Amy Porterfield – How to make a living doing what you love
By Mary Maxey
October 24, 2019
In today’s episode, our guest is Amy Porterfield. She is an online entrepreneur and also helps other entrepreneurs build successful online businesses and profitable digital courses. She has been able to make successful shifts happen by building a business and a family. Today, we will be unraveling her journey and how you can also implement her ideas on how to be better.
[3:35] Why should I listen to you?
You should listen to me because if you are interested in starting an online business, you need to hear from someone in that field first. If you are looking for honesty and want to know what the online business looks like, I’m your girl.
[4:10] Where did you get the strength to dive into this business?
I would say that I’m a corporate girl turned entrepreneur. I left corporate for entrepreneurship. When I became an entrepreneur, I held back my experience, struggles, challenges, and pains because I felt like I was a professional person and I should keep it that way in my business too. No one wants to hear about the struggles behind the scenes, just the good sides, and I began to realize that I was wrong. My audience didn’t really know me, and it affected the kind of connection that I wanted to build with them. There was a podcast video where I shared my deepest secrets with my audience, and my audience turned out to love them. They love it, and I realize that people love genuine human connections.
[6:30] What was your experience of recording and posting your first video like?
There were so many moments that I decided that I was not going to post them. I reached out to one of my friends, and she said that I was not being honest enough. I needed to be real and share where I was emotionally ill. She said I should tell my whole story, stress and all that affects it. There were many times that I felt like not posting the video, but she encouraged me to be real and share it with my audience. At first, it was scary, but at the same time, I felt relieved. I felt like something was taken away from my shoulders, and that was the point where I started to love myself more.
[8:30] How did your journey from being an employee to an entrepreneur take place?
I struggled with my doubts and fears. I worked for Hally Davidson and I was at the marketing level and I moved over to work for Robbins. I was the director of content, and I was privileged to travel around the world with her to create quality content on stage. It was incredible, but something happened. One day, Robbins brought some marketing guys into the office. She asked me to come in and take notes. This is very humbling and, through that, I was able to learn from their business. All I heard was freedom. These guys talked about how they are their bosses and how they are doing what they love. For the first time in my life, I realized that I was not free. I have been working for someone else ever since I got my first job. From that point on, I decided to learn and took the lead. At the time, I was doing social media for small businesses, but over the years I have been able to transit into something I love.
[10:50] Did you start as a side business or did you quit your job first?
I’m a really big fan of the side hustle. I got clients when I was still working with Robs. I also had a few clients when I left, but it was a step of little faith. I quit at a point and, for two years, I did service work. What I hated about it was that I wasn’t working with people one on one. I could not keep up with their dominance. I didn’t gain the freedom that I thought I would, but I didn’t stop the process. I continued to try until I was able to figure out everything.
[12:35] What gave you hope that changing something would create what you would love?
I am really big on getting clear. What do I want and why do I want it? I left Robins because I knew I wanted to be my own boss. It was very clear that when I got into the business that I hated, I didn’t go to get my job back. I tried to figure it out until it was clear to me. I often tell my students that my why was selfish. It was all about me because I didn’t want to answer to anybody.
[14:20] How did you navigate your personal life with your family life?
My husband was all for it because he needed me to be around, but the secret behind it was that I got into my business and I became obsessed with it. It was my baby, and three years into it, he called me down and told me about how I was engrossed in my business. I wasn’t focused on my family. I was barely around. My marriage is my everything and that talk was a wake-up call. I had to do something about it, so I retraced my steps. I started to think of how I could run a business that wouldn’t hurt me or my personal life. It took me many years, but today I can work perfectly well without hurting myself or my family. I struggled with it, but I had to get clear on what my priority was and how my work wouldn’t affect it.
[20:34] How do you teach other people and what does the journey look like for them?
The first thing that I always talk to my students about is getting clear on why they are starting. Because on the days when worries will knock them to the ground, their whys will be the only thing to push them back up. We do start just like how I started. I also tell my students that the worst day of being an entrepreneur is the best day of being an employee somewhere, and I let them understand their mindset and why they have to inspire themselves because the journey is tough. That’s where we start when we want to start an online business.
[27:00] What’s the next step people should take?
The next step is to start growing your email list. Let’s talk about this. Sometimes when people hear me say this, they say it takes so long. Your email list is one of the most important assets in your business. One thing we know is that social media is powerful in marketing your business, but times may change and boom, your marketing strategy gets affected. This happens all the time, and studies have shown that email is more than 4x better than any social media platform if you do it right. When Facebook and Instagram went down the same day and a lot of shits happened, I still made a lot of money even though social media platforms were down. This happened with the implementation of email. You can make money with your email list. Just keep growing your email list every day. Do not stop; it will make you more money.
[44:16] What promise did God make to the world when he created you?
The promise that God made to the world when he created me was that I would absolutely have compassion for others no matter what.
Key Quotes
[13:45-13:50] Just be honest about your why so that it can move you forward to where you want to go.
[28:13-28:16] You are building your business on rented land if you think you own your social media platform.
How to connect with Amy Porterfield
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyporterfield/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amycporterfield
