What Millie Adrian Made $400K by Training aspiring social Media Influencers
Millie Adrian is on a task to train aspiring social media influencers how to earn money from Instagram.
Her passion for creating content started young; in 2008 she launched a YouTube channel with her little brother. The channel lasted for nine years. "It was just for amusement," she says. "We made funny videos, skits and jokes and also tried various life hacks ."
Once she landed a corporate job in her early 20s, she missed the creative opportunity that video-making gave her. So it was that she decided to give it a go Instagram blogging on the side of her regular 9-5. She promoted herself as a lifestyle blogger and posted "anything as well as everything" posting photos about food, fashion, travel, coffee, wine, books, and even her pet.
Her account, @itsmodernmillie, quickly increased in popularity and before long, she was being asked all kinds of questions from her followers. They wanted to know why she was expanding, how she took specific pictures and why she was getting such a high level of engagement. In order to provide her fans with the most relevant answers She decided to create another YouTube channel. Soon, teaching about Instagram became her niche.
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"My YouTube began to expand, my Instagram was growing, and it created an entire snowball effect, helping people more," she explains. "I wanted to determine which one took off and then run with the platform that was successful. But they really just interacted naturally over a ."
In the month of October she resigned from her job at a corporate company and began to become an all-time creator of content. Since, she's built an Instagram following of 117Kand an YouTube channel that has 246K followers, andfollowing the launch of online classes in 2021 -- enrolled 600 students and generated more than $400,000 in revenue. "Next year, I'd like to reach seven figures,"" she says with a smile.
Here are 10 ways she made more than six figures during her first 16 months of selling course materials:
Skip ahead:
- She listened to her instincts
- She launched three different courses
- She carried out market research to figure out the right pricing
- She developed her content based on what her audience wanted
- She continues to improve her students' experience
- She was generous in sharing her knowledge
- The designer created a basic sales funnel
- The instructor offered freebies with every course
- She fought off burnout
- She remains constant
She listened to her instincts
While working for her company, Adrian created content for Instagram and Youtube at weekends. It was a way to rekindle her creative spirit, and soon she was craving more time to do it.
Although she was content with her 9-5 job but she started to feel the "gut feeling" about her meant to go on. "I couldn't sleep because my inner voice was telling me that I was capable of dreaming bigger," she shares. "I realized there was more for me out there ."
The decision was made to leave when she had consistently earned about half of the money she was earning at her previous corporate job through content creation. "Everyone is going to have many different requirements for this change," she says.
When she had achieved her target, she quit her job and stepped into the realm of self-employment in October 4th, 2019. With an enthusiastic following and an abundance of time, she decided that the next stage of her adventure was to create an creating an online course.
She launched three courses
Now, Adrian has three courses: The Modern Influencer, that is her most expensive course priced at $997 USD. Email List 101, which is her middle-ticket course priced at $297 USD as well as The Reels Roadmap. This is the course with the lowest price priced at $197 USD. The courses she offers teach people how to grow as an online creator of content, but The Modern Influencer is her primary focus.
At first, the company called The Modern Influencer -- which was launched in the month of July in 2021 started as a six-week group coaching call for $597. She then decided to convert the group program into a one-on-one, three-month coaching offer. However, Adrian soon learned she was not equipped with the ability to train thousands of students one-on-one. She decided to make The Contemporary Influencer into a pre-recorded class instead.
When looking for the right online course hosting platform, she was drawn to the platform after she had taken several of online courses while a student was her most-loved.
"From the student's perspective, it's the easiest method of learning and most simple."
Along with offering three classes, she provides additional resources she sells during checkout in order to boost sales, like Pitch Email Templates, Pitch Slide Deck Template, Kit Guide for Media, Kit Guide, and 100+ Caption Ideas.
She carried out market research to determine the right pricing
When it came to pricing the Modern Influencer the course, she performed market research; she was interested in knowing what other creators were charging for similar courses, and compared her content to theirs. "I looked at what they were teachingand then the subjects I taught more of," she says.
"I couldn't find a course that taught brands and Instagram collaborations, and mine combined both," continues Adrian. "That's what allowed me to assess the best cost ."
Her content was created according to the needs of her viewers. desired
Adrian created her courses not just based on what she wanted to instruct and what classes were lacking.
She asked her audience what percentage of them had taken a course on Instagram and the information they wished they'd learned but weren't. Next, she created The Modern Influencer's syllabus using "brain-dumping" everything she was aware of on sticky notepads. "The table was a disaster of sticky notes" she laughs.
She organized the sticky notes starting from A to Z, covering all the information needed for somebody to go from knowing nothing about Instagram to being a full-time creator of content. Each A Topic was turned into sections, while other sticky notes became lessons. Although she claims that the course is mostly focused on Instagram, it's constantly evolving and every year she adds more and new lessons. Additionally, she's planning on her adding more lessons to YouTube and TikTok as they're what their users are looking for.
All of her courses are taught using a variety of formats; she switches between videos of her talking, slide shows, and screen recordings. "It will depend on the subject and how I feel the learner is most likely to absorb the material," she says.
Additionally, her material is all pre-recorded. There is the exception of an occasional Q&A segment that she organizes in her Facebook group.
She continually improves her students' experience
The group on Facebook is where The Modern Influencer students are included. Members have lifetime access to the group and it offers a forum where students can ask any questions on creating content.
Aside from the Facebook group She's also played about with various methods to ensure that people are engaged with The Modern Influencer; she's currently considering creating an Modern Influencer certification to show that the person has completed the training and are recognized as an influencer. Plus, she wants to connect those who've completed the certification with brand agreements with a PR checklist. "I am not looking to become an agency, but I do want to give people an opportunity to move on," she says.
Additionally, she wants to offer her students the chance to join the course, meaning that Adrian will offer students a portion of the tuition cost by referring individuals. "Those are just a couple of concepts we're experimenting with and we want to have an established plan for next year's course," she says.
She was helpful with her knowledge
Her target audience are aspiring influencers -- that is, creators of content who wish to represent their brand's online presence.
"I do not work with companies or anybody who doesn't want to be in front of the camera as a majority of my strategies are about creating a personal connection with your viewers on camera" she states.
As with her students, creating Adrian's fan base required stepping beyond her comfort zone -- however, she says, "you don't grow from areas of comfort."
She claims she developed her audience through spending time in her own learning. "For a long time I attended free webinars, and I was studying what other people were doing," she says. "I immediately saw transformation after I bought online classes to yield the results I wanted ."
Her top tip to assist content creators in building their fan base is to give away what they want to teach and she believes creators should avoid being an information gatekeeper.
"Don't be afraid to share the information you have, and give away the knowledge that you have.Once I said 'screw it to the side' and began teaching everything I had learned without any intention to get paid I was able to find my audience."
She created a simple sales funnel
In lieu of getting overwhelmed by sales funnels with fancy designs, Adrian decided to keep it simple.
In the months leading up to when she started The Modern Influencer, she made a waitlist with an Google form. She then posted the link on her website and all of her social media platforms. When she finally launched the course, she was greeted by an enthusiastic audience waiting to receive her emails.
The course creators should stay clear of funnels that scare the audience. Instead, she advises that they develop a basic funnel such as a waitlist so that they are able to make leads and ensure that they have customers willing to purchase their course once it's launched.
The instructor offered freebies with every course
The sales funnel of Adrian is more comprehensive and she offers free resources that are in line with her classes. "When someone downloads the freebie , or interacts with the content, they're then inserted into an email automatization system, which will eventually upsell them with those emails," she says.
For The Modern Influencer, the host of the webinar is a 60-minute one which teaches the 100-day Instagram roadmap -which is i.e. everything people need to do in order to get 10,000 followers and earn $1,000 within 100 days. At the end of the free course, participants are upsold the program.
For the Email List 101 course, there is a cost-free 10-page PDF that shows individuals how to begin growing and maintaining an email list. In addition, for The Reels Roadmap course, there is a no-cost download that teaches people how to increase views, draw attention to themselves, and help their reels become viral.
She was able to overcome burnout
While Adrian's company is growing rapidly however, it also came with the cost of her mental well-being.
While she worked hard to get her dream job however, she was caught up in the pattern of working too much. "I worked every waking hour of every morning," the woman says.
In the aftermath of suffering from burning out and panic attacks over a period of time following her first course launch after which she hired a team to help her run the backend of her enterprise. "If I'm not making videos, my business will die," she explains.
Now, she has the position of a digital business administrator, a funnel strategist, an engaging and community expert, a virtual assistant, video editors as well as a brand collaborations coordinator as well as an SEO expert, and a Pinterest manager. Since hiring a team, she's been able to set more personal and professional limits on the self-care she takes. What's the result? A greater freedom to concentrate on making content instead of becoming a weed. "I've learned lots about myself so that I don't hit these tipping points," she says.
She is consistent
One of the biggest aspects that Adrian realized during her journey of creating content -the burnout and experiencethe fact that this is a marathon not a sprint. She suggests other creators adopt this approach, as well, particularly when it comes to avoiding burnout and creating a business with longevity.
"You're doing this for the long-term," she explains. "You don't need to see the results immediately, nor do you need immediate gratification."
In actual fact, she suggests creators to work on their company every day, in tiny, bite-sized pieces. "It does not have to occur at once," she adds. "This is the long game. If this is the thing you want to do, get 1% better every single day. When you focus on it one step at a time, in three years, you'll see many more successes than anyone who tried to do it all at once ."
The greatest achievement has been obtaining her YouTube Play Button -- an honor given to one of one of the most popular YouTube channels. "It was a complete circle time in my life," she recalls and smiles. "I would love to go back in time and tell 12 year old Millie that those hopes that she had in her head could come true. ."
One thing she wishes she could return to in time to remind herself to be a believer in the process. If you're aspired online creator She suggests that they focus on the results which result from slow and regular improvement. "Don't consider how long it's taking you," she advises.
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