5 Lessons I Learned from Amy Porterfield
“If you’re multitasking, come back to me.”
The famous words spoken by my friend and mentor, Amy Porterfield. Not only has she shown me that tasking switching while I’m working isn’t productive, but Amy has also taught me five important lessons that I go back to repeatedly.
Let’s break down the five lessons I’ve learned from Amy Porterfield.
1. TRUST YOUR GUT
“I was chosen for a hot seat! “I talk-shouted to my husband, Seth, baffled as he looked at me.
“A what?”
“A hot seat. With Amy…”
Still, he had no point of reference. And he didn’t understand my boy-band-fan energy around a woman who was just an online talking head.
It was spring 2019. And we were getting close to wrapping up the beach school bonus experience with Amy Porterfield and her team when I was chosen as a member that would get a 15-minute coaching call (in front of the” class”) with Amy.
The day of, I was so nervous. I prepped my questions. Prepared an opening greeting. But then, when her face popped on the screen, I panicked.
“Don’t be a dork! Don’t be a dork! Don’t talk too fast! Don’t talk too fast!”
Because those are my go-to moves when I’m nervous, I tried to reassure myself I wouldn’t make a fool of myself in front of everyone.
Amy was super nice and started right into my pre-cemented comments and questions. (More on her teaching me to be this organized later!) “What can I help you with?”
I told her about my struggle with creating content that no longer fires me up and my obsession with helping people start their podcasts on the side.
With wide eyes and excitement, she said, “I think you should go all in on podcasting!”
Now, let me back up for one sec.
Because I’ve left out of the story…
I knew deep down in my bones that I wanted to start teaching podcasting full-time.
But I was scared I was making the wrong move. Amy, at that moment, didn’t just give me advice.
She gave me permission to pursue what I wanted most without explaining anything. And that coaching call in 2019 changed everything for me in my business.
So, trust your gut and go with your intuition.
2. BEING ORGANIZED WILL SAVE YOUR SANITY
My Google Drive looked like the discount bookstore you walk into…then immediately turn around and leave.
It was disorganized. It was unhinged. It had all the workings of a toddler who didn’t know how to put up her toys after she was done with them.
My business was messy all over the place!
That is until I got help from Amy. I had lots of help.
Her course, Systems That Scale, was included in my B-School Bonus Experience in 2019. And I devoured every last detail as if my life depended on it.
I knew she was organized from hearing Amy teach and listening to her podcast. But I hadn’t fully understood to what degree or even why it was so important.
Now, there’s a place for everything in my business to be put away nice and neat, and I can think clearly and waste no time finding the exact location of an asset, document, podcast episode, or anything else crucial to running my business.
So yeah, Amy might not have uttered those words to me, but the lesson came through loud and clear: “Being organized will save your sanity! “
3. THE LAUNCH IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE PRODUCT
I have a degree in marketing. I have an advantage over the average business owner who’s created a great product. At least, that’s what I was telling myself.
I’ve taken professional sales courses in college, understood consumer behavior, and even excelled in my market research classes.
But none of them taught me that the art of a successful product business is in the launch.
That’s where Amy comes in. She taught me to think more strategically about touch points and positive interactions along the customer journey.
The art of “surprising and delighting customers when they least expect it” was a priceless lesson.
And most importantly, how to make it easier for someone to say yes to your product by removing their objections along the way.
I went from being unsure of how to sell online to feeling confident in my business and what I am promoting. A sentiment I share with many of her students.
4. YOU ARE A BIG DEAL
“I’m going to send her a DM on Instagram,” I told my mom and her friend Cathy as we sat in the balcony section of the conference center. We were at the rise conference in Dallas, Texas, and I discovered that Amy was there.
I had never met her in person. Just our online chat, being in the comments during her Facebook lives, and my hot seat coaching session.
To my surprise, she responded and told me to come to find her in the section she was sitting in.
I told my mom the mission and said, “Wish me luck!”
There were thousands of women at this conference. And, according to my name badge, I didn’t belong in the section Amy was seated in. She was VIP. I was not.
But, I spotted her in the crowd during one of the music breaks. A woman beside me asked if I was looking for someone, probably because I looked desperate and confused.
I leaned in and shouted over the music towards her, “I’m trying to find Amy Porterfield.” As the words slipped out, I immediately felt embarrassed that I looked like a groupie!
“Oh,” the stranger’s eyes lit up, “I spotted her earlier. She’s over there – in a denim shirt! “
Whew! I wasn’t a total Creepy Creeperson.
This woman was fangirling too.
“AMY!” we both shouted, possibly looking and sounding ridiculous. We didn’t care.
She turned around, threw up her hand to wave, and had a huge smile.
She came over to chat, looking genuinely excited to see a familiar face.
“How are you?…Are you enjoying your time here?… Is it always this hot in Dallas?” Her questions were polite, and I could tell she genuinely was engaged in our conversation.
“We should take a picture!”
Of course, I had thought about it. But I didn’t want to be that person. But I’m so glad that she offered the idea. Because that’s how this picture came to be.
I learned that Amy not only says her people are important. She went out of her way to make me, , and the random lady I was with, feel like a big deal at that moment.
These little things make all the difference.
As Amy would say, “Remember, you are a big deal!”
5. KEEP IT SIMPLE, GET FANCY LATER!
“Go big or go home!” That’s the principal I walked into my online business thinking. Either you can make it the best, or it’s not worth trying. And that’s wrong.
I’ve learned from Amy to start simple and scrappy, then get fancy later. And that one concept has given me the fuel I need to succeed!
It’s the driving force behind a product that’s not 100% perfect.
It’s launching a new lead magnet and then making the sequence behind the scenes fancier as I go.
The point is, you don’t let the ideas feeding your perfectionism keep you from putting what you’re creating into the world. You can baby step into the business you’re dreaming of by taking one step toward your goals each time you launch something.
That automated webinar that you’re dreaming about?
It can start as just a pre-recorded video on a webpage.
The digital course you want to create that attracts hundreds of members? It doesn’t need to cost thousands of dollars for a design team and video editor you can afford. Do it yourself.
Those ads you want to run for your launch but don’t have the money to do right now? Start with organic reach and build up your way to paid advertising.
Keep it simple, get fancy later.
Those are the five important lessons I learned from Amy Porterfield.
Additional Resources from Amy
PODCAST EPISODES ABOUT CONTENT YOU NEED TO HEAR
Online Marketing Made Easy Episodes:
- #383: Am I Giving Away Too Much Free Content?
- #164: Free Content vs. Paid Content (What’s the Difference?)
Episodes from The Proffitt Podcast:
- Ep 364, How to Create a Digital Product with Content Backlog
- Ep 290, Podcast Monetization with a Digital Course, with Amy Porterfield
- Ep 183, The Ripple Effect of Podcasting
- Ep 290, Podcast Monetization with a Digital Course, with Amy Porterfield
- Ep 288, Digital Course Academy, Behind the Scenes of My Affiliate Bonus Experience
- Ep 181, Invest in a Digital Course: Why (& How Much)
- Ep 180, My First Digital Course: 10 Mistakes I Made
- Ep 179, Ideas to First Digital Course (Behind-the-Scenes)
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