Salome Schillack (00:00):

Hello, and welcome to episode number 173 of The Shine Show. Today, I have a special treat for you. My mentor, Amy Porterfield is on the show, and she is going to tell you exactly why now is the best time to start a digital course's business.

Giving up your time and freedom to make money is so 2009. Hi, I'm your host Salome Schillack and I help online course creators launch, grow, and scale their businesses with Facebook and Instagram ads. So that they can make more money and have an even bigger impact in the world. If you are ready to be inspired, to dream bigger, launch sooner, and grow your online business faster, then tune in, because you are ready to shine, and this is The Shine Show.

Well, hello, my friend. How are you right now? I have such a treat for you today. You are in for it. I have invited Amy Porterfield to the show to share with us three reasons why now is the absolute best time to start an online course business. And you are going to want to hear this interview. Not just because of the wisdom Amy shares, but also because you get to see me get all gushy and emotional, and ball my eyes out, talking about my journey. And I know that you have been listening for a few weeks now, and you've been hearing my story about quitting my job and starting an online courses business. And it was hard. I tell you, but for some reason this year, it feels extra emotional to me. I think it's because I have a little bit more distance now. It's been seven years since I started, but I failed for the first three years, before I found Amy.

And so I want you to know that it really, really matters to me that you hear my heart, and that you hear Amy's wisdom, because I have taken every online course. I promise you, I spend at least $30,000 a year in online education. I kid you not. I have the tax returns to show you. And there is nothing like Digital Course Academy and Amy Porterfield. I promise you. You are going to absolutely love it. Now, before I play you the interview, let me tell you who Amy is, if you still don't know it. Amy teaches business owners, educators, and entrepreneurs, the profitable action steps for building a highly engaged email list, and creating online training courses. And using online marketing strategies to sell with ease. That is it in a nutshell. 

But girl, I really want you to join me inside Digital Course Academy this year. My team and I came up with the absolute best bonus that will get you traction fast. We are going to sit down and workshop, and brainstorm your course creation with you, and we're going to workshop and brainstorm your launch with you. That's why we're calling it The Accelerated Launch Digital Course Academy experience. And you can sign up for DCI, Digital Course Academy and our bonus now by going to shineandsucceed.com/amy, I'd really love to see you inside Digital Course Academy.

Salome Schillack (03:55):

And now here is our interview.

Amy Porterfield.

Hello there. It's so nice to have you. I Feel like-

Amy Porterfield (04:06):

Oh my gosh, I've been looking forward to this all day. It's just so fun. I haven't gotten to chat with you for a while.

Salome Schillack (04:11):

I know. I feel like you and I, when we get together, I just love hanging out with you so much. And then it's like a year and we kind of communicate via our teams and it's all other people, but I always know you're there. I always know you're there. And that just makes me feel so loved. Thank you so much for being here today.

Amy Porterfield (04:31):

Of course, I'm so glad to be here.

Salome Schillack (04:33):

Yeah, well, you know what Amy, it's been this last six weeks, telling my Amy Porterfield story. It's just sometimes, every year when it comes to this season, what I call DCI season. Digital Course Academy season of course, is it's an up and down journey. It's an emotional journey for me going back and remembering how I struggled, and remembering how hard it was for me when I was a coach, trying to get clients. Trying to figure out how do I become a mom who works from home, and has a job that I love. And then when I tell the story of how I found you and how I found webinars that convert back in 2015, and the only reason I could buy it was because you had a 12 pay option. And that every month looking at that $97 going off of my account, but knowing and putting in the work, and then eventually when I came to San Diego and I'm going to cry telling this. And quitting my job-

Amy Porterfield (05:47):

Oh the San Diego time.

Salome Schillack (05:48):

Was so special when we got to meet.

Look at me, I'm going to cry. It's just been, I'm very hormonal at the moment. I will say that. I think my audience will enjoy me crying, telling the story, but it has been life changing.

Amy Porterfield (06:08):

I don't take that lightly when you say that, and I know for you it has, not just because of my help, but what you've done in your business. I remember when you came to me and it all kind of cracked open for you and just watching your transformation and watching what you've created. And it blows my mind. So if I got to be a little part of that, I feel very, very fortunate. I'm very inspired by what you've created. I knew you before all of this, and that is a really cool thing.

Salome Schillack (06:42):

Thank you. It is a journey. And I want everyone listening to know that if I can do it, you can do it too. And I know there's something that you and I have in common, and that is the quitting of the job, right?

Amy Porterfield (06:59):

Yes.

Salome Schillack (07:00):

I mean, here I am balling my eyes out because I remember that so much, but I want to hear a little bit about your quitting your job story, because I know that wasn't an easy journey for you either. And just like me, you didn't get success straight out of the gate. So tell me a little bit about, what would you tell Amy back then? If you could go back and talk to Amy who's in her job and wanting to quit, and recently quit and trying to get it up to speed. What would you tell her?

Amy Porterfield (07:33):

I would tell her that it's not supposed to be easy and rainbows, and all come together from the get go. I don't know any entrepreneur who has quit a nine to five job, started their business and boom, everything just worked from the get go. I'd also tell her that your business will transform and transition, and stop waiting to do the things that you want to do. So the biggest mistake I made was that I went out on my own after leaving Tony Robbins, and I started a business doing consulting and doing social media. So a service based business. Hated it, hated all the clients that I had because I was resentful of all of them, which is terrible to say, I know, but I didn't have boundaries. So it was way too much work for one person, but I kept piling it on. Then I got frustrated. Anyway, the whole time, my goal was always to create digital courses, but I was scared to take the leap, because I didn't know how to do that yet.

And I didn't know a course. I didn't know any courses out there teaching people how to do it. So I put it off for two years. Today I have the business of my dreams. The business of my dreams is to create digital courses and teach other people how to build businesses. But I waited two full years building a business I didn't even love. And I haven't ever even thought about it like that until you just brought it up now. I would tell my younger self start. Now you're going to regret waiting this long, but everything happens for a reason.

Salome Schillack (09:02):

It does. And we become different people on that journey. But isn't it nice to look back and go, oh, I should have started sooner. And now and know that now moving forward, you can remind your future self that you've already learned that lesson.

Amy Porterfield (09:18):

Yes.

Salome Schillack (09:19):

Yeah.

Amy Porterfield (09:20):

That is so true.

Salome Schillack (09:21):

And I find myself when I'm facing big changes, facing big shifts in the business, because that never ends. That's just an onion that you just keep peeling the next layer of facing a new challenge. Then I can remind myself you've done this before. Yes, I have done this before. And I think it was you... Yeah, it was you who told me that few days in San Diego, you said, let go of the security blanket.

Amy Porterfield (09:52):

Let's talk about that for a second. So this idea of a security blanket, it came around because my sister who is in her 40's, still sleeps with under her pillow is her baby blanket, her security blanket when she was born. Now it's in knots. It's disgusting. I mean, she washes it, but it looks horrific and she hides it under her pillow. She just loves to have it. And I started to think, think a lot of us have a metaphorical security blanket that we do not want to give up. And typically it's our nine to five job. It's that thing that, we feel like it keeps us safe. We hold onto it. We're getting a regular paycheck. We've got the benefits and all of that. But we're like, literally our soul is dying inside every single day. That's not security. So we have this false security and you have to let it go. Until you let it go, you are not entirely free to do all the things you want to do in your business. So it's an important lesson to learn.

Salome Schillack (10:48):

It is an important lesson to learn. And I'm so happy that now, that I know I can confidently tell anyone in my audience that fear is okay, I had it. You had it. It should be there. It's healthy. It should be there. But if you have a step by step system that shows you exactly what to do and you have support around you, then you can take it one baby step at a time and just get started.

Amy Porterfield (11:21):

Absolutely.

Salome Schillack (11:23):

Yes.

Amy Porterfield (11:23):

And that's the thing you just have to get started. And when you start, let's say you want to create a digital course and have that be your number one offer to make money, or have it be your side hustle, or add it to the business you already have, whatever it might be. You are not going to know exactly all the steps you need to take. Now of course I can help you do so.

Salome Schillack (11:43):

Yeah.

Amy Porterfield (11:44):

But there's going to be times where it's going to be confusing or overwhelming. Everything in life that's worth it is worth that time, energy, and just time to figure it out. So you have to give yourself some grace. No one teaches this stuff in school. We didn't go to college for this stuff or high school or whatever. So give yourself some grace. You're not supposed to know it all.

Salome Schillack (12:04):

Yeah. And I'm glad you said that because I always tell my students, in school, we are taught you have to achieve a certain thing by a certain time. And then we have a test to say, did you achieve this thing in this certain time? And so when they start their journeys with online courses, the end goal is to have a profitable six figure business or seven figure business, or whatever your goal is or to replace your income. But sometimes it helps to just go, in the next six weeks, eight weeks, I'm just going to learn and that's going to be step one. And if that's what I accomplish before Christmas, that's great.

Amy Porterfield (12:49):

What a concept, to give ourselves time to learn. It's like sometimes people want to create a digital course. They're like, let me get it done in the next 30 days, let's go, let's go. You're building an asset in your business that can make you money for years to come. Give yourself the time to learn how to do it and learn how to do it right, from somebody who's gone before you, so that when you have this finished asset, it is good. It actually converts people into audience members, into customers. It makes you money and makes an impact. That you can do over and over and over again. It's worth learning how to do it right from the get go.

Salome Schillack (13:28):

Absolutely. And isn't it freeing when you do it the second, third, fourth, fifth, 10th time, and you look at everything you've created and you go, wow, I've put in a lot of work and I don't have to put that work in again. That work is done.

Amy Porterfield (13:45):

Amen to that. One of the biggest lessons I learned from working with Tony Robbins is that entrepreneurs who are the most successful, do not consistently recreate the will. Look into your business who's ever listening or watching right now, think about all the times that you're starting over, you're starting from scratch. It might just be because what you're doing is not working and you need to go back to the drawing board. A lot of the times is that entrepreneurs crave variety. So they want to chase the next shiny thing, start something new. I've got this great idea. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. My secret to success. And I know so much of yours as well, is we created something and we continue to make it better and scale it and dive into it and learn about our audience and grow our audience and market it again. I've marketed the same thing for years. It's no mistake. I have a multimillion dollar business because I stayed with one thing, to grow it. Now I have multiple courses now, but I never add a new course until one is dialed in.

Salome Schillack (14:41):

Yeah. And I love that because you really are good at that. You really are good at doing the same thing consistently. And that doesn't mean that you're not trying new things, but you're not trying new things with the product. You're trying new things with how you can optimize the sales of the product. And that's the difference.

Amy Porterfield (15:02):

Absolutely. Yes.

Salome Schillack (15:03):

Yeah.

Amy Porterfield (15:03):

I love it.

Salome Schillack (15:05):

And I love seeing you try new things on social media and try new things with your launches. So, that's where you get almost the entertainment value, that what entrepreneurs crave.

Amy Porterfield (15:16):

Yeah. So true.

Salome Schillack (15:18):

Yeah. So true. All right, so you quit your job and then you started taking on, one on one clients, and you said you hated it because you didn't set clear boundaries. Talk to me a little bit about what that was like.

Amy Porterfield (15:32):

So what happened was I left my job and I didn't have a big nest egg or anything like that. I needed to make money right away. So because I didn't know how to create digital courses yet, even though that's what I always wanted to do. I wanted to teach and reach the masses. I started to take one on one clients, doing their social media. Now this is back in the day when social media was kind of the wild wild west. So everyone in their mother was a social media manager. And so I got clients and I started to work with them. They had crazy unrealistic expectations. I didn't know how to tell them that their expectations would not work. So I just kept saying yes to everything. And we'd get off a call and I'd have a list of 20 action items, but I had 10 different clients and it was just me.

And so it became a beast and I realized, holy cow, I have no boundaries. I'm not saying no to anything, because I felt desperate to make money. And the problem with trading time for dollars as your only revenue stream, is there's only one of you, usually is how we all start. There's only so much money you can make, but beyond the money, burnout is inevitable with something like that. I have a lot of students now that do one on one coaching and consulting. They love it, but they also have a digital course. So they charge premium prices and they get to say yes to only the clients they want to work with, everybody else they're directed to their digital course. That's a beautiful business model.

Salome Schillack (16:58):

That is a beautiful business model. And I know that because that has served me so well, and I want to tell you a secret. When the agency was all, I feel like I often say, it was like a present and it was built and it's wrapped, and it has a ribbon around it. And we have our SOPs in place and I have my right team in place, everything. That's when I added digital courses into my business mix as well. And I added $400,000-

Amy Porterfield (17:29):

Oh my gosh. I did not know that.

Salome Schillack (17:31):

... To my existing agents. So there was the agency, which is my business and I added $400,000 in revenue to my business, just by adding a digital course to the mix.

Amy Porterfield (17:46):

Wow. That's incredible. That's life changing.

Salome Schillack (17:50):

It is.

Amy Porterfield (17:50):

That's why, when I see you get emotional and remember what you've created, I get it. And you're doing it on your terms. So this idea, both of us left our nine to five jobs. We both probably wanted something a little bit different. I know you wanted to be available and more home with your family and children, right?

Salome Schillack (18:10):

Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to, I say to women, I want you to work and create wealth your way.

Amy Porterfield (18:18):

Yes.

Salome Schillack (18:18):

That's it.

Amy Porterfield (18:18):

Amen to that.

Salome Schillack (18:18):

Because that's what I wanted.

Amy Porterfield (18:21):

Yeah.

And that, your way. I'm so big on that life. By your own design.

Salome Schillack (18:26):

Yeah.

Amy Porterfield (18:27):

You cannot have that when you're working for somebody else.

Salome Schillack (18:29):

No.

Amy Porterfield (18:30):

I loved working for Tony Robbins. He was an amazing boss to have. I also was helping him build his empire, on his time. I went on the trips that he needed me to go on. I was available when he needed. That is not freedom or creating a life by your own design. So even when it's good, it was good with my corporate job, I knew that I wanted something different. And you and I were talking about quitting things before we went on camera, and you can quit a job that's good, because you want something different and more, and that's a beautiful thing as well. You don't have to hate your life or hate your job to create digital courses and change things up. You could even stay in your job and have a side hustle with digital course, just to see if this is something that maybe one day could be your full-time thing. So there's so many different ways to dice a digital course to fit into the life that you want to live.

Salome Schillack (19:22):

I love that so much. And the beauty of digital courses is that, you can have your, it's like you say, you don't have to hate your clients or hate your business. You just add it into the mix. And because it's not something like a client, where you have to be a 100% in the whole time you have that client, you get to build a course at your own time. You get to build your audience at your own time. That's why I love that you can use social media to build your audience and you can use ads to build your audience, because it gives you freedom.

Amy Porterfield (20:00):

Yes.

Salome Schillack (20:01):

Then add that extra revenue in. And that means you get to say no to more one-on-one clients, which means more time, more freedom, or maybe it just means better boundaries. So again, your design, whatever that looks like, I don't think there's anything else on this planet right now in terms of, if we look at commercial availability and how people are making money in the world with where we're at in 2022, I don't think there's anything else that can provide you with the level of income and the level of freedom that a digital course does. I'm 100% committed to it.

Amy Porterfield (20:48):

I'm biased, but I'm with you a 100%. And the thing is, I've been talking a lot about how to recession proof your business with a digital course. And what I mean by that, is that digital courses have been on the rise for many, many years. I think COVID really exploded them. And then we never saw it go backwards. And we just continued to see the growth of digital courses in terms of people investing money into courses. And the reason why they work in any environment, any economy, any uncertain times, is because digital courses cut out the travel. When people are saving money or we couldn't go anywhere, digital courses allowed that location barrier that having to go somewhere to get the information you need, cut it out. It also allowed us to go at our own pace. So a lot of people like to do things on their terms, on their timeline.

Well, when you have to show up for a training at a specific time in a specific location, it's not on your terms. So during COVID what happened was, and as we move into a whole new world with possibly a recession looming, one thing that's important is people kind of reevaluated what was most important to them and their time, how they spend it, who they spend it with, became very, very important. Digital courses allow you to learn something new, whether it be personal or business or whatever it is, on your terms, on your time, in a more inexpensive way than any other option out there. That is why they continue to thrive even in uncertain times. So as a course creator, I can't imagine running a business without a course, because I always feel like it's going to be the safe bet when the world feels a little bit uncertain.

Salome Schillack (22:29):

Amen to that. Yeah, absolutely. And I want to add to that. If you think about this new generation, I look at my kids who are 11 and nine and they're growing up with digital learning, almost becoming the norm. Not quite yet. They're still at school for six hours. And thank goodness for that.

Amy Porterfield (22:53):

Spoken like a true mom.

Salome Schillack (22:55):

Yeah. Maybe I wouldn't love them as much if they stayed home all day. But the next generation, that's going to be normal. Whereas you and I have had to learn to get used to sitting behind the computer all day and doing these things. And so this new industry, I think digital courses is fairly new, because let's say, how old is it? 15 years?

Amy Porterfield (23:20):

Yeah.

Salome Schillack (23:21):

Maybe.

Amy Porterfield (23:22):

Somewhere around there. Somewhere around there.

Salome Schillack (23:23):

That is just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. And it is going to become the norm for anyone to create a digital course from anywhere, anytime.

Amy Porterfield (23:37):

Absolutely. And that I've always said since I've started teaching people how to create digital courses, years and years ago, everybody has a digital course in them. Like everybody listening right now, I absolutely know you have one, if not two or three topics that you could teach on. And so the only difference between you right now, not having a digital course and somebody else having a digital course, is that they just took the leap and did it. Meaning, you probably could do it better. I was talking to a woman this morning and she was saying, I have a client who's been in the industry for 20 years of her coaching business. And she does what she does really, really well. And she just noticed a 20 year old woman putting the course out on the topic that she knows like the back of her hand. She knows it so well.

And she's like, what? What's happening here? She's got a digital course on this topic. I don't have a digital course. And the girl 20 years old, is killing it. And then this woman who's older and more experienced, she's like, I could have done it better. She could have done it better, but she did not. Most people wait on their digital course to the point that they regret waiting so long. And I promise you there's people that are going to do what you want to do and you are going to do it better, but you didn't do it. And there's enough room for all of us. My students, if you look at all the digital courses, my students have created, many of them have created very similar courses, and they're each individually successful, because everyone teaches in different ways. Everyone grows their own audience. There's enough room, no matter if your course ideas out there already or not.

Salome Schillack (25:11):

I could not agree with you more. And if you're listening to this, I want to tell you and you are thinking, I'm wondering if I can. I want to say, please, please, let's commit to not being the ones who say I could have done it better.

Amy Porterfield (25:30):

Yes.

Salome Schillack (25:31):

To not saying I'm going to put it off. I'm going to wait. I'm going to see, until you see someone else, and then go, oh, I could have done it better. There's like, let's just do it and get it out there. And it's not going to be perfect the first time. I mean, I look at some of the stuff I've put out years ago and I go, wow, there's a spelling mistake and-

Amy Porterfield (25:52):

Oh, same.

Salome Schillack (25:54):

It's terrible. Doesn't have to be perfect. We just have to get it out there. But if we wait, nothing happens.

Amy Porterfield (26:00):

Absolutely.

Salome Schillack (26:01):

Yeah. And I know that you have a step by step system that takes people through that. And Digital Course Academy is opening for enrollment today, when this episodes-

Amy Porterfield (26:16):

Today. I am so excited.

Salome Schillack (26:18):

Yes. So tell me bit about, what are they going to learn? Tell me everything about the life change that this will create for someone thinking about a digital course.

Amy Porterfield (26:32):

So Digital Course Academy is what I call my signature course. It is literally the course that will help you make a total transformation in your business. I created it because when I came on the scene, when I wanted to create courses, I literally had no idea how to do it. So this is the course that I wish I had 13 years ago, that virtually holds your hand step by step, by step. Most people that get into Digital Course Academy, do not have an email list or not a big one. If they have one it's not big and they've never ever created a course and they're starting from scratch. And when they get into the course, I start out with helping them create their digital course. What's going into it, how to organize it, how to outline it, how to get it recorded, how to pre-sell it, all that good stuff.

And then pre-sell it to make sure that your ideas actually going to make money. But once we get through the creation of a digital course and content is my love language, so I'll walk you through to create a stellar digital course.

Salome Schillack (27:30):

Yes.

Amy Porterfield (27:31):

Once we've got that course dialed in, now it's time to market it. From webinars to email marketing, to growing your email list, to social media, I'll show you a way that will fill really good to you, to get this precious thing you've just created out into the world. So it's creating and launching everything you need to know. My style is very patient, step by step. Yeah, because I can't assume you know this stuff. Where would you have ever learned it? So you're going to hear terms that are foreign to you. We have a glossary. You're going to learn about new technology that's affordable, but you've never used it. We'll walk you through click by click. So we really like to cater to people that have never done this before, but they are eager and they're willing, and they've got a great attitude. Let's get to it.

Salome Schillack (28:14):

Let's get to, it is my kind of attitude. And I want to say that this is really, when Amy says she walks you through step by step, that is no joke. Step by step, this woman is the best teacher on the planet. She's shown me step by step, how to do it. And I will be with you every step of the way when you join Digital Course Academy through our bonus. Amy Porterfield, I love you.

Amy Porterfield (28:41):

Oh, love you friend.

Salome Schillack (28:42):

Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you. And I am so excited to give the gift of Digital Course Academy and Amy Porterfield and the mentorship of Amy Porterfield, to so many of my listeners.

Amy Porterfield (28:56):

Oh, I can't wait to meet many of them if they come into the program. So if you get into Digital Course Academy, let me know you came in through Salome because I would love to give you a virtual hug.

Salome Schillack (29:06):

I would love that. Thank you so much.

Amy Porterfield (29:09):

Thank you friend.

Salome Schillack (29:11):

Well, I really hope you love this as much as I did. Amy's signature course, Digital Course Academy is now open for enrollment, but it will only be open for another couple of days. There is no other online course training like Digital Course Academy. Nothing out there takes you through how to validate your course idea and see the big picture, and then guides you through the entire course creation process, before finally moving you onto the webinar creation and an intuitive cringe free course marketing strategy. And when you join using our link, shineandsucceed.com/amy, not only do you get the entire Digital Course Academy system with all the bonuses included, you also get our bonus content where my team and I will hold your hand every step of the way and make sure you get the juicy bit, profitable course launch sooner. Go to www.shineandsucceed.com/amy to get started today.

Thank you so much for listening. If you had fun, please come back next week and remember to hit that subscribe button. So you never miss a thing.