🟡NEW! Amy Porterfield! Webinars, Email, and Events! | Ep. 525

0:01Welcome to Do This, Not That, the podcast for marketers. We share quick tips, things you can do right now, and then we add a little bit of chaos at the end of every episode. We also keep it short, like this intro. Let's check it out. So, all right, this is a special episode of Do This, Not That. We just put on a huge virtual event called Eventastic. And one of the speakers at the event was Amy Porterfield. And so I wanted to take Amy's session that her and I had this fireside discussion and she ripped through all these tactics about webinars and small events and how to drive revenue in this world that's so all over the place.

0:37And this session was incredible. I learned so much from Amy. If you don't know Amy, she is the number one person that I learned from all the time. So I wanted to take that session and release it as a special podcast episode. Hope you like this one. And thanks for checking it out. Let me just give you a little background on her because we're getting into webinars. We're going to get into small events, all the things. But if you don't know Amy, all right, she didn't like, you know, get handed some sort of silver spoon. She grew up in a blue collar household. Okay. And if you would have told her that someday that she would create a business that would employ all these people and generate over$130 million in revenue, I don't know if she would have believed you.

1:11She worked for Tony Robbins as the content director. Okay. She left that job. She took all this money that she didn't have$17 ,000. And she went to a mastermind that she literally needed a payment plan for to try to figure out how to start some sort of a business. And then 16 years later, she built this online business that generated over$130 million, helped over a hundred thousand students build businesses on their own. She became a New York Times bestselling author. Her podcast, my favorite podcast, Amy Porterfield Show, has well over 60 million downloads. And the engine behind all this thing, behind all of it, is something called Digital Course Academy.

1:48This one program, this one digital course generated over$60 million just on its own. And then here's the bonkers wild thing that we're going to dig into today and how she did this. In January, she said, you know what? screw it. I'm pivoting. And she did something nobody expected. She retired Digital Course Academy. She walked away from this zillion dollar engine that was still chugging. And what did she decide to do? She decided to launch this incredible six month coaching program for women that are making between 150 and$500 ,000 a year in revenue to increase their confidence to get to that next level, the Calibre Collective.

2:26And then she launched Millie Club, which is one of the most successful masterminds and in-person, small in-person events. It is crushing. And she's doing all this stuff. She's not scared to pivot. And she's fueling all this business with events, with webinars. She's incredible. I can't wait to dig into it all. Amy, welcome to Eventastic. Well, hey there, Jay. Thanks so much for having me. That was an impressive intro. No one has actually done it quite like that. So thank you, my friend. Well, I have to say it is difficult because you've done a lot. And then all of a sudden in January, you throw this curveball at everybody.

3:05And I'm sitting there in my car. Okay. And I turn on your podcast episode. And you're like, Hey, everybody, I'm, I'm going to go into complete 180 here. I almost like drove off the road. I'm like, what the hell's going on? So before we get into like webinars and events or whatever, what, what happened? Did you just have like, like an epiphany in the middle of the night? Why did you decide to change course? I know pun intended. Yeah. Right. Well, it was a huge, big deal for me and a big decision. So here's the thing. Like you said, I have been promoting digital course Academy or some version of it for many, many, many years.

3:43And it's been my bread and butter. It put me on the map. I'm known for it. And then about a year ago, I started to get this kind of knowing that something else was waiting for me. But when I've I've been doing the same thing, Jay, for 17 years, I've been creating and selling digital courses and teaching other people how to do it. So after 17 years, you usually are thinking about retirement, not necessarily I'm going to blow up the whole business. But there was this knowing that I was ready for something bigger. And when I looked at it clearly, what it is, is I feel as though I've earned my elevation.

4:18So anyone watching right now that you feel like a pivot or a big change or something is on the horizon for you, it's probably because you've been doing the same thing for a long time. You know more, you've done so much, you've made all the mistakes, all the successes, and you're ready for more. And your audience is ready for more as well. So I listened to the women in my audience and they say, what else do you have for us, Amy? We've started to build our business. What else can we do with you? And I had nothing. And I wanted to teach the woman who had already started her business. And I wanted to share all the strategies that I have to build a multi, multi-million dollar business.

4:55So I took my experience and knowledge and I told myself, I've earned this. I've earned the right to pivot the business and take it in a new direction. And so I got all the courage that I could find. Luckily, I have a beautiful team that's helped me. And we turned this whole ship in a new direction. And it still shocks me because Digital Corsic Caddy made millions and millions last year. But at one point or another, it becomes it's not about the money anymore. Well, I sort of envy your ability to make that big decision and pivot. Were you like super confident after you like that next morning we made the decision?

5:33Or were you scared? I mean, like, were you just like, no problem. We got this. Hell no. Or heck no. So sorry. No, I was absolutely freaked out for a good six months as I started to even to think about it. I was like, don't even think about it. We're not even going to do that. That's too big of a change. And so, and also for those watching, if you're really good at something and then you make a big shift, you're not going to be really good at that other thing, like right away. And to have like a beginner's mentality again and mess up and things don't go well and learn something new, it hits your ego a little bit.

6:12Like I had to learn everything about this new business model. So, yeah, I was freaked out for a very long time. So one more question before we get into kind of the whole webinars and events thing, because a lot of people here today in their own careers, they might be nervous to take a step back to take a step forward, like whatever Paula Abdul said. And it seems like you've done that numerous times throughout your career. Like, are you, are you comfortable? Do you think that that's what you need to do to step forward is to actually like step back? Because in a lot of ways, I'm sure your first year of this business, you're not going to make as much as you did in Digital Course Academy last year, right?

6:50Right, for sure. And I love that you quoted Paula Abdul. that's very rare in interviews I'm in. So gotta love that. So yes, I had to be willing to take a really big step back. But also, wait, there was something you asked me about that question. The Paula Abdul really threw me off. Say the question again, because there's something I really wanted to hit. No, because like in your career, not just your business, if somebody's sitting there and they're like, I want to do this thing, but I know I'm a director now. I'm gonna have to become a manager to grow again. And like, is stepping back okay? Is that what you are comfortable doing?

7:28So no, no, I want to be the best of the best at all times. And I want to be the baller in my business and everything like that. But here's what I did learn. You had mentioned that I work for Tony Robbins and so much of my entrepreneurial journey has been credited to things I've learned from him. And one of the major things I learned from him is if you want to grow, you have to get uncomfortable. You have to be uncomfortable probably 90 % of the time when you're trying to build something, especially something new. So Jay, every day I want to come out of my skin right now. Every day I'm doing something new.

8:04I just had a call. I've never had a sales team before. I had a call. They're totally a different beast, a sales team. So I'm like coming out of my skin trying to figure out how to make it all work. And I'm uncomfortable all the time. And I hate that feeling. Although I just keep remembering, oh, this is what it feels like. This is what it is supposed to feel like. So anyone watching right now, if you feel like you've been pretty comfortable for a while and you haven't really had that feeling of itchy, scratchy, want to come out of your skin like, oh my gosh, you probably need to get into motion.

8:35It's probably time for your pivot or your change or you to go for something bigger. You should be uncomfortable more often than not if you really value growing in your business and in your life. Well, I really do want to credit you because you've been, you know, outside of these sessions, you've been really helpful in me thinking about how to pivot in my business. So everybody that's listening, this is really that moment you want that. When's that moment? This is that moment. And it really does. It's really a moment to reflect and think about if you are too comfortable. All right, let's talk about something that is how you're building this thing, which I think is wild for everybody here.

9:12The W word, the gross word, webinars, okay? Talk to us about how you are literally, this coaching business, which is a mega coaching business. This isn't like Amy just coaching three people. This is like a coaching business on steroids, okay? Amy is fueling this thing with weekly webinars. What is the motion that you're doing? First of all, W stands for wonderful because right before we got on, I was telling you, I'm obsessed with webinars and I have been for a very, very long time. So yes, you are right. In order to promote my coaching program, I do a live webinar every single Monday and it's to a cold audience because we use meta ads in order to bring people in.

9:58Semi-cold, we use social media, We invite people from our newsletter, but a lot of new people are getting on because I do it every single week. And from there, I teach and I change their perspective and I show them a different way to look at their marketing. And once I got them to a place, they realize, wait, I do need help here. From there, I invite them on to a call where we give them a marketing model review. So the webinar is then going into a free call for a marketing model review. And you know me, Jay, I'm a girl of integrity. So the calls are really valuable, whether they join my coaching program or not.

10:37And we tell them, if you're a good fit and we think that you would love our coaching program, we'll tell you about it on the call. If not, you just walk away with a marketing model review. And we've gotten great feedback about that. But you know, I've done webinars to sell a$2 ,000 digital course year after year after year. So I had to learn kind of selling a call is a different ballgame. So that's how my webinars have kind of changed. So, but you're doing them weekly, right? Yeah. And they're live? They're live. So it's kind of, my husband doesn't love it. Every week, same topic. Okay. So here's, here's the secret here.

11:14First of all, my husband, Hobie doesn't love it because I'm like, um, okay, we can go on vacation, but I just got to run in and do a webinar. But I chose that. That is what I wanted to do. I will tell you all, there is a higher perceived value with live. And so whether you say the exact same thing or not, people want you live. And so I thought, okay, here's how I decided webinars, Jay. So for those watching, here's how you make a big decision on what I call your selling vehicle. What do you do best? What would you be excited to do? What, or at least not dread every time you do it, where do you shine the most?

11:49And for me, it's webinars. I love that you can teach and then invite into your world. And so that's why we chose webinars. And it's the same exact webinar every Monday, except that I use AI to audit my webinar. So I have a Claude project that is specifically for this webinar. It helped me create the webinar. And now it helps me audit it every week. So I'll put the transcript of the webinar in there. I'll give it all the metrics of show up rate, conversion rate, all the details. I'll share a little bit about how I felt about it. And I said, give me the audit. Show me like where I can increase conversions.

12:31I recently did this and it increased my conversions 4 % from one week over the other, just by tiny little tweaks. So it has really been kind of a fun challenge doing the same webinar over and over, just getting really good at it. Okay. Well, first of all, that's amazing. Weekly, this sounds like torture. So let me ask you a question about the live portion though. Is it available on demand? It is not. And there's no replay. So this is a big deal. Okay. So definitely some people are frustrated with us, but here's what I found. And again, in order to make that$60 million with Digital Course Academy, all I did was webinars for many, many years.

13:12So I know webinars. And one thing we've found over the last two years is that people say they're going to watch the replay. But if you look at your metrics, very few people watch it. And for us, very few people were buying off the replay. Again, there's a higher perceived value with live. And so because of that, we said, okay, we're not, we would rather say no replay because here's what happens. We might lose a few sales for people that need the replay because of time zones or whatever. However, we're going to gain a lot more sales for people that actually show up. So our show up rate is pretty solid week after week because we tell them there is no replay.

13:51We also don't go on and on about how I do this every single week. This is happening this Monday. Here's your date. Here's your time. That's the end of the conversation. So I think that's so important for any company of any size. This idea of live, we've turned marketing to Netflix. It's available whenever you want it. People don't watch the on-demand. They don't go to pipeline if they're not watching it. Your live only is amazing. The other thing that I think that everyone can take away from this is you don't need to be perfect for everybody. You know, this idea on demand is that you don't want to, you don't upset anybody, right?

14:23That's not how it works. You're not going to run a business if you will. I mean, you got to upset some people, right? Right. And that, you know, I like to be nice to everyone. I'm definitely the people pleaser. And so over the years I've had to get good at repelling as much as attracting. I am not for everybody. And I know that. And after, When we get older, we start to accept it a lot more. But I really pay attention, Jay, in my marketing of this will repel the wrong person and absolutely attract the right person. Because for years, I just attracted everyone in my first five years of business and my sales showed it.

14:59And so my sales shot up when I was willing to repel the people that weren't right for me. And also, I really firmly believe this. Like if you want something bad enough, you're going to make time for it. And I think we all do that. It's human nature. So if you really are interested in what I have to teach, you're going to make time for it. And those are the people that I want in my coaching program. So the other thing that I took away from you doing these weekly webinars and being the same one over and over and you're making it better each week is a lot of times I feel like I can't talk about a certain topic.

15:35I've talked about it 20 times already. There's no way a human being on earth wants to hear me say, put this in your stupid subject line or whatever. And then I shy away from like repetitive content. Is it hard? Like, is it hard for you to be like, okay, I'm in week 20. I'm doing the same webinar again. Like, do you feel weird? I absolutely not. Doesn't even enter my mind, but remember we're attracting a new audience all the time. So I'm not going to the same audience over and over again. And now we are inviting my email list through my newsletter every single week, but we're doing it in a subtle way.

16:09So it's a very kind of under the radar sell because I'm all about selling and hey, come to my webinar. But because it's weekly, they're going to hear about it enough, but I'll just make a subtle sentence, a text link there if I've talked about it a lot over the last few weeks or so. But Jay, mostly it's new people on this webinar. But also I want to remind you, we have a really good friend in common, Stu McLaren. And he reminds me all the time, say it 50 times, say it 50 different ways. We think people hear everything we say. And Jay, I hang on your every word and you know that. Like you have changed my email marketing dramatically.

16:50And I know I've missed 50 or probably 80 % of the things you've said. You're lucky. Say it again. Let me ask you a serious and very important question. If somebody out there has gone to like 20 of your webinars in a row, do you put them like on a watch list? Do you report them to like the FBI or something? I should be sending them flowers. All right. I should be sending them a little treat in the mail. They're my favorite. You should actually ask, Claude, is there anybody that's gone to every webinar that I'm not related to? And if they haven't bought, why? That's what I really want to know. Right.

17:23Okay. One more thing about webinars I'm curious about, and then we'll get into in-person events here for a second. So, when you start out your webinars, you kind of like grab people's attention pretty fast. And I think for a lot of people out here, everyone's putting on webinars, but they're boring people to tears. Is there anything in the first five minutes that Amy Porter feels like you got to do this to grab them? Yes, and that is you have to make it about them, not about you. The biggest mistake I see people make with webinars is that they will start the webinar with, hey, so glad you're here.

17:55Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I don't even do that in my webinar right now. This is really weird. I've never done this before, but I don't do a slide or two about, let me tell you about me. I might, you know, as the audience gets colder and colder, but they don't care. If you can start out by telling them, here's who this is for. So they know instantly they're in the right room. And here's what we're going to do and get right into it. Take out all the fluff. Here's another little secret. You've got to get to the cell at 45 minutes or sooner. If you start selling after 45 minutes, I promise you, your sales are going to go down.

18:33You have lost sales because at the 50 minute, 55, 60, people just start jumping off. They don't have the time. So if you haven't gotten into your pitch by 45 minutes, you are losing sales. But that first five minutes, make it about them, not about you. I love that. I love that. I hate when people start out a webinar, they go, these are the seven things we're going to go over. And this is my life story. It's like, who cares? How does that help me at all? And by the way, everyone put their questions in the chat because we're going to hit Amy up with a bunch of questions before this is all over. All right.

19:02So let's pivot to in-person stuff. So you have something called the Millie Club, which is this in-person event. Let's say it's for women. Right. And about 30 women. You bring them to Nashville. Tell us about the Millie Club and what this all is. Okay. So the Millie Club, like you said, is a group of 30 women at a time. So it's a cohort. We meet for six months and we get together twice for two two-day events. So in Nashville, which is where I live, and all the women are making$500 ,000 or more and their goal is to have that first million dollar year and beyond. So everyone has the same goal. We're moving in the same direction.

19:41And everyone either has a course, a membership, a coaching program, a consulting program, something like that where they're marketing it online. So I am very jealous that I can't attend this thing. And I watch all the videos that I know. No voice loud. Yeah, no voice loud. It's not nice. And I love the videos that you put out there because the event is like, it's like a beautiful event. Everything looks so curated. So I'm sure it's not all a piece of cake. Like, so in terms of small in-person events, because a lot of people are they put on, you know, certain dinners or this, that or whatever. What is the Amy Porterfield?

20:16What are the secrets to really doing a small in-person event? Right. What have you learned that is wrong? I've only been doing events like this for about two years. So if you would have asked me this like a year ago, I would have told you like, whoa, there's a big learning curve here because I think I did it wrong for a few of these events. Here's what I did wrong. I taught a lot. I brought a lot of guest experts in. We had very little time of connection and talking. I didn't want the lunches to go too long because I wanted them to get so much value. So if I just put tons into it, they're going to leave like, holy cow, that was so good.

20:52Big mistake. What I've learned over the last year, when we always survey directly after like within probably 48 hours of the event, we survey. And what I found is people want more time to connect and talk. sharing in the room. I did this. I tried that. And real conversations are very valuable. And when I stopped teaching so much, when I stopped bringing as many experts in and gave them more time to be in small groups and longer lunches and more time to socialize, like we added a dinner at nighttime, that's when they loved it more. That's when they thought it was the best event ever. And I noticed my retention went up into the next Millie Club when they had really strong connections with each other.

21:37We had out of 30 people in my Millie Club, this last cohort, 19 of them re-upped for another six months. That's a lot of people. And it wasn't me. It was because they all felt really close to each other. That's amazing. Cause like, if I did that, then the less that I would be involved, the more people would enjoy it. So maybe if I don't even go, it would be like the most popular thing of all time. I'm going to try it. I'm not going to show up on day two. We'll see what happens. Right. 840 is not going to be here. Oh my God. I want in. I want in. I can't wait. You never know. Yeah. All right. We got, we got all sorts of questions coming in, in, in the chat here.

22:12So let me, let me hit you with some of them. All right. Okay. All right. Here we go. Are email lists still the center of everything? Are we done with email marketing? No, they're the center of everything we do. They're incredibly important. Here's an example. The other day we were having problems with our ads and we need to sit, we need to hit a certain amount of leads for Monday morning webinars in order for everything else to work this week. And so we didn't hit it because we had an ad problem and ad problems are expensive and frustrating. So the less I have to spend on ads and the more I can tap into my email list all day long, I think it's the most important asset in your business.

22:51Okay. By the way, and this is why I don't wait till the end to do the sell because that way, I just learned that from Amy. We're going to put in the chat and we're going to say it again at the end but amy's newsletter and what i want to talk about in a second is my favorite email newsletter on the planet if you're not subscribed stop listening to this nonsense and go subscribe amy porterfield.com slash newsletter and the reason amy's newsletter is so awesome is that she's very real in it um and you made that pivot like a year or so ago are you like how do you get comfortable you really put yourself into your newsletter you put like what's going on your life, your last Amazon purchase.

23:27I mean, anything and everything going on, like, is that hard for you to do? Or you just love, you love just being yourself. It's actually really hard for me to do. I, I grew up in the online space many, many years ago where social media actually wasn't what it is today. And so we didn't share everything we ate in our whole morning routine and everything about our lives. And I also have a husband that doesn't necessarily love to be on social all the time. And so sharing for me, just, I always felt like people don't want to know this stuff, but then I started following other people's newsletters before I wrote mine.

24:03Full disclosure, I would never have a newsletter without Jay. Jay was the one, he's like, get a newsletter. And so I'm like, fine, fine, fine. And I watched yours, Jay, and you were an open book in that newsletter. I'm a weirdo, yes. I learned a lot about you and very surprising things about you through that newsletter. So I started looking at newsletters like yours and others, and I was drawn to them. I wanted to know what was in their Amazon cart. I wanted to know what they were watching, but also I wanted the marketing tips. So I modeled what I loved and now it's very, very easy. I did this laser treatment on my face where I looked absolutely insane.