Remember in January when the Internet proclaimed that online courses were DEAD because Amy Porterfield retired her online course academy?
That was the first thing that came to my mind when the chatter about @jessijeanhome’s $1.2 million – yes, million as in a one and six zeroes – course launch crossed my feed this week.
Could this mean that… courses are so back? Not even six whole months after they’d been deemed DOA?
No, of course not!
Online courses didn’t die when Amy Porterfield changed her business model any more that Jessi Jean single handedly resurrected them from the grave.
Because this isn’t a conversation about courses, it’s about trust.
Clients and customers don’t really buy the delivery of your offer – whether that’s a course or a 1:1 service or a membership or literally anything else that you might be selling.
They buy the promise, the possibility, the transformation. The results.
They buy the solution to their problem or the thing that will satisfy a need or desire.
They buy when they see themselves in your offer.
And they buy from you when you trust that you’ll deliver.
That’s the real takeaway from the discourse – in January after Amy’s announcement and this week with Jessi Jean’s launch, too.
At the end of the day, the offers and the ultimate promise of the offer, were kind of the same thing: take this course and you’ll learn how to make money on the Internet just like I did.
Sounds good, I want it!
But you gotta trust who's selling it. And these days trust is hard to come by, especially online.
Global PR firm Edelman said we’re in a Trust Recession. Cheryl Folland called it Buyer's Remorse.
Amy Porterfield said that she shifted her business model out of passion and alignment.
Okay! You go girl! I believe that you absolutely get to build a business that aligns with how you want to work and serve your clients.
But also may I present Exhibit A:
Is Amy Porterfield legit? I didn’t ask, Google did for me!
And Exhibit B, the results from the aforementioned search:
The top three results from the search “is amy porterfield legit?” include a 2-star average Trust Pilot rating; an affiliate link from a fellow celebrity biz bestie and a take down from a former course participant
✨ Which brings me back to trust...
Jeff Goldblaum's Tell Me More Face
I don't know about you, but those results aren't doing anything to cultivate my trust in this offer or individual.
Amy Porterfield maintains that the “pivot wasn’t driven by a belief that the model stopped working,” but I don’t buy that declining revenue played zero part in the decision.
A business that big just doesn’t bin something if it’s profitable!
It's questionable if the frameworks that Amy & Co. pioneered ever worked for everyone but a select few…
But especially not now when so many of us are scared shitless for the future, feeling the squeeze of this unpredictable economy as we wade through the mess created by a handful of billionaires.
No matter how compelling a transformational promise, learning from a millionaire just isn’t the vibe right now, you know?
In contrast, Jessi Jean feels like a breath of fresh air.
A regular gal, just trying to figure this whole career thing out so she can provide financially for her family…
Right now, that feels a lot more familiar than making a milly.
Which is maybe why the 5,000 people who bought Jessi Jeans course found it easier to connect with her – and therefore trust – than the shiny, highly edited and retouched, aspirational Amy Porterfield brand.
The lesson here isn’t that courses are so back! Because they never went away…
And it’s not be more or less like Jessi or Amy either – because let’s also be real these are conventionally pretty, white gals which gives them a headstart on trust…
✴️ The take home message is that trust and resonance are what drive sales in 2026.
For your marketing to be effective, you need to understand what your clients and customers need to know to be able to trust you.
And each piece of your marketing should create an emotional connection (that's resonance, babe) and build trust that you can deliver.
Regardless of what your offer is, or tactics or platforms, that's universal.
Here’s a question to reflect on – and if you worry you won’t actually get around to reflecting, write it out in a reply to this email and send it my way:
Why do your clients and customers trust you to deliver the results or transformation that you promise?
As service-based solopreneuers it's easy to conflate your self with your business, but what if they are separate entities that you could be in relationship with?
Building trust and creating resonance isn't about hacks; it's about strategy.
If you’re ready to build a customer journey and a 90-day marketing plan that actually reflects your values, I’m opening Strategy Roadmap spots this summer.