The Amy Porterfield Show

Episode: "The Brutally Honest Evolution of My Courses"

Date: September 23, 2025
Host: Amy Porterfield

Overview

In this candid solo episode, Amy Porterfield takes listeners behind the scenes of her 16-year journey from failed course creator to $130MM business owner, unpacking the real evolution of her digital courses. Amy shares the imperfect, messy pathway—marked by mistakes, pivots, and self-doubt—that led her to create her signature program, Digital Course Academy. The episode serves as both encouragement and a tactical guide for online business owners, emphasizing that success comes through imperfect action, learning from feedback, and trusting each step—even when the path isn’t clear.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Embracing Imperfect Action (00:01–03:15)

• Theme: Taking action is more important than having a perfect plan.
• Amy underscores that no one starts with the perfect course or roadmap:
  "Let yourself have the time and space to figure this out. It will come together. You will make money on the way to finding what's in your zone. But you have to take action. You have to do the things. You have to put yourself out there. You have to make mistakes, create the course that doesn't work. Just get it over with." (00:01)
• Lesson: Each (imperfect) action leads to the next right step, not some pristine master plan.

2. The Real Origin Story: Amy’s Course Failures and Breakthroughs (03:16–15:30)

• First Course Flop:
  • Amy’s initial offering, a “book launch on social media” course, was not rooted in her expertise.
    • Sold a few, netted $267 profit, and triggered a crisis of confidence:
      "I cried for an entire week. Hobie had to tell me to get together, get out of your pajamas, take a shower, and kind of push me back out there…" (07:55)
  • Key Mistake: Teaching what she hadn’t personally done; lacked deep expertise and audience.
    • Advice: Only create a course if you’ve achieved results yourself or for others; just a 10% edge is enough (10:12).
• Pivot to Strength:
  • Next, she created a “Facebook Marketing” course—solidly in her wheelhouse.
    • Net: $10,000 launch—proof she was on the right track, but still felt far from “success.”
  • Course evolved into “Facebook Marketing Profit Lab,” including community-building elements.
• The Power of Partnerships:
  • Opportunity from Lewis Howes: collaborative course (“FB Influence”) led to a $1M+ launch (13:34).
    • Success flowed from Amy already being “in motion,” even after a failed start.
    • Lesson: Visible, imperfect efforts attract opportunities.

3. The Iterative Nature of Online Course Creation (15:31–25:50)

• Missing the Mark—Again:
  • Created a Facebook ads course while no longer running her own ads,
    • Relied on others’ expertise (cue: Rick Mulready), ultimately never launched it.
  • Lesson reinforced: Only teach what you actively know and do.
• Listening to Audience Needs:
  • Found webinar creation was a key skill and became the basis for “Webinars that Convert.”
  • Success led to “Courses that Convert.” Both programs did well but highlighted a gap:
    • People lacked either something to sell (webinar-only students) or a means to sell it (course-only students).
  • Solution emerged: Combine both skillsets into one comprehensive offering.

4. Major Turning Point: Creation of Digital Course Academy (25:51–31:55)

• Moment of Insight:
  • Team suggestion (met with initial resistance, then realization): combine both programs.
    • "When she said it, I was like, fire in me. I was, like, mad at her… But I went home and I was like, dang it. She's so right. She's so right." (29:42)
• Building DCA:
  • Stripped down and rebuilt everything from scratch.
    • Described as "a mess" in the beginning, but crucial for the breakthrough.
• Results:
  • 2019: First DCA launch generated ~$3.5M, followed by another for a total of nearly $8.5M in the first year.
  • Success was nearly a decade in the making—not overnight.

5. The Role of Mistakes, Feedback, and Audience Cues (31:56–39:30)

• Failures Lead to Opportunity:
  • Every “wrong” turn ultimately points the way to a better fit.
  • Audience feedback is a north star for product development:
    • "Your audience will absolutely tell you what you need to do. No doubt in my mind." (36:25)
  • Even failed courses are stepping stones to discovering your real zone of genius.
• Career Milestone:
  • "I had already hit multiple millions before DCA ever was created. So I had a $3 million year, a $5 million year, before digital Course Academy was ever created." (38:05)
  • Success is possible before finding your “signature” offering.

6. What’s Different Now: The 2025 Digital Course Academy Experience (39:31–45:55)

• Live Coaching & Direct Feedback:
  • First time DCA offers personal feedback on deliverables: sales pages, opt-in pages, webinar registration, and course outlines, via trained coaches.
  • "I'm going to help you review these pages to ensure that you are actually moving forward in the right way and you have someone to look over your work." (41:44)
• AI Tools (“Porter”) Integrated:
  • Porter, an AI toolkit built on Amy’s 16-year IP, assists students in real-time with course creation and promotion tasks (emails, outlines, social media posts).
  • Available 24/7, Porter acts as a knowledge base and productivity assistant.
• Next-Gen Community & Accountability:
  • Upgraded live Facebook groups, Q&As, alumni, and accountability pods for increased connection and follow-through.
  • "Transformation is in your course. I want to say that one more time. The information you're sharing, they could get it anywhere. But if they want transformation... that's the course." (44:58)
• Industry Insight:
  • Courses are thriving, but what sells now are stories, perspectives, and experiences—elements AI can’t replicate.
  • Community and accountability are essential for student results and course success.

Notable Quotes

• On taking action:
  "You have to take action. You have to do the things. You have to put yourself out there. You have to make mistakes, create the course that doesn't work. Just get it over with." — Amy (00:01)
• On teaching from experience:
  "You just need a 10% edge. You just need to be 10% ahead of those that you serve." — Amy (10:18)
• On audience feedback:
  "Your audience will absolutely tell you what you need to do. No doubt in my mind." — Amy (36:25)
• On evolving as a creator:
  "It didn’t start how it looks for me today. In fact, it was so messy in the beginning and that is how I got here today." — Amy (54:38)
• On information vs. transformation:
  "Information is everywhere, but transformation is in your course." — Amy (44:58)

Important Timestamps

• 00:01 — Opening advice: messy action, learning by doing.
• 07:55 — Amy recounts first failed launch and emotional struggle.
• 10:12 — The “10% edge” rule for course creators.
• 13:34 — FB Influence partnership; $1M+ breakthrough (with Lewis Howes).
• 29:42 — Moment of resistance/realization about combining webinars and courses.
• 36:25 — The value of audience feedback.
• 38:05 — Hitting multi-million dollar years before DCA.
• 41:44 — Details on new live coaching and feedback in DCA.
• 44:58 — Difference between information and transformation.
• 54:38 — “It didn’t start how it looks for me today…”

Takeaways for Listeners

• Progress, not perfection: The biggest breakthroughs come from messy starts, experimentation, and learning from every action—especially the “failures.”
• Teach what you do: Results drive authority. Even a 10% lead over your audience is enough, if built on real experience.
• Let your audience guide you: Listen closely to their questions, struggles, and needs—opportunities emerge from their feedback.
• Community and accountability matter: In 2025, what sets courses apart aren’t just well-organized information, but personal connection, support, and transformation.
• Adopt new tools, but keep it human: Use AI as support, not replacement. Share your unique voice, stories, and insight in every course you create.

Final Thought

Amy’s journey is proof that every failed launch, ill-fitting course, and tangent is a necessary step toward eventually creating your signature product and thriving business—as long as you keep moving, keep listening, and keep serving with integrity.

"Your path will show itself, but it will never appear if you don't get in the game." — Amy Porterfield (final words)