How I Built a 6-Figure Online Course Using Kajabi and Amy Porterfield’s Strategy

If you’ve ever dreamed of turning your knowledge into a profitable online course, you’re in the right place.

In this post, I’m walking you through how I used a proven framework—taught by digital course expert Amy Porterfield—and Kajabi to build, launch, and scale my first 6-figure course.

Spoiler: I didn’t have a huge audience or fancy setup when I got started. I just followed a smart system, validated my idea early, and used Kajabi to streamline my course creation and delivery.

Why Online Courses Became My Go-To Side Hustle

Back in 2019, I started seriously exploring the idea of teaching online. I was drawn to the scalability of digital education and the freedom of being able to reach thousands—if not millions—of people without being tied to a physical classroom or coaching schedule.

I was working in sales full-time, but I wanted an additional income stream—something that could run independently while I focused on other things.

That’s when a friend introduced me to Amy Porterfield’s podcast, which later led me to enroll in her Digital Course Academy (DCA).

And then... 2020 hit.

Launching My First Course During the Pandemic

When COVID shut down hospitals and my book of business as a sales rep took a nosedive, I leaned fully into the idea of launching a digital course.

I had been growing an audience on LinkedIn, so I decided to create a course around a topic I knew well: how to build authority and generate leads using LinkedIn.

Using the strategies inside Amy’s course, I launched a beta version of my program while still going through the modules of DCA.

✅ No studio.
✅ No fancy tools.
✅ Just Kajabi, Zoom, Gmail, and a Facebook group.

Photo: This is me interviewing the legendary Amy Porterfield on my podcast in 2022. 

Step 1: Validating the Course Idea (Before Creating Anything)

A huge mistake aspiring course creators make is building the entire course before checking if anyone will actually pay for it.

Amy teaches the opposite—validate first.

I used polls, conversations with potential students, and audience engagement to test demand. Then I launched a “founding members” beta round at a discounted price.

The response confirmed it: I had a viable offer. I made $5,000 from that beta, which I reinvested into tools and tech—including Kajabi, which became my home base for delivering the course content moving forward.

Step 2: Building a List with Lead Magnets and Email Automation

You’ve probably heard it before: “The money is in the list.”

Amy emphasizes email list building as the engine for digital course sales—and Kajabi made that process incredibly smooth. I created a simple opt-in page with Kajabi’s landing page builder and connected it to my lead magnet (a free PDF related to LinkedIn marketing).

As people joined my list, they were dropped into an automated email sequence built with Kajabi’s visual email automation tool.

Over time, that funnel turned into a 24/7 audience-building system—one that continued to grow even when I wasn’t actively promoting it.

Photo: Kajabi allows me to build lead magnets and grow my email list automatically. 

Step 3: Structuring and Hosting My Course on Kajabi

Once I validated the offer and built momentum, I started building out the actual course content.

Using Kajabi, I was able to:

• Structure the course into clear modules and lessons

• Upload videos and downloadable PDFs

• Set up progress tracking for students

• Protect the content behind a secure login

The clean UX on Kajabi allowed my students to stay focused, and it made the delivery feel polished—even though I recorded the lessons myself using Zoom.

Photo: sample structure of a module, lessons and topics to be covered. Kajabi has an AI feature that will help you map out your course outline or you can do it on your own. 

Step 4: Launching the Course Using a Webinar Funnel

Rather than offering the course year-round, I followed Amy Porterfield’s “launch window” strategy—opening the cart for 5–10 days to create urgency.

Leading up to my launch, I ran live webinars (hosted on Zoom and embedded on Kajabi pages) that gave people a preview of what I was teaching.

The webinar covered:

• My personal transformation using LinkedIn

• 3 core strategies I used to build a brand and attract clients

• The roadmap for using LinkedIn to drive leads

• And finally, an invitation to join the full course

I used Kajabi for everything: opt-in page, webinar confirmation emails, replay hosting, sales page, checkout, and automated follow-up emails.

My Course Pricing Strategy (And How It Evolved)

One of the smartest decisions I made early on was using a tiered pricing structure.

Here’s what it looked like:

• Beta round: $250 for 8 weeks (live via Zoom, no recordings)

• Second round: $500 with lifetime access to recordings

• Full version: $997 for full access plus live coaching calls

• Evergreen version: $497 self-paced access via Kajabi

Once the live launches were over, I kept selling the evergreen version using Kajabi’s sales page and checkout tools—creating a reliable stream of passive income.

Photo: Screen shot of one of my offers inside of Kajabi. I can set up multiple offers with different price points including subscriptions and multi-pay options.

Building a Passive Income Ecosystem

That course eventually brought in 6 figures in revenue, and I used that income to fund a second business—buying my first rental property.

Today, I’m still creating digital products (many hosted and sold through Kajabi) and building a passive income ecosystem. Every dollar I earn through these online assets goes toward investing in things that multiply wealth over time.

Final Thoughts: Why Kajabi Was a Game-Changer

Amy Porterfield’s framework gave me the strategy, and Kajabi gave me the system.

Without it, I would’ve been overwhelmed trying to duct-tape together a tech stack. With Kajabi, everything from email marketing to course hosting to payment processing was under one roof.

If you’re serious about turning your knowledge into income—and want a reliable platform to grow with—I can’t recommend Kajabi enough.

👇 Ready to Start Your Own Course?

✅ Grab my 42 page Ultimate Course Creation Planner
✅ Join the waitlist for Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy
✅ Check out my Kajabi templates and Canva templates to help you launch faster

Photo: my Ultimate Course Creation Planner can help you iterate your ideas and map out your future online course.