and personal experiences set you apart from others in your niche.
She illustrates this point with the example of "Sarah Sourdough," one of her students who created a successful course on making sourdough bread. Despite the abundance of free information available online about sourdough baking, Sarah's course thrived because she offered a unique perspective that resonated with her target audience of busy moms.
The Future of Digital Courses
As we look to the future, it's clear that digital courses are here to stay. The events of 2020 accelerated the adoption of online learning, introducing many people to the convenience and effectiveness of digital courses. This trend shows no signs of slowing down.
For those interested in diving deeper into the world of course creation, Amy offers a Course Confident Bootcamp. This affordable, intensive program covers everything from idea generation and validation to pricing strategies and even leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT to streamline the course creation process.
In conclusion, the world of digital courses offers exciting opportunities for entrepreneurs and experts in every field. By understanding the different types of courses, mastering the math behind pricing and sales, and leveraging your unique voice and experiences, you can create a course that not only generates significant revenue but also provides real value to your students. As Amy Porterfield reminds us, "The only thing that will stop you is you telling yourself that there isn't room for you."
So, are you ready to start your course creation journey?
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Transcript:
Dr. Destini Copp [00:00:07]:
Welcome to the Creators MBA Podcast, your go to resource for mastering the art and science of digital product entrepreneurship. My name is Dr. Destini Copp, and I help business owners generate consistent revenue from their digital product business without the need to be glued to their desk, constantly live launching, or worrying about the social media algorithms. I hope you enjoy our episode today. In today's episode, I have the pleasure of welcoming Amy Porterfield, who is an online marketing expert and host of the top ranked podcast online marketing made easy. Through her best selling courses, book and popular podcast, Amy's action by action approach proves that even the newest online entrepreneurs can bypass the overwhelm and instead generate exciting momentum as they build a business they love. Now in this episode, Amy shares her wisdom and breaks down the course map on how to generate 6 figures with your course in less than a year. She identifies 3 types of courses, a starter course, a spotlight course, and a signature course. She reveals the simplicity of creating spotlight or starter courses and utilizing easy to use tools that don't require you to be on video.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:01:41]:
And these courses are perfect for those who are new to the course creation world, but that's not all Amy shares. So let's jump right in and get ready to take your course creation game to the next level. Amy, I am super excited to chat with you today. I know you've been on my podcast before, but today, we're gonna be talking about digital courses and the possibilities in terms of what's out there for them, specifically how we can generate 6 figures with our course in less than a year. You're gonna be going through some course math math with us. I could even talk, but some course math with us. And for those of you out there who hate math, don't worry. We're gonna make this super, super simple for you.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:02:35]:
And Amy, I'm gonna jump right in to the questions and we're can you walk us through what is possible in terms of revenue for a digital course? And tell us, are you talking about like a low cost digital product or, you know, a full blown course or like a mini course that you would sell on a tripwire? Walk us through the math there in what you're talking about.
Amy Porterfield [00:03:01]:
Okay. So when you are thinking about the opportunities with digital course, there are so many benefits of what a digital course will do for you. It could put you on the map to be known for whatever it is that you want to be known for. Let's say that you are a quilting expert and you wanna teach other people how to quilt. If you have a digital course to do so, now you're known in your industry for that. So you're gonna be invited to podcasts to talk about it, on stage possibly. You're going to be introduced to new people that didn't know about you yet because your name starts to pop up. Oh, you wanna learn quilting? I know exactly who you should learn from.
Amy Porterfield [00:03:37]:
So you start to see opportunities and doors open up for you when you put out your course and you become known for something. So that's a huge benefit to grow your business. But another huge benefit is making money. And so first, I wanna walk you through what it looks like to do a little course math, and then I could share some of the stories of my students who have seen amazing success with their courses. So when you think about course math, the first thing you need to do is come up with the type of course you want to create. So let's say you're thinking about, oh, oh, I'd like to create a course. We'll use the example on quilting. Well, there's 3 ways you can approach it.
Amy Porterfield [00:04:15]:
Number 1, you could create a course that is a starter course, which means it's a 1 on 1 basic jumping off point, just getting people started with the basics of quilting, the equipment you need, the material you need, the different kind of stitches you need to understand just to get started. Because it's a basic course, you're not gonna charge that much. Anywhere from 100 to $200 is a starter course, but it's easy to create because you can get it done quickly. The second type of course you can create is a spotlight course where you get very specific and you drill down on one area of, let's say, quilting. So I don't know a lot about quilting, but let's say there's certain stitches that you would do for certain types of quilts, and you're just going to teach that technique in your course. You're gonna drill down on something very specific. Because it's specific, you usually can charge more. So a spotlight course is anywhere from 200 to $500.
Amy Porterfield [00:05:09]:
And then the mad daddy of all courses is a signature course, and this is where you're going to promise a big transformation, everything you need to know from start to finish. Now because it's a big transformation and you're promising big results, you charge more. Anywhere from 500 to $3,000 or more. So first, you're gonna decide, okay, what type of course might I create? And then from there, you're going to choose that price point. Now to back up a little bit, when you're thinking about launching something, you wanna think, well, how much money do I wanna make? Let's say in 1 month, how much money do I want to make with my digital course? So we're gonna be conservative here and say $10,000. If you could make $10,000 with your first digital course in 1 month, that would be a beautiful thing. That's a lot of money. And so but we're gonna be conservative.
Amy Porterfield [00:05:58]:
My students have made much more than that, but I like start out simple. And let's say you want to charge $500 for your digital course. Well, that means you only have to get 20 people. Only 20 people need to raise their hand and say, I want that. And as you nurture your audience and build your audience and build trust, getting 20 people to say, I want the results that you're promising is easier than you think. So that's essentially how you're going to do your course math, figuring out what type of course you wanna create, what might you charge for that course, what your goal is, and then back out in number of units. And so now you start to see what is possible. And there's so many different ways you can play this and and tweak it in order to charge less, but make more.
Amy Porterfield [00:06:44]:
So there's a lot more we can get into, but that's essentially how you start with your course method.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:06:50]:
And Amy, I love how you broke it out between, and I'm gonna use your terminology, a starter course versus a spotlight course versus a signature course. And based on your experience, and you've been doing this for, you know, 14 plus years, you have, I don't even know the number, but thousands of students have gone through your program. Can you tell us which one of those would be the best one to start with? If somebody is never done this before, they're starting, you know, just dipping their toes in the world of online course creation. What would you recommend to them?
Amy Porterfield [00:07:26]:
Great question. I would say either a spotlight or a starter course or a spotlight course. You can't go wrong with either of those. And the reason I give you those as where I want you to start is because they're easier to create. There's less lessons that you need to create videos for or slide decks and audio, however you wanna do it. You can keep the technology very, very simple. You don't even need to show up on video if you don't want to. So with a starter course or a spotlight course, if you're a first time course creator, that's exactly where I want you to start.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:08:00]:
And you mentioned that people don't even need to show up on video. Cause I know a lot of people when they're thinking about, oh, I gotta create this course. I gotta do these, you know, face to camera videos. I don't feel comfortable doing that. That seems like that would be a lot of work. What would you recommend when you say they don't even need to start up, you know, show their face on video?
Amy Porterfield [00:08:18]:
Yes. Okay. So I have a good friend and she makes 1,000,000 of dollars with her digital course, and she never shows her face on video. She just chooses not to. She says it's a lot of work and I'd rather not. So if I can make my money and not have to do that, I'm all for it. You can do slides and audio, and you can create slides on Canva. I teach all this inside of my program because I know it doesn't come natural to people who have never been taught it before, but you can absolutely, keep it as simple as possible.
Amy Porterfield [00:08:51]:
Use very simple technology. You can use your computer and the microphone that's in your computer to get started. And the reason I I really wanna hit home with this is I think a lot of people think there's a lot of technology involved and that they can't figure it out or it's way too complicated. I work with a lot of new course creators that are not savvy at online marketing, So I teach in a very handholding virtual style step by step. You can absolutely figure it out.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:09:20]:
And I will just attest to that. If it there's probably people listening to this that have been in my courses. And that's what I use, Amy. I use Canvas. Sometimes I'll do the video there, but sometimes I just won't, you know? Yeah. It kinda depends on whether I had the makeup on for the day or not. Right? Amen. Yeah.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:09:37]:
Yeah. For sure. So going back to the course math, because we wanna, you know, talk about that generating 6 figures with your course in less than a year, you brought, you talked about the $10,000 number. How if we're, you know, walk us through the math in terms of how much we would need to sell every month. How would we sell it? Would we do launches? Will we put it in an evergreen sales funnel? Let's kind of break that down a little bit.
Amy Porterfield [00:10:05]:
Okay. Got it. So if you wanna get to 6 figures with your digital course, you, the, the goal here is to continue with each launch to grow your audience and to get better at how you market. And so a lot of my students, let's say if they have their first launch is $10,000, that second launch could easily be $50,000 if they pay attention to what worked and what didn't in their first launch. And so there's some things you can do to get to that 6 figures. So first of all, let's say if you do have a $500 course, one of the things that you can do to enhance that the next time you launch it is offer some 1 on 1 coaching or consulting for, let's say, just 10 of the people that sign up. You only have 10 spots. You've got a VIP offer where they buy the course, but they also get a few coaching calls with you as well, if that's something that you like to do.
Amy Porterfield [00:11:00]:
So now some of your students are paying $1,000 or $2,000 to get to work with you in a very exclusive capacity. And because you're only offering 10 people that opportunity, it becomes very attractive. So we call that a VIP offer or an upsell. And a lot of my students do this, and I teach it in my course because it allows you to get more squeeze out of that launch. And so now you're getting even more price per unit for whatever it is that you're selling. So it's easy to increase as you go. Now every time you launch your course, you're going to grow your email list. If you're doing webinars or a boot camp or something that people are signing up before they actually buy your program, now you're growing your list.
Amy Porterfield [00:11:47]:
And the easiest way to double a launch is to grow your email list between those launches. And so the bigger your email list is, the easier it is for you to make more money in that launch. So it's really a stacking effect. Now a question I get is, well, how often can I launch? Well, you could do a live launch model or an automated launch. I like a hybrid. So, essentially, the first few times you launch your course, I want you to do it live because you're gonna learn a lot. You're gonna become more nimble. You're going to get to talk to your students in real time.
Amy Porterfield [00:12:21]:
What do they want? What do they need? What do they like? What do they don't like? So you really understand that audience so the next time you launch, you get better. Also, what I teach is multiple webinars. So webinars freak people out in the beginning if you've never done them. But with my patient step by step teaching style, a lot of people really understand how to do a webinar quickly and feel comfortable with it, especially if you don't even have to be on video. And so if you learn how to do multiple webinars, that's multiple opportunities for people to buy. So the first few launches you'll do live. Let's say you promote for 10 days. Because it's only open for 10 days, there's a lot of urgency there, which makes people get off the fence and actually buy.
Amy Porterfield [00:13:03]:
Once you do a live launch for a few times, you could go right into automation. Now that you've learned what works and what doesn't, you put that into automation or evergreen. Now you're selling every single day where you don't have to show up live for anything, which is like the holy grail of launching online. I make 1,000,000 of dollars every year with an automated digital course, meaning I sell it through webinars, but it's prerecorded. All the emails are prewritten, so I don't have to show up live for it, but I make 1,000,000 with it. And this is what I teach my students how to do as well so that you can get to that 6 figures a whole lot easier even while you sleep. I know it might sound too good to be true, and 14 years ago when I started this, I thought it was very, very too good to be true, but I improve and my students are approved every single day.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:13:55]:
And I can tell you that it is definitely doable, and I do very similar to what you just described there with the live launches. We do a lot of virtual summits. I know the folks who are listening here, they have attended, most likely, one of our virtual summits. So we've done virtual summits. We've done 5 day challenges, boot campers, a lot of different ways that you can live launch. And everybody knows that I'm a huge fan of evergreen sales funnels. So, yes, they're running in my business day in and day out. So, Amy, thank you for this.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:14:25]:
And I I have to ask you this because I know this is on a lot of people's mind. You've been creating and teaching online course creation. You're doing you've been working on these launches for over 14 years. Do you believe that digital courses are here to stay or are you seeing a decline? I know people are feeling that the market's getting saturated. Can I even is there's a room for me, I guess I should say? Hey there, Destini here, and I'm the host of the Creators MBA podcast. And this episode is brought to you by hello content dot shop, your go to destination for content creation in your online digital product business. I understand how busy you are as an online business owner. I am right there with you.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:15:18]:
And that is why I have filled our hello content Shopify store with low cost digital products that you can use as a lead magnet or part of your paid programs, like your online courses or memberships. We also have marketing templates, like email swipe files and social media templates designed to save you time and money. So whether you're looking to streamline your content strategy, enhance your digital products, or just save some precious time, I've got you covered, my friend. Now visit the hello content dot shop today and take the first step towards effortless content creation.
Amy Porterfield [00:16:01]:
Okay. 1st, I'm gonna start out with some very real stats. I follow the stats. I do the research, but then I'm going to give you some real examples. So first of all, the number of online learning users is expected to reach 57,000,000 people by 2027. That is a huge increase year after year. 57,000,000 users of online learning. Now the number that I really love, though, is that the worldwide elearning market will be worth $848,000,000,000 by 20 30.
Amy Porterfield [00:16:37]:
1,000,000,000, 848,000,000,000. That is incredible. And the online learning industry is expected to triple in size from 2020 to 2025. We are only seeing an incline, and this is why I think that's happening. In 2020, it was a boom for digital course creators and people using digital courses. We saw that number increase because people were stuck at home, and they were exploring new ways to get the education that they wanted or learn something new from guitar to cooking to everything in between. And so they were more open to learn online because they didn't have a choice. Well, it opened up an opportunity in the world that people that normally would never ever explore a digital course.
Amy Porterfield [00:17:19]:
Now they kinda had to if they wanted to learn something new, and their eyes and ears were open to, holy cow. This is a really cool way to learn. I don't have to go back to college. I don't have to even leave my house, and I can learn something incredible. And so I think 2020 is where that boom started, and we're only seeing it increase year after year. Now with that, the this idea of saturation. Is my market too saturated? I, you know, I teach people how to do specific painting or different hobbies, or I am a nutritionist and I teach people how to meal plan, whatever it might be. Instantly, anybody who teaches anything could say, but it's already been done before.
Amy Porterfield [00:18:00]:
It's too saturated. There's already so many courses out about this, and that is the death of an entrepreneur. You can never ever live in lack, and that is a lack of abundance. The only mindset that you can afford to have is that there is enough room for everyone. I teach people how to create digital courses. I can promise you there is a lot of competition. There's a lot of people who do what I do, but I have a unique teaching style. I'm step by step virtually handholding my students, and I am also creating consistent content so that I'm attracting an audience that is loyal.
Amy Porterfield [00:18:36]:
All of that can be yours as well. You can have a unique teaching style. You have a way of teaching that nobody else does, and you have experiences and stories that nobody else has. Let me give you a perfect example. One of my students, she makes sourdough starters, and she created a digital course on how to make these sourdough starters and how to make beautiful sourdough bread. We call her Sarah Sourdough. And Sarah, she put her course out there, and she made a lot of money over the years with her sourdough course. She's a busy mom, a lot going on.
Amy Porterfield [00:19:11]:
She does it in a unique way that these other busy moms could really relate to. Now here's the truth. You could go on YouTube right now and Google how to make a sourdough starter and get 1,000 of results, but her students aren't doing that. They're spending 1,000 of dollars with Sarah, and the reason for that is they want to learn from someone they can relate to that's gotten reproven results and is willing to show how. And they like Sarah. They gravitate toward her because she's putting out a lot of great content that they can relate to. People will pay for the road map or the easy way to get results instead of hunting and pecking all over the web and learning from people that they don't even know if they've even gotten results. So don't underestimate the power of your personality, your own style of teaching and experiences,
Dr. Destini Copp [00:19:57]:
and there is absolutely room for you. The only thing that will stop you is you telling yourself that there isn't. And, Aby, I love that, and I will tell you a stor a question that I got from somebody this morning was people are, you know, she wants to create a course. She's in the dog health industry. Okay. And she said that people are just giving away all the information for free on the Internet, but I told her just what you said. People will pay for a step by step by step process.
Amy Porterfield [00:20:30]:
Absolutely. That is what they want. And and I love that you got an opportunity to share that as well, because you feel as though it's out there for free already. Everything I teach, if you hunt and peck around the web well, long enough, you'll find all my stuff for free, maybe not from me, but from other people. But that is not who my students are. The reason I generated over $80,000,000 in digital course sales is because people want to learn from me because I give them a proven road map and help them get results faster and more efficiently. So don't underestimate the efficiency that a course will give you versus hunting and pecking all over the web.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:21:11]:
Now, Amy, I know you have the course confident boot camp coming up, and I am super excited to invite everybody to it. Can you tell people a little bit about what you're gonna be covering in this boot camp and what they can expect to learn?
Amy Porterfield [00:21:28]:
So every year I do a boot camp. It's one of the cheapest opportunities I offer. It's $47. And inside this boot camp, I am live doing trainings. They're all recorded if you can't make it live. I am live kick starting everyone's digital course creation journey from coming up with the idea that is a perfect fit for you and your business to figuring out what type of course you should create. There's different, frameworks to use to figure out if it's a starter, spotlight, or signature, how much you should charge for your course. So we're gonna go over that as well.
Amy Porterfield [00:22:01]:
How to validate a course idea to make sure you're not creating something that nobody's going to buy. And then also something new this year, I'm gonna teach people how to use Chat GPT. It's an AI tool in order to fast track your digital course creation, how to use AI as a digital course creation assistant. So I'm teaching that for the first time as well. But there's so much engagement and accountability and just kick start to your digital course journey. I'm gonna flood you with real examples from my students who have gone before you so you can really see in real life how this might come to life for you.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:22:37]:
And I could tell you, Amy, I'm gonna be there cheering everybody on. Oh, for sure. And I'm so excited that you are including the chat GPT and, you know, how we can use that in our online course creation and just fast track it so we're not starting from that blank screen. And the, you know, the link to get into the boot camp for with Amy's boot camp is destinicopp.com/bootcamp. So that's destinicopp.com/bootcamp, and I will make sure that that link is in the show notes So you can join Amy and me in this bootcamp.
Amy Porterfield [00:23:12]:
Oh, I'm so excited. I'm so excited. You're gonna be there, Destini. We're gonna have a great time.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:23:17]:
Yeah. Well, Amy, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing all of your wonderful knowledge about online courses. You even touched on list building. And I will say, you know, I took your list building course. I took one of I took your course creation course years ago before it turned into Digital Course Academy, And it was just a wealth of knowledge for me.
Amy Porterfield [00:23:39]:
Well, thank you so much. You've done such amazing things inside your business. So that's a huge compliment. Thanks again.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:23:45]:
Thank you, Amy. I hope you enjoyed this episode with Amy. I'd love for you to join me in the boot camp where you will become course confident in just 5 days. Amy will help you nail down your digital course topic, the type, the price, and audience growth plan in a matter of days. And if you join with me, you will unlock my special bonus just for Amy's course confident boot camp attendees, which is my ultimate presale bundle. And with this bundle, you will earn before you even launch by presale in your course, ensuring immediate revenue. You'll quickly validate and fine tune your offers with real time feedback to resonate perfectly with them. Essentially, it is your all in one marketing arsenal packed with persuasive email sequences, eye catching social media templates, and captivating reels and story designs.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:24:54]:
All of them are designed to turn interest into sales. So go to destinicopp.com/bootcamp. And let me know if you join. I cannot wait to see you there. Bye for now. Thanks for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed this episode today. If you've loved the show, I'd appreciate a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:25:20]:
Have a great rest of your day, and bye for now.