FOLAKE TAYLOR: “I'm still on track for the timeline that I gave myself—I gave myself this fall to actually launch my course—and that is because I do live with disability, not just some physical disability, but also cognitive disability, which basically manifests as me just doing things a little bit slower than everybody else.
“One of the things that I realized is that, you know, even with DCA, as long as you're not pitching yourself against other people and thinking, ‘Oh, they are launching. They are doing this. They are doing that,’ there is room for everybody, even someone who's disabled like me.”
INTRO: I’m Amy Porterfield, ex-corporate girl turned CEO of a multi-seven-figure business. But it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked the confidence, the budget, and the time to focus on growing my small-but-mighty business. Fast forward past many failed attempts and lessons learned, and you'll see the business I have today, one that changes lives and gives me more freedom than I ever thought possible, one that used to only exist as a daydream. I created the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast to give you simple, actionable, step-by-step strategies to help you do the same. If you're an ambitious entrepreneur, or one in the making, who's looking to create a business that makes an impact and a life you love, you're in the right place, friend. Let's get started.
AMY: Real quick, I want to tell you about a podcast called No Straight Path. It's hosted by Ashley Menzies Babatunde, and she sheds light on the stories behind shiny resumes, social-media highlights, job titles, and she aims to humanize success. Featuring guests from all walks of life, No Straight Path inspires conversations around the nuanced perspective of success. Start by checking out her episode titled “Success is Maximizing Happiness,” where she talks about defining yourself by the positive impact that you can make versus your profession.
Listen to No Straight Path wherever you get your podcasts
Well, well, well. We’re back at it again for another episode of Online Marketing Made Easy.
And I, for one, am thrilled that you're here with me. Not only is this a special episode because it's my five hundredth episode—I know! Isn't that wild?—but it's also special because I'm beyond grateful for you. Thank you for the reviews you've left, every time you've downloaded an episode, thank you for subscribing and following and sharing Online Marketing Made Easy with others. You’re the reason I keep showing up here, so thank you.
And I’m also really excited about this episode because it's been a bit of a collaboration with my students, which is always a lot of fun for me. So what are we talking about here? Well, two things that actually go hand in hand. In the first piece of this episode, I'm going to share five personality traits that I've seen work well with navigating through digital courses. So I'm going to share with you how they've made it work in terms of their specific personality. What I really want to illustrate for you with these personality types is that there is no right or wrong way to go through a digital course. The point is to get through it and take action with your newfound knowledge. After many years of offering digital courses, there is one thing I found over and over again to be true: not a single one of my students who have had success ever looks back and thinks, “Jeez, that took way too long.” Your pace is your pace. It is what it is. So once you get to the finish line, you’ll never look back and regret or feel it took too long to get to where you are as an entrepreneur.
So the goal of this episode is really twofold. One, I want you to identify your personality type and use the tips and techniques I'm going to share to make sure that you never buy a digital course that you don't finish, ever again. So there's a huge benefit for you as the learner, as the person going through another digital course. But also, if you've ever thought about creating digital courses or if you already have digital courses, look at these personality types as, “Okay. These are the types of people that are likely going through my course as well. And what can I do to serve these different personality types to help them get to the finish line?” So if you take digital courses or if you have digital courses, this is the episode for you.
So the five personality types include the A-plus student, the slow-and-steady student, the binger, the planner, and the wild card. I have actually invited a few of my Digital Course Academy students to share which one they are, what it was like going through the course the way they did, and what they found along the way. So you'll actually get to hear directly from them how the experience was for them, so you can relate and be inspired.
And then the other piece to this episode is all about how to never regret purchasing a digital course, again. And what I mean by that is many of my students, and actually myself as well, have a history of purchasing digital courses but then sometimes not going through the course or forgetting you even have it. Can I get an amen on this? Like, it’s happened to all of us. The challenge is there can be a lot of shame around that experience, and it can block you from moving forward to purchase a digital course that can make a huge difference in your life.
In fact, just this morning I was texting with a friend of mine who's also in this space, and we were talking about a digital course we both want to purchase around marketing and building and scaling our business. And so it was from this guy I've never heard of before. He comes highly recommended. It's a two-thousand-dollar course, and I'm thinking, “Yeah, I want to purchase this. But before I do, I want to make sure I make the time and space to do so.” And so this is so timely that I’m going through the different types of personalities and how to avoid falling into the trap of not going through the course and finishing it, and ensuring that you get the most value out of that course you buy. So this is very applicable to me as well, which I love, because I never like to teach what I don't actually do. So, here I am, learning right alongside you.
So this is an important episode and an important conversation, no matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, because at the end of the day, it's amazing what you can learn from digital courses. And as an entrepreneur, you never stop learning. Like, thirteen years in, I'm purchasing a digital course today, and I'm really excited about it. A digital course is something that can literally transform your business and your life. Getting to the finish line is a deeply personal experience. You cannot compare yourself to anyone else, because you have no idea what they're going through in their life, what it looks like behind the scenes, and all that they're doing. So you can never compare your situation to somebody else’s.
For example, for me, I don't have kids at home. I have a husband, who is retired and helps me around the house. Chances are I could get through a course quicker than someone who has three kids at home and a spouse who works full time and maybe a sick parent also that they're taking care of. Like, totally different lifestyle than mine today. And I'm well aware of that. And so I want to be really compassionate about the different types of seasons of life we all are going through and also just the type of personality we have.
So I hope you walk away from this episode with a clear understanding of what personality type works best for you and how you can apply that to confidently get through the digital course that you've recently purchased or the one that you want to purchase. So we have a lot to cover. I want you to get excited. You're going to hear from some of my students. Let's dive in.
All right. Let's kick it off with personality-type number one, the A-plus student. This is the student who works through the program week by week with the group. They never miss a live video. They take advantage of the social platform, whether it's that Facebook group or a Mighty Networks or whatever it is. They grab an accountability partner. They ask questions. They engage. And they go through the modules as they drop. So in the case of DCA, Digital Course Academy, that would be weekly when each of the modules drop. This works great because obviously when you go this route, you really take advantage of the in-real-time perks.
I also realize this isn't realistic for everyone. This is definitely not my jam. I do not have the bandwidth to show up live and get in the group all the time and go week by week by week. So this is not me, for the record, but I realize that it is a very optimal personality type. It just isn't realistic for most people, which is why I'm illustrating the various ways to go through a digital course, with different personality types. So if this isn’t you, hang on a second.
But I reached out to a couple of my students who took this A-plus-student approach. Again, they'll be sharing a little bit about themselves and their business and why this approach worked for them in terms of getting through Digital Course Academy and anything they learned or tips they found really helpful that you might find helpful too if you are (a) this personality type or (b) you want to be a little bit more like this personality type.
So first up is Nicki, and then you’ll hear from Krystal.
NICKI: Hi, Amy Porterfield and team. My name is Nicki, and I run marketing agency, Miss Marketing. I started my business about four years ago, and I teach both SEO and Facebook Ads.
I enrolled in Digital Course Academy in 2021 to learn how to best create and launch my course, SEO Made Easy. I had already created my Facebook Ads course, named Ace Your Ads, but I knew that I needed to learn how to better launch my programs. When I undertook DCA, I would say I was an A-plus-personality type of student. I did everything I could to get the most out of the experience. I didn't miss a live. I live in Australia, so I'd listen to the replays every morning at the gym.
I also jumped on and managed to score two hot seats with Amy, which were absolutely priceless. And it helped me so much. I was heavily involved with my pod and would contribute to the Facebook group wherever I could. And I also did my best to complete each module in real time with Amy and the group.
Completing the program as an A-plus student was intense and extremely hard to keep up with, as I was running a business side by side and still needed to show up for clients and produce results. But truthfully, I wouldn't have done it any other way. Naturally, my personality itself isn’t all in, but I know I had launches in the past that hadn't gone as expected, and I knew I needed to glean from Amy's experience, as well as her team and other students in DCA as much as I could in real time, and that's why I made sure I took this approach.
Often I find that there are so many questions to be asked, but we don't know the questions to ask because we haven't completed the journey yet. By being present as much as I could, I knew I would see and read what I needed to from others to get the best possible results. I wanted to get the most out of the program, and you always do that by being present, especially whilst Amy was available. In all honesty, it nearly killed me, and I haven't stopped since, but having the support of the team and other students helped so much. I believe, if you can, it's always best to try and do the course with a trainer and group because it isn't until you're actually implementing what you've learned that all the questions start to arise.
I've received the same feedback, actually, from my students. I'd recommend cutting back on client work, if you can, to maximize the experience and get the course done in real time. Once the program is launched, it's all done and dusted, and then you just need to tweak and relaunch again. I know this approach isn't always possible, as everyone has different schedules, demands, and children, etc., but I highly recommend it if you can manage it, as you'll likely get the most out of it. Not only that, you'll get it complete and have the weight off your shoulders, and then after that, the sky's the limit.
I hope this helps. Thanks for listening, and best of luck in your course-creation journey. Amy and her team are fabulous, and I highly recommend Digital Course Academy if you want to create an online course.
KRYSTAL PROFFITT: Hey, y'all. My name is Krystal Proffitt. And yes, Proffitt is my real last name. I teach people how to really get going with their content. As a content strategist, I help people not only get started with a podcast or a YouTube channel, but I help them see how they can connect the dots between different platforms, whether it's using your podcast on YouTube, or your YouTube content and putting it on your podcast, or how you can repurpose different types of content for social media or your email list or a blog. And I've been doing this since 2018, and I have been having a blast with everything. It's been so much fun.
But whenever it comes to Digital Course Academy, I went through the program originally in 2019. And ever since then, I've been going back to it every single year because it's so valuable and the information is just gold. But my experience going through the content the very first time, I was very much on the same track and agenda as Amy and Team Porterfield. And the reason why is because where I was on my journey, I knew that I needed to show up in a way where I was all in. I've seen for other people that are my peers now, having had a digital course for several years now, I know people in the industry, and they've said, “Well, you know, I bought the course, and I went through it later, whenever I had time.” But for me, I'm of the philosophy that if I'm going to go all in, I need to do it now. And so I signed up for the program, and I treated it just like it was a college course. So I knew that I had my syllabus ready, I had the videos of the lectures that I need to attend, and then I had the homework that needed to be complete by the next time.
Now, of course, I didn't create my digital course, you know, from start to finish by the time DCA was over. But I had a pretty solid foundation of everything on my notes in all the different training modules that Amy gives you, the different PDFs, and it was just so incredible. So this approach really worked for me because that's my learning style is going through it, asking all the questions—oh, my gosh, asking the questions to Amy, I would see something, and then I would think, “Well, that doesn't apply to me or my business.” And I would ask a question during one of Amy's lives, or I would see something and I'd reach out in the Facebook group because that's where other people had similar experiences. And so overall, for anyone that is thinking about joining DCA or you are a brand-new student, I would recommend finding something that will really work for your style of learning and adapt to it, because at the end of the day, you're going to go through the program and get the most out of it whenever you show up in a way that you know is going to help you succeed.
So, I hope that this was helpful. Thank you.
AMY: Okay, the next personality type is the slow-and-steady student. This student works through the modules at their own pace. Maybe they don't get to it the week that it's dropped, or maybe they have to watch the live replays. The most important thing is that they stay consistent, and they don't just drop out altogether. They keep going, just a little slower, but still just as consistent.
I see a lot of busy parents take this route. Those same parents end up launching their digital courses and making four, five, even six figures from their first launch, and then they end up launching again and again. So sometimes slow and steady absolutely wins the race. I think this one is more like me. I mean, I bet you're going to see a little bit of yourself throughout all the different personalities. But I'm a slow-and-steady kind of girl. If you know me, then you're probably, like, shaking your head, like, “Yeah, that makes sense.” So I like to go at my own pace, but I like to stay consistent.
So let's hear from some of my wonderful students. First up, you'll hear from Tracy and then you'll hear from Lindsay.
TRACY BEAVERS: I'm Tracy Beavers, a business and sales coach from Arkansas, and I teach entrepreneurs how to double their income and get new clients consistently without paid ads. I have one-to-one private coaching, online courses, and group coaching.
My course that I created through DCA is called Business Visibility Made Easy: A Step-by-Step System to Gain New Clients Without Paid Ads. I joined DCA because I've been following Amy for a while through her podcast, and I’d also purchased List Builders Society. Before joining DCA, I created my course, which was a signature course, and I’d launched it a few times but just really didn't have the results that I wanted and the results that I knew I could have. I had been considering DCA for a year and, honestly, wish I had done it sooner. And I just decided that I needed to make the investment to learn a better way to launch my programs, a better way to build my business.
When DCA started, I was juggling a lot: several businesses; being a consultant for our local university’s small-business center, so I had clients through them; being a wife, mom of two kids; dog mom; all the things. You know what I mean? Spinning all the plates.
So, I am normally an A-plus-plus-plus student, who keeps up with all the curriculum, all the deadlines, finishes ahead of time. Everything is great. But what I found when I joined DCA actually surprised me, and it turned out to be a good thing. I wasn't able to be that A-plus-plus student, and here's why. I was just juggling too much. There's only so much time in the day, so I had to get over myself and let go of that need for perfection. I needed to realize that I was building something very important and good things take time.
So I decided to give myself grace and that room for that creation to blossom. And full disclosure, I decided a few weeks into DCA to create an entirely new course—of course I did—and figuring out that topic, doing the course-validation calls, all those foundational pieces actually took me until week seven of DCA. Yeah, week seven. That was a hard pill for my perfection self to swallow. Week seven.
In the past, when I had created other courses and launched, I had rushed the process, and it reflected in my results. I made the decision that I was going to go at this at my own pace, even though I was slower than other people, because, truly, there was no other way to do it. I had rushed last time, and I wasn't going to do that again. And I had to be honest about my time and what I could actually accomplish in the time I had each week, without working twenty hours a day and killing myself doing it. I just didn't want to go back to that rush, rush, rush, rush, rush. It wasn't going to work out for me.
Going slow and steady allowed me to really ask myself the tough questions. Who do I want to serve? How do I want to serve them? What are my gifts and talents, and how can I craft those into an amazing course? Working at a slower pace allowed me to dive into the research that I really needed to do to get to know my ideal clients and have all those course-validation calls with them so that I could hear their words, I could watch their body language, and I could go back and listen to catch the little details of how they were feeling, so I could make certain that my offer and my messaging were going to be on point and actually attract the people that I would want to be in my course.
This pace, while didn't seem very comfortable in the beginning, actually turned out to be really great for me. It was not easy watching other people run to the finish line, though, I got to tell you. I am super competitive, and I had to remind myself regularly that I was doing this for my benefit, at my own pace, and everything was going to be okay.
By allowing myself to go slower, I was able to learn more of the tech pieces than I had in the past and more of those little details like the email sequences and the content we need for audience attraction, all those little things that make a course launch successful. And in the past, when I'd rushed, I had to hire those parts out, which turned out to be a huge mistake because I hadn't taken the time to learn it myself. So I really, in hindsight, had no idea if the person I'd hired was truly going to do a good job, because I didn't even know what kind of a job they were supposed to be doing in the first place.
What I would love for anyone to know that’s considering DCA is that this is a program they can tailor to themselves. Everyone in the DCA class is going at their own pace, but also supporting one another and sharing each other on, which is really cool. The key for success in DCA is to decide for yourself how you learn best, what pace you want to go, not looking around at other people and having comparison-itis. What pace is the right one for you? You're going to find students in there at every level, and you're going to love working alongside them. Just have faith in yourself and your ability. You're going to get to the finish line at the exact, right, perfect time.
LINDSAY J WILLIAMS: Hi, there, Amy and Online Marketing Made Easy listeners. I am so excited to share my story about DCA and gush about the program because this course has literally changed my life. My name is Lindsay J Williams, and I teach wedding professionals how to grow their businesses with the limited time they have.
And I actually started my entrepreneurial journey as a wedding stationer—I did wedding invitations—and that's where I first found Amy. Her and her podcast is what helped me grow that stationery business from 30K to 300K in yearly revenue. My wedding business was rocking and rolling until March of 2020, when the world and the wedding industry totally shut down. This was the moment I decided to make a huge pivot in my business, and I decided that I was going to teach others how to build their own wedding business. It was something that was always on my heart, but I didn't really have a pause until March of 2020. And by the way, I should mention I was also three months’ pregnant at this point. So a lot of changes going on.
So I started to think about digital courses as something I should look into. It was, honestly, never on my mind, but I knew it was something that Amy offered, and I was a huge fan of Amy and the podcast, so I thought I'd give it a shot. When DCA opened up that September, I was all over it, and my first thought was, “It's now or never. The world’s going to come back to normal. These invitations are going to have to go out. So here's my chance.” So I signed up even though I was about to have my baby, my son, at any moment.
Now, through DCA, I was definitely Amy's slow-and-steady student. Or maybe I should start over and say we were Amy's slow-and-steady students. I had a little sidekick through the journey. I started DCA on September 12, and my son Jamison was born on September 25. So naturally, we took our time getting through it, but we did it. Almost two years later, and I have two courses now on evergreen, a mentorship program, and a podcast.
Here's how we got through the program as a brand-new mom. I would sit in my baby's room at night with my iPad, and I would just watch Amy when I was up for it. There were no stress or deadlines. I didn't pressure myself to show up live with a group, and I gave myself a lot of grace through my maternity leave. But I would follow along with the lessons and the group discussions when I could. Usually, it was in the middle of the night.
And I would even cheer people on who were going through DAC too. It was so encouraging to see their stories, and it actually helped me when I was ready to hit the ground running after my maternity leave because I could remember what other students had done, what worked and what didn't work for them, so it was kind of fun being a fly on the wall during this season. And Amy's willingness to share her journey and seeing where she is now inspired me to just show up even when I didn't always feel like it.
Amid the chaos going on in my life with the new baby and my business that was left hanging in uncertainty from the pandemic, I just let myself show up in the messiness. That was the only way I was going to make this happen and get this off the ground. And I'm so glad I did.
When I finally felt ready to start building my course, DCA was the exact roadmap I needed. So I had Jamison in September, I took my maternity leave, and by January I was ready to dip my toes in the pool and start to implement this. But I knew that I didn’t have time to mess around because this was January and weddings were going to start happening again sooner and later. So I had this gap in my business, and I had to make some moves.
So I followed DCA modules to a tee, and it worked for me. The most helpful lesson was how to get in the minds of your potential clients. I used that training and the bonuses from DCA to create lead-magnet freebies, and they were a slam dunk. Before I even launched, I grew my list to twelve hundred people before launching, and that really helped make my first launch a success. And now my list is over three thousand people with those same freebies that I made all the way in the beginning.
DCA has not only given me the ability to expand my creative business to online coaching, but also a passive income stream to give me more time with my Jamison. That's the most important thing for me. I recently took my digital courses evergreen—yep, courses. I had two now—so they can keep bringing in revenue while I nurture and serve my community and, of course, taking care of Jamison too.
Since I've started DCA, I've made over fifty thousand dollars, and I couldn't be more thrilled. But watch out, world, because we're just getting started. With the tools that DCA have provided and the support that Amy and her team continue to give two years later, I feel unstoppable. And it's such an amazing feeling to have Jamison walk beside me or crawl beside me on this journey and watch his mom make this happen.
So, Amy, team, I'm so grateful for you. I cannot recommend DCA enough. Even though we were team slow and steady, we got through it. It changed our life, and I’m just grateful for you. Thank you.
AMY: Okay. So next up is the binger. So grab the popcorn and get comfy on the couch because this is the student who waits for all the modules to drop and then they binge them all at once. Because all the assets in the program are already live, they can work quickly through all the modules and all the Facebook Lives and all the action items. So if it's a dripped program, which means once a week a new module is released in real time, the binger will wait till all the modules are released and then, boom, they go for it.
And for some people, this works really well. I, for one, do not love this, but you might love it. And if you're a big Netflixer—is that a word? Netflixer? Did I just make that up?—but if you love to binge shows on the weekend over Netflix, and you're like, “This is my jam,” this might be the way to go, because there is beauty in a full, concentrated time to go for it.
When I used to work for Tony, one of the things he mentioned is when you fully focus—he calls it full immersion—when you go for full immersion in something, it gets your full focus, and you tend to excel in learning and focusing and really integrating it because it's your full focus. So with that, there are some benefits. I could see why this would work. I think it would mean that you need to actually find the time to go for total immersion in that sense. But yeah, it could work really well.
And also, another benefit of this track is that everything is fresh in your mind, and you can work at a quick pace through the steps because you're totally in it. So this is great if you’re the kind of person who needs to go all in and focus all your attention on one thing at a time.
So, let’s hear from some of my binger students. First, you’re going to hear from Amy, and then you’re going to hear from Lydia.
AMY SHROYER: Hi. My name’s Amy Shroyer, and I have a back-to-life-themed content. It’s whole health for the home. And I have to say I love the Digital Course Academy. I love it so much. And I'm one of those people who jumped in. I had lost my income in 2020. I am a widow with teenagers, and so putting out the money really seemed like, “Oh, this has to work. It has to work, or else I can't do this.” And it was a stretch. But I knew that what Amy offers brings together in one place all of the strategies and how-tos that I felt like I was looking for in random places everywhere else. So I bought in, and I knew that by putting out my treasure there, that my heart would follow and my energy would follow.
Well, then I got kind of stuck in procrastination because I thought, “Well, it needs to be perfect. I have to have all the templates in place, and I have to do this and this and this.” And then I stalled out for a while. Then, my perfectionism really got the better of me, and I was sickened by that. It really grossed me out, and I was like, “This is not me. I'm going to go.” And so I binged and just jumped in and started. And it has been a blast.
I threw out a forty-seven-dollar mini, like a spotlight course, just on the digestive tract, and people bought in and wanted to be a part of it, and I couldn't believe it. And I began, on day one, I was hit with our lovely global illness that has struck a lot of people. So every single day, I got up and I did it anyway. I would wake up, and I would go into the private Facebook group and teach, and then curl back up in bed under my covers. But every day, it was so energizing because what Amy says will happen was happening. People were asking questions. I was learning from them. They were helping me grow into the content that I will be presenting in the signature course.
So as a binger, I just want to say, go for it. Let the magic happen. Start talking to people. Put out what you have. Don't worry about having it be perfect first, because you will grow as you go. And Amy, you are the content queen. Thank you so much for bringing us DCA.
LYDIA: I'm Lydia from Banish Business Clutter, and I help entrepreneurs organize their digital systems and simplify that overwhelming tech so they can launch and scale the business they desire. And I was probably one of the first people to enroll when Digital Course Academy opened in the fall of 2020. Why? Because I had been following Amy since 2014, when I attended my first webinar with her, and she opened my eyes to the world of digital courses. I dreamt about launching a digital-course business for five years and finally stepped out in faith, resigned from my corporate job, and launched my business in March of 2020.
So when Digital Course Academy opened that fall, I just knew that it was what I wanted to join. I had already done two launches by the time DCA started, so here I was getting ready to kick off my third launch right as Digital Course Academy was opening. So here I was, so excited to finally be in DCA, but I already had a launch happening through the first few weeks of DCA. So I was really bummed that I wasn't able to take advantage of everything in that moment. But I jumped right in to some of the bonuses that Amy offered. I did that launch, and it went really well, and I was planning to do my first webinar launch that November and ended up getting COVID.
So after two months of recovering, I finally was able to jump back in to Digital Course Academy. I ended up binge watching the entire program in about two weeks’ time so that I could create everything I needed for my webinar launch that March. So it was totally worth it. Even though I wasn't able to participate week by week—first, because of my launch, and then, because of an unexpected illness—it still was so valuable because I was able to jump to what I need when I needed it, I was able to binge watch the rest of the program, and it helped me have my first amazing webinar-style launch.
AMY: Moving right along to the next personality type, which is the planner. So this is someone who knows that they won't be able to commit to the digital course, let's say Digital Course Academy, or they won't be able to commit to each of the modules right away. But they also know that if they don't take the leap now, they might not in the future.
They also know if they don't enroll now, they'd have to wait an entire year, depending on if the program's only offered once a year, and that's a big no for them because they're planning ahead. They know that they can't start now—maybe they have a wedding coming up. They have a baby on the way. They're in a really busy season of their life. And so whatever it might be, they're like, “I can't start when Amy starts the program on x date, but I know that come, let's say December, I want to go all in, and I'm ready. So I'm just going to plan for it, and I don't want to miss out, so I'm purchasing now.” So they enroll, knowing full well that they might not be able to start for, let's say, four or five weeks or maybe months, but that's okay with them.
And I love these students. And I might have a little bit of the planner in me because as I mentioned, I'm going to purchase a course this morning, but I also know there is no way I can dive right into it. And I think it's an evergreen course, so it's not like there's a live component. But at the same time, I'm going to have to look at my calendar and think, “Okay, when am I actually going to start the slow-and-steady race to get this finished?” So I have to plan for that date.
So I've got a little planner in me, for sure. How about you? Can you see yourself in this one just a little bit? Have you ever enrolled in a course, knowing you can't start right away, but you don't want to miss the opportunity, and you want to start when you're ready?
So again, I love these students. And I see a lot of new moms doing this, or people who have a big project, like I said, happening in their job; or maybe they're in the middle of a big move, but they know once the holidays hit, it's actually going to be a little bit quieter in their job so that they can get to it; whatever it is. Life happens, and I get it. But I love that the planners make a promise and commitment to themselves, and they know themselves well enough to say, “I know I want this, and I don't need to be like everybody else. I don't have FOMO. I'm not going to feel like I'm missing out on anything. I'm just going to do me.” I mean, I like that confidence.
So I've got a few planners in my audience. They're going to share with you how they navigated through my own course. So you're going to hear from C.Lee and Josie.
C.LEE CAWLEY: Hi, there. I'm C.Lee Cawley. I am a certified professional organizer, organizing expert, and educator. I teach a course called The Paper Cleanse, which is how to declutter your piles and curate your files for a lifetime of organization. I am the quintessential planner. Of course, I am. I'm an organizer. Planning is my forte.
And I actually purchased DCA in September of 2020. I knew at the time, I wasn't going to be able to start and dive right in. I was actually very busy with important family matters. I was helping a much-older sister with a very critical illness, but I didn't want to wait, because if I waited, I might have lost the momentum to change my business. And I knew that it was time to switch going into people's homes and exchanging hours for dollars and to launch into something a bit bigger that had more of an impact. I knew that I could teach people many things, and waiting another year, who knew how long it would be, just didn't make sense. So I went ahead, and I purchased DCA, and I'm so very glad that I did.
As a planner, I tried to do as much as I could. I participated in the Facebook group occasionally, the question-and-answer sessions that Amy would give, and I also did get involved with my accountability group, my pod sisters, and I highly recommend that. I did not have a whole lot to add to the conversations, but just by meeting with them every week, seeing what direction they were going, what they were trying, what worked and what didn't work, I learned so much, so much so that when I was finally done with the elder care and able to start DCA, it was nearly a year later. But in that year, I was part of Momentum. I learned from that group. I was able to learn so much without even taking the lessons and doing the modules. But when I finally did do the modules and lessons, it all fell into place so much quicker.
So I would say to anybody who is hesitating, go ahead and get started. Even if you know like I did that I couldn't devote the right amount of time, I planned for when I could make that time. And I am so glad that I didn't lose the momentum, because now I've changed my business entirely, and I'm making a much bigger impact and sharing my gifts and my abilities with the world, which I was not able to do before. I could only share what I could teach to people that I could drive or fly to. And now I've had students on three continents. So I am so glad that I did DCA exactly the way that I did. And I thank you so much for this opportunity.
JOSIE LEWIS: Hi. I'm Josie Lewis. I'm an artist, and I teach artists how to make art and sell art. When I purchased Digital Course Academy in the fall of last year, it was also the start of my busiest season of the year. Besides being a teaching artist, I also have a full-time art studio, and we sell a lot of art during the holidays. I don't have time for courses or any kind of business development from October to December. That meant I wouldn't have time to participate in the DCA Facebook groups during the module rollouts. However, I prefer to consume a course all at once anyway. So by January, when my busy season had ended and DCA was completely released, I was ready to tackle it. Additionally, when I purchased DCA, I had already made six figures selling courses, so I am looking to refine my skills rather than start from scratch.
So it's usually the case that the earlier modules are too basic for me. That's why I like to get access all at once so I can pick and choose which content I want to focus on. That said, I absolutely consumed every second of this training because it's always good to hear fresh content and new takes.
Another thing I always do when I purchase digital courses is to pay attention to not just the teaching material but how it's delivered. When we're talking about a pro like Amy and her team, taking a close look at the structure and the delivery of the course is just as valuable as the course itself.
I also regularly pop back into DCA for some refreshers or to get some additional expertise and help in particular areas. Like right now, I'm spending a lot of time in the webinar module.
Anyway, thanks to Amy and the team for making a great course in Digital Course Academy.
AMY: Okay. So now we've reached the final personality type, and this one is the wild card, which, shout out to my student, Dustin, who coined the personality type. These students might be a little mix of all of the previously mentioned personality types. Maybe they're a parent who catches up on the lives while they carpool with their kids. Or maybe they binge what they can in the quiet moments when their kids are at activities or down for the night. Or perhaps they have a kid with disabilities, and they don't have the freedom to commit to just one way of getting through a digital course, which happens to be my student, Dustin. So that's why he was probably very aware of this type of personality type. So every day looks different for him, so he just shows up when he can and how he can.
Also, this might be the personality type, the wild card is someone who's taking care of a sick parent or a sick loved one, and so their schedule looks very different when they're planning around doctor's appointments and the needs of somebody else. Or someone who is working two jobs and who is absolutely strapped for time and only available to work in the tiny cracks of time that arise. This one is for all of those who can't quite commit or relate to the other personality types that we talked about.
And I want you to know that I see you, and I appreciate you, and there's absolutely a place for you when it comes to completing a digital course. I have quite a few students who relate to the wild card. I say they're my unsung heroes because they figure it out.
So first, you're going to hear from Dustin, and then, you'll hear from Folake.
DUSTIN BAKKIE: Hi, I'm Dustin Bakkie, and I help online-course creators design powerful learning experiences, with a focus on accessible learning design, to elevate the impact of their courses. As a teaching expert, I really enjoyed going through DCA because I was able to navigate the course and my learning experience in many different ways. As a father of two little ones, including a kiddo with Down's syndrome, who was just about a year old when I went through, I had a lot of external demands on my life as I went through DCA. And these are things that if DCA wasn't structured in a way that would allow me to work through the material in dynamic ways, I would have never gotten through it. But Amy offers multiple ways to get through the course material.
One of the ones that I used the most was the private podcast feed of the course. I would listen to the course as I was at the gym or as I was running errands or cleaning the house. And then when I had time to sit down, what I could do is I could sit down and play through it at two-time speed with the videos and the workbooks, and make progress.
The fact that there's a ton of replays, everything has a transcript, everything has captions, everything has an audio-only file alongside the video really makes this course work for basically anyone who is inside of it. So really, no matter what your life demands outside of DCA are, DCA is going to allow you to work through and really learn how to launch your course unlike anyone else.
FOLAKE: Hello, my name is Dr. Folake Taylor, and I’m a doctor of internal medicine, and I practiced primary care for fifteen years in the Atlanta metro area. I also live with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, which is the rare and disabling kind of multiple sclerosis, MS. These days, I teach women with MS how to improve their quality of life by having fewer symptoms and fewer flares, as well as improved functioning. And this is based on my positive experience with holistic modalities.
My mode of disseminating this knowledge, my primary mode, is through an online course called MS Mastery, which I’m still in the process of creating. And that is where I came across Mrs. Amy Porterfield. Through my business coach, I took one of Amy's quizzes, which led me to the boot camp last year, fall of 2021.
And let me back up a little. Prior to coming across Amy, I’d done a few of those challenges and boot camps and stuff that had to do with course creation. But I had never been inclined to invest further in any of those systems out there. But joining Amy's boot camp for four weeks was an entire experience, and by the end of it, I knew that I had to just find the money and invest in DCA. And that absolutely is the best thing I could have done.
First of all, Amy herself, Amy is such a great role model for those of us women who are creating courses, and she's definitely who I aspire to be when my course takes off. But it's not just about course creating at all. It's everything. It's really the whole business around being the course creator, what Amy teaches. So it has to do with how and where to get the clients and how to get them on your email list, how to nurture them. Then the course itself, which the way it was presented is exactly how I like to consume information, because I am a detail-oriented person, and I like order and step by step. And Amy is all of those things and more. And you just take what you need and leave the rest, is how I see it. So I was not overwhelmed by DCA.
And the timeline I gave myself made sure that I didn't put myself under pressure to get everything done as we were going through the course. But it just includes everything, even the scary things like the webinar and how to put that together, and the sales page and all that. There was no stone left unturned in this course, and I am so thankful that I made that investment in it.
Now I'm still on track for the timeline that I gave myself—I gave myself this fall to actually launch my course—and that is because I do live with disability, not just some physical disability, but also cognitive disability, which basically manifests as me just doing things a little bit slower than everybody else.
One of the things that I realized is that, you know, even with DCA, as long as you're not pitching yourself against other people and thinking, “Oh, they are launching. They are doing this. They are doing that,” there is room for everybody, even someone who's disabled like me. I'm able to benefit from DCA.
And the whole experience with Amy has been so positive that I went ahead and also invested in the membership program, Momentum. And I am still in Momentum now, and I think I'm going to be for a really, really long time.
So the only thing I have to say is, Mrs. Porterfield, keep doing what you're doing. You're a role model, even to those of us who are a little older than you. You are doing an awesome job. The way that you run your business, your integrity, your passion, your kindness, all of those things about you, we see it, and we appreciate it. And I’m just proud to be in your fold. Thank you.
AMY: We often talk about customers as audiences. But within customer audiences are thousands of people who just want to be understood. And we all have our quirks: people who love workout clothes but hate working out; who are vegan but only on the weekends; and who love technology but don't want to spend all their time with it. Truly understanding your audience starts with connecting with them.
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All right. So there's an excuse that I often hear from my potential students when they're considering enrolling in my course, Digital Course Academy, and it's actually an excuse that's near and dear to my heart because I can relate. It's something that in the past I've done as well. And that is the excuse of being afraid of wasting time on a digital course because you've purchased one or two or many in the past and you haven't actually gone through or finished all of them. And I have absolutely done this. When I haven't actually started or gone through the whole digital course, it really has frustrated me, and it's made me feel like I failed or that I have no right to purchase another course because there was one or two that I hadn't finished.
And something that I want you to think about is, one—well, I’m going to talk to you about how to get around this. But before I talk to you about how to get around this, meaning never purchase a digital course again that you actually don’t finish, but before I do, there’s a caveat here. And that is that I have a really good friend who always says if she purchases a digital course or if she goes to, let's say, a live event, like a conference, if she can walk away with one really good tip, strategy, nugget of information that helps her get more traffic to her business or convert more of her audience into paying customers or to help scale her business, she's golden. Like, if it's something profound enough that it makes a difference in the way she does business, the way she thinks about business, the way she navigates through her business, or if it affects your bottom line, she's golden. Even if she doesn't finish the course, if she walks away with a really good gem, she's made her money back. She feels like her return on investment is perfection.
So there's a way to navigate through courses to get to the end, of course, and that's what we all want to do. But I have absolutely gone through some courses, I haven't finished them, but what I got out of the course was exactly what I needed to keep moving forward, and so I did. And so there's something to think about in terms of, it comes back to that concept I keep talking about, The Gap and the Gain, that book I read. And if you don't finish the course but you got some amazing gem out of it already and you focus on not finishing the course, you’re living in the gap, where you’re never going to measure up.
But if you think about, “Wait a second. I started with not having this knowledge or this gem of a tip or a strategy, and now I'm walking away with something I didn't know before, that I could apply to my business and scale it, I've just gained. No matter if I finish the course or not, I just gained something that could absolutely help move me forward.” So let's stay in the gain because you might not even need to finish that course to get exactly what you want.
And the reason I'm thinking about this is I know many people who have taken Digital Course Academy; gone through, like, the first three or four modules, which are really essentially all about creating your course and just getting it out there in the simplest way; and they don't even go through the whole course yet; but they're eager to get their course out into the world, and they do; and they make five figures. And they're so happy. And I always tell them, “Awesome. Now go back and finish it, and you could make six figures the next time.” So of course, I'm going to encourage them because I feel like the final modules of the course are all about webinars and email marketing and funnels and all that good stuff. But still, I know people who have not finished my course and had great success, because they took what they needed, and they ran with it. So there is magic in that. and I just wanted to put it out there.
But let's talk about this idea of you've bought courses in the past, you haven't finished them, now you feel like you're wasting time and money, and I want to kind of dissect this a little bit.
There are five things you can do so you never waste your money on a course again. And again, this has kept me stuck before, so I feel very connected to these tips to help you, because I've had to use them.
So, number one, you've got to set a start goal and a finish goal. So start goal and finish goal. And when people get into Digital Course Academy, I encourage them to open up their calendar and start putting those dates in there.
Now, I want you to be realistic here. Don't set unrealistic dates when you know there are some things in life that will probably come up. Maybe you have a young family, and you can't commit to getting it done in six weeks. Maybe you know you can't get it done in three months. Heck, maybe you need to give yourself the rest of the year. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you give yourself dates, and you stick to them. That's all that matters. Because imagine if you said, “I'm going to give myself six months to get through this program,” and then you just stick with it. Well, now you're on your own path, but you're hitting your own goals. That feels good. You won't feel behind, because you already set the pace. There's something powerful in that.
And also, when you're setting your dates, I want you to be somewhat lenient because life happens, but not so lenient that it becomes easy to ignore your goals, because you're like, “I've got plenty of time.” So I don't want you to brush them off, either. So keep that in mind.
So you're going to set a start date. Like, “This is the date I'm starting this course, and this is the date I'm finishing it.” It makes a huge difference, my friends.
Number two, choose your personality type, and just own it. I don't care if you're an A-plus student or the wild card. They're all good. They're actually—I shouldn't even say good. They're all neutral. It doesn't matter what your personality type is. But when you own it, then you also know your path. And you don't compare yourself to other people's progress because you can be like, “Oh, they're the slow and steady. That's not me. I'm the A-plus student,” or whatever. Just, let's not even go there, actually. Let's not even care what other people's personality types are. Just identify yours and say, “Okay, this is me, so this is how I can navigate.”
Like I said at the start of this episode, your life will look vastly different from anyone else's, so don't fall into the low-level trap of comparing your progress to someone who might have more freedom and autonomy to move through the digital course at a quicker pace. That is not going to serve you to compare yourself to them.
Okay, number three, stay accountable. You can do this a couple of different ways, but accountability is so important. If you're multitasking, come back to me here. So first of all, you can either join with a friend or make friends in the class to help you stay accountable. And that's a great way. I love—I have purchased many courses along with a friend. Like, “Hey, I'm going to get this course. You should get it too, and we’ll go through it together.” I love doing that. And it's actually just more fun to go through a digital course with a friend. In DCA we help our students find accountability groups, and we call them accountability pods. And we see such great results from this.
So if there’s a community group where you can connect with others in your course or in your program, try to find a few people. And even if you don’t meet in person or meet on Zoom, which is what a lot of my accountability pods do, even if you don't do that, even just checking in via text, which is essentially what I do with my friends when we go through courses together. So I think it's a great way.
And also, I'm a little competitive. So if they tell me they're on module three and I'm not there yet, that does literally just spark me. Now, it doesn't make me compare myself to them. It just makes me kind of triple check myself and say, “Am I going at the pace I said I was going to go at?” And if so, then I'm good. But if not, it's the kick in the butt that I needed.
The second way to find an accountability partner is to share it with your audience. So if you have an audience, you can share with them. Maybe through an email or on a social-media post say, “I'm going through this specific course. I'm making a commitment to finish it by this date. I'd love your help to keep me accountable.” And maybe that will inspire them to do the same. So sharing your experience with your audience is a great idea.
All right. Number four, get hyper organized, whatever that looks like for you. So maybe you're like me, and you treat your digital course like a college course. So that means that I'm printing all my PDFs. I'm putting them into a binder. The binder has tabs, the whole kit and caboodle. I love to have an actual folder or binder with all of my materials. It just makes me feel more official. So do what you need to do. Maybe you schedule out what days and times each week that you're going to commit to the course. I think that's important. This is what I found helps me complete the course when I actually have dates and times in my calendar that I'm going through the course. So that's how I get organized.
And then finally, number five, the way you navigate through the fact that you've probably purchased courses before and haven't finished them is that you stop shaming yourself. My sweet friend, you've got to give up that guilt, because let's be honest, you're never going to stop learning. You're an entrepreneur. You have to learn to keep growing, right? So you're never going to give that up. So, okay, so you've purchased some things in the past, and you haven't finished them. Maybe the courses weren't that good. Maybe you were just in a different season of life. We're going to let it go. Forward motion. And in this case, that forward motion is to get into your digital course, give yourself grace and patience, and just complete it. Whether that means it takes you a month, twelve months, or whatever you need, I want you to commit to it and get it done.
And if you started a course and you're like, “You know what? This is not what I thought it was. This isn't a quality course. I don't want to waste my time,” then let's move on. If you can't get a refund, we're just moving on, and we're going to keep learning, because that is going to allow you to stay in the game.
All right, my friend. The time has come. Which personality type are you? Actually, DM right now. So I'm @amyporterfield on Instagram. Just take a second. I bet you don't typically DM people like this, so DSD, do something different, right now. DSD it. Send me a DM. I'm going to try to get back to everybody. Just let me know, which personality type are you? I would love to hear from all of you, so get into my DMs.
Again, there's the A-plus student, the slow and steady, the binger, the planner, and the wild card. Now, I don't want you to just default to the wild card because you heard a little bit about yourself in each of those, because I could relate to each of them a tiny bit. But if I had to put a stake in the ground, I really am the slow and steady. But if you feel like, “No, Amy. I am the wild card through and through,” then that's what you are. You are what you are. And so I want to know in the DMs.
Again, none of these types are good. None of these types are bad. They are just what they are. They're who you are. And so I want you just to own it.
Listen, I can't wait to see the magic you create. And I really hope that you allow yourself to embrace learning and continue to invest in yourself and your business, because I will tell you, my sweet friend, it is the most important thing I did. When I was still in my nine-to-five job, I purchased two digital courses. They were each a thousand dollars. One was about social media; one was about video marketing, which is hilarious because the video-marketing course, it took me a long time to embrace video, but at least I was thinking about it from the get-go. But anyway, I’m so glad I purchased those courses. And I continue to purchase courses because I believe it's literally how I grow as an entrepreneur and how my business grows overall.
Thanks for joining me for another episode of Online Marketing Made Easy. And I'll see you next week, same time, same place. Bye for now.
