Chalene Johnson is pocket size Social Media dynamo.  She is both tiny in stature and giant in influence.  (I’ve met her in person and like me, she’s short so we have that in common).  Unlike me, she is a total powerhouse.

I first came across Chalene on Instagram via her workout account which led me to Periscope.  She is someone you are gonna like or not.  I admit the first time I was unsure.   She was lip syncing to something and she laughed a lot and got distracted and I’m thinking “who is this woman?”.  As I watched more, however, I realised that I really liked that.  I liked that she made running a business look fun.  Don’t get me wrong, she works hard but she has fun doing it and she is totally herself.  More importantly, she shared a lot of knowledge every time she was on but in a fun and interesting way.

So a few months after I decided to go down the whole online business path, I took the plunge and enrolled in her Marketing Impact Academy 2.0 Program. Even though I had been following her for some time, I like to read reviews before I sign up for courses so I thought I would do one now for any students who are considering it.  I find it useful to hear first hand from people who have done it themselves and thought it might help you too.

Please note: I am not an Affiliate for this Program and this is my honest review based on my own experience.  Chalene does have affiliates and I have recommended one at the bottom of this post.

Marketing Impact Academy (MIA) 2.0 is an online course focussed on building a business via Social Media. It can apply to both online businesses as well as brick and mortar.  It was a re-working of a previous course she had released. And when I say re-worked I mean a whole new course. Things had changed in the online social media space and Chalene knows that in order to really help her students, they need to be given the latest information.

What do you learn?

So what exactly do you learn? Here are a few things:

– Customer and Marketing Foundations
– Mastering Video
– Email lists
– Product development
– Sales Funnels
– Social Seeding

and more. Much more actually. The course is jam-packed with information. In fact, there is so much information you really need to do it multiple times.

It teaches you how to come up with an idea, create a product and get it in front of people.  The end goal is for you to have a product out there by the end of the course.  Truth time – I do not have a product out as I write this (I’ll update when I do).  This is entirely due to my own lack of implementation for some of the modules.  I know a lot of people who went through with me finished up the course with a live product that they made money on.

Delivery Method

There are currently 14 Modules made up of a series of Lessons. I say currently because Chalene has added to them.

The course is delivered via:

– Videos
– Transcripts
– mp3
– Worksheets

This way all learning types are covered and it gives you flexibility when depending on your circumstances. Watch a video, listen while you drive, read while you are waiting.

There is also a Live conference in Los Angeles once a year which I flew across the world to attend and it really added to the experience.  There’s even MORE to learn Live plus you can network with a lot of like-minded business people which is totally priceless. If you do take the course and plan to do the live component, go VIP. It’s really worth it.

My Thoughts

The course was more than I expected and there is SO much to learn. There is plenty in there for both the beginner and for people who have been running an online business for a while. In fact, the group I went through with had the whole range.

Chalene is an excellent instructor and her production quality is very good. She doesn’t take herself too seriously which is a plus in my book. She also knows how to convey the information in an interesting and fun manner. She’s a big personality and makes no apologies. Best of all she keeps the videos short so they are easy to consume. As the info is in multiple formats you can use the method that suits you or mix it up.  I’ve watched videos, read the transcripts and listened to MP3’s while out walking.

MIA does not claim to be all things to all people. There are things that aren’t covered if you are starting out. It won’t teach you how to set up your website, what legal set up you need to do or cover specific tools. It does focus on putting systems in place to support your business and help you be able to run your business without it running you. If you are going to get the most out of this or any course, you have to put in the work is the bottom line.

There’s a strong focus on video because Chalene loves Video and quite rightly points out the benefits of using video. As the thought of live video terrifies me (and many of my classmates) this was one of the more challenging areas but she has a lot of tips for looking and feeling good on camera as well as ways to use video and not be the one in front all the time.

Any Negatives?

I gave some thought to negatives to try and keep this review as balanced as possible. I couldn’t come up with any real negatives but there were a couple of things that didn’t work too well for me.

• All of the conversation is in the Kajabi site. For my round, there was a Facebook site but it was more for responding to coaching videos. The coaching was a one off (and very appreciated) but as we didn’t have the opportunity to post I found the interaction was lacking. Kajabi interaction is not as easy as FB so if you weren’t in a separate mastermind, the interaction between students was minimal. That that was deliberate as Chalene wants you to focus on doing the work not chatting on FB, which I get, but the interaction can be quite invaluable.

• The course is drip fed week by week. Again I completely understand why Chalene does it this way. Many people, such as Chalene herself she admitted, would run ahead, do the bits they like and not progress through in the right order. What I would have liked is some kind of overview about what would be covered just so I could see the big picture first. That is how my brain works, I need the big picture then the details. Update:  I did ask them to at least show the full menu of what was coming even if we couldn’t access it and they did so, which helped me.  The team are great like that.

Overall let’s be realistic, these are not major issues. These are more about my personal way of working.

I highly recommend this course, I have found it to be amazingly useful. I’ll be starting it again shortly with my Mastermind group. I expect it will be an entirely different experience having gone through once.

Before you Start

Some things to consider if you are thinking about this course:

– Follow Chalene on Facebook, watch her videos. Work out if her style suits you. Not everyone will love her. You need to work out if her car is one you want to be in.
– The course is only open once a year, if you do think you might be interested, get on her list.

Bottom Line

If you have an online business or have a business idea, this course is for you.  But you have to do the work.  Chalene knows her stuff and she spills it all but none of that helps if you don’t implement it.

If you have any specific questions, please ask below in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer.

Note:  There are also usually other online influencers who will offer bonuses to people who sign up through them (for the same price).  For example, another wonderful mentor of mine Nicole Walters has teamed up with Chalene to make an incredible offer. Nicole is offering her 1k1day program as a bonus for signing up to MIA through her.  You can read about my experience with 1k1day here but my advice is if you want MIA go through Nicole.  To quote Chalene, Nicole is the bombdotcom. Nicole will keep you on track and get you to implement.  Here is the link to read more: http://www.chaleneandnicole.com.  Make sure you tell them I sent you.