The Way Millie Adrian Made $400K by Training aspiring social Media Influencers
Millie Adrian is on a goal to show future social media influencers how to make money on Instagram.
Her love for content creation began early; in 2008, she started a YouTube channel with her little brother. It lasted 9 years. "It was for enjoyment," she says. "We produced random videos, skits, mock-ups and tried out different methods of living. ."
After she got a new corporate job during her early 20s, she missed the creative outlet that making videos gave her -- so it was that she decided to take on Instagram writing on the side of her 9-5. She promoted herself as a lifestyle blogger and published "anything and everything" posting photos about food, fashion, travel as well as wine, coffee books, and even her pet.
The account she used, @itsmodernmillie quickly increased in popularity and before long, she was being asked all kinds of questions from the people who follow her. They wanted to know how she was growing, how she took specific pictures as well as how she managed to get the amount of interaction. In order to give her viewers the best possible answers She decided to create an additional YouTube channel. Then, the teaching of Instagram was her focus.
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"My YouTube began to expand as did my Instagram started to grow and this created the whole effect of helping people more," she explains. "I wanted to see which platform took off before deciding to go with the one that had been successful. However, they all connected naturally ."
In October of 2019, she quit the corporate world and was an all-time creator of content. Since, she's built an Instagram following that is 117K. She also has the YouTube channel has 246K followers, andhaving launched online courses in 2021 -- enrolled 600 students and generated more than $400,000 USD. "Next year, I'd like to reach seven figures,"" she says beaming.
Here are the 10 ways she earned multiple six figures in her initial 16 months of selling course materials:
Skip ahead:
- She listened to her instincts
- She launched three different courses
- She did market research to determine the best price
- She developed her content in response to what her target audience would like to hear.
- She continually improves the learning experience for her students.
- She was very generous in her expertise
- She created a simple sales funnel
- The instructor offered freebies with each of the courses.
- She overcame burnout
- She is steady
Her gut instinct was the one she followed
While working for her company, Adrian created content for Instagram and Youtube during the weekend. The outlet helped to revive the spark of her creativity as she began to crave to have more time.
While she loved her 9-5 job however, she noticed a strong "gut sense" about her destined to do more. "I was unable to sleep, because my inner voice told me I had the potential to dream even bigger," she shares. "I believed there was something more for me out there ."
She decided to leave her job after she consistently made at least half of what she earned at her current company job by creating content. "Everyone will have their different non-negotiables for that change," she says.
Once she achieved this target, she quit her job and stepped into the realm of self-employment in October 4th, 2019. With the support of her followers and an abundance of time, she decided that the next stage of her adventure was to create an online course creation.
She has launched three different courses
In the present, Adrian has three courses: The Modern Influencer, which is her highest-ticket course priced at $997 USD. Email List 101, which is her middle-ticket course priced at $297 USD, as well as The Reels Roadmap which is her lowest ticket course priced at $97 USD. Each of her courses teaches people how to grow as creators of online content However, the Modern Influencer is the one she focuses on most.
The original plan for the Modern Influencer was a course she launched in the month of July in 2021 started as a 6-week group coaching call for $597. She then decided to transform the course into a 3-month one-on-1 coaching offer. But Adrian discovered that she didn't have the capacity to teach hundreds of individuals one-on-1. She decided to make the Contemporary Influencer into a pre-recorded class instead.
When looking for the right online course hosting platform She was attracted to the platform after she had taken several of online classes, and as a student, was among her top choices.
"From the student's perspective it's the simplest approach to learning, and also the most straightforward."
Along with offering three courses, she also offers extra resources that she offers at checkout for an up-sell to boost sales, like Pitch Email Templates, Pitch Slide Deck Template and Kit Guide for Media, Kit Guide, and 100+ Caption Ideas.
She did market research to determine the best price
When it came to pricing The Modern Influencer The Modern Influencer, she conducted market research; she wanted to know the prices other creators charged for similar courses, and the content she created with theirs. "I examined what other creators were teaching, and my own teaching style of," she says.
"I could never find a course that taught the use of Instagram as well as brand collaborations, and mine combined both," continues Adrian. "That's how I was able to assess the best cost ."
She created her content based on what her audience would like to hear.
Adrian designed her courses, not only on what she was looking to impart and what programs were not available.
The audience was asked what percentage of them had taken a course on Instagram as well as what they'd like to have learned but didn't. After that, she developed The Modern Influencer's syllabus using "brain-dumping" everything she was aware of into sticky-notepads. "The table was full of sticky notes" she jokes.
She sorted the sticky notes beginning with A to Z. They covered everything necessary for someone to go from knowing nothing about Instagram to becoming a full-time content creator. Every A to Z subject became sections, while additional sticky notes were turned into lessons. While she says that the course is mostly Instagram-focused, it's always evolving each year as she adds more and more lessons. Additionally, she's planning on her adding more lessons to YouTube and TikTok as they're what their users are wanting.
Her courses are delivered in a few media; she alternates between video clips of her talks, slide shows, and screen recordings. "It really just depends on the topic and how I think the student will best digest the information," she says.
Furthermore, her videos are entirely pre-recorded, with the exception of the occasional Q&A session that she hosts on her Facebook page.
She is constantly improving her students' experience
Her Facebook group is the place where The Modern Influencer students are joined. The students have access for life to the group and it gives them a place where students can ask any questions regarding creating content.
Aside from the Facebook page, she says she's played around with several strategies to keep people interested with The Modern Influencer She's considering creating an Modern Influencer certification that shows that the person has completed the training and have been certified as influencers. Additionally, she'd like to connect those who've completed the certification to brand deals in a list of PR. "I do not want to become an agency. I would like to help people take the next step to take," she says.
Additionally, she wants to offer her students the chance to become affiliates for the course, meaning that Adrian will pay them a percentage of the tuition cost by referring individuals. "Those are a few suggestions we're exploring, and we'd like to come up with an established plan for next year's course," she explains.
She was generous with her knowledge
Her audience is aspiring influencers - also known as content creators who want to be the face of their brand online.
"I do not work with companies or anyone who isn't looking to be on camera since a large portion of the techniques I employ are about creating a personal connection with your viewers on camera" she says.
Like her students, building Adrian's audience took stepping outside of her comfortable zone but, as she says, "you don't grow from areas of comfort."
She says she has built her following by spending time in her own education. "For many years, I was taking those free webinars and studying the activities of other participants," she says. "I instantly noticed a change when I started buying online courses that would yield the results I desired. ."
The most important thing she can do for helping content creators grow their reputation is to be generous with their ideas for what they would like to share and she believes creators should not be guardians of information.
"Don't keep a secret about the information you have, and give away the knowledge that you have.Once I said 'screw it I'm going to teach all I could learn without having the intent of getting paid, my audience found me."
She designed a straightforward sales funnel
Rather than getting intimidated by elaborate sales funnels, Adrian decided to keep his sales funnels simple.
In the months leading up to when she started The Modern Influencer, she made a waitlist with the Google form. She then posted the URL on her site along with all of her social media channels. When she finally launched the course, she was greeted by an enthusiastic audience waiting for her email.
She recommends that course creators avoid letting sales funnels scare the audience. Instead, she advises that they create a simple funnel like waiting lists so that they will create leads and get people ready to buy their course after it's been launched.
She gave away freebies to each of the courses.
The sales funnel of Adrian is now a bit more elaborate and she offers free resources that are in line with her courses. "When people download the freebie , or interacts with it, they'll be put in an automated email system that will then upsell them through these emails," she explains.
For The Modern Influencer, the host of the webinar is a 60-minute one which will teach the 100-day Instagram plan -which is i.e. all the steps needed to hit 10,000 followers and make $1000 in 100 days. When they've completed the training program, people are being re-sold the training program.
In the Email List 101 course, she has a free 10-page pdf download that will teach individuals how to begin building, growing, and serving your email database. For The Reels Roadmap course, the course is free and teaches people how to increase views, draw attention to themselves, and help their reels be viewed by millions of people.
She fought off burnout
Even though Adrian's enterprise has grown rapidly however, it also came with the cost of her mental wellbeing.
Although she had the job of her dreams however, she was caught up in the pattern of working too much. "I worked every waking moment of the day," she says.
Following a series of panic attacks and burnouts for several months after the first time she launched her course, she decided to hire a team to help her handle the administration of her business. "If I'm not making the content for my company, it dies," she explains.
Today, she's the position of a digital business administrator and funnel strategist. She also has an expert in community and engagement, a virtual assistant, video editors, a brand collaborations manager as well as an SEO expert as well as a Pinterest supervisor. Since hiring a team, she's been able to set more personal and professional guidelines for the self-care she takes. What's the result? The freedom to focus on creating content rather than getting lost in the details. "I've learned a lot about myself in order to avoid hitting the tipping point again," she says.
She remains consistent
One of the biggest aspects that Adrian learned throughout her content creation journey -- and burnout experience -- is that it's a marathon not a sprint. She recommends that other creators follow this same approach too, especially in avoid burnout, and creating businesses that last.
"You're doing this for the long-term," she explains. "You don't need to see outcomes right away or require instant gratification."
In fact, she advises creators to work on their businesses every day in small, bite-sized pieces. "It doesn't have to all happen at once," she adds. "This is the long game. If this is what you're trying to achieve improve your performance by 1% each day. When you do it just by focusing on one aspect at a and over three years you'll see much more success than anybody attempted to achieve all in one ."
So far, her biggest achievement is getting her YouTube Play Button -- an award honored to the platform's most popular channels. "It was the most complete time in my life," she recalls, smiling. "I would love to revisit my past and inform twelve year old Millie that those hopes she had in her mind could happen ."
Another thing she wished that she had the time and tell herself was to believe in the process. For those who are aspiring to become online creators She suggests that concentrate on the outcomes which result from slow and regular growth. "Don't focus on how long it's taking you," she advises.
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