podcast #29 transcript - amazon s3...e [email protected] h got to be the success that she...
TRANSCRIPT
E [email protected] H www.teresaheathwareing.com
Podcast #29Transcript
Hello and welcome to Episode 29 of the Social Media Marketing Made Simple Podcast
and I’m your host, Teresa Heath-Wareing. Welcome back for another amazing week of
the podcast. I think I’m still riding high on Pat’s interview last week. It really was a bit of a
dream come true for me, I have to say.
And this week is exactly the same. You know when you start a new project and
you sit down and you think, “Okay, who do we want on the project? What do we want to
achieve?” And you dream bigger than you ever think you can dream. You sit there and go,
“Oh, imagine if we got that person. Imagine if they would come on the podcast”.
Well, that’s what my team and I did a few months ago when we were trying to
think who would we want to interview. And we had a list of people that were, kind of like,
mega stars in my world. And they were, kind of, the people that you would love to get on
the podcast, but you knew that they were busy and they have lots of engagements and
they, maybe, aren’t as easy to get on.
And Pat was one of those people. So, to have him on for week one was, kind
of, crazy dream come true. And this week, it is exactly the same. This week I have the
absolute pleasure of welcoming Amy Porterfield. You heard right. Amy Porterfield on my
podcast. Honestly, this really is like a dream come true. I’ve been a fan of Amy’s for longer
than I can tell you. She was, probably, one of the first people that I really started to follow
and get into and I feel like I have learned so much from her.
I have her Courses That Convert, which is a online course that she offers, along
with another two online courses. One about list-building, so building your email list. And
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the other one is about Webinars That Convert. So, if you’re using webinars to sell to your
audience, then she has got a great course to explain every single step on how you do that.
And, like I said, I have just been the biggest fan for as long as I can remember. I’ve
seen Amy speak twice at Social Media Marketing World. And I reached out to Amy, oh,
quite some time back now and connected with her over social media. We chatted a bit.
Then, when I was in the States back in June, I asked if we could go for a coffee and she
really kindly said, “Yes,” which was amazing.
We had a lot of things in common and we had a mutual friend, which helped,
obviously. And we went for coffee and we talked nonstop for two hours. And she’d said to
me, “I’ve got an hour,” which I was like, “Yeah, that’s great”. And we sat there for two hours
and we literally didn’t stop talking the entire time.
So, both of us are stepmoms to sons who are very similar ages. So, we had a big
chat about that. We both have dogs and, even though I’ve said before, I’m not a huge fan
of my dog, he’s more my husband’s dog when he needs anything doing, we had a good
chat about that. We have really similar husbands. My husband’s in the Forces. Amy’s
husband is a fireman. They’re both super-supportive of what we do and it just was the
nicest coffee ever.
And Amy really kindly offered to come on the podcast, which, in my head, I’d kind
of thought, “Okay, if this goes well and Amy and I get on as well as I think we will, then
maybe when I get back to the UK I will email her and say, ‘Is there any chance?’”
And I didn’t even have to. We were talking about the podcasts ... Obviously, she
has one ... and she literally said, “Well, who’d you want to be on there?” And I said, “I’ve
got this list,” but I hadn’t asked anybody yet, because I was nervous in case they said, “No”.
And she was like, “Well, if I’m on your list, I’d love to come on the podcast”. And,
honestly, inside, I was squealing like a child. I was so excited. So, we got it planned and
we did the call and it was awesome. What I love about it is Amy shares, not only how she
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got to be the success that she is today, and she’s a phenomenal success, but she tells you
about her baby steps of coming out of a job with Tony Robbins, no less.
So, she originally worked for Harley-Davidson® Motorcycles and then went
to work with Peak Performance Coach Tony Robbins, where she oversaw the content
development team and collaborated on ground-breaking online marketing campaigns.
So, she talks through how she moved away from a full-time job with someone
as awesome as Tony to then starting her own business and also how her business has
changed over time. She also tells me how she keeps motivated while putting together
her online courses, which, if you haven’t ever bought one of Amy’s online courses, oh, my
word. They are massive. And I just can’t even start to think about how you stay motivated
to complete all that content.
We also talked about how you can start your own online business and if you’re
thinking of starting a course, what steps Amy recommends that you take, in order to get
started.
So, I am really excited about this one, as you can imagine. And, if you do know me,
you know Amy is huge in my world. So, I am over the moon to be able to introduce to you
the amazing Amy Porterfield.
Amy, thank you so much for being a guest on my podcast. I am so excited to have
you here.
Amy Porterfield: I love that I get to do this. Every time you and I talk it’s like girlfriends
are just chatting about everything. Work and life and all the good stuff in between-
Teresa H-W.: Love it.
Amy Porterfield: So, I think this is going to be a lot of fun.
Teresa H-W.: Oh, I’m really excited about it. You are only my second interview-
Amy Porterfield: Oh, my goodness.
Teresa H-W.: So, my last one was with Pat. He is just a consummate professional, isn’t he?
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Amy Porterfield: Right.
Teresa H-W.: He’s amazing. So, that was awesome. But, I feel like I’m getting all the best
people to start. So, it’s just fantastic.
Amy Porterfield: Well, I thank you for having me. I’m honored to be the second.
Teresa H-W.: Thank you. So, obviously, I have followed you for ages. I’ve been very lucky
to see you talk live. I’m a student in Courses That Convert and I follow your content. I love
what you do. And also, your story, I feel like, if I was to think of my future forward, of how
I want my story to pan out, is your story. So, I would love it, for my audience that may not
have come across you, although I’ve talked about you a fair bit, I would love it if you could
just explain how you, kind of, got to where you are now.
Amy Porterfield: Great. Okay. So, I started my marketing career with Harley-
Davidson® Motorcycles, but it was at a local level, so it was in the States and I ... I say,
“in the States,” because you’re not in the States, but it was in California. And I worked for
Harley for a few years and that’s where I learned marketing.
So, when you work for a company where people tattoo their logo on their body-
Teresa H-W.: Wow.
Amy Porterfield: I mean, that’s crazy. It’s a tribe. It’s nostalgic. It was amazing.
And that’s where I learned community. But from there, I then went to work with Peak
Performance Coach Tony Robbins. And funny enough, I got there because I broke up with
a boyfriend. I was up late at night, couldn’t sleep for weeks and weeks and that dang Tony
Robbins infomercial kept coming up on the television. And I would see it every night and I
thought, I need some of that.
So, I went to the library. I got his tapes. I mean, this is how long ago it was. I got his
tapes. I listened. I fell in love with his message and then I thought, “I want to work for this
guy”.
So, I left Harley-Davidson®, got a job with Tony Robbins and I was the Content
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Director. So, I got to work on the content that Tony would do on stage and in his digital
products. And for six and a half years, I got the best education I could possibly get. I-
Teresa H-W.: I can only imagine.
Amy Porterfield: Right? I mean, I got to learn from the master. And I was really in it. I
got to pitch and catch with him. I got to be in his proximity. We traveled all over the world.
I mean, my travel bug is out of me. I am done. We were on the road all the time.
And so, I finally realized, I want to be my own boss. After listening to Tony over and
over again, I wanted to do my own thing. And, quite honestly, I was exhausted. Traveling
that much and being on somebody else’s time, you could only do that for so long. And so,
I thought, “I want to be my own boss. I want to call the shots. I want to create content for
my own business, not for somebody else’s”.
And I had just gotten married and the traveling all the time just wasn’t going to
work. And so, I took baby steps. So, this is great for anybody to hear that is wanting
to transition out of one thing into another. I didn’t just wake up one day and say, “I’m
quitting. I’m starting my own business”. But instead, I said, “Okay, I want to move on. I
want to start my own thing. I’m going to start taking baby steps”.
I asked to move from the content department to the marketing department and I
had a lot of clout there. I had been there for a while, so they said, “Yes”. And then, at one
point I said, “Can I start working from home a few days a week?” And then from there,
“Can I go part-time?” And then from there I took the leap and went out on my own.
And I think when you’re a good employee ... I recently heard Marie Forleo interview
somebody about being a good employee and how you want to just shine, no matter what.
And I feel like I was a good employee till the very end, so they said, “Yes” to all those
things.
Then I finally took the leap and here’s where I’ll wrap up the story. My goal was to
create online training programs around social media and online marketing and sell those
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programs. That’s how I had seen it done by the big guns that were making lots of money
and a big impact.
I went out on my own. Had no idea how to create an online course. Didn’t have an
audience. And I was freaked out, because I didn’t have a big savings. So, I started to take
clients for social media. So, I took about eight clients. I was doing their social media for
small businesses and I hated it.
I didn’t realize that it wasn’t for me. I mean, it’s great for other people. They kill it.
I didn’t enjoy it. And I had no idea how to set boundaries. So, they were calling me at all
hours of the day. Their expectations were wild, because I didn’t set any and I just was not
loving it. But I did it for two years and being in the trenches with small businesses, doing
their social media taught me so very much.
So, I needed the education, I just didn’t enjoy it. About two years into my online
business ... It’s almost ten years now. About two years in, I decided, “No more. I do not like
this business model I created. I’m starting over”. And I started to create courses and let go
of my clients.
The day I let go of my final client-
Teresa H-W.: Oh, wow.
Amy Porterfield: I turned up the radio. I danced it out alone in my little condo like, “I
finally am doing it”. And it was hard for a while. We actually went into debt a little bit when
I let go of my clients and started my online courses, because they, kind of, took a while to
ramp up.
So, that wasn’t ideal, but I’m here now. 90% of my revenue is made from three
online courses I sell on Evergreen every single day and then I do some affiliate marketing
as well.
Teresa H-W.: Honestly, the story’s amazing, because I used to work for Land Rover. I did
corporate marketing for Land Rover. So, again, a brand where, in some parts of the world,
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that’s the only vehicle they see.
Amy Porterfield: Oh, yeah.
Teresa H-W.: And people love the vehicles and [crosstalk 00:11:49]-
Amy Porterfield: I have a Range Rover. I love the vehicle.
Teresa H-W.: And it is. It’s an amazing brand. A great product. And then, obviously,
worked in marketing forever. Started on my own, but I did exactly the same and I had
clients. And I remember hearing you say once, which is exactly what I thought, was you
went from having one boss to suddenly having eight.
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: Like, “No, that’s not what I wanted”. And people, they think, “Oh, I’m going
to have my own business so that I can have free time and I can manage my ... “ And it’s
like, “No, no, no. That didn’t work. That isn’t how it’s working”.
Amy Porterfield: Never.
Teresa H-W.: I think with clients, when you have them, you do feel like you are, kind of,
tied a bit, or you are responsible, “I’ve got to be around in business hours”. So, if I go off to
the States, I feel a bit like, “Oh, how are we going to manage these things?” So, yeah. I feel
like I hear your journey and think, “That’s where I want to be. That’s where I want to be in
five years’ time, let’s say”.
Amy Porterfield: I love it.
Teresa H-W.: If I can keep my fingers crossed. Did you ever imagine, in the early days,
when you started, did you think, “I’m going to become this successful”?
Amy Porterfield: Oh, heck no. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d have the
business I have today. And here’s something I tell my students, “The business you have
today will look dramatically different in just a few years from now”. And so, making big
decisions, making pivots, all of that is okay, because it’s going to look different.
And I wanted to sell online courses, but I didn’t know exactly how it was going to
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turn out and I think that’s okay as well. I recently heard a friend of mine say she never sets
goals five years out. She does it about 24 months out and that’s about it. And that’s what
I’ve always done.
At first it was six months out, then 12 months out, then I could look about
two years forward, but no more than that. And that’s allowed me to not have to make
everything such a big deal, because I could pivot as I go.
Teresa H-W.: Yeah. And I think that’s so important. Again, when you said you started off
on social media, I’ve thought about social media courses, but the problem with the social
media world is, you do something and 10 minutes later, it’s out of date.
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: So, I thought I could spend months putting together an amazing Facebook
course and Facebook makes one change and that’s it. I’m done.
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: That is no longer relevant. What is it that you love and if there’s still things
that you dislike about what you do now?
Amy Porterfield: Oh, yes. Okay. So, what I love is I love the teaching part. I absolutely
love to put together content and teach it in a way that lightbulbs go off and people think,
“Oh, I get it. Finally you broke it down”.
I’m best known for step-by-step and breaking things down and holding people’s
hand through the process and that definitely is something that feels good to me. So, I
absolutely love it. I mean, I, of course, love the emails that say, “It worked. I did it and look
at my results”. So, I live for that.
Now, the stuff I don’t love. When I first taught Facebook, I had the same problem
that you’ll likely be up against where it was always changing. I had a Facebook program,
back in the day, and I wanted to pull my hair out the second Facebook would make an
announcement. So, I get that part.
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I don’t love updating my programs. No matter what you teach, it’s a pain in the
butt. And I also feel a lot of pressure to support a lot of people, my community. I’m a
worrier by nature. I worry about them. I want to make sure they’re getting the kind of
support they need and that they’re getting to the finish line. And so, I hold that a lot on
my chest. I can physically feel it sometimes.
And so, I have to be careful about my self-care. I talk to a therapist-type person
every single week on a Friday morning at 7 AM. I do meditation. You know I go on walks
with my dog.
Teresa H-W.: Yup.
Amy Porterfield: I have to do a few things, because I will take everybody else’s
struggle and burden of building an online business and just put it all on myself. And you
do that when you have courses that teach people how to do stuff and they’re going
through it and they’re struggling. Building an online business is not easy.
Teresa H-W.: No.
Amy Porterfield: And so, that’s the part that I have to be very mindful of.
Teresa H-W.: And I think as well, there’s a big difference between people who just put
courses out to sell and people who want people to succeed.
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: And you can’t just ... Well, you can, but it’s not ... I don’t think this would be
my [inaudible 00:16:05] and it definitely isn’t yours. You can just put together a course
and sell it and who cares if they do it? That’s up to them.
But of course, you don’t want that. You want people to buy your course, go
through it ... In fact, I have a friend who has her own business who spoke to me just the
other day where, “Oh, my God. Amy’s done it again”. And I was like, “What do you mean?”
She went, “I’ve bought courses ... “ She’d already got courses, the first, but, “And I’ve gone
and bought email and webinars that come from her”. And it’s just like, “I’m not”. And she
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knows what she’s doing. She can’t ... “I can’t help myself”. And she-
Amy Porterfield: Aw, and I love her. But those are the people I think about, because
that’s hard earned money they’re spending with me. And I get it and I want them to truly
succeed. And, you’re right, there are people that just put out their courses and they say,
“It’s up to you. You’re a big girl. You’re a big boy. You figure it out”. I can’t. I can’t do it. And
you can’t either. I know you enough to know ... We care deeply.
Teresa H-W.: We do. And I want to ... The bit that I love doing is adding value, is being a
help to someone. So, I don’t want you to just sit there and go through the motions. I want
you to really take it and make a difference. But this friend of mine wouldn’t have bought
these other two courses if she didn’t find that that first one was amazing. So, that is surely
testament to how good that first course is for her to then go and spend ... Like you said,
these aren’t $50 courses ... To go and spend a bit more and do another one. So, they’re
amazing.
Amy Porterfield: Thank you.
Teresa H-W.: Now, I’ve got to ask, how on Earth do you stay motivated when you are
putting together a course? Because I have put many courses together. I have started to
plan a bigger course and oh, my God, my head just wants to implode. I don’t know how
on Earth you ... And yours are massive. Like I said, I mean, Courses That Convert and the
content that is in there is unbelievable. You do not short change anybody, because that
must take you ages. So, how do you keep motivated while trying to finish it?
Amy Porterfield: Well, I love that you ask this question, because I was recently talking
to a friend about her getting to the finish line of writing her book. And she has 30 more
days to go. And I said, “How’s it going?” And she’s like, “It’s miserable! It’s going to get
done, but it’s miserable”. And I love the truth behind that.
And I will tell you, I feel like I’m living in a cave when I’m creating one of my
signature courses, one of the big thousand dollar courses. I am dirty. My hair is dirty. I am
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in the same clothes two days in a row. I have 10 mugs around me. My husband hates that
part. Like, “Put your mugs in the dishwasher”. “I can’t. I’m too busy”.
I do go into a cave, which typically happens around creating the SlideDeck with
all the content and the flow and recording them. That is an ugly time for me. I feel
overwhelmed and stressed and it’s not my favorite. I don’t sleep well. But we’re talking
maybe a week or two and then I come out of it.
I have to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and what has helped
me along the way ... because it would take me a good 60 days to create one of my
signature courses. And I’m just talking about content creation, course creation, not
launching it, right?
Teresa H-W.: Yeah. I can imagine.
Amy Porterfield: So, it’s 60 days. And what has helped me is a project plan. So, we use
something called Asana, A-S-A-N-A. Once it’s in Asana and it’s literally broken down, step-
by-step, module by module, what needs to get done, I’m good with a list. But if it’s not in
front of me saying, “Amy, this is what you’re doing for the next two weeks,” I feel like I’m
going to take longer than I should to do it. I’m going to say, “I’m not feeling creative today,
so I don’t have time”. And those things can get me in a lot of trouble.
So, my shorter answer is, it is very stressful for a short period of time. I’ve got to
see the light at the end of the tunnel and I’ve got to have a project plan.
Teresa H-W.: Yeah. And I think having that broken down thing is so useful. I know that
when it comes to doing your own stuff, that is the last thing that gets done and I find-
Amy Porterfield: Right?
Teresa H-W.: Excuses after excuses after excuses-
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: And I’ll tell myself, “Well, it’s not an excuse. This is genuine. It’s real”. And I
just listen to myself and it is. I am literally sitting here going, “I haven’t got time for that”.
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Well, you could not sit down and maybe watch something on TV tonight. If you
really wanted to, you could just crack on and do that. So, sometimes I think the discipline
is really good and you have a great team around you that is like team gold.
If anybody follows Amy and sees how she treats her team, and I can imagine, they
work very hard for you Amy.
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: I could imagine it’s not all trips on boats and flights to Canada, which
it’s been recently, which is so cool, but that’s why you get to do those amazing things,
because they work so hard for you.
Amy Porterfield: Okay. I’m so glad you brought this up. So, you’re right, recently the
whole team took a trip to Canada for a day of training, which was super-fun for all of
us. And then we just finished a live event, so we all got on this really cool boat and had
champaign and had so much fun.
And, while I was on the boat, I closed my eyes for a minute and I had champaign in
my hand and, literally, a cupcake in the other ... They brought cupcakes on. And I thought,
“I’m eating a cupcake on a boat with the sun shining on my face with champaign. This is
the life”.
And I closed my eyes for a moment and thought, “Holy cow, it took so much
hard work over the last four days to get to a place that we could celebrate. My team is
tired. They’re cranky. They probably never want to see my face right now, because we
went through a lot with this live event we just finished” that I was telling you about, long
nights. I pressured them to get stuff done on a certain amount of time. I had to be more
bossy than I typically am. And so, I thought about that and we’ve got to celebrate those
moments, because you’re right, it is tough sometimes.
My team is probably overworked right now, but as a leader I’m mindful of it and I
think, “Okay, what are we going to do to offset this?” But I sometimes feel guilty, because
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they work really hard, but their attitudes are amazing. So, when we can celebrate, we
celebrate.
Teresa H-W.: And you know, I follow Chloe on Instagram and Angie, your Community
Manager-
Amy Porterfield: Yes. So, Chloe my Integrator. Angie my Community Manager.
Teresa H-W.: Yeah. And you can just tell, they love what they do and-
Amy Porterfield: They do.
Teresa H-W.: And a, kind of, I guess, what you had with Tony Robbins. They’re almost
experiencing the same type of thing. And, it’s funny, I’ve seen more of Chloe coming out
in your things. Obviously, she’s on your podcast. I see her more, sort of, generally, sort of,
saying stuff and doing stuff. So, it must be really lovely, as their boss, to be seeing how
they’re developing and how much they love it.
Amy Porterfield: It is and one of the things I’ve realized, over the last few months, is
that if it’s just The Amy Show, that is not compelling enough for Chloe to feel that she’s
making a huge difference or Angie to feel like she’s part of the community. So, at the live
event, I had my whole team up on a panel and they all answered questions. People loved
it.
When Chloe can get out in front of people and talk about what she does and the
impact she makes, I want her to realize the impact she’s making through my business. It’s
hard when you run a personal brand and it is The Amy Show many days, but I need people
to know, one, I don’t do it myself.
Let me tell you a quick story. This morning my podcast didn’t get published right.
So, I’m a very early bird. So, 5:30 in the morning, I’m the first one up on the team. Chloe’s
on vacation today, so she’s not even checking in. And 5:30 this morning, I go into our Help
Desk, just to look for something and I realize, tons of tickets, like, “Your link’s not working.
Your link’s not working,” because the email went out.
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I had no idea how to fix it. And that’s good and bad. It’s good, because my team
takes it over. I don’t even know what to do in Word Press anymore, but it scares me a little
to think, “Oh, my God. I don’t even know what to do in Word Press anymore”.
But I think, as a leader, I do need to be, “Okay, we need a fail safe so that doesn’t
happen again,” but it was really cool to know, “Oh, my team just fixes this stuff,” but I
literally didn’t know what the heck I was doing.
So, I don’t know, you have those moments as you grow your team.
Teresa H-W.: And, I think, as well, though, because you have grown a team, you were in a
position when you had to do most things, almost everything.
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: And I’ve done that too, in the sense of, you get to a point where you think,
“Okay, I could do this, but really, is it worth my time and my energy and the best resource?
Am I the best at this?” And whenever I bring on anybody, I want to bring one someone
who’s better than me.
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: I want to bring on someone that is more awesome at something than I am,
because they are going to add so much more, whereas, if I just carry on struggling through
... Again, uploading the podcast, or try to write show notes, or ... It’s going to be a waste of
my time and it’s going to be not as well done as if they do it. So, I just think-
Amy Porterfield: So true.
Teresa H-W.: And, like I said, I loved seeing the team stuff. I love seeing the girls. They
look like they have so much fun.
Amy Porterfield: They do and they’re so silly. We got to the point, at the event, where
it was late, everyone had gone home, we were still working and it was that slap happy,
funny time that we have. And I thought, this is my-
Teresa H-W.: [crosstalk 00:24:58].
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Amy Porterfield: Yeah. Everyone’s snapping at each other, but in the funniest ways.
So, we have a good time, for sure.
Teresa H-W.: Good. I’m so, so glad. So, Amy, let’s just talk a little bit about creating an
online business and creating an online course, because obviously, this is your forte. This is
where you excel.
So, if I was starting out today and I wanted to look at doing an online course, there
are so many things involved. There are a million different elements. There are so many
places where you can get it right or get it wrong. Even things down to building a list,
sending out emails, creating landing pages, creating the membership or the course itself,
marketing it, Facebook ads.
How do you suggest that people even start to look at this? Because I think
sometimes ... And I’ve watched a million videos on YouTube and every advert comes up
and it’s some guy sat in some swanky office in New York saying, “I made six million pounds
while I slept last night and you could do it too by tomorrow”. And it’s like, no, I don’t think
that’s the case, you know?
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: And so, how would you suggest that people even start to go down this
process? What would your baby steps be?
Amy Porterfield: Oh, I love this question. So, baby steps would be to first, get in
the trenches. Exactly like you’ve done and how I did it in the past where, you got to
understand your ideal customer avatar and you definitely need to make sure that you
have a course idea that is validated. So, before you even get into the online course world,
you know people want it and they’ll pay for it. That means talking to your ideal customer
avatar, maybe doing some surveys, really getting on social media and just listening more
than you talk, to figure out what people need.
Once you do that, you can step into starting to create the course. Now, I’m a huge
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advocate of, “Let’s create the course first and then we’ll talk about marketing it”. Now, if
you want to presell it and you’ve got to make money faster, you could presell, then create,
after you’ve made a little money. But let’s just take that off the table.
I like this idea of, “Let’s create the course after it’s been validated, get it done and
then let’s move into doing webinars and building the email list in order to sell the course”.
So, the baby steps would be, literally, step-by-step, validate the idea. Now you’ve
got a course idea, outline the idea. Now it’s time to put that outline into SlideDecks. And
I always say, “Let’s keep it simple and get fancy later”. So, keeping it simple means, you
record your course with your audio and your SlideDeck. They don’t even see your face.
Now, I’ve become a poster child for the fact that, that works, meaning, most people
are on video inside their course these days, the big shots, my friends. They are on video
and then they might show a slide or two. But they’re professionally done. Marie Forleo,
Stu McLaren, who does membership sites. He’s on video. That is fancy and fantastic, but
that is not where you start.
So, comparing yourself to the big shots is the worst thing you could do. I have
made millions of dollars with a SlideDeck and my audio with every single video inside of
my thousand dollar courses. It can be done.
Now, I will tell you, after being at it for 10 years and, kind of, getting more
comfortable with video, that’s my next step, but I sure as heck wouldn’t start there. So,
keeping it simple, and when you want to add bells and whistles, ask yourself, “Does this
really matter? Does the customer care if I’m on video the whole time or if they just get the
teaching and the content so that they can get a transformation?”
That’s another thing, if I back up a little bit, as you’re creating your course, what is
your promise? And can you deliver on that? What kind of transformation or results can
you get a person? Then you have to ask yourself, “Well, how do I know this?” One, you’ve
done it for yourself. Even better, you’ve done it for yourself and a few other people. Then
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you know you’re ready to show other people how to do it.
So, my big picture is, let’s just focus on getting the course done, then we’ll talk
promotion, because, you’re right, those are two different beasts. And when we do it inside
my business, there are two different project plans. I’ve got one team doing the launch and
I do the course.
Now, I love that you said, “In the beginning, I did it all”. So, you can do it all, but I
didn’t do it at the level that I’m doing now.
Teresa H-W.: Nope.
Amy Porterfield: Right? Yeah.
Teresa H-W.: And, I think, as well, like you said, often we look at people we aspire to be
like and you named some there ... We talked ... In fact, you suggested that Business By
Design might be good for me when we met-
Amy Porterfield: Ah, love James.
Teresa H-W.: And I signed up to it. Oh, man. He blows my mind, if I’m honest.
Amy Porterfield: Right?
Teresa H-W.: And he is on video, on screen, on every single video. And, like you said, in
fact, his whole setup, his lead magnet to opening the cart for Business By Design was
insane-
Amy Porterfield: Insane.
Teresa H-W.: And, if you’re looking at it from a starting perspective, and you look at that
and think, that’s the level you’ve got to get to, you are-
Amy Porterfield: You’ll never start.
Teresa H-W.: Never. Never.
Amy Porterfield: Right?
Teresa H-W.: And-
Amy Porterfield: He had 12 videos, you guys, for his launch or something like that.
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Teresa H-W.: It was crazy.
Amy Porterfield: Like 12 professionally done. He is a film student, in the past. I could
never do what James did, but if I looked at that and thought, “Okay, I need to replicate
what James did” and I’m just starting out, I’d literally go back to a J-O-B. I wouldn’t do it.
Teresa H-W.: Yeah. And the other thing I remember you talking about once in your
podcast and I will link up to it in the show notes and I remember which podcast it was,
you talked about, basically, what’s the difference between someone who’s got this
following and if you haven’t got any following? And one of the things you talked about
was consistency.
Amy Porterfield: Yes
Teresa H-W.: And the fact that they are showing up, no matter who’s listening or
watching and they are doing it day in, day out. And again, when you look at some of those
big players ... And so, for instance, I’m working quite hard on Instagram at the moment ...
We love Instagram-
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: And I’m working really hard on it and I look at, say, Jasmine or Jenna, who
you met in Hawaii-
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: That must have been so cool. She’s [crosstalk 00:30:56].
Amy Porterfield: Love her.
Teresa H-W.: And you look at their Instagram accounts and you’re like, “Oh, my God. Look
at their numbers. That is crazy”-
Amy Porterfield: Right?
Teresa H-W.: But then you have to look at how many posts they’ve done. And, it’s literally
... I think for Jasmine it was something like 4,000 posts-
Amy Porterfield: Oh my gosh.
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Teresa H-W.: And she admits that she posts once a day. So, do the maths. That’s my
favorite saying. Everything is, “Do the maths,” because you start to work it back and you’re
like, she’s been doing that consistently for, like, seven years.
Amy Porterfield: There you go.
Teresa H-W.: And that’s the difference, isn’t it? They didn’t start as they are now. They
didn’t start with all the bells and whistles and all the fancy filming and ... I was lucky
enough to get to Pat’s studio, which is amazing. Your studio looks amazing, but again,
that’s not how you started-
Amy Porterfield: No.
Teresa H-W.: And then, showing a video of you and it, kind of, makes me laugh, because
you laughed, that’s it ... when you first started. You were sat a hotel room with a bed in the
background.
Amy Porterfield: A bed behind me. What was I advertising? I don’t know, but it didn’t
even phase me. Of course I’m doing this video with a bed behind me in a hotel room, but
that’s how you get going. You just do it. You got to get in motion and action, no matter
what. You will look back at those early years and cringe, but you’ll never get to where you
want to go if you don’t start.
Teresa H-W.: No, and that’s the thing. You’ve actually just got to get on and do it. And
even though it would be so lovely to have these amazing funnels, these amazing systems.
I’ve, literally, just moved to Infusionsoft. Or, I’m in the process of doing that.
Amy Porterfield: Wow.
Teresa H-W.: That is a big investment.
Amy Porterfield: Big time.
Teresa H-W.: [crosstalk 00:32:23] a lot of money, so things like this, I didn’t have that to
begin with. You have to take these tiny steps, don’t you? In order to, kind of-
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
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Teresa H-W.: So it grows as you grow as well, so-
Amy Porterfield: For sure.
Teresa H-W.: But of course if you are thinking of starting a business online, Amy is the
perfect place to start. And her courses are phenomenal, so ... And, in fact, something that
I did, even though my degree’s in marketing, I’ve worked in marketing forever, this was a
new world to me and it’s a, kind of, new world to anybody-
Amy Porterfield: Right?
Teresa H-W.: My degree was some fifteen years ago. These things didn’t even exist 15
years ago.
Amy Porterfield: Nothing. Me too. Me too.
Teresa H-W.: So, this was one of the ways that I got good at what I do now is by doing
courses from other people. So, obviously, I would happily recommend that anybody goes
and has a look at any of Amy’s courses, because they are amazing.
Amy Porterfield: Thank you.
Teresa H-W.: So, Amy, what is next? And I know you don’t plan loads in advance, but is
there anything you’re sat there thinking, “This is where I want to go. This is what I want to
do”?
Amy Porterfield: Yes. I’ve decided that I’m going to create a membership site, for
the next step, after somebody goes through my course. I want to have more elevated
conversations. I want to talk about the promotion more. I want to troubleshoot with
people that have actually done the work. I am obsessed with action takers. So, I could
work with newbies all day long and I love them, but I’m ready to also work with people
that have done the launches. They’ve done well, but they want to do better.
So, I’m creating a premium, expensive membership site where you get more of me
and we get to troubleshoot together. And I’m not going to launch it right away. I’m going
to do it right. Slow down a bit. Kind of, get my business in a place that is ready to build on.
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So, that’s hard for me and that’s hard for a lot of people listening. I’ve got to slow down
before I ramp up.
So, we’re getting some things in place. We’re updating Courses That Convert.
We’re updating Webinars That Convert. So, if you’re a member, you get my updates. I am
going on video this time. It’s about time I do it, but not my students. So, that’s why I’m like,
“Let’s wait on this”.
But I just am stepping into that a little bit more and I think it’s going to be really
fun. So, I appreciate you asking.
Teresa H-W.: No. And it’s awesome and I think it’s interesting, because we were talking,
previously, that you have just launched a live event for people who are on your Courses
That Convert and are trying to get going and to actually help them complete it. To me
that sounds like the perfect thing to do. You’re then going to move into that membership
space, because ... And I remember listening to you on Courses That Convert, where
you talk about validating your idea and validating and talking to people and I remember
thinking, “Oh, I’ll just leave that there,” right?
And you said, “Don’t skip it”-
Amy Porterfield: Don’t you dare.
Teresa H-W.: And I thought, “I’ll skip it. I’ll skip it”. Anyway, I didn’t, in the end, and I got on
Zoom calls with-
Amy Porterfield: Great.
Teresa H-W.: Either people that I knew or people that my target were. And I recorded
those Zoom calls and I listened to every single word they said. Also, I asked them words
like how they feel about stuff-
Amy Porterfield: Yes.
Teresa H-W.: Because when you’re marketing, at a later date, in order to use some of
those feeling words of overwhelm and frustration and all those, kind of, things that you
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do feel ... People who are coming on your course feels. So, when you’re sat down in that
room with them, you are going to be able to just suck up all this amazing information from
them, so that when you get to the membership, that is going to help you create a really
good product for your-
Amy Porterfield: For sure.
Teresa H-W.: For your audience so that they can take it to the next level. And again, I
think the membership model itself is a great model, because the world we live in is so
quick. It’s so fast. You want to update things and change things and bring in new ideas.
And I know you, obviously, do the live calls in the Facebook group, which is amazing,
but in order to do a membership, you can literally ... something brand new changes, no
problem.
Amy Porterfield: Right.
Teresa H-W.: Following month or a couple of weeks [crosstalk 00:36:12]-
Amy Porterfield: Yes. That’s why I’m thinking, for you, you might want to explore this
idea. When you said, “Things change so fast,” I’m like, “That sounds like a membership
site”. You never know.
Teresa H-W.: Yeah. And I love the membership site as a model as well from a recurring
income point of view and yeah. And, of course, Stu is the go-to guy.
Amy Porterfield: I mean, come on. Stu McLaren, shout out to you. Love that man.
Teresa H-W.: Amy, I want to thank you so much for coming on. It has been such fun. I’ve
loved having you on as a guest. So-
Amy Porterfield: I loved being here. Thank you for this. I’m excited about your
podcast. This is exactly what you should be doing. People are going to be so lucky to get
all of this goodness from you. So, thanks for having me on early, so I get to see everything
you’re going to get to create.
Teresa H-W.: So, there you have it. The amazing Amy Porterfield. Wasn’t she awesome?
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Not only is she a huge expert in the online courses space, but she’s one of the nicest
ladies I’ve met. And, you know when you meet someone or see someone online ... I’m
going to sound like a bit of a weirdo now ... And think genuinely, “I think we could be
friends”. That is exactly what I thought when I saw Amy for the first time.
So, I can’t believe how lucky I am that she said that she would come on the
podcast. And I really hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode as much as I have. Now, as
always, I will put links to everything to do with Amy in the show notes. So, if you go to
www.teresaheathwareing.com/29, then you’ll find links to all of Amy’s stuff in there and all
of her social media.
Also, if you haven’t subscribed to the podcast, please go ahead and do that. I
would love it if you would subscribe, so that you don’t miss an episode. So, I’m on Stitcher
and/or on iTunes. So, just head along there, hit the subscribe button and you’ll make sure
that you get my podcast every single week.
Also, while you’re there, if you wanted to give me a nice review, that would be
amazing. Next week I’ve got another interview for you. Like I said, September is all about
interviews, so I’ve got another two to come and then I’ll do a solo episode and then we’ll
be mixing them up in between.
But next week is a really cool one. I’m really excited about it. The interview itself
was really enjoyable. I had such fun doing it and he is a real expert in his field, so I’m really
excited to share that one with you next week. But until then, have an amazing week and I
will see you soon.
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