What Happened When Amy Lang Made $113,000 Helping Parents Teach Sexual Health
Amy Lang assumed that once she was a mother that she'd be able to know precisely what to talk about she had with her son.
Being a self-employed, teacher of parenting and sexuality for more than 17 years, she had a habit of talking about sex every single day. But she didn't realize the level of discomfort -- and ignorant- she'd feel when she was asked to talk about sex with her own child. "I felt embarrassed having 'the talk' with my son, and I'm a sexual educator," she says.
Determined to learn how to be a trusted resource for her child's needs She began to do more research. She turned to her education in applied behavioral science and dove into learning more about how to speak to children about sexual issues which is a topic which, according to her, is vital, yet neglected. "We recognize that children must have physical, emotional, as well as social health, but we do not speak about sexual health since it's taboo" she claims. "We have so little knowledge about sexual health and childhood sexual development."
With her research her findings, she was able expand her toolkit and felt motivated to help parents in this arena -- but this time through online courses. The year 2017 was the time she created her first online course, called Birds & Bees Solution Center for Parents. Then, she started another course called Preschoolers, Private Parts, & Playmates. "My credo is that information can be empowering," explains Lang. "The more you know and the better you'll be able to be there for your children's ."
Now, her online courses make up half of her earnings. Since launching her first course in 2017, she's generated $113,000 in revenue. The best aspect? It's all based on her email list and word-of-mouth to sell them. "I didn't need to think to do it," she laughs.
"I'm making money as I clean the kitchen."
While her success increased in the natural course of things, she was deliberate regarding the steps she took. These are just a few of them:
Skip ahead:
- She makes use of
- She creates an email database
- She leverages social media to market and not for selling
- She designs a member course
- She develops a bonus course
- She develops content through trial and error
- She takes into account her target audience's wants and needs
She uses
Lang had been established within her company for more than a decade before she created her very first online class. While she's passionate about giving classes in person and takes many live gigs but online courses seemed like a natural next step within her career.
In addition to access to many parents and others who interact with kids, she also wanted people to be able to study at home. talking about sexuality is difficult for some, as well as online courses provide students an intimate environment in which to study.
The platform she chose to host her courses over other online learning platforms. "It was the friendliest, seemed the easiest and also cost-effective," she explains.
She constructs an email-list
At the time Lang started her online classes, she'd built a large email list, which currently has more than 17,000 users.
The method she used to build the majority of her lists was easy. When teaching live classes, she would give an QR code which would lead users to the newsletter sign-up page. Also, she would distribute an iPad in the classroom so that students could manually enter their emails. It was a smart idea to ask for email addresses in the middle of her class, and just at the time that her students were captivated and interested in learning more.
Now, she continues to gather emails via live shows as well as her website. In her navigation bar it has a button that says 'free tips. If users hit the button the button, they're taken to a website where they can input their email in exchange for an offer: Seven tips to have great Birds & Bees Talks. They're sent this value-packed freebie via email, which is also a call to action for her school.
While she's got a huge mailing list, she reminds online course creators that it didn't happen overnight. "I've been at it for 17 years," she says. "That's 1000 people per year. This isn't something I'm new to. It can take a long time to create a course that is successful in the absence of a big foundation."
She leverages social media for marketing and not for selling
Although she has a YouTube channel that has around 800 subscribers, an Instagram page with nearly 4,000 followers, a Facebook group with 10,000 members, and the Q&A type podcast she says her emails have the greatest level of conversion. In actual fact she does not use her social media to sell her classes, she just uses her email lists. "It's much more intimate receiving an email. This is the way it works," explains Lang. "Social media are primarily for marketing -- not for sales in my world ."
While Lang doesn't rely on social media in order to promote her classes however, she finds these platforms useful to market her courses. In order to make things easier for her, she posts the same information on each of her social media platforms every week, and plans the content in advance. Each post includes a call to action; Lang encourages users to join her newsletterand to schedule an individual call with her -- the witty term of"a "Quickie Consult,"to purchase one of her courses online, or employ her as a teacher in person.
While she does not have any communities which her students can be part of however, she does create a sense of community via her social networks- especially by hosting a series known as 'Help Another Parent. The program, Lang posts questions from parents and allows the community to provide helpful and kind suggestions. "I regularly play with my friends with me, and the majority of these users are great in their suggestions," she says.
Lang recommends that course creators make sure that their social media posts are tailored according to their users' needs. Plus approach marketing using the correct mindset is vital.
"Believe that what you're offering is helpful."
In addition to social media and her mailing list her following has grown organically through word-of-mouth; the majority of those who have gone to her in-person sessions or attended her online classes have spread the word to their fellow parents and teachers.
She creates a membership course
Her primary audiences: parents of kids between the ages of 5-12, and professionals , who are primarily early elementary school teachers.
Her program for parents, Birds & Bees Solution Center for Parents offers as a membership site for $89 USD per year. It was an experiment until she settled at this price; she wanted it to be as affordable as it could be. "I do not want to be a lot of thinking about the cost," she says. "I would like that it be a straightforward"yes" ."
Lang likens this course to an "library" of materials, which includes video, handouts, audio recordings, special topic webinars, additional resources as well as weekly sessions dubbed 'Hump day half hours. They include the teaching portion for 10 minutes followed by group coaching. "These classes are my absolute favorite activities since they're live, and I can interact with my students,"" Lang says. Lang.
She set up her course with a library-like format since most parents are faced with just one question. Instead of having hours and hours of content that they have to go through to get their one question solved, the library lets them pick and choose what they need. "With the library, you don't have to worry about the content being age-appropriate or research-based, because it already is," adds Lang. "People tell me every day, "Thank you, this just made everything so much easier .'"
Content is created and updated to the course on an regular schedule. "I have this opportunity to assist so many parents without having to attend as such," she says. "It's just one of the benefits of having a membership site ."
She develops the bonus course
Alongside working with parents, she also collaborates with experts including early childhood educators -- to help with the issue of sexual abuse prevention.
The second one, Preschoolers, Private Parts, and Playmates is geared towards this group of children. She teaches sexual behavior among youngsters, including what's typical and what isn't typical, as well as the best way to tell if a child needs assistance.
Plus, this course provides companies with an easy way to hire her. "Some organizations can't afford to bring me in," she says.
Once students go through the courses she offers, she doesn't offer them any additional services or products. But, her aim for 2023 is to invest more effort into promoting an 'I'm a Quickie Consult as well as a copy of her book Sex Talks for Tweens: What To Say and How To Say it.
She designs content via trial and trial and
It took her a while to understand the process of the creation of the content she needed to create her online coursewhich required lots of trial and failure. In fact, when Lang thinks about her online course creation journey it is clear that the toughest part was coming up with the perfect length of the video, how many handouts to include (and whether or not they were helpful), and what kind of material would resonate with her audience.
In retrospection of Lang's development, she would like she did an audit after the first year of creation to determine the content that was watched by viewers and made adjustments in response to comments. Though she's modified her contents since then, she believes that feedback will help your development as a writer.
At first, she was making videos that ran for hours in her classes before deciding that they were far too long. Now, she makes them much shorter and more approachable, since her audience is composed of parents with busy schedules who do not have a lot of extra time to spare. "I would like to make it accessible and easy," she says.
There is no one who can help her create content. Rather, she says she is a book reader, stays current with her research, and lets parents' questions inspire her to create fresh information. Additionally, she has friends she interacts with, who assist in the development of ideas and provide her with assistance.
She determines her viewers' wants and requirements
When thinking of starting an online course business it is recommended that course creators determine why they want to make an online course. The reason will allow in establishing a specific objective that they could start by working in smaller increments.
Lang insists on the importance of figuring out the needs and wants of an audience. needs. "What you imagine they want and require isn't always what they actually desire and require," she explains.
To figure out the wants and needs of a target client, Lang advises that creators ask their customers to take a survey and use responses to guide the creation of their online courses. "Be perseverant and keep in mind that it's not all about the course creator. Your people are the focus," she says.
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