How Lea Satterfield Gave Into Her Entrepreneurial Spirit to Found MPowerCo.com

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  • Who: Lea Satterfield
  • Website: mpowerco.com
  • Course Topic: Finance
  • Interesting Stats: $10,000 for each employer wellness program

Who are you and what course have you created?

I’m Lea Satterfield, a financial coach, and course creator. I studied personal finance and then worked in the investment regulation space for over a decade. I loved the work but felt that I wanted to work with individuals more closely to help them build their best life.  I founded MPower Co to be a financial education resource for individuals needing knowledge and information without a sales pitch at the end!

It has grown into a well-being education business as we also offer a course in the field of positive psychology. Our goal is to help people live a richer life!

The financial course that I created is called MPowered Couple and it is all about bringing committed couples together around the topic of personal finance, as unfortunately, this topic is the number one reason relationships end. It helps give couples the tools to set goals, establish a financial value system, and build a financial framework that helps them live their best life.

I started MPower Co to be a life-long resource for people. So we also offer additional courses, Richer Retirement, an all-encompassing financial course with a retirement slant, and Written Wishes, a course that simplifies preparing an effective and inexpensive estate plan.

The last course we offer is Happiness Habitudes. The course is all about the habits and attitudes we can incorporate into our lives to dial-up our happiness and overall sense of well-being.

What market does your online course serve?

Our courses are for individuals who know that financial and well-being education can make an impact in their lives but don’t know who to trust and want the freedom to choose what is right for their life. We offer all of our courses to the general public.

Another market we serve is in the business-to-business world. Financial and well-being education is an employee benefit that people are looking for. We work with employers to provide our education as an employee benefit. The research shows that providing financial and well-being education can help employees be more creative and productive, and it lowers turnover.

Lea Satterfield's siteWhat’s the biggest benefit of taking your course?

Having peace of mind and confidence to make more effective decisions. In my regulatory work, I saw time and time again that people were reluctant to make a change, even if the change could make a powerful, positive impact on their life. My goal is to give people the confidence to make powerful, positive changes in their life.

All of our education is focused on providing knowledge people can trust about personal finance and well-being. We don’t give opinions or sales pitches. We simply provide research-based information and best practices that have withstood the test of time.

How did you get into the market?

I got the idea from my mom! Dr. Thia is my mom and works with me at MPower Co! She is our Director of Education. She taught financial and well-being education for 37 years as a Professor at the University of Missouri.

As a teen and adult, I have watched her transform people’s lives. She provided an education that gave them effective tools to live better, more financially stable, and happier lives. As she neared retirement from that job, I realized I wanted to do something similar for a demographic near and dear to my heart (newly starting out couples) and provide a way for her to continue her life’s work.

Why did you decide to create an online course in the first place?

I created an online course because I wanted to make our information and education as accessible as possible. Our online courses are written to be inclusive of all individuals no matter their geographic location. We are based in Kansas City, Missouri, but our education can help anyone in the U.S.

Did you have any moments of doubt before you created/launched it?

Of course I struggled! I left an extremely well-paying job to take a gamble. Starting a business is tough and I knew the statistics of starting a new business were not in my favor going into this!

If so what made you turn it around and do it anyway?

I know what the research says.

The research says we are less likely to regret trying something even if it fails, and we are likely to regret not trying something we are called to do. - Lea Satterfield Click To Tweet

So, I’m giving this my best shot, because I don’t want to be down the line wishing I would have given this a try.

Also, having a really supportive husband and family helps!

What’s your online course like?

The courses we offer have multiple units that are broken into sub-lessons. The courses are mainly text. There are occasional videos, important links, and downloads that are used to provide students with the tools to implement strategies. There are also quizzes that we provide simply as a tool to emphasize content within the courses.

How long did it take you to create your course?

It took about six months from full conception to having a complete course for MPowered Couple. Although, I would say the course was really years in the making from growing my knowledge and building the tools needed to make the course valuable.

I created an outline and then wrote the product. Each step of the way I had Dr. Thia review my ideas and give me feedback. Additionally, I had a couple of peers review my work and give feedback on the content.

Tell us a little about the process of launching your course and getting your first sale(s).

I launched the course by making it public in April 2020 (right as the pandemic hit). It wasn’t planned for the timing to coincide, but it just happened that way. I promote the course through our social media sites, our newsletter, and the employer wellness programs we work with.

My favorite sales since the launch are those that are buying MPowered Couple as an engagement or wedding gift.

Do you have a lead magnet?

We have three lead magnets that work for a variety of our courses. My favorite is our “Becoming the Millionaire Next Door” piece, because this is something I reached by the age of 32, and I am here to tell you it doesn’t take a huge salary, inheritance, or another financial windfall to be a millionaire.

We also have a goal-setting guide that helps people set goals in 30 minutes or less and a guide to creating an effective and inexpensive estate plan. All of our free lead magnets are here.

Lea Satterfield's site

What’s the traffic strategy that works best for you?

Our best traffic strategy at this point is through our employer wellness programs. We work with HR professionals to provide them with marketing language and information and we do lunch and learns that lead into our courses.

We also utilize social media to gain customers from the public.

What online course platform are you using?

We are currently in the research stage for a new course engine. We used Zippy Courses, but they have sold their business, so this is one piece that is changing as I write this!

Do you like it?

Zippy was ok, but it wasn’t the most sophisticated looking. I loved the progress tracking detail that is provided for course takers.

Are there any features you wish it had?

I am looking for a new course engine that is more sophisticated looking and allows students ease of use.

What made you decide to use your chosen platform over others?

I used Zippy because it was what our marketing team recommended. It wasn’t wrong, but I think there are more integrated options out there than using WordPress for a website and a separate course engine.

What other tools do you use to run your online course business?

There are a number of tools we use. We use Stripe for payment processing, MailChimp for email, social media, WordPress for our website, and now we will have a new course engine.

Lea Satterfield's site

What books or training programs have you found useful on your journey to a successful business owner that others might find valuable too?

I really appreciate the streamlined approach Amy Porterfield uses to market, which is an area that I wasn’t well versed in.

Do you have any big mistakes you’ve made along the way that you’d be willing to share?

I wouldn’t call them big mistakes, but definitely learning lessons. I think I should have shopped around more for marketing support from the beginning. Marketing is a huge part of a successful business, and the group I worked with wasn’t dedicated to seeing me make it. They weren’t willing to take risks to help me learn and in hindsight that was what I needed.

If I were to do it all again, I would skip the WordPress site and find a course engine that could also double as a website. The more integrated the platforms the better is my current mindset.

Please share some idea of revenue.

Our annual revenue is about $10,000 for each employer wellness program that we work with.

Our courses start at the beginning of each month, and the months where we provide webinars to employees our registration is approximately 10x what it is in months where no webinar is provided.

I’m excited to offer webinars to the public next year and see how those increase our sales to the public.

Lea Satterfield's site

Please tell us a little about what the money you’ve earned from your course has done for you.

Having MPower Co has given me the flexibility to make decisions for my family that I wouldn’t have been able to with a 40+ hour a week job. I am currently still investing all money we make back into the business to continue to grow; however, I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with individuals. The feedback of how we have impacted people’s lives for the better is more important to me than anything.

In addition to revenue are there any numbers you would like to share?

Over 80% of people who start our courses complete them. I think this number speaks volumes to the quality of the education that we provide. What is most important to us, is not that people sign up for our courses, but instead that they reach their goals for taking the courses. The fact that most people who start our courses complete them and the fact that 100% of completers say they met their goals for taking the course (whichever one it is), is a dream.

What has creating your course done for you personally?

Creating a course has sparked my entrepreneurial spirit, something I’ve had for a long time. - Lea Satterfield Click To Tweet

I’ve learned new things, not in my traditional field of knowledge (finance) and I feel capable of doing anything I put my mind to.

What advice do you have for people just starting out?

Find a good marketing group, especially if that isn’t your cup of tea. Having an effective marketing strategy and a niche clientele to target can make a huge difference in the success of an online course.

Learn more about Lea Satterfield of mpowerco.com:

Lisa Parmley
Lisa Parmley

Lisa Parmley is the founder of coursemethod.com. After gaining a Master's degree, she worked in research for about seven years. She started a training company in 2001, offering a course helping people pass a professional exam. That course has earned multiple 7 figures. She created SEO and authority site building training around 2007 which went on to earn well into the 6-figure mark.

She has 22+ years of experience in the trenches creating and selling online courses. Get help starting and growing your online course business here.

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