Three Revenue Strategies for Online Entrepreneurs
Start by trading time for money, then graduate to one-to-many.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 85%
Amy Porterfield lays out three ways to generate revenue from expertise: one-on-one coaching/consulting, a service-based (done-for-you) business, and digital courses. The first two are quick to start because you already know how to do the work, but both trade time for dollars, so they shouldn't be a permanent home. The third — digital courses — is a one-to-many model you build once and launch repeatedly, unlocking recurring revenue. Her overriding advice is to stop overthinking and just start, because the business will evolve dramatically over time anyway.
Origin
Amy Porterfield, who has made over $100 million from courses in her career, shared these three strategies when Hala asked her to walk through her recommended revenue-generation approaches for online entrepreneurs.
Core principles
- 01One-on-one coaching/consulting teaches you how to serve people
- 02Service-based work is the quickest entrance because you already know how to do it
- 03Both coaching and services trade time for dollars — don't stay there too long
- 04Digital courses are one-to-many: create once, launch repeatedly for recurring revenue
- 05Don't overthink the starting model — just get started
How to run it
- 1
Start with coaching or consulting
Offer one-on-one coaching or consulting. It's a business in itself and teaches you how to serve people deeply.
Pro tip The intimacy of one-on-one work surfaces exactly what your audience struggles with.
Watch out This trades time for dollars — treat it as a stage, not a destination.
- 2
Or run a service-based business
Do the work for clients directly. It's the quickest entrance because you don't have to create a course, membership, or mastermind first.
Watch out Also caps out on time-for-money; don't stay too long.
- 3
Graduate to a one-to-many digital course
Create a course once and launch it over and over so you earn recurring revenue without a linear time cost.
Pro tip The launch-again-and-again mechanic is what breaks the hours-for-dollars ceiling.
In the wild
Amy noted that how her business looked 14 years ago versus today is dramatically different, using her own path as proof that you shouldn't agonize over the starting model.
→ Over $100 million made from courses across her career.
Common mistakes
Staying in time-for-money too long
Coaching and services are great entry points but both trade time for dollars. Treating them as the end state caps your income and prevents the leverage a one-to-many model provides.
Overthinking the initial decision
Agonizing over which model to pick stalls you at the starting line. The model will change dramatically over the years regardless, so the cost of just starting is low.
Is it for you?
Best for
Experts and service providers ready to monetize knowledge who want a clear progression path.
Not ideal for
People who want passive income on day one with no willingness to do initial hands-on work.
From the transcript
“Both of those options are trading time for dollars. So in my opinion, you don't want to stay there too long. Find a business model…”
“You create a course one time and then you launch it over and over and over again so that you have that recurring revenue.”
From the episode
The Creator’s Playbook: How Top Entrepreneurs Monetize Their Expertise to Make Millions Online