How Caroline Guntur made 20K by launching to an email list of 200 people.

• Course Instructor: Caroline Guntur

• Website: https://www.organizingphotos.net

• Course Topic: Digital Organization

• Interesting Stats: I made $20K by launching to an email list of 200 people.

1. Who are you?

I’m Caroline and I’m a course creator and coach that helps people get digitally organized. I’m originally from Sweden, but I currently live outside of Chicago, Illinois. I love what I do and truly feel like it’s my life’s mission! 

2. What’s your course all about?

My course is about how to get your digital photos organized. So many have precious photos scattered around on different devices with no strategy in place for what lives where, or when to look at them again. I help people regain control of their digital archives, so that they can get their photos back into their lives, do more with them, and preserve their legacies for future generations.

3. What makes you an expert in this field?

I’m a Certified Photo Organizer and Digital Strategist with over a decade of experience in this field as a professional. I’m a Golden Circle member of NAPO (the National Association of Organizing & Productivity Professionals) and I regularly teach on digital organizing strategies at national conferences and conventions. I have a previous career in photography and a burning passion for family history.

4. What is the transformation your course offers to the students?

I offer a transformation of confidence when it comes to women and technology. Many of my students join the course because they feel like they can’t keep up with technology and the digital revolution, and they feel like they’re being left behind and losing control. My course shows them how to cut through the noise, understand the necessary basics, and make better decisions for their photos. Many of them have actually gone on to become professionals themselves!

5. Which market does your online course serve and how did you get into it?

My market mainly serves mothers and grandmothers who want to do more with their photos – they want to show their kids that they can handle the digital world, and they want to share their photos with their families and friends in a way that makes them feel empowered and appreciated! Moms are usually the photo takers, so it was a natural fit!

6. Why is it important to you to serve this market?

It’s important for me to serve this market because there is very little else out there for people who are not professional photographers. And there is definitely nothing else out there for people who want to understand the differences between different photo programs and why you choose one over another. 

Most other courses are tool-specific and this course is process-specific. 

7. Describe the moment when you decided to create your own course. Where were you, what happened and why did you decide to do it?

I decided to create my own course after noticing for a while that clients were asking me the same questions over and over again. I decided to start blogging and creating videos to answer common questions and from there, it was only a short distance to launching a course. 

I also found myself booked out with lots of demand and I wanted to scale in a way that would free up my time, but still be able to help more people. This was the only way to move to the next level without burning out. 

Try Thinkific for free here.

8. How did you overcome doubtful moments during your course creation journey?

This is always going to be a part of your life, especially when you get nasty messages from strangers online, but you have to condition yourself to not take it personally. If you are trying to make the world a better place, you’re on the right side of things, so think of all the people who will benefit from your expertise. 

9. What are some of your tricks to deal with imposter syndrome?

Don’t compare yourself to others because you’re on a unique journey with a unique perspective. Make the best of that! And remember that you don’t have to be the best in the world to help someone. My personal trainer is not an Olympian, but a great coach. My business coach doesn’t have a business degree but gives amazing advice. If you do you, the people who need you will find you. Don’t discount yourself!

10. How long did it take you to create your course?

The first time I ever created a course, I took my time and spent a few months on it, but that was because of the learning curve. Now, I can put together a mini-course within a week and a really good regular course in a month because I know what to do and how to do it. 

11. How did your first launch go?

It went well the first time (2016) – I earned about 20K from a 7-day email sequence. I did have hot leads, so that helped, but I didn’t do any webinars or advanced tricks. 

12. How do you structure your launches in general now?

I tend to do very laid-back launches because I’m an introvert and need a lot of time to recharge. Usually, I’ll do a few social media posts, 2-3 lives, a webinar, and an email sequence. 

13. Where does your traffic come from?

Mainly from social media and from organic searches on Google (SEO).

14. Which content do you like producing the most?

I love creating content in all forms, but mostly videos and blog posts! Tutorials are my favorite types of content, but I try to do a variety of other things as well!

15. What online course platform are you using?

At the moment, I’m using Teachable.

Try Thinkific for free here.

16. What is amazing about this platform?

They take care of all of my affiliate and VAT tax admin work for me, which would otherwise be a real headache.

17. Which features do you wish this platform would have?

I wish they had better sales pages and a better checkout process. Right now, people have to create an account before purchasing, and it does make a difference. 

18. Why did you choose this platform over other platforms?

Mainly for the Tax and Affiliate admin benefits.

19. Which other tools do you use to keep your online business running?

Notion and Airtable for running my business and Zoom for running coaching calls. Deadline funnel and Converkit for my email funnel.

20. How many students have you served so far?

As of today, it’s about 900. We’re hoping to cross the 1000 mark soon!

21. How much revenue have you created during your first launch, and ongoing?

My first launch made about 20K, and the evergreen funnel now brings in students on autopilot. Sometimes I do live launches, although probably not as often as I should, and they usually bring in 20-30K on average. They usually consist of an email sequence, 2-3 lives, a few social media posts, and one webinar. I am still not using ads at all, so that’ll be the next step.

22. What are you running costs to keep the online course business going?

The basics cost about $3000 per year plus whatever fees I get charged for transactions.

23. What are some of the biggest mistakes you made along the way?

I think the two biggest takeaways have been that 1) The course sells, but not if I don’t actively promote, and 2) people need deadlines to take action.

24. How has your business changed since implementing an online course into the business model?

I’ve been able to have some breathing room because I don’t constantly have to fish for new private clients. In fact, I really enjoy not having too many private clients just because it lets me work on my own stuff and be more creative.

25. How has your personal life changed?

I’m able to do what I love in a way that I love, so I’m a lot happier now than I was before – no question!

26. What’s the greatest transformational story you can tell about one (or more) of your students?

My client Ann comes to mind. Ann is an active senior and a former teacher who now spends her time as a consultant in English education for school districts and universities in the state of Connecticut. Before we started working together, Ann felt very insecure about her computer skills, and she had a real fear of technology. She hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it all, and she didn’t know where to start. She revealed that she cried because she felt stupid. And she’s far from that. She’s a bright, educated, sophisticated woman who has worked in education for over 20 years, earning both national and local awards for her outstanding work.

I remember thinking to myself:

How can a woman this accomplished feel like that? It can’t be.

But it was true. She was very intimidated at the thought of not understanding how the technology would work, and she laughingly told me that she might be a “hopeless case.” 

I never considered that for one minute because I know she’s far from it. When we first started working together, there were a few bumps in the road, sure, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. Step-by-step, little by little, we got over her fears. Together.

Today, she has a cloud archive set up for her photos. She creates photo books for her grandkids. She has joined the social media revolution and runs a thriving blog with over 500K readers. The woman who was once scared to break her computer is now sharing posts on Facebook regularly. She’s tweeting. She’s uploading, downloading, and airdropping photos at lightning speed. A whole new world has opened up for her, and I couldn’t be more proud as her coach. 

What started as fear has now morphed into a wonderful “fire away” attitude. Ann is living proof that not only is tech intimidation real, but it can be overcome, so if you have any of these fears, just know that the learning curve is not as steep as you may think – with the right teacher.

27. If you could use a time machine and send yourself back to the time before you started out, what advice would you give yourself, knowing what you know now?

I’d probably tell myself to set up my evergreen funnel quicker – it’s a lot harder to keep doing live launches. However, you have to go through a few live launches to see what works and what doesn’t, so I can’t be too mad at myself.

28. What is your million dollar piece of advice to those who are just getting started in their online course journey OR for those who are looking to scale?

Just get started. Launch it now and perfect it later. Do a beta test if that helps you take action. The sooner it’s live, the sooner you can earn money. You’ll probably never stop perfecting it anyway, so you’re better off getting feedback early on.