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Do you get scared knowing that there are other courses on your same topic? Or do you feel intimidated that there are people who have a larger audience than you? Here are some ways to outsell your competition.
What can you offer that's unique to other courses? Is it your background, your experience, your personality or something else. It's 'ok' if your course is different, just figure out what's unique about your course and then use that to promote your 'uniquability'. Check out http://findyouryellowtux.com/ for inspiration on what Jesse does with his baseball team. No one ever said wow, that person is professional…they only are impressed if you’re different. If you don’t stand out you won’t be remarkable
Most courses are mainly digital content delivered with a hands-off approach. Don't get me wrong, those are nice but they probably won't be truly 100% hands off. You'll need to interact with students, answer questions and help your students succeed. Here are some ways that you can outserve your students
If you think that there are too many courses with your same topic, think of ways you can go deep into a niche or topic.I did this with some of my first online courses. I found industries that could use my training and created customized training for their industry. This became very successful and separated me from any competition that made a course for a general audience. A strategy to consider if you're creating courses for multiple industries it creates anchor content that's industry-specific but uses the general content for all courses. So you might have some intro lessons for each industry but then everyone takes the main content. Then your final lessons will have specific applications to the given industry.
There are a lot of courses that serve course creators but I found one that is usually ignored. We all know how vital effective course videos are but there isn't any training on how to create effective course videos. I created a step by step system that takes people through my process, shows what equipment to use between free and professional, gives them the tools to feel confident in front of the camera and even supplies ideas on how to create videos if you don't want to be on camera! Imagine if I had created a general course? It probably wouldn't be as successful as EasyVideoForCourses.com. Find supporting topics or problems your students have and create courses about that. You'll find much more success than just creating a general course where there is a lot of competition.
This might sound crazy but what if you approached your competitors and found ways to serve each other's audiences? There might be things that they don't want to do that you do and vice versa. You'll have more success if you serve more people than try to protect yourself from expanding. Plus, I can almost guarantee your audience knows who your competitor is! Find how to make the simplest course that only gives the most valued content. Most people don't want extensive courses that teach them EVERY aspect of the topic. Think of the 80/20 rule. What is the 20% that you can create that will give the 80% most value? Don’t make your course over complicated - most courses are too complicated.
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We all want to create effective online courses but most courses are too complex and complicated for students. And that's why most students don't complete online courses.
Think of your course as having 101, 201, levels, just like at a university. Your students will be able to learn at their own pace and not be overwhelmed. Don't overcomplicate your content. Remember that your students are coming in at a basic understanding. Your job is to give them what they need to know now, not 10 steps down the road.Additionally, you will be able to make more money because you offer different courses for different skill levels. Your students will like it and you will like the additional opportunities for more income. Is your course topic complex? I also recommend that you find a niche and make a course just on one part of the overall topic.
While some courses are open for students to jump around to any part of the course they want, you might want to limit the course progression so everyone goes through the course content together. This alone may help your online course become more effective. Just think, everyone will go through it together and have similar questions. They can ask you or if you have a private Facebook group or forum then your students can also ask each other.
Course abandonment is high and one of the reasons is that students want to go quickly through the course content without thinking about the material and how to apply it. Ask them to reflect on the content, share what they learned with a friend or post in the Facebook group their key takeaways.
Students want step by step instructions. They want to learn from someone with more experience and success. Students don't want all the variables but the exact process you took to get success and they want to follow you. Sometimes little things like cheatsheets and templates are easy to create but provide the biggest value and allow the students to move ahead faster.
Online courses that include videos are 83% more effective in helping students remember the information better. We all know that video content is the best content for your course but what if you don’t want to buy a camera or use complex software? Use your Smartphone or tablet to record your course videos. I teach a full module just on how to effectively use your smartphone and tablet to record your course videos. I also give you my the best apps and software to use to film and edit directly on your phone or tablet. You can find the course at EasyVideoForCourses.com.
One of the biggest factors in both the success of the course for your students as well as how much money you make is what access you provide. While it takes more time to provide more access and you might lose money, you might actually get more students because they want to learn directly from you.Plan out how much time per week you’ll be there and make sure you’re not losing money on your course. Consider offering:
If your course is inexpensive then don’t offer a private FB group. Use these tips to create an effective online course that doesn't overwhelm your students.
Check out the new course at http://easyvideoforcourses.com Please help us bring more content to the masses by subscribing to the podcast at https://onlinecoursecoach.com/itunesapp
One of the key factors in the success of an online course is how well put together the course content is in your videos. If it's thrown together or isn't done properly you could lose students and income. In this episode, I share 7 Tips to create effective course videos.
By having your notes on these devices you can sync them anywhere on everywhere on any device. And that gives you peace of mind knowing that if your computer crashes that you haven't lost everything.
We all know how important it is to survey your students to ask them what they want to learn and what their biggest struggles are (this is where your best course content can come from). But you can also ask what type of video they like most and would learn best from. You might learn that this type of video will take some time and work for you to complete but that will actually help you stand out from your competition who only created basic course videos and didn't go above and beyond like you will.
Put a few key points, or even 1 statement that you talk about. Just like Ted Talks only have one thing per slide, your slides shouldn't have too much content. Use a mix of stories so you’re not just reading from slides. Your students will engage more with your course content if you relate stories throughout your course videos.
Are you only putting information in your online courses or are you engaging your students with different learning styles? Don't forget to use this method to improve your courses. For more information on this method, check out 3 Simple Teaching Tips for Better Online Course Videos.
While I recommend being on camera for some or all of your course videos, you can get creative. Create a video where you only show your hands or have someone ask questions to you off camera. But the main thing is to not underestimate the expertise that you provide. You don't have to be a world famous expert. You just have to be 1 step ahead of your students. Keep your focus on your students and not on you. Know that you are your worst critic. While you might think you look or sound strange, your students will not…I promise you!
There's nothing worse than a distraction while you're filming so put your phone in airplane mode and turn off any notifications on your computer. This will make your course videos go a lot better and you won't be distracted by anything.
You never know when a computer will crash or fail. Plus video content will fill up your computer quickly so buy an external hard drive to store your videos. Even better, use Dropbox or Google Drive to store the files and sync them in the cloud. You want to be able to access these files in the future if you need to change something and having them synced online will greatly help. I recommend having a local backup AND a cloud backup. That way you reduce the risks.
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In the next few weeks, I’ll be releasing Easy Video For Courses. An online course that teaches you how to create effective course videos in half the time. I’ll be sharing more about it in another week or 2 but for now you can go to onlinecoursecoach.com/7tips to get a free video on 7 tips to create better course videos. I’ll also alert you when the course is available. I plan on giving some bonuses and perhaps even a discount only to my podcast listeners so subscribe to the podcast and listen to future episodes to learn more.
These are 3 things that every course video, module, and lesson should contain. It will help your students better learn, remember and apply the course content.
This is typical where course creators start….and end. It’s the easiest to do because it’s where you convey your knowledge. It’s one of the most important…but it’s not the only thing your course should contain
This is usually overlooked but it’s very important. The student may not truly learn if they don’t feel anything. This might be hard for some personality types to think about the emotional aspect of the course content. Think about what the content will make your students feel. How will that impact their life? How will it motivate them to continue the course? Tony Robins says ‘change your story. Change your life’ and emotion is a big part of that. What can you do to help change the student’s story, so they know and feel it?
One of the most important pieces of your teaching is to help the student transform what you know, so they know it. And what they can feel with that knowledge but most importantly, you want them to change their lives with this information. You want them to DO something with your course content. What do you want them to do? So how do we do this? Here is a simple layout that I help my students use when their creating course videos. Teach what you’re going to teach, teach it, review it, ask them to put it into practice
If you follow the advice above then your online course videos will be more effective, your students will have more success which will make your online course more profitable. Everyone wins when you spend a little more time preparing your course content. Which tips did you like the best? I'd love to hear what you're working on and learning. This entire website is to help course creators improve their online courses. Send me a message. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget, if you want to create more effective online course videos in half the time, sign up for the free video and get on the waitlist for Easy Video for Courses.