781 Anna Konchar:

Looking for a side hustle?  What if it could grow into a million-dollar side hustle with you working only a couple days a week? My guest today Anna Konchar has the blueprint – she’s done it herself and now teaches women how to build and market a compelling online course, and why it might offer more stability and financial security than a corporate gig.

MELINDA

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m a 5-time serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Podopolo, the interactive app revolutionizing podcast discovery and discussion and making podcasting profitable for creators. I’d like to invite you to take a minute, download Podopolo from either app store, listen to the rest of this episode there, and join the conversation with your questions, perspectives, experiences, and advice … Because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together.

Today we meet an inspiring entrepreneur who has made it her mission to help women leave the corporate cubicle and turn their experience, skills, and passions into a million-dollar e-course.

Anna Konchar shares how she created her first course while working a 9-5 job and earned $100,000 – and then went on to make $3 million in 3 years working just two days a week. If that sounds compelling, listen on because

Anna will be here in a moment, and first,

Most people grow up thinking that a successful corporate career is the safest way to achieve financial security.

Problem is, it’s not.

The latest spate of tech layoffs, hot on the heels of all the Covid layoffs before, show how fragile a 9-to-5 job really is, and also opened up a world of opportunities beyond the corporate cubicle, especially for moms.

The e-learning industry is now worth $325B only getting bigger post Pandemic, with more people used to learning online than ever before. In other words: Now is the best time to create an online course or a membership teaching community to share what you know. Chances are you have fantastic skills, knowledge, and passions that others are keen to learn and willing to pay for.

Anna Konchar teaches women how to build a course that sells, and having managed more than $20 million in paid media, she also knows how to market that irresistible offer of yours to build a profitable side hustle that frees up time to live the life you want.

Today we talk about how to go about it, so let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Anna Konchar and be sure to download the podcast app Podopolo so we can keep the conversation going after the episode.

Melinda Wittstock:

Anna, welcome to Wings.

Anna Konchar:

Thank you for having me. I am excited about our conversation today.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, a lot of people want to know what it takes to actually build a million-dollar online course, so I’m sure there are a lot of things, but let’s break it down. You help women primarily achieve this kind of milestone. Let’s break down the steps. What’s the first thing that they really have to get in order to create a million-dollar online course?

Anna Konchar:

Yeah, step one. So my kind of background is in advertising and marketing. So my entire professional career before I started my business was working at advertising agencies. I did that for a few years, wanted to advance my career. So I went back and got my MBA quickly realized corporate world was not what I wanted to do, and that it was not going to provide me the income and also the lifestyle that I wanted. So I decided to start my own side hustle using skills that I had gained from my corporate experience.

So I started my side hustle in 2016, running Facebook and Instagram ads for clients. So I was offering a one-on-one service very similar to a freelancing business, and then realized that in order to scale my business, I was either going to have to take on more clients, which would mean more hours of work for me, and also probably having to hire out a big team, or that’s when I got introduced this entire idea of that knowledge-based business and teaching instead of doing, and when I created my first online course in 2018, it was all about how to run Facebook and Instagram ads, first of all, in local businesses. So what I was doing already.

So that I think is the very first step. If you’re interested in this idea of an online course, a membership or coaching program, whether you are in corporate world right now or you are working for yourself, an offering one-on-one services or one-on-one coaching, and you want to scale that, the very first thing is figuring out just what you’re going to offer, right? That’s the very, very first step. And the reason why this is the first step is because most online entrepreneurs who offer these types of products, the reason why they’re not successful is because they don’t have what this industry is called an irresistible offer, which basically means that people just don’t want what you are selling. So to come up with an idea of what you could teach and also what people want to buy, the first thing that I always recommend is to just sit down with a pen and paper and make a list. Make a list of all of the results that you have gotten yourself or someone else, like a client or company you’ve worked with.

Make a list of all of the hardships that you have overcome a list of all of the skills that you have. They can be professional or hobbies, and then also anything that you could give a speech on right now without any preparation. These are all things that you can teach. And then you look at that list and you relate all of those things to health, wealth or relationships, because those three things are what people spend the most money on. So for example, my skill that I had was Facebook and Instagram ads, but honestly, if I just built a course or a membership saying, I’m going to teach you how to run Facebook and Instagram ads, it’s not going to sell really well because no one actually wants to learn how to run Facebook and Instagram ads. What they would want is the result that Facebook, and Instagram ads gets them, and that’s consistent sales and more money, which is related to wealth.

So that is really truly the first step that you need to take, is just figuring out what is something that you can teach and then relating it to a big desire or want that other people have that is related to wealth, health, or relationships.

Melinda Wittstock:

A hundred percent. I would imagine you have to get pretty clear on who your ideal customer is.

Anna Konchar:

Yes, absolutely. So the second step would be to actually test out your ideas that you have, right? And the wrong way to do this is by asking your spouse or your mom or your best friend, because they probably do not have experience selling online courses or programs. And then I also do not recommend surveying your audience unless you have 100,000 people that you can ask whether or not they are excited about this idea. And actually, how I teach this inside my program Powered by Passive Academy is we test our different ideas, messages around those ideas, and also different audiences to find out who is actually interested in which offers. And we do this using Facebook and Instagram ads, and you only have to spend a $100 to $200. And what this does is it puts your ideas in front of thousands of people, again, just for like a $100 or $200, and you get feedback from them on what offer is resonating with them, what messaging is resonating with them, and which audiences are most excited about what you want to sell.

Melinda Wittstock:

One of the things that I’ve really learned in marketing is that it’s getting super clear on those first customers. So many entrepreneurs starting out are like, “Oh, this is for everybody. It’s like no, it’s not.” And so what is the 3:00 in the morning kind of issue that they have? And then what’s the gap between where they are now and where they could be? But also in your marketing, you got to figure out just even in terms of the copy or how you pitch it, what’s going to engender trust. Now, if you’re starting out and you don’t have a lot of testimonials, don’t have a lot of that, you don’t have the logos to stick on your funnel page, what’s the best way to start really without all of that kind of earned credibility built in yet?

Anna Konchar:

Yes, I think that’s a really great question because when we’re all starting out, we don’t have any credibility. We haven’t sold this before. We haven’t taught this before. We’re at least in the capacity that we’re bundling it up into an online program. So the best testimonials when you are starting out is your own story and the results that you’ve gotten yourself. So that alone is a huge testimony in itself because you’ve achieved something that other people want and desire, right?

Melinda Wittstock:

So use yourself as your best case study.

Anna Konchar:

Exactly. And it also proves that you know what you’re talking about, right? You have overcome these challenges and problems and pain points, and you have achieved a result that other people desire. And that’s really how you build connection too, is through your story of, I understand because I’ve been in your shoes, and it doesn’t even have to be something that you had a result for yourself. It could be something that you achieved for someone else, but it’s still, here’s their problems, their pain points, and this is how I was over able to help them overcome those things and get the result that they were wanting. So again, it just goes back to really what is your story and experience and using that as the initial testimonial of you know what you’re talking about, and you can help them get closer to the thing that they want.

Melinda Wittstock:

And it sounds like you, Anna went through that process yourself. I mean, you, you’d managed something like $20 million in paid media spend and you were running your own side hustle. You got it up to a 100,000 a year while still being in your nine-to-five job. So that right there is a blueprint for how to do it. So that’s how you got going in your coaching business?

Anna Konchar:

Yes, exactly. So when I kind of decided that I wanted to go this route of creating products, digital products and programs, I looked at all the things that I had, again, basically through that list that I just walked you through. And there were two or three things that came up. One was I had at the time a lot of experience with e-commerce shops. So there were a lot of results that I had gotten clients in that area. So I tested out helping e-commerce sites increase their traffic and get consistent traffic to their sites. And then I had this other idea of, okay, a lot of people, I wanted to get out of the corporate world, but financially I couldn’t just quit my job. My husband and I both went to grad school, we had over $200,000 in student loans.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, my goodness.

Anna Konchar:

So it was like financially I could not just walk away from my job. So I tried all the things. I tried blogging, and this is before influencers were really a thing. I tried blogging and I tried direct sales, like MLMs, I did side jobs, but none of them were giving me what I really wanted and was looking for until I started offering the service as a thing on the side. And that was Facebook and Instagram ads. And I was able to grow my side hustle, like you said, two over six figures per year while I was still at my nine-to-five job. And I knew that I could teach other people Facebook and Instagram ads because at the time, in my nine-to-five job, I was building out an entire media buying team and teaching people these skills that had never even worked in marketing before.

So because of that, I was pretty confident in my ability to be able to teach this to other people. And then based on that testing that I went through, running those Facebook ads, putting my ideas in front of thousands of people, the Facebook and Instagram ads side hustle was kind of the thing that it was the winner. And just that one course alone has done over $4 million in the last four years. So yeah, it’s definitely using what is something that you’ve achieved that other people are wanting and using that story and that result as your first kind of testimonial.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, that’s such good advice. I mean, another thing that people struggle with though, and especially women, is this idea that we have to do it all ourselves. At one point in this trajectory, did you start to get help for your business? Was it all you, or when did you say, “Okay, I’m going to focus on this, but I need help with this, this, and that.” And you started to build a team.

Anna Konchar:

Yeah. Great question. So my very first hire was a VA while I was still at my nine-to-five job. And I think she worked with me for a total of five hours each month. So I definitely did not leap all in all at once. I dipped my toes very slowly, and even now I still just have a small team of contractors who work with me. But I really made the choice early on when I was even thinking about starting my business, that I wanted my business to give me the lifestyle that I wanted, right? It just wasn’t about making lots of money or building this grandiose so thing that I could brag about. It truly was like, I have a specific lifestyle that I want to have. I have two young kids who are three and under now. So I’m very focused on parenting and family life, and I really wanted my business to be able to give me the income that I wanted, but also I didn’t want to have to be working 24/7.

So I think everything in business you’re going to spend time or money on, and I would much rather spend money on something if I know I’m going to get a return from it. So that’s one of the reasons why I lean very heavily into spending on paid advertising instead of trying to constantly create funny reels on Instagram or TikTok or whatever the latest thing is, right? And also, with that, I’ve strategically added onto our team very slowly over the years. But again, I’ve just work with contractors who have a very specific role in the business, and they have a very specific thing that they kind of own and manage. And then I just have one more of kind of an OBM who oversees all of the contractors that we’re working with. So she’s more managing behind the scenes so I can stay high level and really focus on the things that I enjoy, which is coaching my students.

Melinda Wittstock:

So in your bio, Anna, you say you’ve made more than $3 million with your online business working only two days a week, and you’ve had two kids, you even made money during your six figures during your maternity leave. So it’s obviously working for you, and it’s kind of a testament for anyone thinking of starting a business. Who do they want to be, what do they want to be doing? How much do they want to be working? I mean, it’s just sort of a real question, and it sounds like you had real clarity about that when you went into this, but it’s amazing that you can pull that off only two days a week.

Anna Konchar:

When I went to go get my MBA, it was truly because I wanted to make six figures a year be before I was 30. And I realized that even that was not going to make me happy. I was going to be in this sole sucking job. I might be making a good salary, but that is not how I wanted to live my life. And that’s really what made me think of, “Okay, if I’m going to go do something different, then I need to put the lifestyle first and then make every decision in the business based on does this actually fit within the life that I am creating.” Because even when I started my business, I didn’t have kids yet, but I was working over 60 hours a week just in my nine-to-five job, and I was like, I can’t imagine doing this and trying to be the parent that I want to be and to be able to travel as much as I want to travel.

So really making sure that, again, all of the decisions that I am making are going back to what I want and what I view as being successful, which I think that’s really important. And because a lot of times we get excited about these big numbers, like a six-figure launch, or I made seven figures a year or whatever, and those are great, but if someone is working every day, 12-hour days to get those things, is it really worth it to you? And I really encourage everyone that I talk to and work with and share my story with, you need to figure out what success looks like for you and then create your business around that vision. That’s what true success is.

Melinda Wittstock:

A hundred percent. I think a lot of women, and men too, have this idea that they kind of don’t deserve success unless they’re working really hard for it. That’s really kind of a big part of our culture. Even in entrepreneurship, the hustle and grind and all of that. I find that it’s not really all that effective, and yet we have this, whether it’s conscious or mostly subconscious, that we don’t deserve this kind of big money unless we’re burning out or whatever. I mean, is this a part of how you coach your clients to you definitely help them with the mindset, I guess, around all this stuff as well?

Anna Konchar:

And I think through every kind of level that I have been at in the business from just getting started and believing in myself to be able to start a business to even now where we are doing over a million-dollars a year, but we’re ready to up-level the business again, you have to go through those mindset exercises every single time at every single level. And I’m a big proponent of self-development, like Jensen Zeros, you are a badass book. I literally tell everyone they need a copy. I have her daily calendar on my sync, and I’ve had it on my sync for probably the last seven years because it’s just small reminders that you are amazing and you are deserving of what you want, but you don’t have to do it in a way that sacrifices your sanity, your health, your family. You truly can have it all, but you first have to know what having it all really looks like for you.

And I think it’s so funny because I do, I only work two days a week, but I get more done in these two days that I work than I used to in an entire week of work in corporate world. And that’s because I’m not in meetings, I’m not having to answer a thousand emails, and I am just very focused on these things that need to get done to drive revenue into our business. That’s what I focus on, not all of the shiny object’s stuff.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s actually, the hardest thing is actually understanding where you as an individual have the most leverage in your business by taking one action that’s going to have a multiplicity of outcomes or just being focused on the thing that really matters. A lot of the other stuff can wait. And often I’ve found that when you wait on some of those other things, they usually resolve themselves in some sort of mysterious way, kind of a weird thing. But when you’re focusing on priority number one, two, three, four, and five often take care of themselves.

Anna Konchar:

And I also think that it’s just, it takes time to kind of unlearn that you don’t have to be productive all the time in order to be a valuable person in society. Because I just think it’s really interesting to me that we are taught that in order to be successful, you need to work hard. And then people are idolized because if they work 80 hours a week, like, “Oh my gosh, you’re so amazing at what you do.” And it’s like, “Really? Are they? Because someone else is doing the exact same thing in 40 hours a week or 20 hours a week.” But then we also look up to people who are like the Warren Buffett of the world. It’s like Warren Buffett makes warm money than all of us, basically. And he’s doing it because he figured out how to make passive income by investing in other businesses.

It’s not like he’s working harder than everyone else. No, he is financially has been able to invest in things. And I think that’s what we really have to look at is how do we work smarter, not harder, and getting out of this mindset that hard work equals success. And it does definitely take time. I remember the first month that I was working for myself, I told myself, I’m not creating anything new. I’m not starting anything new. I really need to take a month to figure out what do I want my business to be. But then within two or three months, I found myself in just the constant doing mode I need to do, do, do, because that’s how I feel. That’s how I’m going to move forward. But it wasn’t really moving me forward, it was just keeping me busy.

So one thing I started to do was actually track my time. So I would actually use, I used a tool called Toggl, I’m pretty sure it’s still free, T-O-G-G-L. And I would time myself of how much time am I actually spending working on my business. How much time am I actually spending on each task, and how much revenue and income are each of those tasks, bringing in the business and making sure that that was more balanced out.

Melinda Wittstock:

So Anna, we talked a little bit about what it takes to create this kind of million-dollar online course, but tell me a little bit more about how you work with your clients, what your course looks like, what they get, what they learn specifically, and maybe some before and after stories if you have them.

Anna Konchar:

So the first course that I launched that I should say, my first successful course that I launched, right? We’ve all had lots of failures.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, yeah. I have that.

Anna Konchar:

Before the success came.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh God, I’d take a couple hours certainly to recount mine. So yeah, a hundred percent we fail forward.

Anna Konchar:

Yes. So my first successful course, which I launched in 2018, it’s called Advisory Insiders Pro, and it teaches you how to build a Facebook and Instagram ads like services, digital marketing services, business side hustle in six weeks. And I have been running that since 2018, still run it today. It’s really our core course that we offer. And honestly, the best part about it has really been seeing our students’ lives transform. So now that it’s been running since 2018, I have people who went through the program three years ago who I am still connected with, and they’ve gone from making $30,000 at their day job, working as a youth director in a church to now being making six figures every year and helping other female entrepreneurs. Or I had another student who, she still just does this as a side hustle, but over the last three years, she’s made $250,000 from her side hustle.

So she’s been able to buy a house in LA and help her family out with their business. And so it’s just stories like that really is why I continue to do this. And then last year we’ve been running this program and I kind of died down my one-on-one services, but a lot of my one-on-one services were helping other course creators and coaches and online membership providers scale their programs. And I loved doing that, but I really just didn’t want to continue to do the one-on-one work because again, young kids, it’s not very scalable, didn’t want to build out the team. So I decided to take all that knowledge from my own business and also my clients and package it up into a new membership called Powered by Passive Academy that really, it’s a monthly membership. You get access to all the content learning, how to do all the things that I do have done in my business and for my clients.

We have a community, we have coaching calls, we have Facebook, Instagram ads, support calls. So this is really about helping people either get started because they’ve never done this before, or scale a program that they already have in more of a passive income way. So they’re not struggling to make money from their program or relying on all of their income coming from a few launches. I’m really about let’s make money every single day in a passive way. And that’s really what that program is about. And we’ve been able to help. For example, one of my clients, they had a yoga membership. It was a $15 per month membership, but within just a few months of implementing the things that we teach, they grew that membership to over a thousand members.

So again, it’s just oftentimes little tweaks that need to be made, and I really just really love being able to coach and help people build the business that they want. Some people love coaching programs, some people love courses, some people love memberships. And really you need to make your business about what you want, but that also is going to help people get the results that they want in the simplest and easiest way too.

Melinda Wittstock:

Wonderful. So Anna, what is the best way for people to find you and work with you?

Anna Konchar:

Yeah, so you can find me at Anna Konchar, K-O-N-C-H-A-R.com. I also have my own podcast, Your Million Dollar Side Hustle. And then I am most active on Instagram, which is just @annakonchar as well.

Melinda Wittstock:

So Your Million Dollar Side Hustle would be on Podopolo, my app.

Anna Konchar:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

So everybody, make sure that you listen to that on Podopolo and Anna, invite you to join us in conversation at the end of this episode two on Podopolo as a podcaster, when you claim your podcast there and all that stuff, we turn on comments for you so you can engage your community and whatnot. So look forward to seeing you and others there as well. And I just want to thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us.

Anna Konchar:

Thank you for having me.