A Microsoft Excel influencer has opened up about how she parlayed her viral videos into a software training business — and now makes up to six figures a day selling her online courses.
Kat Norton, 27, from Long Island, New York, is best known as 'Miss Excel' on TikTok and Instagram, where she has more than a million followers. In her playful videos, she dances around while teaching Excel tips and shortcuts, but that's not where she makes her money.
The entrepreneur, who credits her access to manifestation, uses the social media platforms as marketing channels for her video courses that are hosted on Thinkific. The prices range from $297 for one course to $997 for the complete Microsoft Office Suite bundle.
'When I first started the business, I scaled it within six months to six figures,' she explained on The Verge's podcast, . 'Since then we have been doing six-figure months.'
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Story: Kat Norton, 27, from Long Island, New York, detailed how she parlayed her viral TikTok videos into a software training business on The Verge's podcast, Decoder with Nilay Patel
Claim to fame: Norton, who is known as 'Miss Excel' on social media, dances around while teaching Microsoft Excel tips and shortcuts in her playful clips
'I actually just had my first six-figure day a few weeks ago, which I was super excited about,' she added. 'It's been just the most incredible, fun journey building this business.'
Norton launched 'Miss Excel' at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but before that, she just genuinely liked teaching people how to use the software. When she began working at the global consulting firm Protiviti four and a half years ago, she built an Excel training course 'for fun.'
The company appreciated her passion and had her traveling around the country hosting her training sessions, but when most of the country went into lockdown in March 2020, she found herself back in her childhood bedroom at her parents' house.
With her newfound free time, she was inspired to work on herself, focusing on meditation, mindfulness, and manifestation. While she appears outgoing in her videos, she admitted she was 'incredibly shy and had a lot of anxiety' before she joined TikTok.
Incredible: The Microsoft Excel influencer has more than 656,000 followers on TikTok after joining the social media platform a year and a half ago
Good vibrations: Norton, who credits her access to manifestation, uses TikTok as a marketing channel for her video courses that are hosted on Thinkific
'I highly recommend that, before posting yourself dancing on the internet, that you do your fair share of inner work and make sure you're at a place where you can handle what comes with that,' she advised.
When Norton created 'Miss Excel' two months later in June 2020, she knew it was going to dramatically change her life.
'I didn't even have a TikTok — I turned to my mother and said, "Mom, I'm going to be rich and famous soon so I need you to prepare your nervous system for that." She was laughing,' the digital creator recalled.
'She was like, "What? Who are you?" I said, "Just watch." And then I got this intuition to put Excel on TikTok. I didn't even have a TikTok app on my phone at the time. I had so much resistance to it because my mental voice was saying, "You're 27 years old. You cannot make a TikTok." My gut voice was arguing, "Make the TikTok."'
Norton started posting one clip a day, but she didn't have to wait long for success. Her fourth TikTok video ended up earning 100,000 views.
Across platforms: Norton also has a popular Instagram account, which has 524,000 followers
Smart: Norton makes up to six figures a day from her online classes, which range in cost from $297 for one course to $997 for the complete Microsoft Office Suite bundle
She was only six days into the venture when a CEO of an IT company reached out to her asking if she could create training videos in G Suite products for students, parents, and teachers.
'I formed an LLC. I ordered a green screen and a ring light and set it up in my childhood bedroom,' she said. 'I moved the furniture out of the way. I started recording videos after work and selling them back to this guy. At this point, it's day six on TikTok, and I'm already making money.'
Within three weeks, she had 100,000 followers and a viral video that hit 3.6 million views. At the time, there were fears that TikTok was about to be banned, so she started building followers on Instagram as a backup.
Norton admitted that she doesn't run her business using traditional social media strategies. Instead, she focuses on energetics.
'I get my energy to a place where my presence is truly magnetic and I will get visions of what will go viral,' she said. 'Then I run to my computer and I make those ideas because essentially social media content is straight-up energy transmissions. You're receiving my energy through the phone.'
This is how it happened: In August, she shared a video featuring a timeline of her success, starting with the launch of 'Miss Excel' in June 2020
Side hustle: After her first video went viral, a a CEO of an IT company reached out to her asking if she could create training videos in G Suite products for students and teachers
Always be prepared: At the time, there were fears that TikTok was about to be banned, so she started building followers on Instagram as a backup
In October 2020, The Morning Brew reached out to her about coming on the show. At the same time, she spoke with a business coach who advised her to have a product she's selling in time for the appearance.
Norton took a few weeks off work and created her first Excel course, which she started selling on Black Friday that year. Two months later, her course was making her more money than her day job.
With the encouragement of another business coach, she quit her job in January and released her second course in April 2021, which marked her 'first six-figure month.'
Norton went on to receive the Microsoft MVP award, and she also started working with the brand to learn more about its products in order to better serve her audience.
'The whole experience has been just incredible. It scaled to my first six-figure day a couple of weeks ago. I was super hyped about that,' she said, later noting that she doesn't make six figures every day.
Dreams do come true: Within three weeks, she had 100,000 followers and a viral video that hit 3.6 million views
Big business: Norton started selling her first Excel course online in November 2020, and within two months, it was making her more money than her day job, which she quit shortly after
Success: North went on to have her first six-figure month followed by her first six-figure day, https://theblackorchidlounge.com/ and when she's not launching a course, she only works 15 hours a week
The 'Miss Excel' founder explained that most of her profits are 'just straight passive income.' Her overhead when she first launched the company was around $500 a month, including the $150 a month she pays to host her courses on Thinkific.
She recently hired an advertising company to help her build her presence via ads on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. What's even more incredible, if she doesn't have a course that she is launching, she only works about 15 hours a week.
'I spend a lot of that time in a creative state of flow. Those are usually the days that the most sales will actually come in because I'm in that receiving energy,' she explained. 'I wanted to create a life for myself where I can travel.'
Thanks to her new career, she has the freedom to work wherever she wants. She and her boyfriend fly to a new state every month.
'I came into all this because I wanted to create the life that I wanted for myself,' she explained. 'I wanted freedom: financial freedom and geographic freedom. I wanted just to be able to do what lights me up every day.'
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How an Excel TikToker manifested her way to making six figures a day - The Verge
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