GOAL DIGGER

The First Course I Ever Took and What It Did For My Business

Jenna Kutcher 

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September 4, 2019

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Do you ever wonder who your mentors are learning from? Do you realize that you likely forget that those that are teaching you are also always learning?

I have NOT been afraid to invest in myself and purchase courses, join masterminds, and hire mentors to learn, grow, and take my business to the next level. We only know what we know, and I KNOW that to get better, it’s important for me to prioritize learning from the best.

Before I was taking coaching calls from Dean Graziosi or joining $25,000 masterminds or sitting at a table in Puerto Rico surrounded by some of the most brilliant marketers on the planet, I was just an entrepreneur with hardly anyone on my email list trying to figure out how to be happy, how to create a business that could run while I rested, and how to be successful working for myself in my PJs.

Just like every single business owner, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs and hits and misses in my business from the very beginning, which is why I’ve always valued turning to the pros to get more education about how to be the best I can be. And the VERY first paid online course I took was from Amy Porterfield. She was introduced to me by a mentor who told me that I needed to start an email list — yes, even all those years ago, people were talking about email lists. He had sent me a link to her podcast and I was hooked.

So when Amy had a webinar, I knew I should watch it and by the end of it, I knew I needed her help and expertise to really grow my business. It was honestly a no brainer, I grabbed my credit card, paid for the program and just a few minutes later she was saying “Welcome Jenna to the program” on the live training and I had a mega fan girl moment that she even knew my name.

Amy’s course was called The Profit Lab, and full disclosure, she doesn’t even offer it anymore. But at the time, it TOTALLY transformed my business. I completed the course, followed through on the entire program, and it led me to new levels of success. Not overnight, but I could see the change and up-level in my business happening before my eyes with each new strategy I applied as I worked the modules.

In this episode, I’ll walk you through how one course changed things for me and how I approach taking online courses so I get results every single time. Now I know you might be thinking: Jenna, I’ve bought a course and I’ve never even logged into it or Jenna, there are a ton of crappy courses out there right now, in fact, I’m so overwhelmed with all of the options that I don’t even know who to trust… or maybe you’re even waiting for the online course bubble to burst.

Spoiler, the online education business is growing every single day and to be honest, it’s not going anywhere, it’s the new norm. I’ll address all of this and share how I went from an eager student starting at the bottom to one of the greatest success stories of all time for a mentor who turned into a dear friend.

And before we dive in, Amy Porterfield, the mentor that changed the game for me is hosting a FREE training and I am so excited to invite you to save your seat and learn from the woman who changed things in my business. PLUS she’s opening up her program, the Digital Course Academy and you’ll get to learn all about that. I saved my spot at learnfromamy.com and I’ve got a seat next to mine with your name on it.

The Choice to Follow Through

Now, you may have bought a course before, too, just like my first one. Maybe it was to improve your social media systems or build your email list or create a sales funnel or learn graphic design. Maybe it was even one of mine or Amy’s courses. The thing I see over and over again is the excitement people get about a new course, and then an eventual drop off where the enthusiasm comes to a lull. Or life gets in the way and the course gets placed on the back burner. Or procrastination gets the best of us, and you find yourself in a cycle of saying you’ll get to it tomorrow, then the next day, then the next day.

Or maybe, you bought a course, finished it, but weren’t totally invested with your time or energy. You listened to the modules but didn’t do the digging in that the assignments required. You completed the lessons but skipped out on the parts that felt like homework because, who has time for that anyway? Let me first just say: you’re not alone, I’ve been there and I totally, totally get it.

If you fall into this category of people who have bought a course before, started it, and never finished it, or never actually got results because you didn’t put in the work, I want you to know that it’s OKAY! You’re not a failure, you’re not broken.

I first want to commend you: the fact that you invested money in a course before shows that you care about your growth and you are willing to invest in yourself, which is pretty huge if you ask me. It shows me that you take action and believe in your dreams… so really, I’m here to give you a virtual hug, and also a little virtual nudge to go forward and take on the things you commit to with enthusiasm and vigor.

Choosing to follow through means YOU could be the next success story by taking a course and totally digesting and implementing the materials offered. When I took Amy Porterfield’s course, I logged in the night I bought the course. I had been taking her webinar, and I was so excited by what she was teaching that I purchased the course then and there. I believed in the value behind the resources she was offering up, and because I’d listened to her podcast for a long time, I knew she had the knowledge and experience to really deliver on the promises she was giving. She had become this mentor of mine and she didn’t even know it.

What Do You Value?

I was at an event and a student was raving about one of my programs and a girl next to her said, “But do I really need to pay for something like that? I could just Google it.” And I thought a lot about that comment, because personally, I’ve felt that way at times, too.

Now there are so many amazing ways you can learn these days and I’m allll about FREE, that’s why I teach so much on this show. Because I remember those days where I didn’t have a spare dollar to invest or put down in the name of education. But for the people who tell me that they will just Google things and piecemeal a plan together — is that you?

If you “could” just Google something to learn it, why haven’t you? Because there is zero sense of urgency — as humans, we simply don’t take a lot of action on FREE. The other piece of this is that when you tell me that you could Google things and figure it out yourself, the first thing I question is if you value your time… because I was there. I have been in seasons of business where I valued my money more than my time and the thought of exchanging money for something that I could maybe figure out for myself through Google and trial and error was the choice I made.

But looking back, the times where my business moved the most, the times where I grew and scaled to new heights were the times where I traded my money to save time. Why would I waste time trying to figure it out myself when someone has a road map or a blueprint waiting for me. In most instances, I could apply the strategies I was paying to learn and implement and earn back my investment pretty quick — but if I hadn’t gone that route, I could never earn back that lost time, right?

What do you value more? Money, a renewable resource that you can earn more of or time, something we can never get back… because my entire business changed when I prioritized time and loosened my grip on money to move forward.

From Student to Testimonial to Friend

The very night I purchased Amy’s course, I got the ping with the email with my course login info and I dove in and started the program. I was seriously hooked. I binge watched it and finished it in the first 10 days. As I took the course, I wasn’t just watching when I had the time or playing a module as I drove around to errands. Guys, I legitimately devoured the content, and then I implemented, implemented, implemented as much as I possibly could.

At the time it was a BIG investment for me and like all good courses, Amy had a money back guarantee and so I had committed to working my booty off within that window of time and had planned to refund it if it didn’t work for me. I didn’t want to waste a single day, so I got to work.

I could see the results start coming in as soon as I started applying her strategies, and that was enough to keep me on the motivation train and continue showing up every single day.

Plus, once a week, Amy was doing Q+As, and I very intentionally set aside time for those. Once again, I didn’t just have the Q+As open on my phone as I half-listened and did three other things at the same time. Nooo, no, no. I was all up in there — I asked all the questions and felt encouraged to share my successes with Amy and the rest of the community within the course group. I showed up fully to engage and get the absolute most out of this opportunity to learn from one of the smartest in this industry.

And friends, it’s crazy how it snowballed into something else.

Not only was I experiencing this incredible success, growth, email list expansion, and ideas to apply to my own future launches — I also essentially became Amy’s success story. I remember when her team called me to ask for a testimonial and I FREAKED out. I thought, “Oh my gosh! She got me these amazing results, and now I get to talk about it.” I wrote the testimonial and became a walking and talking testimonial all about how great this course had been for me and my business.

Truly, I adored her business philosophies and teaching style, and we eventually ended up becoming friends. She ended up asking me to come on HER podcast because I’d had so much success with her program and we’d grown so close.

But y’all, this didn’t just happen with the snap of my fingers. I didn’t buy a course, waltz through it with zero effort, and become besties with Amy Porterfield overnight. The follow-through, the digging-in, the messy and grimy and sweaty work of it… These are SO essential when you’re investing in yourself and signing up for a course. When you buy a course from someone you trust like I did, that’s simply the first step in a larger journey. The course will work if you do. But it starts with you putting in a whole lot of effort.

Carve Out Time for the Course

So how did I actually get results form the course I purchased? I follow these three steps for every course I take.

First I carved out time to complete the course. For me, this was a sort of non-negotiable. I spent money to purchase this course, so of course I’m going to milk it for all it’s got! But I totally understand life gets crazy and sometimes the newest thing on your to-do list is the easiest to push to the bottom.

For those with past course commitment struggles, I’d encourage you to think of the next course you take as a requirement for the success of your business. You bought it because you believed in the content, so do yourself the kindest favor of showing up.

You might even want to put it into your calendar so you build it into your daily routine as a requirement. It’s not a forever commitment, but it could have forever implications, so even if it means having to give up a little time on another responsibility or priority, it’ll be okay.

Follow Through

It’s not just about watching modules or wracking your brain to come up with a question to ask during the Q+A. Taking a course and getting THE absolute most out of it is showing up prepared to the hard work, crunching your numbers, completing the assignments thoroughly, and becoming fully invested with your time and energy.

The bare minimum should be completing the course, but results don’t come from doing the bare minimum. Ideally you’ll be so full of new ideas and takeaways that you’ll be able to implement them immediately and transform the course of your business starting ASAP.

Stay on Pace and Participate

On this first course I took from Amy, I made sure I was hyper-regimented with my timing because I wanted to get the most out of her advice during Q+As, as well as the encouragement from the community that was sticking to the specific course schedule.

I’d do a module, do the assignment, do a module, do the assignment, and so on, and then I’d show up with basically a full on scroll of questions, wins, and thoughts to share during Q+As. Amy and her team noticed my eagerness, and I soon became her testimonial. The thing is, you don’t need 8 hours a day to finish a course. People get easily overwhelmed by looking at the massive entirety of a course, but they’re commonly broken down in a way that’s easy to digest. You just need an hour a day and the wherewithal to make it a habit.

The Big Picture

I followed through and became a success story, and she became a mentor, and then a peer, and then a friend. I never knew it would end up that way, but I did know that I believed in the material and wanted to get the most out of it in my business. The rest fell together as a happy coincidence because I chose first to put in the work required to squeeze as much value as possible out of Amy’s course.

Honestly, when it comes to courses, following through opens up ALL the doors. The educator can only do so much for you after they’ve put the resources together, packaged them up, and offered them to you. Once they’re in your hands, it’s totally your responsibility to take it by the horns.. But it takes discipline and committing to the steps and hard work to not just finish a course, but to also get the results.

If you’ve bought a course in the past and haven’t been able to follow through in a way you know you’re able to, it’s not too late to recommit and dig back in. Or if you’ve had your eye on a resource, coaching program, mastermind, or course, I hope you’ll consider making that transformative investment into your business and committing to the time and effort required to get the most maximized results possible. You could be the next awe-inspiring success story or powerful testimonial… or maybe even a friend to Amy or me or another virtual mentor. Who knows?! All it takes is the decision to totally, completely, absolutely follow through, and get your hands a little dirty along the way.


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Before you get any further... Hi! I'm Jenna Kutcher!

A small town Minnesota photographer, podcaster, educator and puppy rescuer, my happiest days are spent behind my computer screen sharing my secrets with the world. I'm glad you're here.

I’m an expert at online marketing, a nerd when it comes to the numbers, and my obsession is teaching others how to make a living doing what they love (without it taking over their life). 

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