The Amy Porterfield Show

Episode: How to Plan Your Next 12 Months (And Stop Winging Your Revenue)

Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Amy Porterfield

Overview

In this episode, Amy Porterfield breaks down the essential steps to move from reactive, unplanned business operations to strategic, revenue-focused annual planning. Drawing on her 16+ years of experience and multi-million dollar success, Amy provides actionable advice for online business owners who want to achieve predictable, scalable growth—without burning out from endless hustle. She emphasizes the power of a 12-month plan, aligning revenue goals with actionable launches, and learning from past results to set up a clear, confident year ahead.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Critical Need for an Annual Revenue Plan

• Amy recounts how early in her business, not having a clear plan or revenue goals left her financially uncertain and stressed.

• She explains the difference between vague hopes (e.g., “I hope I do well this year”) and building a revenue-backed, calendar-driven business.

  "When somebody comes into, let’s say, the Millie Club or even my upcoming brand new coaching… and they say, I want to make $300,000... and they have no clue [how], I can promise you, I can guarantee they will not hit $300,000 by the end of the year. You need a plan how you’re going to do it." (00:01)

2. Step-by-Step Planning Process

Step 1: Zoom Out and Map the Year (Bird’s Eye View)

• Start with a blank 12-month calendar—use a spreadsheet or paper calendar.

• Input personal commitments, holidays, and key events first to spot capacity and white space.

• Amy prefers the tactile approach of “Calendars That Work” for a visual, flexible layout.

  “I want to see the white space first and I want to see what months feel heavy or light because before I decide what I’m doing, I need to know when I’m actually having the capacity to do it.” (07:39)

Step 2: Reflect Before You Plan

• Reference: “Gap and the Gain” (book).

• Review the past year: what worked, what drained you, where did profit come from?

• Analyze numbers with your P&L; use tools like ChatGPT for a fresh financial perspective.

  “If something totally burned you out, it doesn’t belong in the next year the way you did it this year—even if it made you money. You need to really document all of that so that we don’t make the same mistakes we’ve made…” (16:10)

Step 3: Brainstorm Without Limits (Dream Big)

• Ask: What would I say yes to if I knew it would work?

• Imagine new offers, content channels, team expansions, or revenue models.

• Use ChatGPT as a business mentor for bold, scalable ideas.

  “This part is all about possibility. Like, no pressure. You do not need to know the how in this entire planning session. We’re focusing on the what and some of the why as well.” (27:05)

Step 4: Choose 3-5 Revenue Drivers

• Identify main offers/campaigns that drive the majority of your income.

• Less is more—focus on refining and repeating a few strong, profitable offers.

• Rinse and repeat launches (ideally 2–3x/year).

  “I’d rather you have less offers but do them really, really well and make more money with fewer offers.” (36:11)

Step 5: Align List-Building Strategies

• Don’t neglect planning for continuous audience growth.

• Schedule intentional list-building efforts—quizzes, workshops, free content—in advance of launches.

• Consider launching a newsletter and plan for its content and consistency.

  “My motto is always be list building. You’re going to be list building in the back end of your business… But you can have really concentrated times.” (43:05)

Step 6: Block Everything on the Calendar

• Lock in launch, pre-launch, content production, and creation time for each campaign.

• Assign revenue goals to each campaign/offer.

• Build in buffer for testing, creation, and team review.

• Collaborate with your team or a trusted VA for a final check on calendar conflicts and overcommitments.

  “The best thing you can do is if you have a VA or if you have a team, have somebody else look at the calendar and poke holes in it.” (55:01)
  “Once you have it on the calendar… start assigning revenue goals to each of your revenue generators.” (56:31)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the power of planning:

  “Planning six to twelve months in advance can make you more money. It could help you feel more in control and it could help you plan your revenue and profit so much more precisely. And there’s just so many benefits of planning.” (05:29)

• On the annual planning ritual:

  "I usually plan in October and November for the new year and it takes me a little while... by December 31st, I want that plan to be locked in and then I share it with my team in early January and or late December..." (04:01)

• On why launches must be calendar-driven:

  "I've been notorious for planning a launch not realizing it falls right in the middle of Labour Day... so I do like to put all the holidays in the calendar and anything I’ve already committed to." (09:10)

• On revenue clarity:

  “You want to see how you’re going to get there... I don’t mean how in the weeds, I just mean how many launches is it going to take? What are you estimating for your evergreen? What are you hoping to hit for that affiliate launch?” (58:51)

• Missing your target:

  "If your goal is to hit $20,000 on your February launch, you might come in short at 15K. Now you have a 5K deficit, right? ... You’re going to stay in the gain, but then you’re going to say, okay, I’ve got a 5K chunk of money that I need to make up for. And so now you can look at the rest of the year and say, what could I tweak, change, or hopefully maybe make even more in my next launch..." (1:00:39)

Key Timestamps

• 00:01 – Why guessing your revenue doesn’t work
• 04:01 – Amy’s annual planning timeline with her team
• 07:39 – Step 1: Zooming out—seeing your white space
• 09:10 – Importance of accounting for holidays and personal life
• 16:10 – Step 2: “Reflect before you plan” and using “Gap and the Gain”
• 27:05 – Step 3: Brainstorm without limits—dream big, use ChatGPT
• 36:11 – Step 4: Narrowing down and focusing your revenue drivers
• 43:05 – Step 5: Strategically planning your list-building and newsletter
• 55:01 – Step 6: Putting it all on the calendar; team feedback
• 56:31 – Assigning revenue numbers to launches
• 58:51 – Linking launches and numbers to overall revenue goal
• 1:00:39 – What to do when you miss a revenue target

Tone & Style

• Friendly, honest, and candid—Amy shares personal examples, business wisdom, and tough love with empathetic humor.
• Strategic thinking with practical, actionable steps.
• Encouraging, especially for business owners feeling overwhelmed or stuck in chaos.

Final Thoughts

Amy emphasizes that strategic planning is a game changer and was the key for her to “finally hit the million dollar mark and beyond.” She encourages listeners to commit to a planning process, work backwards from goals, document every commitment, and course-correct with data as the year unfolds. For those wanting hands-on support, she also previews her upcoming live planning workshop in December.

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if you woke up on January 1st and you knew exactly what your year looked like? ... That’s not going to happen if you can’t map it all out. This was one of the biggest game changers for me to finally hit the million dollar mark and beyond.” (1:02:17)

Recommended Resource:

• amyporterfield.com/plan – Live planning workshop, tools, and deeper support for implementing Amy’s method.