How Millie Adrian Made $400K by Instructing Aspiring Social Media Influencers
Millie Adrian is on a mission to teach future social media influencers how to make money on Instagram.
Her enthusiasm for the creation of content began early; in 2008 she launched an YouTube channel with her young brother. The channel lasted for 9 years. "It was just for amusement," she says. "We created silly videos, skits, spoofs, and tested different life hacks ."
After she got a new corporate job in her early 20s and was bored with the artistic outlet that making videos gave her -- so much so that she decided to give it a go Instagram blog on top of her work. She positioned herself as a lifestyle blogger , and shared "anything and everything," posting photos about fashion, food, travel, coffee, wine, books, and even her dog.
Her account, @itsmodernmillie, quickly increased in popularity and before long, she was being asked many questions by the people who follow her. People wanted to find out why she was growing, how she took specific pictures as well as how she managed to get the amount of interaction. In order to provide her fans with the most relevant answers she decided to start an additional YouTube channel. In the course of time, teaching on Instagram was her focus.
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"My YouTube started to grow and then my Instagram began to expand, and it created an entire snowball effect, aiding more people," she explains. "I thought I would check which platform was the most successful before deciding to go with the one that had been successful. But they really just fed into each other naturally ."
In October of 2019 she resigned from her job at a corporate company and began to become an all-time creator of content. Sincethen, she's accumulated an Instagram following that is 117K. She also has an YouTube channel that has 246k subscribers andfollowing the launch of online classes in 2021 -- has enrolled 600 students, and earned more than $400,000 USD. "Next year, I'd like to make seven figures," she says beaming.
Here are 10 ways she made more than six figures during her first 16 months of selling course materials:
Skip ahead:
- She followed her gut
- She has launched three courses
- She conducted market research to determine the best price
- She developed her content according to the needs of her viewers. desired
- She continues to improve her students' experience
- She was very generous in her knowledge
- She designed a straightforward sales funnel
- The instructor offered freebies with every course
- She overcame burnout
- She stays constant
She followed her gut
While working for her company, Adrian created content for Instagram and Youtube at weekends. The outlet helped to revive her sense of creativity, and she soon found herself craving more time for it.
Although she was content with her 9-5 job however, she noticed a strong "gut sense" that she was destined to go on. "I couldn't sleep because something inside of me told me I was capable of dreaming higher," she shares. "I believed there was something more for me out there ."
She decided to leave her job after she was consistently making more than half the amount she made at her company job by creating content. "Everyone is going to have many different requirements for this change," she says.
When she had achieved her goal, she left her job and entered the self-employment world on October 4, 2019. With a hearty following and plenty of time to spare She decided the next step in her path was 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 with a price of just $97 USD. Each of her courses teaches people how to grow as an online creator of content However, The Modern Influencer is the one she focuses on most.
At first, the company called The Modern Influencer -- which she launched in the month of July in 2021 began with a six-week coaching group call that cost $597. She then decided to turn the group course into a three-month, one-on-one coaching program. However, Adrian soon learned she was not equipped with the ability to train 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 service, she was drawn to her previous experience with a variety of online classes, while a student was among her top choices.
"From the perspective of a student this is the most efficient way to learn and the most simple."
In addition to selling three courses, she also has additional materials available for upsells at checkout to increase the amount of money she makes, including Pitch Email Templates, Pitch Slide Deck Template as well as a Media Kit Guide, and 100+ Caption Ideas.
She did market research to determine the right pricing
In the case of pricing the Modern Influencer, she did market research. She would like to find out what other authors were charging for similar courses. She also she compared her course to what they were offering. "I looked at what they taught, as well as the subjects I taught more of," she says.
"I couldn't find a course that taught the use of Instagram as well as brand collaborations, and mine brought the two in one," continues Adrian. "That's what allowed me to determine the appropriate price ."
She developed her content according to the needs of her viewers. wanted
Adrian crafted her courses not only on what she wanted to instruct, but on what other courses were missing.
The audience was asked whether they had taken a course on Instagram, and what information they would have liked to know but didn't. After that, she developed The Modern Influencer's curriculum using "brain-dumping" all the information she had on sticky notepads. "The table was an utter mess of sticky notes," she laughs.
The sticky notes were arranged beginning with A to Z. They covered everything required for someone to go from knowing nothing about Instagram to being a full-time creator of content. Every A to Z topic became modulesand the other sticky notes became lessons. Although she claims that the class is predominantly about Instagram, it's never ending and every year she will add new lessons. In addition, she could see herself adding lessons on YouTube and TikTok, since that's what her audience is asking for.
Her courses are taught using a variety of mediums; she rotates between her videos, her speaking slideshows, slide presentations, and screen recordings. "It is all about the subject and how I believe the students can best absorb the content," she says.
Furthermore, her videos are all pre-recorded. There is only an occasional Q&A segment which she holds in her Facebook group.
She continues to improve her students' experiences
The group on Facebook is the place where The Modern Influencer students are added. They have lifetime access to the group, and it offers a forum where students can ask any questions regarding content creation.
Apart from the Facebook group She's also played around with several methods to ensure that people are engaged in The Modern Influencer She's considering creating an Modern Influencer certificate that proves they've taken the course and are recognized as an influencer. Additionally, she'd like to link those who have completed the certification to brand deals on a PR list. "I don't want to be an agent, I wish to assist people in taking that next step," she says.
Also, she would like to give her students the opportunity to become affiliates for the course, meaning that Adrian will pay students a portion of the course price by referring other people. "Those are just a couple of suggestions we're exploring, and we'd like to come up with the best strategies for next year,"" she elaborates.
She was generous in sharing her expertise
Her audience is aspiring influencers -- in other words, people who create content and want to represent their brand online.
"I am not a business or any other person who does not want to be in front of the camera since a large portion of the strategies I use is how to create an emotional connection with your audience on camera," she says.
As with her students, building Adrian's audience took stepping beyond her comfort zone however, she puts it, "you don't grow from the comfort zones."
She says she has built her following by investing in herself and her studying. "For quite a while I attended free webinars and analyzing how other people's activities were being done," she says. "I immediately saw transformation as I began purchasing online classes to yield the results I wanted ."
The most important thing she can do to assist content creators in building their following is to be generous with what they want to teach and she believes creators shouldn't be the gatekeepers of information.
"Don't hold back what you know, share the information that you have.Once I said , 'no way' and just started teaching all I could learn without having the intention to get paid, my audience found me."
She created a simple sales funnel
Rather than getting intimidated by fancy sales funnels, Adrian decided to keep the funnel easy.
In the months leading up to when she started The Modern Influencer, she made a waitlist with an Google form. Then, she posted the link on her website and all of her social media platforms. Then, once she launched her course, she had many people waiting for her email.
She suggests that course designers stay clear of funnels that scare their customers. Instead her advice is to create a simple funnel like a waitlist so that they will generate leads and have people ready to buy their course after it's been launched.
She offered freebies for each of the courses.
Now, Adrian's sales funnel is more comprehensive and includes free materials which correspond with each of her programs. "When people download the freebie or engages with the content, they're then inserted into an email automation that will then upsell them by sending them emails" she explains.
For the Modern Influencer, she offers a webinar of 60 minutes in which she provides the 100-day Instagram roadmap -which is i.e. all the steps needed in order to get 10,000 followers and earn $1,000 within 100 days. When they've completed this free training, they're being re-sold the training program.
For The Email List 101 course, she has a free 10-page pdf download that will teach users how to create growing and maintaining an email list. For The Reels Roadmap course, she has a freebie that helps people increase views, capture attention, and make their reels become viral.
She fought off burnout
Although Adrian's business is growing rapidly however, it also came with the cost of her mental wellbeing.
While she worked hard to get her dream job but she fell into a pattern of overworking. "I was working every single moment of the day," her statement reads.
After suffering from burning out and panic attacks over a period of time following the launch of her first course, she decided to hire an outside team to assist her manage the back end of her enterprise. "If I'm not making content, my business dies," she explains.
She now has the position of a digital business administrator as well as a funnel strategist an expert in community and engagement as well as a virtual assistant video editors, a brand collaborations manager and an SEO specialist, and a Pinterest manager. After bringing on a team, she's set more personal and professional limits on self-care. The consequence? More freedom to focus on creating content rather than getting lost in the details. "I've learned a lot about myself so that I don't hit the tipping point again," she says.
She remains constant
One of the key points that Adrian learned throughout her content creation journey -as well as her burnout experiences -the fact that this is a marathon not a sprint. She recommends that other creators follow this same approach as well, particularly when it comes to avoiding burnout and creating an enterprise that will last.
"You're in it for the long-term," she explains. "You don't need to see the results immediately and neither do you require immediate gratification."
She advises makers to tackle their company every day, in tiny, bite-sized pieces. "It does not have to occur at once," she adds. "This is the game that lasts. If this is the thing you're looking to accomplish improve your performance by 1% every single day. When you do it just by focusing on one aspect at a and over three years you're going to see so much more success than anybody attempted to achieve it all at once ."
So far, her most notable accomplishment is obtaining her YouTube Play Button -- an honor given to one of one of the most popular YouTube channels. "It was a complete circle experience in my life" she says, smiling. "I wish I could revisit my past and inform 12-year-old Millie that those hopes she had in her mind might come true. ."
Another thing she wishes she could return to in time to tell herself is to be a believer in the process. If you're aspired online creator she suggests concentrate on the outcomes of slow, constant progress. "Don't think about the time it takes to complete your work," she advises.
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