Online Courses

  • Online Courses, Planning

    How to Productise Your Services and Get Online

    Productising your services is an excellent way to get online and expand your reach. By creating a product out of your services, you can provide a clear value proposition to your potential customers and streamline your delivery process.

    How to Productise Your Services and Get Online

    Here are some steps you can take to productise your services and get online:

    1. Identify your core services: Take a look at the services you currently offer and determine which ones are most in demand and have the potential to be turned into a product.
    1. Define your target audience: Determine who your ideal customer is for your product. This will help you tailor your marketing efforts and messaging to reach the right audience.
    1. Create a package: Develop a package that clearly defines what your product includes, such as the scope of work, timeline, and pricing. This can be in the form of a brochure or webpage.
    1. Develop a pricing model: Determine how you will price your product. This could be a one-time fee, a subscription model, or a tiered pricing structure.
    1. Talk about your product: Develop a landing page and create some social media buzz to promote your product. Make sure your messaging is clear and targeted to your ideal customer.
    1. Streamline your delivery process: Create processes and systems that enable you to efficiently deliver your product to your customers. This could include using project management software, setting up payment systems, creating templates and checklists to streamline your workflow.

    By productising your services, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field, reach a wider audience, and provide a more efficient and streamlined delivery process for your customers.

    What service could you productise today, to start building a suite of online products?

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  • Online Courses

    5 Keys to Picking the Right Online Course Platform for Your Business

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    Let’s face it, choosing a platform for hosting and delivering your online courses can be difficult. Even with fantastic platforms like Kajabi, it’s difficult to get rid of the nagging question that all course creators have in the back of their minds: “Is this really the right platform for me?”

    You may be shocked, but the course platform isn’t the place to start. When you decide to develop an online course, you may be tempted to go straight to Google and see what options you have for hosting your online course, here are five key lessons I’ve learned about making the right decision:

    1. Don’t start with an online course platform.

    When you decide to create online courses, it’s tempting to go to Google and look over all the options. There are two major reasons not to.

    The first is that you will quickly suffer from “choice overload”. There are hundreds of platforms, and the number appears to be increasing daily. That’s excellent in some ways. There will be a platform that meets your needs. The issue is that the average entrepreneur can’t tell one platform from another. If you’ve never thought about, let alone used course platforms, you won’t know how you can narrow your options.

    Then comes “paralysis by analysis”. That is, you do nothing, procrastination! You delay. It’s not simply about choosing a platform.

    That’s one reason not to start on the platform.

    Don’t get caught up in all the amazing stuff that different platforms can do (shiny object syndrome). That is, instead of choosing a platform based on your business, your abilities and learning strategies, you choose one based on those shiny objects. 

    Choosing a platform should begin with aligning your business and learning strategies with the way you teach and how the end user experience will be. You must know what experience you must provide your students in order to achieve the desired outcomes.

    2. Compare apples to apples

    Client and colleagues often tell me they’re contemplating platforms like Thinkific and Kajabi. Unfortunately in a case like this, they’re wasting their time.

    Why?

    These are essentially different platforms and options. Comparing apples and oranges.

    Yes, both will offer to host online courses.

    While the foundations of online course platforms are usually the same, the business strategies (and techniques) are vastly different. With Kajabi, you have considerably greater control over your content, data, pricing, and many other areas of your business as an all-in-one platform. With Thinkiifc it can lack in the usability and navigation department as well as design options and email marketing, but can be beneficial if you’re considering white labeling. 

    Brainstorm your requirements early on, well before you make a final choice, so you are comparing similar platforms.

    3. Think carefully about your requirements.

    Before you go shopping, take some time thinking through and writing down your exact requirements i.e. the features you need your course to have.

    This may be tedious, especially if you aren’t a detailed person, but it helps keep you focused while you evaluate different platforms.

    You may change your priorities – or even add new features – once you see what is actually available, but using a worksheet will support you on what works best for your business and your learners.

    4. Know what a platform can do.

    Marketing is a common topic with Learning Revolution readers. I’m not sure how many people have written in asking for a platform that will “do my marketing.”

    Sorry, it won’t happen.

    Yes, course platforms have options for developing sales pages, emailing users, managing affiliates, and other marketing tasks. But the platform will not do your marketing for you! 

    If you want your course to stand out and convert your followers and audience to sign up for your course, you need to sell yourself first.

    The bottomline, online course systems are designed to provide online courses and manage your students. A successful online business requires numerous tools, but there is no magic platform that can get all your courses online, advertise them properly, and send you $$$$ every month as you relax on the beach. There is still work you have to do behind the scenes. 

    5. Your course platform is not your fate.

    Online course platforms can be fantastic, the value of your online course is not in your platform. It’s in your knowledge and content. It’s in your relationship with your students. It’s essentially in you.

    So, there may come a time when yes, switching platforms is on the cards. It can be a hassle, but predicting the future is impossible and there it can be done!

    You may need to remodel your business, in turn retire courses or programs, or online products may outgrow what your current platform is able to provide you, which is a good moment to analyse, reflect, and decide if an alternative platform makes sense.

    When it comes to growing and scaling your online business, it’s undeniable that online course platforms are needed to deliver, market, and sell courses and programs.

    Having a course platform that is easy to use and allows you to develop a passive source of income, not only stabilises your business but can also establish you as an industry thought leader in your niche. 

    Remember, do your research and choose what works for you and your business! 

    Book a free online course query call and start making a plan.

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  • Online Courses

    2023 Trends for Online Learning

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    Online courses and programs are constantly evolving and improving. Here are some of the biggest learning trends you should know about.

    Blended learning for Corporates

    Blended learning is a great way to incorporate continuous learning into your learning and development strategy. The majority of the learning can be done independently, to then bring your team together to discuss what they’ve learned. This also encourages team members to ask questions which can further aid understanding.

    Microlearning (Mini-Courses) or Low Cost Offers

    Microlearning is an effective form of online learning and has become incredibly popular in the education and corporate sectors due to its effectiveness. It believes in dividing lessons into shorter segments based on the insight that people cannot retain attention for too long.

    The smaller segment strategy reduces the duration of each training, making it easier for people to adjust to their routines. Microlearning will be the focal point of eLearning trends for 2023, so it is best to add it to your training curriculum or product offers.

    Soft-Skills Courses

    It’s important for schools and businesses to recognise the opportunities in teaching students and employees ‘soft skills. Soft skills, meanwhile, are typically personal or social in nature. They are often referred to as ‘traits’, which makes them seem like something a student or employee must inherently possess. But in truth, these qualities are frequently very teachable, and more and more schools and businesses are becoming interested in teaching them, and measuring students’ progress in learning and applying them. 

    Critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, emotional intelligence, collaboration, adaptability and more, are all soft skills that have been recognised as critical for modern society. These ‘soft skills’ are known to be excellent attributes for employees, managers, business owners and leaders. 

    Less is more

    Keeping it simple is a definite trend, with ease of access to key topics of discussion. People have had enough of too many choices clouding judgments and complicating learning experiences.

    Ultimately, there are many potential opportunities to leverage online learning for business owners and education providers in 2023. Find out what works and what doesn’t within the context of your own business and environment. You will start to identify priorities that will help push your business forward in this space.

    If you’re struggling to get clarity, plan your content, or even take a minute OUT to work on your course… Let me help you.

    Book a free online course query call and start making a plan.

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  • Online Courses

    5 Simple Ways to Validate Your Online Course Idea

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    Interested in creating an online course but unsure if there is demand for it? It’s a question that everyone who designs an online course has to answer: will people want to buy it?

    Before putting in the time and effort to create your goods, make sure your target market wants them first. If you truly want to help your audience and potential students, you must have a thorough understanding of what they want and need.

    When you validate a course idea, what you’re really doing is making sure there are people out there who are willing to pay for the course you’re offering.

    Take a look at these methods for verifying your online course concept. Using all of them isn’t necessary; however, try and complete at least 3 of these. 

    #1 Do a web search

    Always start with Google. First, find out if there are any existing courses on your chosen subject.

    If so, this is good! It validates your idea by confirming that there is already a market. Remember that no one will deliver your topic exactly like you. Not the lesson list, but your personality and individuality will sell your course. 

    #2 Talk to your clients

    Set up coffee or phone calls with some of your clients and talk about their challenges, needs, and fears.

    Listen more than speak. Allow them to think and share fantastic insights with you.

    Look out for phrases like “I’m embarrassed to say this, but…” or “I wish I had…”

    Those are the golden nuggets that will assist you in realizing if your idea is right for your audience.

    #3 Make a poll/survey

    Assuming you already have an audience or wish to educate on a particular topic, a survey can provide wonderful insights.

    Online surveys are simple to create using free resources like http://www.surveymonkey.com.

    Ask your audience a couple of questions (maximum 5) such as:

    • What is their current major challenge?
    • Their biggest fear
    • What do they need?
    • Where do you see yourself in 1 years time?

    Remember not to ask them what they WANT. People don’t know what they want or how to solve their problems. So you ask what their issue is.

    “If I asked people what they want, they would say a quicker horse,” stated Henry Ford.

    After creating your survey, you can email it to your existing clients, embed it on your website, or share it on social media.

    #4 Create a freebie linked to your course topic

    A freebie is something you give away to your target audiences for free, such as a PDF guide, masterclass, or email challenge.

    Offering a freebie linked to your course idea can be a terrific approach to validate it. Why should individuals join up for your freebie if they won’t pay for a course on the same topic?

    The freebie must be strongly tied to your course idea and must clearly demonstrate the value you would provide through a course. This is the place to put some of your best course content.

    Create a beautiful landing page for your freebie and promote it in your newsletter and social media.

    #5 Sell your course ahead of time.

    Pre-selling will allow your target audience to purchase your course before you ever build it. So if no one buys, you haven’t wasted time and effort developing it.

    When pre-selling, give your early buyers extra value (additional content, 1-on-1 coaching, or a unique price).

    If you obtain no pre-orders, you should abandon this course idea. If you get few responses, take it as a sign that you need to improve your course’s value.

    You don’t have to employ all of the ways to validate your course proposal. Depending on your course idea and target market, some will make more sense than others. I would always interview a few members of my target demographic. This has helped me clarify what I provide and better understand my audience, and I highly suggest it.

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