What Happened When Amy Lang Made $113,000 Helping Parents Teach Sexual Health
Amy Lang assumed that as a parent that she'd be able to know precisely how to have 'the talk she had with her son.
As a self-employed sexuality and parenting educator for the past 17 years she was accustomed to talking about sexuality every day. But she didn't realize how uncomfortable and clueless- she'd feel when it was time to talk about sex with her own child. "I was embarrassed to have 'the talk' with my son, and I'm a sexual educator," she says.
Determined to learn how to be a trustworthy resource for her child's needs She began to do more study. She leaned on her background in applied behavior science and dove into learning more about how to talk to children about sexual issues -- a conversation, she feels, that is crucial, but often neglected. "We are all aware that children must have physical, emotional, as well as social health. However, we do not discuss sexual health issues because it's considered taboo," she says. "We have so little information about healthy sexuality as well as the sexual growth of children."
With her investigation her findings, she was able add more tools to her toolkit and felt inspired to continue helping parents and their children in this area -- this time, by offering online courses. The year 2017 was the time she launched her first course, Birds and Bees Solution Center for Parents. Then, she started a second course, Preschoolers: Private Parts and Playmates. "My conviction is that knowing empowers," explains Lang. "The greater the amount of information you've got, the more you'll be capable of being there for your kids ."
Her online courses comprise half of her income; since launching her first online course in 2017, she's generated $113,000 in revenue. The best part? She relies almost entirely on her email list and her word-of mouth to sell these courses. "I haven't had to try very hard," she laughs.
"I'm making money as I do the dishes."
While her success increased organically, she was conscious about the actions she took. These are just a few examples:
Skip ahead:
- She makes use of
- She builds an email list
- She makes use of social media as a marketing tool and not for selling
- She develops a membership course
- She develops an additional course
- She creates content using trial and the
- She determines her audience's needs and wants.
She uses
Lang had been within her company for more than a decade prior to launching the first course online. She's passionate about her giving classes in person and performs live shows, online courses felt as a natural progression in her business.
In addition to an opportunity to connect with the parents of children and those working with children Additionally, she wanted everyone to have the opportunity to learn from home; discussing sexuality may be uncomfortable for manypeople, and online classes provide students with a private setting in which to study.
The platform she chose to host her course over other online learning platforms. "It was the friendliest it was easy, appeared to be the most simple to use, and it was also the most affordable" she says.
She creates an email database
At the time Lang started her online classes Lang had built up a massive email list. It is now averaging over 17,000 people.
The method she used to build the bulk of her email newsletters was quite simple. When giving live lessons, she would give her students a QR code that led participants to her sign-up for newsletter page. She would also move an iPad throughout the room to ensure that people could enter their email addresses manually. The way she did this was to request people's email addresses in the middle of her class, and when her students were captivated and eager to learn more.
In the meantime, she's continuing to collect emails through live events and also through her website. On her site's navigation bar, she has a button which reads 'free tips. If users hit it the button, they're taken to a website which allows users to enter their email in exchange for the freebie Seven Tips to Have Amazing Birds and Bees Talks. This freebie comes by email. It is also a call to action for the school she runs.
Even though she's got an extensive mailing list and is a frequent contact for online courses, she reminds the creators of online courses that this wasn't something that happened overnight. "I've been doing this since 1997," she says. "That's 1000 people per year. This isn't something I'm new to. It's a lengthy process to create a course that is successful in the absence of an enormous foundation."
She leverages social media for marketing, not selling
Even though she has a YouTube channel with close to 800 followers, an Instagram account with more than 4,000 followers as well as a Facebook community with 10,000 members, and the Q&A type podcast she claims that her email list has the best level of conversion. In fact, she doesn't use social media for selling her classes, she just uses her email lists. "It's far more private receiving an email. It just is," explains Lang. "Social media is just for marketing -- not for sales in my personal universe ."
While Lang isn't dependent on social media to sell her classes, she does find that the channels are useful in marketing. For ease of use to share the same content on all platforms. She posts the same content on all sites every week. She also schedules her posts in advance. Each post includes a call to action; she invites readers to sign-up for her newsletter, have a one-on-one call with her -- in what she wittily names"a "Quickie Consult"to purchase an online course or even employ her as a teacher in person.
While she does not have any communities for her students to join but she has a sense of community through her social media accountsparticularly through a series she does that she calls "Help Another Parent. This program, Lang asks parents questions, and invites the group to give helpful advice. "I have regular players who, for the most part, folks do a great job in their suggestions," she says.
Lang advises course creators to tailor their content for social media according to their users' needs. Plus, approaching marketing using the correct mindset is crucial.
"Believe that the information you're providing will be helpful."
Aside 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 taken online classes spread the word to other parents and teachers.
She creates a membership course
She serves two primary audience: parents of children who are between 5 and 12 years old and professionals who are mostly early childhood educators.
Her program designed for parents Birds & Bees Solution Center for Parents, runs as a membership site for $89 USD per year. The price was a bit iffy until she settled at this price; she wanted it to be as easy as she could. "I do not want to be a lot of thinking about it," she says. "I prefer it to be an easy"yes" ."
Lang compares the course to an "library" of materials, which includes video, handouts, audio recordings, topic-specific webinars, other resources as well as weekly sessions dubbed 'Hump day half hours.' These sessions include an hour of instruction and then individual coaching. "These sessions are among my top activities since they're live, and I get to interact with my students," shares Lang.
Her course was set with a library-like format since oftentimes, parents have just one question. Instead of having endless hours of information students must wade through in order to get that one inquiry answered, the library lets users pick and choose what they need. "With the library, you don't need to be concerned about content being suitable for children or research-based as it is," adds Lang. "People tell me every day, "Thank youfor making the whole process so much easier' .'"
Content is updated to the course on an regular basis. "I am able to support thousands of parents and they don't have to attend as such," she says. "It's only one of the advantages of having a site that offers membership ."
She creates an additional course
As well as working with parents she also works with professionals mostly early childhood educators -- in order to assist with sexual assault prevention.
The second one, Preschoolers, Private Parts, and Playmates specifically targets the children in this age group. In this course, she will teach about sexual behavior in children, including what is normal and not, and ways to identify if a child needs help.
Additionally, the course offers organisations with an affordable method of hiring her. "Some organizations can't afford to bring me in," she says.
Once students go through the courses she offers, she doesn't sell them anything. Her goal for 2023 is to put greater effort into selling the 'Quickie Consult as well as a copy of her book, Sex Talks With Tweens and Teens: What To say and What To Say it.
She creates content using trial and trial and
It took Lang a few months to master the creation of the content she needed to create her online coursewhich required many trials and error. In fact, when Lang looks back on her journey to create a online course it is clear that the toughest part was coming up with the perfect length of the video, how many handouts to include (and whether they actually helped) as well as what type of material would resonate with her target audience.
When considering Lang's creation journey, she wishes that she had conducted an audit following the first year of creation to determine what was being watched and made adjustments in response to comments. Although she's changed her course contents in the past, she is convinced that feedback from users is paramount in helping you grow as a creator.
In the beginning, she was making videos that ran for hours in her classes -- until she realized that that was excessively lengthy. She now makes her videos much shorter and more approachable because her target audience is composed of busy parents who don't have a lot of extra time. "I want to create something accessible and simple," she says.
Her family doesn't helps her to create new content. Instead, she is a book reader, stays current with her research, and allows parents' concerns inspire her to create fresh content. There are also colleagues she speaks with who help in the development of concepts and offer support.
She is able to determine her target audience's wants and needs
In the event of deciding to start an online course business She suggests that the creators identify the reason they wish to create the course. The reason will allow the creators to establish a specific objective that they could begin by tackling small steps.
Lang insists on the importance of understanding the needs and wants of an audience. requires. "What you think they want and need is not necessarily what they really want and need," she explains.
To figure out the wants and desires of your prospective client, Lang advises that creators ask their customers to take a survey and then use the responses to help guide the process of creating online courses. "Be perseverant and keep in mind, it's not about the course creator. It's about your people," she says.
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