Calan Breckon • Updated August 3, 2023
Online learning has become the new norm in our world and Digital Course Academy by Amy Porterfield is one of the best ways to learn how to validate, create, and launch your own online course and business for budding online business owners.
More people than ever are familiar with the idea of learning online from an expert and if you’ve always dreamed of ditching the day job and turning your passion into profit then read on my friend because I’m about to share with you the best way to do that.
I joined Digital Course Academy in 2020 to learn how to create and launch my own online digital courses and I can confidently say that it was the best decision. Amy Porterfield and her team did such a great job over-delivering that I became a fan for life.
Since then I’ve been a guest on Amy Porterfield’s podcast “Online Marketing Made Easy” and I’ve also served as a DCA Advisor during the 2022 launch of Digital Course Academy as my way of giving back to the program that gave me so much.
In this Digital Course Academy review, I’m going to share what my experience was like going through DCA and what some of the pros and cons are of the online course.
By the end of it, you should have a better idea of whether or not Digital Course Academy is right for you and I even throw in a little bonus at the end.
What is Digital Course Academy?
Digital Course Academy is the most comprehensive program for validating, creating, launching, creating a course marketing plan, and selling your digital courses and it’s produced by Amy Porterfield and her amazing team.
The program walks you through a step-by-step process of how to set everything up for creating online courses with the most amazing support team and community you will ever find online.
I can say that because in 2020 I went through the Digital Course Academy program with around 2,000 other students and it was one of the best things I ever did as a budding entrepreneur.
Inside Digital Course Academy you’ll be walked through…
How to nail down your online course topic or online course idea
How to validate your course idea and pre-sell your program in her social validation strategies lesson
Ideal customer avatar lesson
How to create a course lesson and course module in her course outline lesson
Develop a high-converting webinar and teaches her webinar fill up formula for successful webinar registration in her profitable webinar lesson (this profitable webinar framework is worth its weight in gold because Amy literally walks you through it slide-by-slide so you know exactly what goes where, why, and how to deliver it. I would have paid for JUST this slide walkthrough lesson of the course alone)
How to expertly record your online course content in her recording strategy lesson
How to leverage a mix of email (more gold) and social media strategies
Her stellar course name lesson
Online marketing strategies
Course transformation statement lesson
Creating online training courses
Launch revenue goal lesson
Course support strategy lesson
And how to craft a compelling sales page (because your sales page is one of the most important parts of being a course creator)
If you’ve ever thought about creating a digital course or an online business that has digital courses then Digital Course Academy is your best option for learning everything you need to know and fast tracking you to success and creating a profitable online course.
Who is Amy Porterfield?
Amy Porterfield is the woman behind Digital Course Academy (and your soon-to-be new mentor if you take DCA) and an online marketing expert.
Back before she was the success she is today she worked as a content director for motivational speaker, author, and coach Tony Robbins for almost seven years before she decided to go out on her own and launch into the entrepreneurial world.
Her first online course ended up being a flop, making just $247, which was a big disappointment after putting so much time and effort into creating the course. But she didn’t let that stop her. Now, over a decade later Amy has built an amazing team that helps support her vision of empowering entrepreneurs to start their own online businesses and launch their own online courses.
The best part about learning from Amy is that she’s been through the trenches, she’s struggled through the hard parts like all of us entrepreneurs do and she knows exactly what works and what doesn’t work.
She has now taken all of that knowledge and the knowledge gained from all of her students and put that into Digital Course Academy her own course.
Who is Digital Course Academy perfect for?
Digital Course Academy is perfect for anyone who has teachable skills and the desire to share those skills with the world through your own online digital course and if you want to be your own boss.
Maybe you’re an influencer, a teacher, yoga instructor, knitter, tarot card reader or literally anything you can think of, you can create an online course and serve your people.
In all seriousness though, if you’re literally starting from scratch with no following, no email list, and no social following of any kind then getting traction for your launch will probably be harder, not impossible, but harder. So you need to be aware of that before you go into the program. Amy does teach social media strategies in the course.
If, however, you’re committed to creating your own side hustle or a super profitable online course and you know that it’s better to start now and start learning than it is to wait, then I’m all for starting now and learning as you grow (cause that’s how it works). Just know that it may take you longer to get off the ground, but Amy has tips and tricks for you as well if you’re fresh to the online course space.
If you DO have a following or email list or you’re well connected then you should seriously consider taking Digital Course Academy because the way the world is going is online and if you can become a leader in your industry and have an online course, that can provide you with security for a very long time and help you create even more magic for the world through your skills and talents.
And, for those who are just starting off and DCA is maybe too big of a step for right now, I’d suggest starting small and getting going on building an email list to start using something like ConvertKit as an email service provider.
Then, by next year you’ll have a list built that you’ve spent the last year nurturing and warming up so that when you finally do take Digital Course Academy, you’re ready to launch your own digital course!
Digital Course Academy Pros
Here are some of my favorite parts about Digital Course Academy and what you can look forward to if you choose to join the DCA community:
A super supportive Facebook group through the whole live course launch process
One of the best things about doing DCA was having access to thousands of other business owners who were all working on the same thing.
Everyone in the private Facebook group community knows exactly what you’re going through and it was great to be able to ask questions and learn alongside a group of your peers.
It can get lonely as an entrepreneur and having access to that private Facebook group community was invaluable for my own business and its growth.
Literally A-Z on how to plan, build, create, and launch an online course
I like structure. I like efficiency. I don’t like mess. This is why I love Digital Course Academy because Amy lays everything out from perfect A-Z on what to do, why you’re doing it, how to do it and everything else in between.
DCA is an insanely well-thought-out and structured course and while I was in the program I felt so taken care of because I could see the roadmap and where we were going. This really helped to alleviate some of that stress and anxiety that comes along with trying something new.
If you’re looking for a place to host your own online courses or course then I’d suggest checking out ThriveCart. It’s my top platform for not only hosting online courses but also for creating the best checkout pages.
All the course bonuses!
When you purchase Digital Course Academy you aren’t just getting DCA, you’re getting a ton of bonuses to add on top of it to support you and your growth.
When I went through the program we had a bestseller masterclass for book writing, how to turn a live launch into an evergreen funnel, how to kickstart your email list, how to use Facebook & Instagram paid ads to fill up your webinars and a few more bonuses.
The last one about Facebook and Instagram paid ads, was literally where I learned how to do them for the first time and it made a world of difference when I did ads to fill up my webinar. That mini-course alone was worth what I paid for DCA.
Lifetime access
Do you know all those bonuses I just mentioned? I still have access to them today 2 years later as well as the updated Digital Course Academy. When you join the program you get lifetime access, not just to your original course, but all the updated versions Amy puts out year after year.
We all know the online world can change quickly and things can become outdated, but not DCA. You’ll be able to come back year after year and update your skills as the course grows and evolves. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Professional Connections
You never know what is going to come out of joining Digital Course Academy. One of those things could be amazing professional connections that you never even imagined!
The private Facebook group is of course an obvious place to meet others, but I once had someone recognize me at a conference I was at because I was a DCA advisor! It was so random and amazing and it created this really cool bond right away with a complete stranger.
In saying that, I was also invited back as a DCA advisor by Amy and her team which is another professional relationship I now get to cherish and enjoy. That never would have happened had I not taken DCA.
I was also a guest on Amy’s podcast like I said before which never would have happened had I not taken DCA and created my own course success story to share with Amy and her audience.
The possibilities are truly endless if you’re willing to take that first step and join Digital Course Academy and push yourself to try something new. The magic always happens outside of your comfort zone.
Digital Course Academy Cons
No product or system will ever be perfect, it’s just the way of life. Digital Course Academy is no exception to the rule. Overall, it truly is an amazing product but here are some of the ways I think someone can struggle if they take DCA:
Overwhelm
Amy and her team do a really great job to mitigate overwhelm but starting something new and joining a group with maybe 5, 6 or even 7 thousand people can be overwhelming to someone who’s just starting out.
That’s why Amy and her team only suggest you take DCA if you’ve already got a little bit of experience under your belt with some of the things like email list building that are inside the course.
Of course, every person is different and some people thrive off this energy but others may see all of it and shut down because it’s just too much for them to handle.
The good part about this is you don’t have to take part in the Facebook group if you don’t want to. You can keep your head down and just go through the course as it’s released and do your thing.
Time Zones
Depending on where you are in the world you may end up missing some of the live aspects of Digital Course Academy unless you want to wake up at 2am for them.
DCA is North American based and has a lot of fun live Q&As built into it as well as other live events with Amy. If you’re located on the other side of the world then you may be missing out on these events.
The saving grace is they’re all recorded so you’ll be able to go back and watch them later, but it’s not the same as being in the thick of it while it’s live and being part of the conversation.
You have to actually DO the work to see results
This isn’t so much a con as it is a fact of life. If you want to build an online course and get results then you’re going to have to DO the work, and not skip any of the steps.
Each module and every course topic lesson that has been scrutinized by Amy and her team year after year and there is a reason she teaches DCA in the order she does and there is a reason why everything that’s in there is in there.
If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t finish projects they start or you tend to stop when things get hard, then maybe Digital Course Academy by Amy Porterfield isn’t for you. If you take DCA you need to fully commit to the program in order to be successful and see results.
Digital Course Academy Price
Digital Course Academy retails for $1,997 (usd) and Amy usually has bonuses for those who pay in full upfront for the course as well as payment plans.
My advice is if you’re going to join, try and pay in full up front so you can get all the amazing bonuses and don’t wait until the last minute before doors close otherwise you may miss some of the bonuses.
Final Verdict
Let me start off by saying in full transparency that I am an affiliate of Digital Course Academy and if you end up buying DCA through one of my links today I will get financial compensation at no extra cost to you.
In saying that, I also wrote this article before I became an affiliate and even if I wasn’t an affiliate this article would still be valid and written the same way.
I truly do believe in Digital Course Academy and what Amy Porterfield teaches in the course.
When I went through the program myself I was a scared little baby entrepreneur and learning from Amy and having the support of the digital course academy community gave me the courage I needed to follow my dreams of never again having a boss.
The only other course I had done was The Membership Experience with Stu McLaren and I know that he was a HUGE supporter of Amy’s so I trusted his judgment, and boy am I glad I did!
If you choose to take Digital Course Academy it WILL be a process and you will hit mental walls, that’s ok, it’s part of the process. Just remember that the only way you can ever really fail is if you quit.
So promise me, and more importantly yourself, right now that if you choose to go through with DCA that you will commit to finishing the program.
Even if you don’t build a successful course yourself right away, simply finishing DCA will give you so much knowledge about the online business space you’ll still be better off than most who are just starting off.
If you’re not ready to jump in with Digital Course Academy then maybe you should check out Amy Porterfield’s List Builders Society.
Get on the Waitlist
The next time Amy will be opening the doors for Digital Course Academy will be in September 2023 so if you don’t want to miss out make sure to jump on my waitlist and I’ll be sure to let you know when she’s about to open the doors again!
I’ll also have some sweet bonuses for you, including:
1. My Beginners Course on How to Start an Online Business
This includes lifetime access to the course
9 Modules packed full of online business knowledge
Over 4.5 hours of recorded content
PDFs for each module that include extra resources
2. My 98 page Masterclass Template that will save you over 40 hours of work
- Crafted the same way Amy teaches
3. A 30 minute 1-on-1 session with me to help you implement everything you learn
- For the first 5 fully enrolled students only (they go fast!)
List Builders Society
List Builders Society is the best program you could get to help you learn all you need to know about building an email list from scratch with an email service provider like ConvertKit.
Amy teaches you step-by-step how to grow your list and guarantees you’ll grow your business’s most important asset.
One of the best ways Amy has built her email list over the years has been through creating an online quiz. She always shares this tip when it comes to building an email list fast.
frequently Asked Questions
How much is Digital Course Academy?
Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy price is currently $1,997 and usually offers different payment plan options.
Does Amy Porterfield have a membership?
Yes! Amy Porterfield’s membership is called “Momentum” and is offered to students and alumni of Digital Course Academy only after they’ve completed DCA.
How many Amy Porterfield courses are there?
Amy Porterfield offers 3 courses:
When is Digital Course Academy's doors open?
Digital Course Academy usually opens its doors once a year in September. Sometimes DCA is offered twice a year, but September is always a sure bet.
How often does Digital course Academy launch?
Digital Course Academy opens at least once a year around September usually.
Starting in August you can look forward to Amy releasing a TON of great free training before she launches.
Her free stuff is always good and will help you big time, even if you don’t join and go on your own course creation journey.
What if I'm not techy?
Amy Porterfield’s digital tech library will help walk you through all the techy parts of your online course creation.
Trust me when I say, you’re in good hands. All you ever need to do is jump into your course academy portal and into the tech library when you need help.
How long is digital course academy?
Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy is usually about 7 weeks long.
Each year she updates the digital course lesson content so maybe one year it may be a week longer or shorter but usually, that’s the add “implementation weeks” to help students catch up that may have fallen behind and to answer more questions.
She’ll also help you decide how long your course should be as well.
Who is similar to Amy Porterfield?
I’d say a few similar people are Jenna Kutcher and Marie Forleo.
How did Amy Porterfield start?
Amy Porterfield launched her very first podcast episode in January of 2013 all about “List Building with Social Media.”
Her business almost earned a million ($915k) in a year.
She began launching the same course over and over and realized, relaunching one course over and over really works. So she put all of her efforts into launching ONE course.
That successful course is now Digital Course Academy!
The Business Gay Podcast with Special Guest Amy Porterfield
Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast with Amy Porterfield
