DCA: My Honest Review
My name is Jamie Trull, and I went from being a Virtual CFO to a Course Creator.
Before taking Amy Porterfield’s DCA, I was working 1-1 with clients and was stuck trading dollars for hours.
I was putting in a lot of effort, but not making the money I wanted to make.
However, after taking DCA, I was able to launch twice and make a five-figure and a six-figure launch.
Below you will find my honest review of Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy (DCA), updated for 2024.
Note: Amy Porterfield makes updates to DCA and the modules and walkthrough may be updated again in future years.
How DCA helped me go from trading dollars for hours
to a six-figure launch!
One thing I want to highlight is that when I first took DCA, my email list had only 350 subscribers. Through DCA, I was able to learn how to build and grow my list, which was crucial for my success.
Additionally, DCA provided me with a roadmap for creating and launching an online course that was successful.
Without DCA, I know I would not have made as much as I did.
Can You Be Successful Without a Large List?
While having a large email list can be helpful, it is not a requirement for success.
In my case, my list was small when I first started with DCA. But I was able to grow it by implementing the strategies I learned from the program.
So, if you are worried about not having a large list, don’t be. Amy Porterfield also has a course to help you build your email list.
If that’s something you want to work on, check out her totally free masterclass here on email list building with my partner link you get an AHMAZING free bonus too!
What is Digital Course Academy and What Does it Cover?
Digital Course Academy is a program created by Amy Porterfield that provides a step-by-step roadmap for creating and launching an online course.
It covers everything from validating your course idea to creating and marketing your course.
The program includes video training, worksheets, templates, and access to a private Facebook group and community.
Is DCA Worth the Investment?
In my opinion, DCA is absolutely worth the investment. While it is not a small investment, the return on investment can be exponential. If you are serious about creating and launching an online course, DCA provides a roadmap and guidance that can save you a lot of time and effort.
Sneak Peek Inside Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy
Finally, I want to give you a sneak peek inside Digital Course Academy. While the program has been updated since I first took it, I still have access to it and am excited to jump back in. The online program is well-organized and covers everything you need to know to create and launch an online course successfully.
Discovering the Streamlined DCA Framework for Online Course Creation
Have you ever considered creating an online course but felt overwhelmed by the process? With the rise of online learning, it’s becoming more and more common for people to monetize their expertise as online business owners through digital courses. However, it can be difficult to know where to start, what to include, and how to market it effectively. That’s where Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy (DCA) comes in. Now, we’ll dive into the updated 2024 version of DCA and explore how it can help you create a profitable online course.
Streamlining the Sales Page
In the past, DCA had two sales page templates – a long one and a short one. However, the 2024 update has streamlined the entire course creation process even further to make it easier to follow. Amy Porterfield, the creator of DCA, provides helpful tools to guide you through the process of creating a compelling sales page. If you use Kajabi, the all-in-one platform for hosting courses, sending emails, and setting up sales pages that Amy Porterfield recommends, you’ll automatically get access to her sales page template. I also use and recommend Kajabi, you can use my partner link here to get an extended free trial.
The Profitable Webinar Presentation
One of the most valuable modules in DCA is the Profitable Webinar Presentation. This module walks you through a profitable webinar framework so that you can sell to an audience seamlessly. Amy Porterfield’s own masterclass is used as an example and is segmented and dissected for you in this module. By the end of the webinar, you’ll know exactly how to craft a message that resonates with your buyers and how to teach it in a way that makes them want to buy your product.
Crafting Effective Email Sequences
Module six is all about email sequences. If you’re unsure about how to write an email sequence or what to say, Amy provides a ton of swipe files to help you get started.
She’ll also tell you how to follow up and what the right cadence is.
Having an effective email sequence is crucial to converting leads into paying customers.
Remember if you have a goal to build up your email list for your online business then you can check out Amy Proterfield’s Masterclass for free here with my link.
Recording Your Course
Module seven covers all the technical aspects of recording your course.
A common misconception is that you must record everything up front and then sell it. However, Amy recommends dripping the content week by week.
This makes it more manageable and less overwhelming, especially for first-time course creators. Check out all the equipment I used when I got started and what I recommend in this blog.
My Final Thoughts and Recommendation of Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy
If you are serious about creating and launching an online course, Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy is a program that is worth considering. It provides a roadmap and guidance that can save you time and effort, and ultimately lead you to launch successful online courses.
Creating an online course can be daunting, but Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy provides a clear and concise framework to guide you through the course creation process. By streamlining the sales page, providing tools and swipe files, walking you through the profitable webinar presentation, and crafting effective email sequences, DCA equips you with everything you need to create a profitable online course. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or just starting, Digital Course Academy is the perfect tool to help you monetize your knowledge and expertise.
When you enroll in Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy then you will also get my suite of hands-on bonuses worth over $1300! Check out all of my bonuses or join the waitlist to find out what they are at jamietrull.com/dca.
Looking for resources for online entrepreneurs and digital course creators? Check out all the resources I recommend here.
If you are looking for an updated review check out my Digital Course Academy Review for 2024 here.
Video Transcript: My Review of Digital Course Academy (DCA) – 2024! Plus Sneak Peek inside
Please excuse any grammatical and spelling errors below as this is a transcript of the video and has not been fully edited.
Who am I and Why Did I Take Digital Course Academy?
Hey everybody, I’m Jamie Trull and I’m here to give you a review of Digital Course Academy by Amy Porterfield. So right now when I’m recording this, it’s September of 2024, and DCA is about ready to open for the first and only time this year. And so I’m actually gonna give you a little bit of a behind-the-scenes into it.
I’m gonna show you exactly what DCA looks like inside. So you’re not gonna be able to see these other places, so you’re gonna wanna stick around for that. But before we get into that, before I jump into actually showing you DCA, I wanna give you a little bit of a background on me and my story. And it may resonate with you.
DCA helped me stop trading dollars for hours
You may be in a very similar place. So I’d love to hear from you below if this sounds like you. But a year ago I took Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy, so a year ago last fall, and before that, I had my own business and was working one-on-one with clients. I’m a Virtual CFO, so I help clients understand their numbers and their business and make sense of them, but I was kind of stuck in this trading dollars for hours world, and I was working so hard and I didn’t feel like I was making the money I really wanted to make, especially for the amount of work that I was putting in, right?
So queue, kind of a crazy divine series of events where I ended up actually on Amy Porterfield’s Online Marketing Made Easy podcast Episode 280, I’ve linked it here. But basically, I was her ICA interview, and ICA is an ideal client avatar. So she was interviewing me as basically an ideal client for DCA. And so if you wanna hear more about where I was and where I felt stuck and the difficulties that I was having as specifically a working mom who was really trying to make things work, but just felt exhausted, go listen to that podcast. Like I said, I’ve linked it down below and it really can give you kind of the whole picture of, where I started before I took DCA, before I started down a path of making online courses, and what has come from it since then.
Where I am in 2024 – Hello six-figure Launch!
Now I wanna flash forward a year later. I have launched twice. And in that time I have actually been able to make a heck of a lot more than I thought I could previously. So my first launch was a five-figure launch. My second launch was actually a six-figure launch, you guys.
Can You Be Successful Without a Large List?
Now some of you guys might be thinking, well, she probably had some huge list before she started all of this. Not true. A year ago when I talked to Amy before I jumped into DCA, I had a list of about 350 people on it. My list is much, much bigger today, which helped me get to my six-figure launch. But I’ve built that using a lot of Amy’s strategies. And so I want, I want people to know that you don’t have to start out with thousands of people on your list to be able to be successful, okay? And you can continue to build your list and you should continue to build your list as you go through DCA.
Now, there’s actually a podcast that just came out that is the update on my recent 6 figure launch. So if you wanna hear again, some more of the background and where I have been, go listen to that newest podcast. I’ve also linked that one here for you to listen to from Amy Porterfields’s Online Marketing Made Easy.
So you can kind of see where I was and now where I am today. And so I can give you a feel for what really is possible with DCA. Okay, so now what you guys are here for? What did I think of it? Well, I think you can probably guess what I thought of it. DCA for me was exactly the roadmap that I needed.
Is DCA Worth the Investment?
I’m typically a really scrappy person who can go kind of pull things out of podcasts or books and kind of, you know, compile information together myself to get scrappy. And I’m very cost conscious. So for me, the decision to do DCA was one of those where I think had not the divinely inspired events happened where I was on Amy’s podcast.
I’m not sure I would’ve invested. I was really wondering if this thing is all that it’s cracked up to be. Isn’t this something that I can just do on my own without it? And let me just tell you how glad I am that I went through the program. I know that I probably could have launched an online course, but as far as selling it and marketing it and making it just really, really good, that was only what I was able to do by having the roadmap that Amy Porterfield gave within DCA. Literally, it goes through everything you need to know to make and launch an online course successfully. And I know that I would not have made even half of what I made had I not gone through DCA. So for me, that return on investment has been exponential.
What is Digital Course Academy and What Does it Cover?
Okay, so let’s jump on into DCA. I’m gonna give you a little bit of a behind-the-scenes sneak peek. Now, importantly, I bought DCA last year. It has been completely redesigned and a lot of it has been moved around and rerecorded. And I still get access to that even though I bought it last year. Because when you buy DCA, you get it forever. Meaning any updates that she makes to it, I get them.
That’s really exciting because now I’m excited to jump into it all over again and take it again this year and see what’s new and what has changed. So I have been kind of playing around in here since I got access to it last week. And let me tell you, it is amazing. It is so, so good. And so I’m gonna show you guys a little bit of what it looks like.
So here is the 2024 DCA. When you log into Kajabi, this is what you’re gonna see. You’re gonna see Amy Porterfield’s beautiful face, and you’re gonna see all the different modules down here. So I’m gonna kind of give you just a quick tour of these modules. I’m not gonna jump in cause I don’t wanna give you give away everything, but I at least wanna give you some of the highlights.
Sneak Peek Inside Digital Course Academy
So you’re gonna get in, you’re gonna watch the welcome module of course, and then you’re gonna dive right into module one, which is The Seven Key Decisions that You Need to Make. This is something you don’t wanna miss.
You don’t wanna skip over this. I know sometimes we want to kind of get ahead and see what else is in there, but this is really setting the foundation. When are you gonna launch? Who is your ideal client? How are you gonna market to them? What’s your plan, right? It’s really setting up these key decisions. When are you gonna name your course and go through that work to validate your course?
So I really recommend taking your time on this one and just making sure that you go through this step by step process, because it is really super helpful to get you some clarity. I think sometimes we have so many ideas, but it’s hard to get clarity. For me, going through that process really actually changed the idea I thought I was gonna do and the course I thought I was gonna make actually changed by the time I got to the end.
And that’s completely fine and actually, a good thing because I validated more, what my ICA wanted and needed, and even who my ICA was that changed even in the course of going through module one. So I definitely recommend taking your time through that.
How to Pre-sell a Course
Now, module two, I’m super excited about because this is new. So this whole idea of pre-selling your course is not something that she previously taught in the past. Amy Porterfield has always taught me to actually create your own course and then sell it. Now, when I actually went through and did this, I actually did pre-sell my course, even though it wasn’t part of DCA for me, it just seemed like something that would help me to understand and make sure that there was gonna be a market for the course that I created, right?
Because the last thing we want is to put all of this work and effort and time into creating something and then nobody buys it. So I decided, you know what? I’m going to pre-sell my course to my list. And that’s actually what I did. She teaches basically a founder’s, a founder’s launch. That’s essentially what I did when I did this and I really recommended it.
Now I’m so glad to see that she’s kind of changed around DCA because, for a first-time course creator, that’s probably the most realistic way that things will go, right? And then that also gives you some budget, hopefully, to spend on Facebook Ads or something like that if you want to do that when you get to your full launch. Okay? So I really am excited to dive even more into module two and learn even more about it. But I’m really glad that she included that in there cause I think that’s a great strategy.
How to Outline a Digital Course
Now, when you get to module three, The Art of Outlining Your Courses is another one you want to take your time with. She gives so much great information about how to outline your course, what to include, and what not to include because I don’t know if you’re like me, I overanalyze that to death and I’m so glad that I had Amy Porterfield there to really guide me through how to make those decisions and how to structure my course so that my students could be successful in it. Because that’s really important, right?
We don’t wanna just wanna sell them. We want to have tons of students that come out of it and get through the whole thing and have results and then can shout from the roof rooftops about how great our course is so she can help you make a successful course that not only sells but also really helps and has an impact on your student.
Sales Page Blueprint in Digital Course Academy
Module four, The Digital Course Academy Sales Page Blueprint. This is also one I’ve heard has changed for 2024 and I’m super excited to dive in. So for this one in the past, she had kind of a long sales page and a short sales page and the, and she went through all kinds of the psychology to creating that and what you need to include where right? So this was super helpful for me.
Now they’ve streamlined it, even more, to make it even easier to follow. Another important thing that I think is really great about what Amy does in all of these is she will give you tools that will help you. So it’s not just modules, you’re not just listening to her. She’s also giving you all these tools to help you.
Recommended Hosting Software for Courses
So in this case, if you use Kajabi, which is what she recommends, it’s also what I recommend because it’s what I use. And I think it’s a great all-in-one platform for hosting courses, sending emails, for setting up sales pages. If you use Kajabi for your sales pages and you buy DCA, you automatically get all of Amy’s templates. So you will get her sales page template that tells you basically put this here, put this here, put this here. And it makes it so much easier.
So if you’re interested in Kajabi, I actually have a Kajabi Partner link to that here as well. I can get you an extended 28-day trial instead of the normal 14-day trial. So if you use my link, you get that extra two weeks to just try it out and see if you like it, which is always a good idea, and see if it really works for you. But that’s what I recommend.
And that’s also when you get to her tech library, she has a lot of tech tutorials that specifically speak to Kajabi. And so sometimes it’s, it’s easier to align with what she uses because then you’re gonna more easily be able to follow her rules.
You don’t have to use Kajabi to get a ton of value out of DCA, but for me, it was something I was glad that I chose Kajabi for that reason. Okay, so you’re gonna write your amazing sales page that people are gonna read and just, it’s gonna blow their mind and everybody’s gonna wanna buy it. That reads it.
How to Create a Profitable Webinar
And then you’re gonna have The Profitable Webinar Presentation, module five, you guys, this is, this one will blow your mind, it will blow your mind like this webinar that she walks through exactly how to sell to an audience so seamlessly. If you’ve ever been on one of her webinars, you know that literally by the end of Amy Porterfield’s selling something I webinar, I would probably buy anything that she was selling.
Like even if it had absolutely nothing to do with me or something that I needed in my life, I would probably buy it because she does it so seamlessly and so well, and you just feel like, okay, that’s something that I need. And she teaches you how to do exactly that in this module. She’ll walk you through the actual masterclass that she put together.
The actual webinar that she has done for this DCA is gonna be walked through and kind of segmented and dissected for you in that module. So do not miss that one. It’s one of the best ones, probably the best one in the whole thing. That again, was it made selling so much easier for me because I knew exactly how to teach it that people would want to buy it.
And for me, it was really successful. I had very successful webinars with a high conversion rate. So I really recommend it. I don’t know what I would have done without it. My [strategy lesson!] selling probably would’ve been more like, Hey, buy my thing. It’s pretty cool. You should buy it, right? So this will help you so, so much more craft that message in a way that your buyers will really resonate with.
How to use email to reach your audience
Then you’ve got module six all about email sequences. She also gives you a ton of swipe files, you guys. So if you’re like, I don’t know how to write an email sequence, I don’t know how to follow up with people via email, what I’m supposed to say. She gives you files that you can start with and customize to make them your own right.
But it’s so much easier than starting [a digital course lesson from] complete scratch. And she’ll tell you exactly how to follow up and what the right cadence is within this module. So that’s super valuable too. And then obviously we gotta record the course. So this will go into module seven and we’ll talk about all of the recording things that you need to know to actually get your course recorded.
Is it for First-Time Course Creators?
Now here’s what I’ll say. As a first-time course creator, I thought I had to record everything up front and then sell. But, in actuality, what I ended up doing was selling the course and then making a lot of the content week to week. And I did what’s called dripping the content, meaning you would get something each week in your inbox.
So a new module would come out each week. And so for me as a first-time course creator, that made it much more doable, A little bit stressful at times, but much more doable than trying to make the entire thing upfront and then sell. So I think that’s more along the lines of what she teaches now, which is that you don’t have to have the whole thing recorded even when you sell it.
That’s really the tutorial of the different modules in DCA. They’re all so good, so, so good. And again, it’s just this amazing framework that walks you through all the things you need to know to be able to make a great course and sell it, right? This isn’t just a course on making courses or a course on selling courses. It’s basically two courses in one.
What are the Bonuses Like in Digital Course Academy?
How do you make it, how do you sell it? One of her bonuses right now, at least for 2023, that’s available too, is gonna be on Facebook Ads. That is super helpful as well. I walked through the ads training last year and I literally just did exactly what they did as they went through each and every one. I had never run a Facebook Ad before in my life.
You don’t have to for your launches, but I did run some and got a little bit of practice in there running these ads. And that ads training was so helpful. So again, it’s almost like three courses in one, cuz you’re also gonna throw in a Facebook Ads training. So I would make sure if that’s something that’s interesting to you, that you watch that bonus training as well.
What if I Don’t Understand the Tech?
Okay, there are a couple of other things I wanna show you guys really quickly before I end this. You’re also gonna look into the tech library. This is gold y’all, and I’m not gonna give you all of it away, but there’s some amazing stuff in the tech library. Okay? The tech library. I am not a techy person. Tech is my nemesis.
I feel like it is not something that comes easily to me. And that was one of the things that kind of was in my head as a limiting belief saying, Hey, you know, can you really have an online course business? You hate technology, you’re not good at technology at all. These things swirl in my head. Turns out when you have a blueprint and you have actual training that walks you through step by step how to do a webinar, right? How to, how the tech works for a webinar, and how to connect your webinar to your email provider so that you can make sure that everybody that signs up for a webinar gets automatically onto your email and they get automatic emails reminding them of the webinar.
Tech Library
Of those things, I would not have known how to do myself. And she walks you through it so seamlessly with different, showing you different email providers and different webinar providers and how you can kind of link them up. So there’s just a ton of great stuff out there in that tech library. It’s outside the normal, the normal modules, but it’s whatever you need is probably somewhere in there.
So I just am continually in awe and they continue to add different things to the tech library to make it easy for you to know what exactly you need to do tech-wise to make everything work as seamlessly as possible.
Does Amy Porterfield answer questions in Digital Course Academy?
I’m also gonna show you there’s a Q&A vault as well. So all of the most likely asked questions are included here in this Q&A vault. And you can search it really easily and find the answers to your questions. So I think one of the great things about DCA, is it has the roadmap, yes, but then you’re not having to sit and pick and choose, right? So when you’re listening to podcasts or you’re trying to gather information from all these different sources, you spend so much time trying to do that and make sense of it and build your own roadmap, it’s here.
My Final Thoughts and Recommendations
You can go and search for whatever you’re looking for and find an answer within, you know, a few seconds. And that’s one of the great things about it as well. So clearly, clearly, clearly, clearly I can’t say enough good things about it. It has changed my life and my business in a way that is really hard for me to describe and actually makes me kind of emotional to think about.
Next, go listen to those podcast episodes on Online Marketing Made Easy, episode 280, and then also the episode that came out on September 7th, 2020, because both of those will show you how far I have come and how much this has meant to me. So that we all probably know, you probably have gathered at this point, because I have been so impacted by DCA I did decide to partner with Amy for this 2024 launch.
So if anybody is interested and wants to get even more bonuses for free for no more cost than what DCA costs, you can check out below my bonuses, at jamietrull.com/dca. You can go check out what those extras are. I’ve added a ton of amazing things in there that really just help you round out what you get in DCA already.
You’ll still get all of DCA, you’ll still get all of Amy’s bonuses and you will also get my bonuses. So that’s kind of a win-win, right? I don’t know why you wouldn’t do that. So go check those out as well. Again, jamietrull.com/dca, that’s where you’ll find all that information. And let me know if you have any questions.
Have Questions?
I’d love to answer any questions if you’re thinking about DCA if you’re wondering if you should join, or if it’s right for you. I love talking to people about that and I will, I will give you an honest answer because not everybody is right for DCA, right?
Not everybody’s right for DCA, but for some of you who are listening to this, it is perfect for you. It will help you really take control of your business, take control of your time, all of it, and help you create the life that you want, which is what I’ve been able to create because of Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy.
Learn More here: https://jamietrull.com/coursecreation
