How Millie Adrian Made $400K by Instructing Aspiring Social Media Influencers
Millie Adrian is on a task to train aspiring social media influencers how to make money using Instagram.
Her passion for creating content began early; in 2008, she started a YouTube channel along with her younger brother. The channel lasted for 9 years. "It was just for enjoyment," she says. "We produced funny videos, skits and spoofs, and tested different methods of living. ."
Once she landed a corporate job in her early twenties, she missed the creative opportunity that video-making gave her. So they convinced her to take on Instagram blogging on the side of her regular 9-5. She positioned herself as a lifestyle blog and posted "anything as well as everything" sharing photos related to fashion, food, travel and wine, coffee, books, and even her dog.
Her account, @itsmodernmillie, rapidly grew, and she was receiving many questions by the people who follow her. They wanted to know how she was growing, how she took specific pictures and why she was getting so much engagement. In order to provide her fans with the most accurate answers possible 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 began to expand as did my Instagram started to grow, and it created the whole effect of helping more people," she explains. "I thought I would determine which one took off and then go on to the platform that was successful. But they really just fed into each other naturally ."
In October 2019, she quit the corporate world and was full-time creator of content. Sincethen, she's accumulated an Instagram following of 117K, an YouTube channel that has 246K subscribers, and -following the launch of online classes in 2021 -- enrolled 600 students and generated more than $400,000 USD. "Next year, I'd like to earn seven figures," she says, beaming.
Here are 10 of the ways she made multiple six figures in her initial 16 months of selling courses:
Skip ahead:
- Her gut instinct was the one she followed
- She launched three different courses
- She did market research to figure out the best price
- Her content was created in response to what her target audience desired
- She continues to improve the experience of her students
- She was generous in sharing her knowledge
- She created a simple sales funnel
- She gave away freebies to every course
- She fought off burnout
- She is constant
Her gut instinct was the one she followed
During her corporate role, 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 for it.
Although she was content with working from 9 to 5 however, she noticed an unsettling "gut feeling" that she was destined for more. "I couldn't sleep because my inner voice told me I could dream more," she shares. "I realized there was plenty more to offer me in the ."
She decided to leave her job after she was consistently making at least half of what she made at her work as a content creator for a company. "Everyone will be faced with their different non-negotiables for that transition," she says.
When she had achieved her goal, she left her job and stepped into the world of self-employment in October 4th, 2019. With a hearty following and an abundance of time, she decided that the next step of her adventure was to create an creating an online course.
She launched three different courses
Presently, Adrian has three courses: The Modern Influencer, the course with the highest price priced at $997 USD. Email List 101, which is her mid-ticket course at $297 USD, and The Reels Roadmap, which is the course with the lowest price at $97 USD. The courses she offers teach individuals how to become creators of online content however, The Modern Influencer is her primary focus.
The original plan for the Modern Influencer was a course was launched in July 2021 -- started as a six-week group coaching session for $597. She then decided to transform the course into a one-on-one, three-month coaching offer. However, Adrian soon learned that she wasn't in the capacity to teach hundreds of people one-on-one. She decided to make the Modern Influencer into a pre-recorded course instead.
While searching for the perfect online course hosting platform, she was drawn to ; she'd taken a number of online classes, while a student was among her top choices.
"From students' perspective, it's the easiest method of learning and most simple."
In addition to selling three courses, she now provides additional resources she upsells at checkout to increase sales, like Pitch Email Templates, Pitch Slide Deck Template and Media Kit Guide, and 100+ Caption Ideas.
She conducted market research to determine the best price
For pricing the Modern Influencer, she did market research; she wanted to know the prices other creators charged for similar courses. She also she compared her course to what they were offering. "I examined what other creators were teaching, and my own teaching style about," she says.
"I couldn't find a course that taught the use of Instagram as well as brand collaborations. I bundled the two together," continues Adrian. "That's how I was able to assess the best price ."
She created her content in response to what her target audience would like to hear.
Adrian crafted her courses not based on the things she wanted to teach and what programs were not available.
She asked her audience how many of them have taken an Instagram-related course Instagram as well as what they would have liked to know but did not. Next, she created The Modern Influencer's course by "brain-dumping" all the information she had into sticky-notepads. "The table was an utter mess of sticky notes," she jokes.
The sticky notes were arranged starting from A to Z, covering all the information necessary for someone to transition from being completely ignorant about Instagram to becoming a full-time content creator. Each A to Z subject became modulesand the other sticky notes became lessons. Although she claims that the class is predominantly focused on Instagram, it's constantly evolving; every year, she will add new lessons. Plus, she can see her adding more lessons to YouTube and TikTok as this is what the audience looking for.
Her courses are presented in various mediums; she rotates between her videos, her speaking or slide show, as well as screen recordings. "It will depend on the topic and how I think the student will best digest the information," she says.
Additionally, her material is entirely pre-recorded, with no live portion except for occasionally, a Q&A that she hosts on her Facebook page.
She continues to improve her students' experience
The group on Facebook is where The Modern Influencer students are included. The students have access for life to the group and it provides a platform in which they are able to ask them questions about the creation of content.
Apart from the Facebook group, she says she's played about with various strategies to keep people interested in The Modern Influencer and is currently thinking of the creation of an Modern Influencer certificate that proves they've taken the course and are certified influencers. Plus, she wants to help connect people who've earned the certification to brand deals with a PR checklist. "I do not want to become an agent, I wish to assist people in taking that next step," she says.
Additionally, she wants to offer her students the chance to be affiliates of the class, which means that Adrian will offer students a portion of the cost of the course by referring people. "Those are a few concepts we're experimenting with and we want to have solid strategies next year," she explains.
She was generous in sharing her expertise
Her audience is aspiring influencers -- that is, content creators who want to represent their online brand.
"I do not work with companies or anybody who doesn't want to get on camera, because a lot of the strategies I use is how to create a personal connection with your audience on camera," she states.
As with her students, creating Adrian's fan base required stepping outside of her comfort zone -- but, as she puts it, "you don't grow from places of comfort."
She claims she developed her following by spending time in her own studying. "For quite a while I attended free webinars and analyzing how other people's activities were being done," she says. "I instantly noticed a change as I began purchasing online classes to yield the results I desired. ."
Her top tip to assist content creators in building their fan base is to give away the information they wish to impart and she believes creators should not be gatekeepers of information.
"Don't keep a secret about the information you have, and give away the knowledge that you have.Once I told myself'screw it I'm going to teach everything I knew without the intent of getting paid, my audience found me."
The designer created a basic sales funnel
In lieu of getting overwhelmed by elaborate sales funnels, Adrian decided to keep his sales funnels basic.
In the months leading up to when the launch of The Modern Influencer, she made a waitlist with a Google form. Then, she posted the link on her website as well as all her social media sites. When she finally launched her course, she had a warm audience of people who were waiting for her email.
The course creators should stay clear of funnels that scare the audience. Instead her advice is to develop a basic funnel such as a waitlist so that they are able to create leads and get people eager to buy their courses after it's been launched.
The instructor offered freebies with every course
Now, Adrian's sales funnel is more comprehensive and includes free materials that correspond to each of her classes. "When someone downloads the freebie , or interacts with it, they're then put into an email automatization system, that will then upsell them by sending them emails" she explains.
For The Modern Influencer, the host of the webinar is a 60-minute one that teaches the 100-day Instagram strategy -- i.e. everything people need to do in order to get 10,000 followers and make $1000 in just 100 days. At the end of the training program, people are sold the course.
With her Email List 101 course, there is a cost-free 10-page PDF that shows users how to create growing and maintaining the email lists. In addition, for The Reels Roadmap course, the course is free and will help people to boost views, capture attention, and make their reels go viral.
She overcame burnout
While Adrian's company has been growing quickly, it came at a cost: her mental wellbeing.
Despite building her dream job, she was caught in the pattern of working too much. "I was working every single hour of every working day." she says.
After suffering from panic attacks and burnouts over a period of time following her first course launch, she decided to hire an outside team to assist her handle the administration of her company. "If I don't create content, my business dies," she explains.
Today, she's the position of a digital business administrator, a funnel strategist, an engaging and community expert, 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 set more personal and professional boundaries around the self-care she takes. What's the outcome? The freedom to focus on creating content rather than getting lost in the details. "I've learned lots about myself in order to avoid hitting those tipping points again," she says.
She remains steady
One of the key points that Adrian discovered during her experience in creating content- and burnout experience -- is that it's a marathon, not a sprint. She suggests other creators apply this mindset, also, especially when it comes to avoid burnout, and creating a business with longevity.
"You're doing this for the long haul," she explains. "You don't require the results immediately or require instant gratification."
She advises entrepreneurs to focus on their company every day, in tiny smaller pieces. "It does not have to occur at once," she adds. "This is the long game. If this is something you're looking to accomplish improve your performance by 1% every day. If you take it one step at a time, in three years, you'll have so many more successes than anyone trying to accomplish all in one ."
So far, her greatest achievement has been obtaining her YouTube Play Button -- an award honored to YouTube's top-rated channels. "It was a complete circle experience in my life" she tells us and smiles. "I want to go back in time and tell 12-year-old Millie that those dreams she had in her mind might come true. ."
One thing she wishes she could go back in time and tell herself was to trust the process. If you're aspired online creator, she recommends that concentrate on the outcomes of slow, constant improvement. "Don't think about how long it will take you," she advises.
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