What happened when 'Miss Excel' launched An Online Six-Figure Course for Business on TikTok
The ways that creativity, mind-set techniques and the use of social media helped 'Miss Excel' to an online business course that earned six figures
As the flu pandemic swept through, Kat Norton needed a creativity outlet. On June 7, 2020, she created the first TikTok video using the name @miss.excel to help people learn to utilize a software that changed her life.
Through combining useful Excel strategies with creative enjoyment, and excitement, Norton posted a new video each day. Surprisingly, one of her videos had reached 100,000 views by four days. Growing in popularity, on the sixth day the CEO of a business requested that she create classes for the G-Suite product. A few weeks later she saw her first viral video. Within 24 hours, it hit 3.6M views and she had 100,000 TikTok users.
"I didn't know how to create any kind of influencer; I'd just created my first TikTok video about a week earlier and had only told my mom and boyfriend about it." she laughs. "I was completely unaware of what I was doing ."
Despite staying with her parents , and living under a mountain of student loans, Norton began to sell classes -- filmed with an iPhone and the ringlight in the bedroom of her youth in order to build her online following by November 2020. With the growth of her business it gained attention from prominent publications like Morning Brew and Business Insider and was awarded the Microsoft MVP Award. Due to an increase in revenue coming in, Norton quit her corporate day job in January 2021.
In the present, Norton works full-time as Miss Excel, and had her first 6-figure income in April 2021. It brought in over $105K. She sells five courses through her website: The Excelerator, The Advanced Excelerator the Ultimate Excelerator Bundle, The Dashboard Mini Course, and The Smart Sheets (for Google Sheets).
"Before Miss Excel, I was putting in 80 hours a week in my job and traveling for the office every Monday. I was literally within the corporate matrix grinding it out because that's the job I was taught to accomplish," she says. "Becoming financially self-sufficient is my greatest accomplishment. This is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me in my ."
Although from the outside, it appears that Norton is simply teaching people how to utilize the Excel software, she explains her goal is much greater than that. "Teaching Excel is a way that I can help people get their dream jobs and get promoted and gain confidence in themselves," she elaborates.
When her corporate travel halted due to covid-19, having more time in her calendar was an ideal opportunity to hone in to creating materials and branding herself as an Excel teacher. A growing demand for Excel education by the general public combined with her quickly-growing social media following soon led Norton to transform from an office worker working 9-5 to a business owner with six figures in just a few months. How she achieved it:
1. She became an expert
As a kid, Norton was the type to make studies guides for every student in her class. So it's not a surprise, then that her enthusiasm led her to create her own company that teaches students to become more efficient that they can then have more time to do what they truly love.
However, her love for Excel did not develop overnight. her interest in the program began while she was studying her MBA in Binghamton University in upstate New York.
When she started her first day of classes the professor inquired whether she'd completed any required statistics classes. She recalls being the sole student in the class that did not. Her professor advised that she take the class off, advising that she'd probably fail her data analytics major. Instead of quitting the class instead, she decided to invest all of her energy in it. "I was really interested in pursuing a degree in supply chain management with the focus being on data analytics, that I'd need to work to be more successful than the rest of them. I devoted myself to Excel and created spreadsheets to cover absolutely everything. I was able to graduate with the best grade in my class," she says.
In each term, Norton had six classes -- all of which were heavily dependent on Excel. Through constant training, she became an expert within the Excel program. Following graduation, she worked at the consulting company that was doing securitization reviews for banks across the US as well as constructing Excel courses on the side.
It turns out that there's plenty of demand for anyone who want to master the software. "Excel is an extremely widely utilized program that there are more than a billion people using it in many different sectors. Yet, it's a software which a lot of people don't like," she says.
2. She focused the content-creation process
In the moment that Norton's TikTok video was viewed by millions There was discussion about the then-president Donald Trump banning the platform. To avoid losing her fans so she set out to establish an Instagram page with hopes of the following she had gained on Instagram transferring.
"My TikTok audience didn't really migrate to Instagram and I thought that was fascinating. It was a completely different story; I had around 2,000 Instagram followers when I started the page. Soon after I started the page, I had the Instagram reel that went viral. I grew 50,000 followers per week after that ."
Her audience -- aged 18-35 , tends to be skew toward those who are in their mid-twenties. Over 65% is female, and 40% are of the US. The rest is based in India, Europe, Canada as well as Australia.
The audience she built didn't expand following any quick, five-step strategies, however. It was built by leveraging the power of content that is creative and getting feedback from her readers. "When I asked my readers to see what they cared most about, I discovered they needed to find out ways to make their lives more efficient so that they had more time for things they enjoy," she says. "I simply want my audience to do what they're enthusiastic about. I'm an avid believer in offering value to my viewers. This fuels my content creation process. ."
Norton has a variety of videos in her courses around 100because she believes that the process of learning Excel is a visual process.
Her courses are designed in a way that people could use as a continual guide, and is able to do everything her own, like editing and recording her videos as well as writing copy for social media and including graphic design elements in her material.
Her process for creating the courses she teaches is easy The first step is to create an outline of her course of what she intends to impart. After that, she sits down in front of the outline, is meditative with it, and is in a state of mind that inspires creativity. "I ask myself, 'what imagination can I bring into each video?'" she says.
After that, she installs her ring light , and then records the videos using her iPhone. "The main piece of feedback I receive is the uniqueness and imagination which I contribute to each course. When I record footage, I mix various examples, innovative elements such as music, dancing, and anything I can to create a captivating and enjoyable. After that, I put the video on my website ," she says.
As well as video tutorials, the courses of Norton contain quick guidelines, templates, workbooks, and access to her in a private Facebook group, which she says is an important draw for many. Within her Facebook group, students can ask questions as well as participate in a discussion board. She doesn't include gamification in the courses she teaches, however after completion, students are awarded an automatically generated certificate that she created with Canva.
3. She broke the rules
When asked what the strategy she uses on social media is to generate five and six figures in revenue per month she laughs. "I violate all guidelines," she says. "My entire fan base has been built on popular content. I focus everything on generating content that expands itself. It's not a daily thing or make use of specific hashtags. When I get an intuitive trigger to share something that will blow up in the future, it will. When that happens I build my audience by leaps and bounds. ."
The ease of her lifestyle is reflected in her sales strategies So far, all transactions have been done organically through her social media platforms including Instagram. "With TikTok, you're more at the mercy of the algorithm. They aren't keen on pushing advertisements on the videos or offer free webinars. With Instagram you have a little more control" she says.
Through her travels she's learned some social media secrets that can help her increase her reach. For example, she makes her videos a little too fast so that people watch them several times. "This makes the videos appear more attractive within an algorithmic way," she says.
Another technique she's discovered is gathering testimonials from the data. Once collecting information of the individuals who've taken a class and then develops an email list segmented and requests feedback from them. Then, she shares this feedback to her social media following to increase her credibility and gain the trust of her followers.
In the present, she's stepping into market of paid advertisements to expand her company even further, and has also hired a company to aid her in doing that.
4. The woman was clear about her top revenue boosters
According to Norton, one key to growing the business is to maintain your expenses to a minimum.
Between paying for software such as , FloDesk, WebinarJam, as also an assistant virtual Miss Excel only costs around 1,000 dollars per month running Miss Excel.
Another one of her tricks to gaining consistent revenue is to always keep her classes open to enrollment. Her preference is to set the price of her courses on the high side, believing that it's easier to increase the price later on. Her products are also packaged at a price that is slightly more than the price of one course. This bundle includes Excelerator Course and the Advanced Excelerator Course, and the Dashboard Mini-Course. The bundle makes up over 80% of her revenue and is her top-selling product.
Every couple of months, Norton also uses a webinar launch technique to provide a quick cash injection in her company. She hosts a free Excel training and, after the training, offers her students each course for less than half price, and also the chance to buy the entire bundle at a cost of just $50.
Webinars are the most powerful way to boost her revenue; the last webinar she launched generated $50,000 in just 24 hours. "This technique of launching is amazing. I hosted two webinars in April and I was able to achieve my first month of six figures," she declares. "99 percent of our income came from core sales on ."
Norton makes her webinars feel like parties; music comes on when people join the webinar, and she asks participants to bring along their preferred beverage. "It's an amazing time as well as a chance to really connect with the viewers," she says. "I typically begin with a two to three-minute presentation about who I am, followed by a 45 minute in-depth Excel lesson. Then, at the end I'll ask them whether they'd like to know more. I don't use a selling page. I direct everyone into the checkout area at the end of my webcast. It's also the time to upsell my bundle ."
The launch of webinars lets her have greater control. Instead of giving a coupon code that someone can Google and utilize, the students simply purchase her courses immediately after the free training.
She hosts the training on WebinarJam. She explains that the platform allows her to teach many thousands of participants without worrying about crashing. "It's costly, but it's been so worthwhile; it has made my life much simpler. You press a button and my ads appear in the display, and I can generate sales immediately," she says.
When she isn't able to hold a webinar, she'll either run sales, provide promotions to her email list, continue to grow her following and/or conduct a corporate training. "My corporate training accounts for a small percentage of my revenue at this point. Today, I will only accept large names at a premium price since it takes away the time I spend creating my courses," she explains.
5. She was a nurturing guide for her followers.
Similar to her sales, the majority leads for her come from her social media following and a free guide -- Top 31 Excel Functions that will Improve Efficiency she provides as a tool for lead generation.
People either find her freebie on her website, or by clicking a link within her Instagram bio, and then entering their email address.
Her freebie also gets promoted using the click funnels method that was developed by Russell Bronson. The method involves sending five emails that generate an opportunity to sell at the conclusion by using coupon codes. "The initial email's goal is to convince customers to fall in love with you. The next one introduces them to an issue and makes them engaged in the story. The third and forth offer the product at discounts 100 percent off when purchased through the offerThe final one is a 'hey, don't forget to buy type of email." she clarifies.
6. She conducted business in her own way
Norton's business strategy is one of ease rather than hustle. She claims that she runs her entire company on the basis of her own intuition.
A dedicated meditator and practitioner of spiritual and mindset methods, her inspiration comes from her steadfast personal growth exercise. "My strategy is 50% business, 50% religion. Spirituality is something that businesses are missing, and that's the thing I've relied on to build Miss Excel," she states. "I get visions in my meditations of the kind of content that will be viral, and then I run to my computer and make the material. The visions I have guide me through my course creation process, even what time and when to start the course. ."
Norton claims that she divides her day between doing and receiving mindsets. "The do-ing energy occurs the time I'm armed with my iced coffee and to-do list. "The'receiving' energies are when I'm not working, but instead, I get up, do some meditation and enter an energizing state of mind," she explains.
Now, Norton says she only has 20 hours of work per week. "Half of my day is spent in a creative state of flow; taking in energies. In reality, I earn the highest amount of money on days I don't work. If I can tap into the energy of receptivity, I am able to make use of it as a tool for taking a number of leaps forward and allow the funds to pour in," she says.
This openness has changed Norton's creative process, and she calls it her business' 'secret weapon.' "When I had the job I had at work I would grind out work all day take a meal, the next thing I knew, I was expected to produce a viral TikTok video by 8 p.m. It was much more challenging. I soon learned to separate my work and personal energy sources, and things flow much more smoothly," she says.
Also, she's a huge fan of setting intentions in order to see what she wants to reality. As an example, she wrote down the desire of hers to be included on Business Insider, two weeks after, Business Insider reached out to her. "Getting into Business Insider was one of my greatest accomplishments. My contacts wanted to know what I did to get in touch with them, assuming I had sent out hundreds of emails. What I actually did was meditate with my intention. It's the way I conduct all my work," she says.
7. She was committed to her personal work
According to Norton her, she needed to improve confidence in herself and self-esteem before she was able to make big leaps in her business. "I needed to bring myself to the point where my self worth was sufficient for my nervous system to be able to sustain the kind of level of success I wanted to achieve," she says.
She is of the opinion that her success in the financial realm resulted from the inner work she's done she attributes her progress because of the way she's removed limiting beliefs that were placed on her in the early years of her life. "I took myself back to an empty slate, and began to think about what I would like to do with my life. After that, I ripped it up. Then, I'm on a mission to make this business to the maximum extent I can in order to show people about how they can get it done also," she says.
A genuine digital nomad Norton makes use of her freedom to live in different locations, including Hawaii, California, Arizona as well as Texas. She stresses that creating an effective business as well as a free life is much simpler than most people imagine. "The the only limitations that people are faced with are those they put on them," she adds. "Now my husband and I travel every month all over the world, set our own schedules and can do what we want. Everything I ever desired was freedom which is what I have become. ."
While Norton is making progress with Miss Excel, she's excited to see what's in store for her. "All of these events have been happening, c-suite people of massive firms are reaching out. I hardly feel anything because I'm a step ahead in the competition in this field. It's clear that I'm building an enterprise worth millions of dollars," she says.
Next, she plans on starting a coaching career and planning out a program on . She says,"I want to help people identify their calling, their passion, and do the things that they are passionate about in their lives. First, I'd like to show them the ways Excel will help in achieving this by saving time in their work ."