How Amy Lang Made $113,000 Helping Parents Teach Sexual Health
Amy Lang assumed that once she was a mother, she'd know exactly how to have 'the talk to her son.
In her job as a instructor of sexuality and parenting for over 17 years, she had a habit of talking about sex every single day. She didn't know how uncomfortable -- and clueless -her feelings would be when she was asked to talk about sex and her child. "I was embarrassed to have "the conversation" with my son. I'm a sex educator," she says.
Wanting to know how to become a reliable source for her child, she began doing more study. She leaned on her background in applied behavioral sciences and dove into learning more about the best ways to communicate with kids about sexuality -- a conversation which, according to her, is vital, yet overlooked. "We all know that kids must have physical, emotional, as well as social well-being, yet we do not talk about sexual health because it's considered taboo," she says. "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 encouraged to keep helping parents with this issue and this time by offering online courses. In 2017, she developed her first online course, called Birds & Bees Solution Center for Parents. In the following year, she has launched the second program, Preschoolers: Private Parts & Playmates. "My belief is that knowledge empowers," explains Lang. "The greater the amount of information you've got and the better you'll be capable of being there for your kids ."
Her online courses make up 50% of her total income; since launching her first course in the year 2017 the course has generated over $113,000 in revenues. What's the best thing about it? She relies almost entirely on her email list and word-of-mouth for promoting them. "I don't have to work to do it," she laughs.
"I'm making money as I do the dishes."
Even as her successes grew naturally, she was intentional in her actions. Here are a few examples:
Skip ahead:
- She makes use of
- She constructs an email-list
- She leverages social media as a marketing tool and not for selling
- She develops a membership course
- She creates an additional course
- She develops content through trial and trial and
- She takes into account her target audience's wants and needs
She uses
Lang had been as a business owner for more than a decade prior to launching the first course online. While she's passionate about instructing in person, and performs live shows but online courses seemed to be a natural step for her company.
She not only wanted access to many parents and others who interact with kids, she also wanted people to have the option to learn from home; talking about sexuality is uncomfortable for many, and online classes provide students with an intimate environment in which to study.
She decided to host her course on rather than other e-learning platforms. "It was the most friendly it was easy, appeared to be the most simple to use, and it was also the most affordable" she explains.
She builds an email database
By the time 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 majority of her lists was easy. When instructing live classes, she would give an QR code which led participants to her sign-up for newsletter webpage. Also, she would move an iPad throughout the classroom so that students could manually enter their emails. It was a smart idea to ask for emails during her class, and just at the time that her students were hooked and eager to learn more.
She continues to solicit emails from live gigs and also through her website. On her site's navigation bar, she has a button that says 'free tips.' Once people click on it and are taken to a website that allows them to input their email in exchange for a freebie: Seven Tips to Have Amazing Birds & Bees Talks. This freebie comes via email, which will also direct people to the school she runs.
Although she has a big email list now, she reminds online course the creators of online courses that this wasn't something that happened overnight. "I've been at it for the past 17 years," she says. "That's 1,000 people a year. It's not a new concept. It's a lengthy process to create a course that is successful even if you do not have an extensive foundation."
She leverages social media for marketing, not selling
Although she has a YouTube channel that has close to 850 subscribers, 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 amount of conversion. In actual fact, she doesn't use her social channels to promote the courses she offers, but rather the email list she has. "It's far more private to get an email. This is the way it works," explains Lang. "Social media is just for marketing -- not sales . my universe ."
Even though Lang doesn't rely on social media to sell her courses however, she finds these platforms useful in marketing. To make it easy to share the same information on each the social media platforms every week. She also schedules the posts ahead of time. Each post includes an invitation to action. Lang encourages users to sign up for her newsletter, have a one-on-one call with her in what she wittily names"a "Quickie Consult,"- purchase one of her courses online, or invite her to give a live class.
Though she doesn't have any community that her children can join however, she does create an environment of friendship on her social media -- especially through a program she runs called 'Help Another Parent. This the series Lang posts questions from parents, while allowing the community to provide helpful and kind advice. "I regularly play with my friends who, for the most part, people are very helpful in their suggestions," she says.
Lang suggests that course designers tailor their content for social media according to their users' needs. Additionally approach marketing using the correct mindset is vital.
"Believe that the information you're providing is helpful."
Apart from social media, and her email list, her followers have been growing organically via word-of-mouth. many people who have come to her live sessions or taken online classes spread the word to other parents and teachers.
She creates a membership course
She has two main audience: parents of children aged 5 - 12, and professionals who are mostly early elementary school teachers.
Her program for parents, Birds & Bees Solution Center for Parents, runs through a membership website for $89 USD annually. The price was a bit iffy until she settled on this number; she wanted it to be as accessible as she could. "I do not want to be any pondering about it," she says. "I prefer that it be a straightforward"yes" ."
Lang likens this course to a 'library' of resources, which includes documents, handouts and videos, as well as audio recordings, special topics webinars, extra resources, as well as weekly sessions dubbed "Hump day half hours. The sessions consist of the teaching portion for 10 minutes followed by group coaching. "These sessions are my favorite activities because they're live and I can interact with my students,"" adds Lang.
She set up her course with a library-like format since most parents are faced with just one query. Instead of having hours and hours of material must go through to get their one inquiry solved, the library lets users pick and choose what they want to learn. "With libraries, you don't have to be concerned about content being age-appropriate or research-based, because it already is," adds Lang. "People often tell me, often, "Thank youfor making everything so much easier .'"
The content is developed and updated to the course on an a regular schedule. "I get to assist so many parents without having to show up, as such," she says. "It's just one of the advantages of having a site that offers membership ."
She develops an additional course
Alongside working with parents, she also engages professionals -- mainly early childhood educators in order to assist with sexual assault prevention.
Her second course, Preschoolers, Private Parts, and Playmates specifically targets the children in this age group. Here, she teaches about the sexuality of children, including what is and what isn't typical, and the best way to tell if a child needs help.
Plus, this course provides organisations with an affordable way to hire her. "Some organisations aren't financially able to hire me," she says.
Once students go through her classes, she does not sell them anything. But, her aim in 2023 is to place more effort into promoting a 'Quickie Consult as well as a copy of her book Sex Talks for Tweens What To say and What To Tell it.
She designs content via trial and the
It took Lang some time to understand the process of the creation of content for her online courseit was a process that required a ton of trial and failure. Actually, when Lang thinks about her online course creation journey it is clear that the toughest part was working out the best length for the video, what handouts to include (and whether they would be useful) and which type of content would be most popular with her audience.
Upon reflection of Lang's course of creation, she wishes she did an audit after the initial year, to check what people were watching, and then made tweaks in response to comments. While she's altered her content in the past, she is convinced that feedback is paramount in helping you grow as a creator.
She was initially making videos that ran for hours in her classes before deciding that they were too long. Then, she cuts them much shorter and more approachable as her viewers are made up of parents with busy schedules who do not have much extra time on their hands. "I want to make it accessible and easy," she says.
There is no one who assists her in creating content. Instead, she reads books, keeps up with research, and let parents' queries help her create new information. Additionally, she has friends whom she talks to who can help in the development of ideas and give her help.
She determines the audience's needs and wants.
When thinking of starting an online-based course it is recommended that course creators identify the reason they wish to create a course. The reason will allow in establishing a specific goal in which they can approach in small increments.
Lang emphasizes that it is crucial to determine the audience's wants and requires. "What you believe they would like and require isn't always what they actually want and need," she explains.
To figure out the wants and needs of a target buyer, Lang advises that creators send their audience a survey and then use the responses to help guide their online course creation process. "Be patient and remember that it's not about the course creator. Your people are the focus," she says.
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