You read that right — $400k.

That’s almost half a million dollars in revenue, and it’s all from an offer that almost didn’t happen.

We’re talking about The Externship, which is the flagship summer training program offered by Amplified Planning. Our team has worked with Amplified Planning founder, Hannah Moore, CFP®, for years, and the partnership we built to bring The Externship to life is pretty amazing (if we do say so ourselves). 

Want to see exactly how we worked with Hannah to turn The Externship into a wildly profitable offer and industry-standard program?

Read on, friends…

The Externship, Part 1: Back in the days of social distancing…

Hop in your time machine and travel back with us to 2020. It was a time of pandemic restrictions and way too many status updates about finding toilet paper.

As summer approached and social distancing restrictions remained in place, Hannah realized that many aspiring financial planners wouldn’t get to attend the internships they’d worked so hard to land.

So, Hannah worked with the FPA (Financial Planning Association) to develop an alternative — a virtual “externship” that would offer the benefits of an internship without requiring in-person activities. The CFP Board also lent its support, agreeing to approve official credit hours for people who participated in The Externship.

Planning out The Externship itself was challenging, especially given the short timeline. By this point, it was March of 2020, and Hannah and the FPA wanted The Externship to run through June and July. Two months to plan and launch and take it from start to finish? Talk about a challenge!

Hannah was already one of our clients, so she turned to us to help get the word out about the program. The UC team rose to the challenge, identifying the necessary content and copy, creating a comprehensive promotional calendar, and writing everything for two brands (Hannah and the FPA).

In a few weeks, we cranked out all the essential content for a launch — a sales page, promotional emails and social posts, and even physical flyers for universities and career centers!

The Externship was a popular offer right away, drawing more than 900 signups. Students who had lost their internships had another opportunity to earn CFP Board experience hours and learn from working financial planners. 

The Externship, Part 2: Supporting our client’s vision

Fast forward to 2021 — most pandemic restrictions were lifted and in-person summer internships were back on the table. The FPA wasn’t sure running The Externship again would be a good use of resources, but Hannah saw the potential in this innovative training option.

Together with many externs who had found the initial Externship a valuable experience, Hannah convinced the FPA board to support the program for another year. 

And again, Hannah turned to the Uncanny Content team to help build a launch strategy and create all the promotional material.

This presented a bit of an interesting challenge — how would we market a virtual program when in-personal internships were available again? 

We started by listening — to Hannah, to her team, and to the externs who had experienced so many benefits the year before. We gathered up all those stories and used them to drive our strategy. 

And it worked — together, Hannah and the UC team proved that there was definitely a market for virtual financial planner training and mentorship.

The Externship, Part 3: Moving forward with purpose

Let’s move on to 2022 — which is when the FPA decided it was time to move on from The Externship. Hannah negotiated to keep the program and continue offering it under her new brand, Amplified Planning.

The Amplified Planning Project had been in the works for a few years. Hannah has always been passionate about investing in the next generation of financial planners, and she created the Amplified Planning Project as an online educational hub for aspiring financial planners.

With full license to run The Externship solely under the Amplified Planning brand, it was time for us to help Hannah with some rethinking and rebranding.

Without the voice limitations and compliance restrictions of the FPA’s brand, we now had the freedom and flexibility to have some fun! 

(This is one of the things we love about our work — the challenge of adjusting to brand voice. We’re experts at it — that’s where the “uncanny” part of our name comes from. Whether it’s working with compliance limitations or helping a client define the voice for a whole new brand, we know it well!)

Once we nailed down the new Amplified Planning brand voice, we set to work bringing everything Externship into the fold. That meant rewriting a LOT of copy and creating new email sequences to encourage FPA externs to join the cool kids over at Amplified Planning.

The promotional period for The Externship was planned for March, but we started long before that. Together with Hannah, we solidified the Amplified Planning brand, clarified the mission and offers for Amplified Planning and the rebranded Externship, and helped Hannah reach out to potential sponsors.

March came, the updated copy went out, and we saw 700+ signups for the 2022 Externship, now fully under the Amplified Planning banner.

The Externship, Part 4: From ideation to industry standard — in just 5 years!

Hop back in that time machine and fast forward to now. This summer will mark the fifth offering of The Externship. It’s bigger and better than ever, featuring corporate sponsors, industry experts, and a more robust curriculum. 

Last year, The Externship brought in $258,000 in signup revenue and over $150,000 in sponsorship dollars. Amplified Planning gave away 62 scholarships to externs with financial need and solidified The Externship as an industry-leading program with reliable staying power. 

To date, more than 3,500 people have participated in The Externship, many coming year after year to experience all the benefits of this innovative program.

And the UC team is still right alongside Hannah, supporting her vision and helping to make The Externship happen. We’ve worked with her for more than five years at this point, and we have her brand, values, and voice down pat.

Because we were also part of launching Amplified Planning, we have a thorough understanding of how The Externship fits into AP’s brand goals — and how to make those goals a reality.

We truly believe in Hannah’s mission! We’ve seen how impactful her work is — not just for aspiring financial planners, but for everyone who benefits from a better understanding of financial planning.

We’re happy to support Hannah with the strategy and copy she needs to keep building Amplified Planning and The Externship. Our copy has helped her build awareness, secure sponsors, and bring in more externs year after year. We’ve even delivered the copy requested by Hannah’s sponsors, developing everything according to their brand guidelines and goals.

We’re so proud of everything Hannah has accomplished — and all the work we’ve done to support her. It’s nice to see that six-figure revenue number, but it’s even more important to hear from externs and see just how much this program has shaped their careers.

Bringing our clients’ visions to life with strategic support and kickass copy

In case you couldn’t tell, we’re proud as hell of Hannah, Amplified Planning, and The Externship. We’re thrilled to have helped her bring The Externship from a last-minute pandemic solution to an industry-leading, multi-six-figure offer. 

That’s the kind of magic that happens when clients and copywriters have a shared vision and commitment to see things through. And of course, when those writers have the strategic expertise and creative chops to get the job done.

Is that the kind of support and partnership you want for your business? We’d love to help. Whether you want to launch your first offer or your 50th, we’ll help you create the runway that leads to success. Book a free call to find out what it would be like to work together.