From a Content Director to Braking through the Glass Ceiling and Built a Multi-Million Dollar Online
A business owner, online marketing expert and social media influencer – Amy Porterfield, an American female entrepreneur started her own business 7 years after working as a Content Director in the corporate world. She longed for being her own boss. When she first broke away from working for someone else, she started a marketing agency which turned out that she had more than 8 bosses (her clients). Her second attempt was to launch an online course but she only made $247.
Image from: Forbes
But she didn’t give up.
It only took her 4 years to hit her first million-dollar year, and less than 10 years to launch 8 successful digital courses, enrol 40,000+ students, grow a community of over half a million people, and be on track for a $10 million dollar year[1].
Amy shared with Forbes that after a massive failure in launching her first digital course that “I started to pay really close attention to what my audience needed: reading their comments on my blog, paying attention to their questions and stories, and uncovering their fears, challenges, and hopes. Finally, I began creating courses that people would actually buy (such as how to use social media to build your business).”
Furthermore, she pointed out that “As money started flowing in, I realized that if I could do this, other women could, too.”
Taking a closer look at Amy’s entrepreneur journey, I realised that her success was not a coincidence. She covered solidly of the nine important strategic decisions related to Digital Marketing.
No. 1 Market and product development strategies Amy’s digital courses have well researched and planned strategies behind them. As she paid a lot of detailed attention to her customers’ feedback.
No. 2 Business and revenue models strategies
Judging by how quickly that she built her business to a Multi-Million Dollar Online Course Empire, the business revenue model strategies are well suited and very functional. Also, the nature of Amy’s digital courses is to empower women to create their own businesses. She places her customers at the centre of the of her business strategies. It’s more of a Flywheel model[2].
Image from: https://vwo.com/blog/flywheel-marketing/
No. 3 Target marketing strategy
With more than 327,675 people following her Facebook page and 222,000 followers on Instagram, target marketing strategy is crucial for Amy’s business success.
No. 4 Positioning and differentiation strategy (including the marketing mix)
There are so many digital courses out there now. Positioning and differentiation strategy sets Amy’s courses apart from others. This is one of the key areas to allow an online business to be able to scale.
No. 5 Customer engagement and social media strategy
By building engaged, loyal and effective online social media communities and recognising consumer needs and wants, Amy has the ability to identify new digital courses opportunities. Being savvy on using social media channels to accumulate online followers and later on convert them into paying customers – this customer engagement and social media strategy works wonders for Amy and her business.
With the increase on the global Internet use, I think the right customer engagement and social media strategy for online businesses are increasing important.
Image from: https://wearesocial.com/digital-2020
No. 6 Multichannel distribution strategy
Multichannel distribution system is a method or structure in which a single company sets up two or more sales and marketing channels to reach one or more customer segments—through a brick and mortar store, an online marketplace like Amazon or eBay, a large retailer, wholesale, direct marketing or resellers[3].
Proper multichannel distribution strategy allow in increasing customer base, diversifying risks and growing into untapped markets. And we can see all of the mentioned above in Amy’s digital course business.
No. 7 Multichannel communications strategy
Multichannel communications is all about using available technology to ensure your target audience is presented with information or the ability to react to information across multiple channels. Customers expect to receive personalized, relevant communications that capture their attention despite their busy schedule[4].
I am a subscriber of Amy’s website. I get regular updates from her channels, ranging from her official site, emails and social media. And when I am doing research on her business, I am able to find her and related stories online through search engine and news sites. Multichannel communications strategy is critical for any online business. And for a business that’s concentrated on selling digital courses, it’s essential for business success.
Image from: https://softloom.com/multi-channel-approach-for-marketing/
No. 8 Online communications mix and budget
The decision on the amount of spending on online communications and the mix between the different communications techniques such as search engine marketing, email marketing and online advertising is closely related to the previous one[5]. For business success, there is the need to take an in-depth look at what works and what doesn’t to determine the online communications mix and allocated budget.
No. 9 Organisational capabilities and governance (7s framework)
McKinsey 7s model is a tool that analyses firm's organizational design by looking at 7 key internal elements: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills, in order to identify if they are effectively aligned and allow organization to achieve its objectives[6]. In order for a business to expand and scale, organisational capabilities and governance is key.
Amy said “From my own experiences and those of my students, here’s what I know for sure: a digital course business is the single most powerful and strategic way to make an impact in the world while growing your income to life-changing levels. You deserve to set yourself (and your earning potential) free by creating a business and life you truly love.”
I think it’s not only informative but super inspiring to know that if all the strategic decisions related to Digital Marketing are done well and you have a rounded digital course, you can make it too!
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/celinnedacosta/2019/08/27/how-one-woman-broke-through-the-glass-ceiling-and-built-a-multi-million-dollar-online-course-empire/#54b613287def [2] https://vwo.com/blog/flywheel-marketing/ [3] https://www.tradegecko.com/blog/multichannel-sales/multichannel-distribution-system-benefits-drawbacks-strategies [4] https://www.neopost.ca/en/what-is-multichannel-communications [5] https://www.zabanga.us/internet-marketing-2/decision-7-online-communications-mix-and-budget.html [6] https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9fd1/4d415ed96b1dcafa9d84ddde97ecabe5dbda.pdf 她來自美國加州，透過建立自己的線上課程事業，第四年超過1百萬美金收入，現在年收入超過1千萬美金，她的課程專門教以及鼓勵女性創業，做自己的老闆，看完是不是覺得很受鼓舞，如果你想要，你也一樣可以喔!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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