What Happened When Amy Lang Made $113,000 Helping Parents to teach Sexual Health
Amy Lang assumed that as a parent that she'd be able to know precisely how to have 'the talk' with the son she had.
Being a self-employed, teacher of parenting and sexuality for over 17 years, she had a habit of talking about sexuality every day. She didn't know the level of discomfort and clueless- she'd feel when it was time to talk about sex and her child. "I was embarrassed to have 'the talk' with my son, and I'm a sex educator," she says.
In search of ways to be a trustworthy resource for her child's needs, she began doing more studies. She leaned on her background in applied behavioral sciences as she began learning about how to talk to kids about sexuality which is a topic which, according to her, is extremely important yet often neglected. "We all know that kids must have physical, emotional, and social well-being, yet we don't discuss sexual health issues because it's considered taboo," she claims. "We have so little details about healthy sexuality and the development of sexuality in children."
Through research her findings, she was able expand her toolkit and felt encouraged to keep helping parents and their children in this area -- but this time via online classes. In 2017, she developed her first course, Birds & Bees Solution Center for Parents. In the following year, she has launched the second program, Preschoolers, Private Parts, and Playmates. "My credo is that information can be empowering," explains Lang. "The greater the amount of information you've got, the more you'll be capable of being there for your children's ."
Today, her online courses account for 50% of her total earnings. Since launching her first course in the year 2017 her course has earned $113,000 of revenues. What's the best part? It's all based on her email list and word-of-mouth to promote them. "I don't have to work very hard," she laughs.
"I'm earning money as I clean the kitchen."
Even as her successes grew naturally, she was intentional about the actions she took. These are just a few of them:
Skip ahead:
- She is using HTML0.
- She constructs an email-list
- She makes use of social media to market but not to sell
- She designs a member course
- She develops an additional course
- She develops content through trial and error
- She takes into account her target audience's needs and wants.
She makes use of
Lang was within her company for more than a decade before she created her very first online class. While she's passionate about instructing in person, and attends many live events and workshops, the idea of online classes seemed to be a natural step within her career.
She not only wanted an opportunity to connect with more parents and folks who interact with kids Additionally, she wanted everyone to have the option to take classes at their own home. speaking about sexuality can be uncomfortable for manypeople, as well as online courses provide students a private setting in which to learn.
She chose to host her course instead of other online learning platforms. "It was most welcoming, seemed the easiest and also cost-effective," she explains.
She constructs an email-list
When Lang launched her online courses Lang had built up a massive mailing list that currently has more than 17,000 users.
The method she used to build the bulk of her mailing list was simple; when giving live lessons, she would give her students a QR code that would lead participants to her sign-up for newsletter page. She would also move an iPad throughout the classroom so that students could enter their email addresses manually. The way she did this was to request people's emails during her classes, right at the point where her students were captivated and curious about learning more.
In the meantime, she's continuing to collect emails through live gigs and also through her website. The navigation bar on her website, she has a button that reads "free tips.' Once people hit it the button, they're taken to a webpage which allows users to enter their email in exchange for an offer: Seven tips to have great Birds & Bees Talks. The freebie is sent by email. It is also a call to action for the school she runs.
Even though she's got an extensive mailing list but she also reminds online course the creators of online courses that this wasn't something that happened over night. "I've been at it for the past 17 years," she says. "That's 1000 people per year. This isn't something I'm new to. It takes a while to develop a winning course even if you do not have an extensive platform."
She makes use of social media as a marketing tool and not for selling
Even though she has a YouTube channel with more than 800 users, an Instagram page with nearly 4,000 followers, a Facebook group that has 10,000 members, as well as a Q&A style podcast, she claims that her email list has the best level of conversion. Actually she does not utilize her social media to sell her courses -- just her email lists. "It's far more private when you receive an email. This is the way it works," explains Lang. "Social media is just meant for marketing and not sales -- in my world ."
While Lang does not rely on social media in order to promote her classes but she has found these platforms useful in marketing. In order to make things easier to share the same content on all the social media sites every week. She also schedules the posts ahead of time. Every post has an appeal to action. Lang encourages users to sign up for her newsletterand to schedule a one-on-one call with her -- her witty name of a 'Quickie Consult' -- purchase an online course and/or invite her to give a live class.
While she does not have any communities for her students to join however, she does create an atmosphere of belonging via her social networks- especially by hosting a series that she calls "Help Another Parent.' In this program, Lang asks parents questions and allows the community to give helpful advice. "I have regular players, and most of those people are very helpful with their advice," she says.
Lang suggests that course designers tailor their content for social media to their audience's pain points. Plus taking marketing into consideration with the right mindset is essential.
"Believe that what you're offering will be helpful."
Apart from social media, as well as her email lists, her audience has grown organically through word-of-mouth; numerous people who have attended to her sessions in person or attended her online classes are spreading the word to other parents and teachers.
She develops a membership course
She serves two primary viewers: parents of children between the ages of 5-12, and professionals , who are primarily early education specialists.
Her program is for parents. Birds & Bees Solution Center for Parents is offered as a membership site for $89 USD per year. The price was a bit iffy before settling on this number; she wanted it to be as affordable as she could. "I do not want to be a lot of thinking about it," she says. "I prefer it to be a simple"yes ."
Lang compares the course to a 'library' of resources including videos, handouts, audio recordings, special topic webinars, additional resources and weekly sessions called "Hump Day Half Hours. They include an hour of instruction followed by the group coaches. "These sessions are among my top events since they're live, and I'm able to connect with my students,"" Lang says. Lang.
She set up her course using a library format, as most parents are faced with just one query. Instead of having hours and hours of material must go through to get their one question answered, the library lets students pick and choose the content they need. "With this library you don't have to worry about the content being appropriate for your age or research, as it is," adds Lang. "People tell me often, "Thank for this, it made the whole process so much easier' .'"
The content is developed and updated to the course on an an ongoing basis. "I get to support so many parents without having to attend as such," she says. "It's just one benefit of having a site that offers membership ."
She has created an additional course
As well as working with parents she also engages professionals including early childhood educators to help with the issue of sexual abuse prevention.
Her second course, Preschoolers, Private Parts, and Playmates, targets this audience. Here, she teaches about sexual behavior among young children, including the typical as well as what's not typical as well as how to determine whether a child requires assistance.
Additionally, the course offers companies with an easy method of hiring her. "Some organisations aren't financially able to bring me in," she says.
Once students go through her classes, she does not upsell them on anything. However, her goal for 2023 is to put more effort into upselling a 'Quickie Consult or an e-book Sex Talks with Tweens: What To Say and What To say it.
She creates content using trial and the
It took Lang a few months to get the hang of the creation of content for her online coursewhich required many trials and failure. When Lang looks back on the process of creating a course online one of the biggest challenges was working out the best length for the video, what handouts to include (and whether they actually helped), and what kind of content would be most popular with her target audience.
When considering Lang's development, she would like that she'd conducted an audit in her first year to see what was being watched, and then made tweaks in response to feedback. While she's altered her material in the past, she is convinced that feedback from users is paramount in helping your development as a writer.
At first, she was creating hour-long videos in her courses but she soon realized it was way excessively lengthy. She now makes her videos much shorter and more approachable as her viewers are made up of parents with busy schedules who do not have lots of time on their hands. "I would like to create something accessible and simple," she says.
She doesn't have anyone that assists her in creating content. She says that she is a book reader, stays up with research, and lets parents' questions guide her in creating new information. She also has colleagues whom she talks to who can help in the development of ideas and provide her with support.
She is able to determine her target audience's needs and wants.
If you are thinking about starting an online course business it is recommended that course creators consider the reasons they would like to make an online course. This 'why' will help in establishing a specific target that they will be able to approach in small increments.
Lang insists on the importance of understanding what an audience wants and needs. "What you imagine they want and want is not necessarily what they really desire and require," she explains.
To figure out the wants and desires of your target customer, Lang advises that creators send their audience a survey and use responses to guide their online course creation process. "Be perseverant and keep in mind that it's not all about your company. It's all about the people you serve," she says.
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