Last night was the 88th Annual Academy Awards - an annual tradition to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements. Essentially, it is a once a year recognition program for people in the industry. People get dressed up and wait to hear the results. In some ways, it isn’t much different than what happens in many organizations.So I ask: Do you have once a year recognition program? Do promotion opportunities come once a year?Waiting every 12 months for a "main event" announcement is not how recognition should happen. According to a Bersin & Associates study, only 17 percent of employees indicated that their organizations’ cultures strongly support recognition. This lack of effectiveness is largely driven by the misdirected nature of most recognition programs: 87 percent of organizations reported that their programs are designed to recognize service or tenure. These programs do not meet the needs of today’s employees, nearly 70 percent of whom report they are recognized annually or not at all.We must make recognition less complicated. Let’s not make it about one night where you put on a fancy dress or suit…or the annual performance process.This week’s tip is to recognize people around you and thank them. In fact, 50% of employees believe being thanked by managers not only improved their relationship but also built trust with their higher-ups, according to the Cicero Group. Showing gratitude is a simple act that has a lot of impact.How will you recognize people this week? The post Fierce Tip of the Week: Leaders, Don’t Follow the Oscars - Stop Once a Year Recognition appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

All you have to do is turn on the news to see that there is a lack of diversity of thought around us, from our grid-locked Congress to our arguments about anything under the sun. There is never one simple solution to the challenges we face, and we need more, than ever, diversity of thought. In order to get there, we need to focus on two things: getting curious and expanding our thinking.To dig a little deeper, I wanted to share a relevant excerpt from our white paper: A Perspective on Diversity, Building a Culture of Curiosity: The metaphorical phrase "you can’t judge a book by its cover" has endured as long as it has for a reason. In a similar vein, an employee should not be judged by the generation they represent, the religion they practice, or the socioeconomic status they were raised in. Because the combination of experiences and characteristics are so vast, it is fruitless to attempt to do so.What organizations can do is ensure employees become skilled at gathering insights from people of all backgrounds and encourage employees to interrogate their own perceptions of reality. Focus then shifts to the ideas, and thought processes of the individual.One of the transformational ideas at Fierce, Inc. is that "all conversations are with myself and sometimes they involve other people." In other words, everyone enters into conversations with their own opinions, beliefs and attitudes. Instead of getting curious and learning, people often use conversations as a forum to validate, confirm, and reinforce their own previously held beliefs.Get CuriousBuilding a work environment where diversity of thought is valued begins with the commitment to enter into each conversation without making assumptions, to interrogate personal context. The goal is to learn rather than to convince. If participants spend an entire meeting convincing others of what they know, nobody learns anything new. Curiosity not only brings fresh ideas to light, it also increases the likelihood of well- rounded decisions.Without curiosity and inquisitiveness, meetings become mere presentations; perspectives are not shared and acumen is not improved.Expand Your ThinkingOrganizations understand the benefits of a workforce that represents its consumers and clients. When employee diversity mirrors the customer base, organizations have a better understanding of the clients they serve. However, if the work environment rewards apathetic agreement, thereby discouraging the very differences it sought to engage, the benefits of a diverse workforce are wasted and the organization is put at risk of falling into the trap of group think.Diversity in and of itself is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is the creativity, innovation and insight that result from open and inclusive dialogue. Leaders can replace the potential for diverse thought with the reality of diverse thought by creating a work environment that encourages employees to challenge their own realities, ask questions, and revisit alternate perspectives regularly.What will you do to create diversity of thought with your work?The post Two Tips to Create Diversity of Thought appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Looking over the comments from my last post, I am reminded that the key to being an effective manager is building good relationships. And the key to good relationships is communication. Management takes place mostly through conversations. Several of you mentioned the challenge of having conversations with direct reports who were once your peers. In our new First-time Manager training program, we address many common challenges people face when they step into a leadership role. One of our main focus areas is basic communication skills that can help improve conversations and make managing people a little less daunting. When I think about something that gets in the way of effective conversations, I think about the importance of listening. Listening? How hard can that be? Actually, listening can be difficult for new managers who feel as if they have something to prove or they are supposed to have all the answers. I encourage new managers to listen with the intent of understanding and being influenced by the other person. A one-on-one conversation with a direct report is a great time to practice the skill of mindfulness. First, get rid of distractions—close the door and put away cell phones. Then, focus on understanding what the other person is saying. Ask questions to gain insight about the situation, and try to avoid judgment. Be present with them as they are speaking—and resist the urge to formulate your next comment before they finish. My son, Scott, says, "Listen more than you talk. Listen more than is comfortable. Listen more than you already do." It’s also important to listen for what is not being said. Ask open-ended questions to draw the person out and get them to clarify certain points. This is best handled by asking how and what questions instead of why questions. It is a natural tendency to ask why questions, but they can make a person feel criticized or challenged. Asking a how or what question helps build trust and improve the dialogue. For example, if you saw your direct report struggling with a project, instead of asking, "Why did you do it that way?" you might ask, "What would you do differently if you had that project to do again?" or, "How would you handle that project now with what you have learned?" Notice how one word can change the entire tone and intention of the conversation! I saw a great quote the other day from author Sue Patton Thoele, "Deep listening is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand." I think this really captures how important listening can be both on a personal and professional level. Just imagine how rewarding it would be for a new manager and a direct report to feel like their spirits have expanded. I think it would go a long way toward developing trusting, authentic relationships that lead to highly engaged employees and stimulating work environments. I’m interested to hear more about challenges you’ve seen new managers face. Please share them in the comments section below so I can address them in my next post. Together, we can help new managers get off to a great start in their new role!

This quarter, we have focused the newsletter on Getting Stuff (we actually are using a different word here) Done, GSD. In January, we shared tips for getting projects done and last month, getting leadership done. We have been overwhelmed by your positive response to both the newsletter and the blog posts. Thanks to all who have shared our message and seek to grow. Please keep it up!   There's an Irish blessing that hangs on my office wall and in my mother's hallway (right).As a third generation member of the Devanes of County Kerry, I appreciate the funny, smart aleck humor of the Irish. It must be a gene because as many of you know, I certainly have it. The Irish have a quick wit, love to have fun and are extremely loyal to their people. This is the way I imagine great teams. Check out my grandmother and some of her sisters (below) who came over from Ireland in the early 1900s- she's the one with the giant purse. I hope you enjoy some of my Irish tales to begin the month of St. Patrick, while pointing out ways to grow teams. Slainte! 

Design Thinking is a problem-solution and creative-solution creation method. In the world of design, it is the logical process designers undergo when creating a new product or service. In business, it has represented a disruption from the traditional way of thinking and coming up with new ideas.  What sets this method apart and what has made it a corporate must-have is it focuses in understanding the problem and the context first before even thinking about implementing solutions. This method allows for the analysis of all the aspects and users involved. All of this may sound far from groundbreaking but unfortunately, still many companies neglect its user’s real needs in order to make their products or projects more profitable and successful.

Whether a CEO or Training Manager yourself or if you are trying to pitch the idea of automation to the senior management team it is key to understand what the benefits are. Priorities differ from role to role making it important to understand both individual and departmental needs. This post takes a look at the benefits of automation to senior management.   

Today on Teach Online TV I have a guest and we are going to be talking about building your personal brand, developing your breakthrough ideas and, most importantly, building a following around your brand and your ideas. And I know that’s something we could all use some help with. My guest is a two-time author working on a new book now and she has interviewed the likes of Al Gore, Tim Ferris, Mark Zuckerberg and Seth Golden to help develop her ideas and share with you how to build your personal brand. Her first book, "Reinventing You" helps you reinvent yourself and build your personal brand and her second one, "Stand Out" has been recognized as the number one leadership book in 2015 by Inc. magazine and it’s going to help you find your breakthrough idea and build an audience around that. If you’re not already following Dorie Clark, you definitely should be as I know you can learn a lot from her. Let’s see what Dorie has to say. Introduction Greg: Dorie, it’s really good to have you here. I know that you are a marketing strategist. Something that I really have found interesting is the books that you’ve been putting out - ‘Stand Out’ named the number one leadership book by Inc. magazine, and ‘Reinventing You’, a book on personal branding. I love the whole branding side, especially personal branding, and I know that our audience is very interested in that, so I’m really excited to be speaking with you here today. Another area that I think the people in our audience are interested in is that you teach and you’ve done a lot of teaching as an adjunct professor at Duke University in the school of business there, and also guest lecturing at places like Harvard business school. So it’s very a wonderful to have you here and really exciting to be talking to you. Dorie: Hey, thank you so much, Greg. I’m really glad to have the chance. On Reinventing Yourself Greg: Great, excellent. So I have so many different things ask you that I think our audience would be interested in. You know, one thing that I find interesting about your kind of career path is you really have reinvented yourself a number of times. Can you talk a little bit to some of the stuff that you’ve done before? I mean, people look to you now and they think you’re in this wonderful successful place where you’re a thought leader and you’ve built this amazing personal brand. What are some of the different reinventions you took and paths to get there? Dorie: Thank you! There have been a lot. In fact, that was the genesis and the inspiration for my first book ‘Reinventing You’. But basically, I studied philosophy as an undergrad and then went to graduate school for theology. After I got my masters degree I thought I would go on to get a doctorate in literature, and I actually got turned down by all of the doctoral programs that I applied to so that was not going to happen. And so my first reinvention was just having to come up with a totally different plan. So I became a newspaper reporter which was actually a pretty good plan. I felt pretty solid about that except I picked the worst time in world history to be a newspaper reporter and the industry was collapsing, thanks to Craigslist and the internet, just as I joined and so a year later I got laid off. So then I transitioned from covering politics to working on political campaigns as the spokesperson for two actually very prominent campaigns, one as a gubernatorial race in the US, the other the presidential campaign. They both lost so I had one more big reinvention being a nonprofit executive director and it was in the course of running this nonprofit for couple of years that I realized that running a non-profit is exactly the same thing as running a small business and I thought, aha, I should do this for myself, I should become an entrepreneur. That was my big reinvention. On The Importance Of Persistence Greg: Lots of experiments along the way and learning at each of those steps too. You put out a number of book proposals right before you actually took off. How long was that persisting phase of trial and error before you hit it off? Dorie: It definitely does take a while. I was having a call with a client this morning actually who was feeling really discouraged because she’s been trying to do this kind of brand building stuff for a few months and she felt like it wasn’t getting anywhere. And you know the truth is in a few months it’s never gonna get anywhere. You have to do it for a few years before you see results but the advantage is that by the time you start seeing results a lot of people have already dropped out because they’ve gotten discouraged and so they’re not doing it. By the time you start seeing results a lot of people have already dropped out because they’ve gotten…Click To Tweet So for me, it was 2009 when I really decided I wanted to publish a book and I wanted to make that happen. And so I wrote three different book proposals, tried to get them out there, tried to get publishers interested in it. Nobody was interested because I was not famous enough and so I needed to essentially go back to square one and so I spent about a year trying fairly unsuccessfully to even just break in and to get to be able to write for major publications. After that, it took me probably two to three years of very regular writing to start having inbound inquiries for consulting, for speaking, for coaching, as a result of the articles, the brand I’ve built and things like that. But what did happen faster which I was really pleased about was in 2011, which was about a little less than two years after, I hit this realization that I needed to start blogging to build my platform. 2011 was when I signed my contract for my first book. So that process took a little while and then it took a couple years for the book to come out. So what I’ve discovered is that if you did it in the right steps you will see progress eventually, you will get there, but it always takes longer than you want it to. On Where To Focus When Starting Out Greg: Yes, I’ve definitely seen that in experiences I’ve had. When you got that book contract I know that some of that came from an article you wrote for Harvard Business Review. Something I’m always curious about is when you’re getting out there and just getting started trying to build a brand and you’re writing, should you be, and there’s that ongoing debate, but should you be writing on your own platform, on your own blog, writing on other people’s, putting content in those places? You know if you only have time for a certain amount of that because you’re starting this on the side, where do you focus your efforts? Dorie: So it really depends on your goal. For me my goal very clearly, from the beginning, to publish a book and so I knew that whatever I could do to get external credibility and social proof, would be really valuable to me in terms of being able to convince publishers that I had a following and I was a reputable enough to earn the right to do a book. So my goal from the beginning was to try to write for the larger publications first. So I focused on that. Where to focus your marketing efforts depends on your goals - Dorie ClarkClick To Tweet If you have a different goal, if you want to develop a blog and monetize your blog, then it’s not a bad idea, like a Seth Godin or Chris Brogan, to focus on creating content on your own site. A hybrid model that actually is pretty good as well is one that James Clear has done in which he publishes his content on the blog first but then he syndicates it to other publications. Not every publication will take that second run content. A lot of people require that it is original but he’s found sites that are willing to take it and then he just links back and says to subscribe to my newsletter and so he’s been able to build up a pretty good number of followers that way. On Finding Your Key Idea Greg: Yeah, a lot of the strategy depends on what your goals are and that’s a really good way of looking at it is starting first with what your goals are and where you’re going with it. I know that in ‘Stand Out’, your most recent book, you’ve got a number of strategies for people in terms of coming up with that breakthrough idea and I know that, with the coaches and instructors and entrepreneurs in our audience, they are looking to create online courses. A lot of them have an area of expertise obviously, or some personal experience that they started from, and have some ideas about what they wanted to teach but many of them I know haven’t really found the idea that they want to focus around. So can you speak about the key points or strategies that you’ve looked at or identified in terms of how you can really narrow down that key idea? [Dorie] Yeah so this is a really common scenario. I think there is a cultural myth about how great ideas are formed, which is that many people assume that it’s like a lightning strike and one day it pops in your head and you have this is amazing idea that is world changing. And the truth is having interviewed more than fifty top leaders, and essentially trying to reverse engineer the process by which they developed and became known for their breakthrough ideas, what I discovered was that it’s the opposite. It's a myth that great ideas suddenly pop into your head - Dorie ClarkClick To Tweet Instead of just having a bolt from the blue idea what happens is that you need to place yourself in a position so that you are working in this area so that the idea can come to you iteratively. Because the truth is you got to just roll up your sleeves, start doing something in the course of doing the research, being meshed in this field, having the conversations that the holes present themselves and that they are somehow in a suddenly manifest. So I think that’s the first thing is almost in an attitude change that So I think that’s the first thing. Don’t be looking for the lightning strike, it comes from the tilling of the soil. But what are a few ways that you can begin to do this? One that I’ll suggest is the importance of doing original research, and some might think that’s hard and that you need to have a doctorate or something. Really what I mean by original research is that in this world there are lots of people who have opinions. If you are doing research, meaning you are creating an original content that is based on fact rather than opinion, you are actually really contributing to the dialogue. Don't be looking for the lightning strike idea. It comes from the tilling of the soil - Dorie ClarkClick To Tweet So that could mean anything from conducting a survey to doing interviews for blogs to a podcast or whatever with actual experts. It could mean doing reviews of products whatever it is that it’s about adding value in a very systematic way, and if you do that consistently then you are actually going to be viewed rapidly is an expert because you have access to a lot more knowledge and a lot more facts than most people out there. On Being Original Greg: That sounds like a great approach. Definitely, I’ve seen that the times that I’ve done that stuff it works quite well. I know that I see people going the opposite direction where they aren’t as successful where they’re duplicating things that are already out there and rewriting a lot of topics. If you wanna build your own brand and stand out then doing things that are original are obviously quite important. Dorie: Absolutely, especially for people who maybe haven’t totally formulated their own point of view at this point. Maybe they’re kind of new in a field they might feel like that’s a big handicap but the truth is right out of the gate you don’t have to. If you say ‘you know what I make myself an expert on this topic because I’m going to interview hundred people who are experts in the topic’, by the time you get to that hundredth interview you’re gonna have a point of view. You’ve talked to enough people, you’ve seen enough things you’ve spent enough time in putting your ‘10,000 hours’ that you are going to have a much more finely honed sense of the field and the issues or problems just for having done that and along the way you will have become an expert through talking to other experts and adding value to other people by shining light on these ideas. If you talk to 100 experts, by the time you get to the last interview you'll become an expert too -…Click To Tweet On Competition Greg: What do you say to someone who is concerned about the competition out there? So they’re looking at it and saying "well I love entrepreneurial pursuits and, for me, that’s a big passion. Maybe I’ll go and interview people about that but I see that Andrew is already doing a lot of interviews there. Should I stay away?" Dorie: The truth is, there are basically no new ideas in the world. For anything you can basically say somebody has done it before. The real question is, yes, they might be talking about your topic in a very broad sense but they’re not talking about it with your perspective. What is unique about you, what can you bring to the table? There are no new ideas in the world. Find what's unique about you - Dorie ClarkClick To Tweet Greg: It’s a great way of looking at it and I think when you start to see other people doing something in that space is actually an indication too that there’s a demand for that area and then when you get in that niche area and you get really specific then you can even pick up more on that demand. But it’s already been proven by other people out there doing it. I actually get a little bit scared when I’m considering doing something and I see nobody doing it. You know, you hear crickets and you’re like, why is that? Maybe nobody wants to learn about it to you know that kind of topic. Dorie: Yeah it can definitely be an ominous sign. On Interviewing Influencers Greg: In all of the interviews I’ve listened to about you, a lot of the stuff that I’ve read, you really focus on the storytelling side of things. Even your book ‘Stand Out’ starts from a whole series of really wonderful interviews with some amazing people like Seth Godin and you’ve got these great analogies and stories. So it’s not just you saying ‘Hi I’m Dorie I’ve got some ideas about this’, you’ve actually gone out there and talked to experts. Can you share the specific examples of how the things have applied in life? Dorie: Yeah. It’s interesting because my training as a journalist, to a certain extent, is very good training, but I also have to overcome it in some ways because we all have theses biases. As a journalist, the mandate is always ‘don’t talk about yourself.’ You’re not the story, keep yourself out of the story. So I’d actually have to learn to include a little bit more about my story because people ask and they’re interested in things like that and I’ve realized that it can be powerful. It can be valuable to share your own experiences but my bias from the beginning and my training has been how do you extract stories from other people to really shine a light on them and what their experience is. Because that’s the best teacher. I mean you know almost any business book you can actually distil 300 pages in like, a page. Like be nice to people, you should keep in touch, stuff like that. It’s ridiculous, we all know it. It’s not that business books don’t have information, they often do but the thing is if it’s a list of rules like the ten commandments no one’s going to remember, no one’s going to care, and it’s going to sound shallow. The thing that actually can change people’s lives is if they hear a story that they can relate to any they say yes that finally sinks in that finally hits me, this is for me this is the model that I’m going to use. And if you have that, that’s everything. On Building A Following Greg: Yeah, now that I think about it all the great books that I’ve read, especially around building businesses, as you’re going through it, you say yeah, I knew a lot of the stuff, that makes perfect sense but it’s the fact that it’s really resonating with me because there are great stories and great examples and implementation in there. You have a great following. I think many of the people we work with, who are creating courses here come with amazing expertise and a following. Some come with the following and they are looking to create that course or share their expertise and some come with the great expertise but no following or a very small following. Any advice for people starting out or looking to grow and expand that following and I know we talked about creating great content but are there other things that you would say you should definitely be doing or favorite channels that you have? Dorie: Well a lot of things that have made a difference for me that I try to double down is the creation of a free giveaway because if you just ask people to subscribe to my email newsletter, that doesn’t sound exciting. Because there is no value, why would we get into that? But if you’re able to tell people ‘I have this thing that can be really helpful and valuable to you, would you like it?" It gives them a reason to sign up, to give you a chance, you essentially have the ability to try and earn the right to stay in touch with them if you’re providing information that is useful and interesting enough. And so for me, starting in around on the release of my new book ‘Stand Out’ I created this free 42-page workbook that people can download from my site, it walks them step by step through the process of developing their breakthrough idea. And as result of creating that which didn’t take that long, it was adapted from my book. I’ve been able to use that to double my mailing list from 10000 to over 25000. They can download it from my website DorieClark.com On Providing Value Greg: Great I’ll be sharing a link to that as well. I’ve checked it out and I see you’ve put a lot of work into it and I see some of the free downloads where I’ve even done them and it’s sort of a one pager. Yours is forty two pages and it’s substantial and very valuable. Where’s that balancing line for you in terms of giving away a lot of value for free versus just having something small to give people? Why do you go so far in terms of giving away really good free value? Dorie: Well I actually felt totally ok about it, because if it was something that took me 300 hours to then it’s not a worthwhile tradeoff but I’ve already done the work in my book. But then I realized if someone’s reading a book in real-time they’re not going to be necessarily answering the questions in the margin. Wouldn’t it be better for them to download it as a workbook for them to print out? It becomes a real tool. All I did was grab the questions at the end each section, and there were a lot of them, there were a hundred and thirty-nine questions. I put it together and then had to the designers put it in a nice document, so in total it probably took me an hour and a half. So if you can strike that balance between what is valuable to your audience but in some ways a reworking or repurposing content so you’re not having to create this whole separate thing without spending so much time on it is kind of the ideal giveaway. Conclusion Greg: Ok we kind of talked at length about it but your website is DorieClark.com Dorie: DorieClark.com Greg: I really appreciate having you here. I think I’ve learned some and I really hope that our audience learned something about this approach to building a following and coming up with great ideas. I think a lot of the stuff that you share on your site is useful in terms of talking to people about building their brand and coming up with their great new idea, so thank you so much, Dorie! The post Teach Online TV Interview: Dorie Clark On Building Personal Brands appeared first on Thinkific.

The day has finally arrived… you’ve finished creating your online course! It took several weeks (maybe even several months) to create it, but that’s okay. The important thing is that it is done, and after many long days and nights of being glued to your computer creating, recording, and editing your course content, you finally have time to enjoy daylight again. There’s just one problem. Your course is completed, but nobody knows about it. And unfortunately this isn’t the movie Field of Dreams where the "build it and they will come" approach works. This is the real world, where you have to hustle hard to get the word out and get some sales for your course. If you forgot to create a marketing strategy for your course, don’t feel bad. You’re definitely not the first person to create a course before they created a plan to market it. We’ve got you covered. This article contains 55 proven ways to market your online course so you can start generating sales. The first few strategies we mention should actually be implemented before you create your course, but the rest of them can be used pretty much any time after your course is created. You might want to take notes while you read this, or you can download and print out our course promotion checklist for future reference. Here are some things you can do before you create your online course: 1. Craft your ideal student avatar This is an important first step to take before you implement any of the strategies listed in this article. Understanding who your ideal student is before you start marketing your course will help you create marketing material that compels and speaks directly to their frustrations, needs, and desires. Your ideal student avatar is essentially a representation of the ideal student for your course. Write at least a one paragraph description describing your ideal student and keep them in mind as you implement the marketing strategies listed below.   Tweet this. 2. Identify your unique selling proposition Research some of the existing online courses related to your topic so that you have a good idea of what is included in those courses and how they are presented. The goal here is to determine how you will differentiate your course from your competition. What areas of your topic will you cover that your competition missed? What value can you add to your course that is not included in the others? Identify your unique selling proposition (also known as a differentiator) and include it in your course description and marketing messages.  Plus, when people ask "how is your course different from XYZ?" it helps to have a good answer.  Tweet this. 3. Survey your audience before you create your course This step is important because it helps ensure that you create a course that people actually want to take. If you have an audience (from a blog, podcast, email list, social media, etc.), send them a survey to ask them what topics they are interested in learning about. Create a course based on what they want, not on what you want to create.  Including your audience in your course creation process is also a great way to build anticipation for your course before you release it.  Tweet this. Here’s a short video on how to quickly set up surveys and conduct audience research. 4. Create a compelling course title based on keyword research Imagine for a moment that you are searching for some information about your topic. What search terms (aka keywords) are you going to use to find the information you are looking for? If you wanted to learn how to design logos in Adobe Photoshop, for example, you would likely enter the keywords "how to design logos using Photoshop", or some similar variation of that phrase. Use a tool such as Google’s Keyword Planner or Buzz Sumo to identify the most popular keywords related to your course topic, and include those keywords in your course title. This will help to position your course as exactly what a potential student is looking for as they search for your topic online.  Tweet this. Here are some things you can do after your course is created to help increase your sales: 5. Promote your course on your blog Your blog is a great place to promote your course, especially if you regularly publish articles related to your course topic. Every person who reads your blog is a potential student for your course. Some great places to include some information about your course are the top bar of your website (if your blog theme doesn’t include a top bar, you can add one using Hello Bar), at the end of each blog post, in your sidebar, and on your About Page. A great feature for Thinkific users is our A great feature for Thinkific users is our Sales Widget, which makes it really easy to do this.  Tweet this. 6. Create a YouTube channel YouTube is the second most-visited search engine in the entire world (after Google). There are literally millions of people searching for "how-to" videos on YouTube on a daily basis. YouTube videos can even rank higher than websites in the search results of numerous search engines. Create a YouTube channel about your course topic and publish helpful videos on a regular basis. Include a link to your website or course in your video descriptions.  Tweet this. A great example of a YouTube channel is Daily Hoop Love by Deanne Love. Deanne uses Thinkific to create her Hoop Lovers online school, and many of her students found her because of her YouTube videos. 7. Publish a course promotion video on YouTube Create a short video to promote your course and publish it on YouTube. You could even create multiple promotional videos, each with a different title, to increase exposure for your course. Make sure you include popular keywords related to your topic in your video titles and descriptions so they rank well in search results for those terms. Include a link to your website or course in your video descriptions.  Tweet this. 8. Add student testimonials to your course sales page Social proof plays such an important role in a person’s decision-making process. Very few people are comfortable being the first person to purchase a product or service. They want to know if others have bought your course and had a positive experience. That is why testimonials and reviews carry so much weight. Add a few positive testimonials to your course sales page from other students who have taken your course. If no one has taken your course yet, let a few people take your course for free in exchange for a testimonial.  Tweet this. 9. Include a link to your course in your email signature You probably send and respond to numerous emails on a daily basis, and some of those people you are emailing could be interested in your course, if they knew about it. Add a short sentence to your email signature that includes a link to your course. Even if someone who sees your email signature isn’t interested in your course, they may know someone who is and tell them about it.  Tweet this. 10. Add a course page to your main website If you have a website or a blog, add a page to your website that includes details about your course. Once that page is set up, add a link to that page to the main menu of your website so that visitors can easily find it and learn more about your course. Include a link to purchase your course directly on that page, or alternatively a link to a separate sales page where they can purchase your course.  Tweet this. 11. Build an email list Most people need to hear from you several times before they decide to buy from you. This is why having an email list is so effective. When someone is on your email newsletter, you get to earn their trust by sending them helpful tips and advice related to your topic over time. When you eventually promote your course to them, they are more likely to purchase it because you provided value to them upfront before asking for the sale. To build your email list, create a resource (like an ebook, PDF guide, or training videos, for example) and give it away for free in exchange for someone’s email address. To create a page to do this, we recommend using LeadPages. Some of our favorite email marketing service providers include MailChimp, Convert Kit, Aweber, Get Response, and Active Campaign.  Tweet this. For more tips on building your email list check out this episode of Teach Online TV: 12. Start a podcast A great way to build an audience of people who are interested in your course topic is to start a podcast about that topic. Every person who listens to your podcast is a potential student for your online course. Share valuable tips related to your topic on each podcast episode, and at the end of each episode include a call-to-action to visit your website and/or learn more about your course. By submitting your podcast to platforms such as iTunes, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, you could end up reaching hundreds or even thousands of people on a monthly basis for free. This is great exposure.  Tweet this. 13. Get interviewed on podcasts Do some research to find podcasts related to your topic and that have audiences that would likely be interested in your course. iTunes is a great place to search for podcasts. Enter some of the keywords related to your topic in the search bar, and make a list of the podcasts that appear in the search results. Make sure you read the description of each podcast (and even better, listen to a few of their episodes) before you contact the host. Send each podcast host a personalized email, introducing yourself and explaining why you think you would be a good fit for your show. Remember, the purpose of doing a podcast interview is to add value to the listeners. It is not to pitch your course. At the end of your interview, casually mention that you have a course about your topic (or even better, offer a free resource), and tell the listeners how they can get in touch with you.  Tweet this. 14. Optimize your social media profiles Your social media profiles are a great way to build your personal brand and position yourself as an expert on your course topic. Update your bio on all of the social networks that you have a profile to reflect your area of expertise. Include a link to your main website (or even directly to your course) in your profiles so people who are interested in your course topic know where to go to learn more.  Tweet this. 15. Create a free mini-course Take certain sections or concepts from your main course and publish them in a mini-course. Give away your mini-course for free, and at the end of your course invite your students to purchase your main course if they want to dive deeper into your topic. This strategy gives your potential students a risk-free way to learn from you before they decide to purchase your main course.  Tweet this. 16. Host a live webinar One of the best ways to sell your online course is to host a live webinar for people who are interested in your topic. On this webinar, share some of your best content for free. This helps to position you as an expert and it also helps to build trust before you introduce your course and ask for the sale.  Tweet this. To learn more about how to use webinars to sell your online course, check out our article - The Complete Blueprint To Selling On Webinars. 17. Promote your webinar recording             After you’ve hosted a successful live webinar, you can use the recording of that webinar to sell more courses. Email the people who registered for your live webinar but did not attend and give them a link to watch the recording. You could even use the recording to set up an automated webinar, and then run ads to the webinar for ongoing sales.  Tweet this. 18. Create multiple courses and cross promote Create multiple courses that cover different areas of the same overall topic. Like with a series of books (think of Harry Potter), each course in your "series" helps to promote your other courses. At the end of each of your courses, mention that you have other courses related to the same topic. Since your current students are probably the most likely to purchase from you again, creating additional courses for them is never a bad idea.  Tweet this. For more tips on cross promoting your courses check out this episode of Teach Online TV: 19. Bundle your course and offer discounts Once you’ve created multiple courses that are closely related by topic, you can bundle those courses together and sell them at a discounted.  For example, if you have 3 courses that sell for $197 individually, you could sell all 3 courses together for $497 (resulting in a $94 discount for your customer). This provides an incentive for people to purchase multiple courses from you at once.  Tweet this. Thinkific users can easily create bundles for their online courses. For instructions on how to set up course bundles, click here. 20. Publish a book on Amazon A great way to re-purpose the content from your course is to share the same concepts in a book. You can self-publish your book on Amazon in digital format using Amazon Kindle, or in paperback format using CreateSpace (or both). Publishing a book is a great way to add an additional revenue stream to your business, but your book will also help you attract more students for your online course.  Make sure you mention in your book that you have a Make sure you mention in your book that you have a course, and invite readers to visit your website or course sales page to learn more about it.  Tweet this. 21. Optimize your course description Write a description for your course that is very compelling and clearly articulates the benefits of taking your online course. Speak to the result your target audience wants to create, and. You may event want to hire a professional copywriter to write your description for you. Also, make sure you include specific keywords throughout your description to help your course rank in the search results for those keywords.  Tweet this. 22. Speak at local events and Meet Up groups Local events and Meet Up groups are a great way to get in front of your target audience. Do some research to find local events related to your subject and contact the hosts of those events. Mention that you have a course about your topic, and would love to give a presentation to their audience. If they allow their speakers to sell their product or service at the end of their presentation, offer to split the sales revenue with them. Remember not to make your entire presentation a sales pitch. As a rule of thumb, your presentation should be 80% valuable content and 20% sales pitch. If they allow their speakers to sell their product or service at the end of their presentation, offer to split the sales revenue with them. Remember not to make your entire presentation a sales pitch. As a rule of thumb, your presentation should be 80% valuable content and 20% sales pitch.  Tweet this. 23. Start a local Meet Up group Starting a local Meet Up group about your topic is a very effective way to get in front of your target market on a regular basis. It also helps to position you as a leader in your community. You can also invite other speakers to come and share their insights with your group.  Tweet this. 24. Ask your students to review your course At some point in your course, ask your students to leave you a review or testimonial for your course. This simple request will help to ensure you receive an ongoing influx of positive reviews from your students, which you can then use in your marketing online. If you receive any negative reviews from your students, use that feedback to improve certain parts of your course to ensure a better learning experience for all future students.  Tweet this. To see how Thinkific users can easily add student reviews to their course landing page, read our instructions here. 25. Run a price promotion Running a temporary price promotion is a great way to drive sales for your online course. You can even schedule your price promotions to coincide with widely recognized holidays such as Boxing Day or Black Friday. With Thinkific, you can create specific coupon codes to share with your audience whenever you want to run a price promotion.  Tweet this. 26. Contribute to other blogs and publications Write articles related to your topic and submit those articles to other blogs and publications online. Make sure you submit a unique article to each website (they do not want articles that are also published on other sites). Spend some time researching popular websites related to your topic to help ensure you submit an article that is a good fit for their audience. Include a link to your website or course in your author bio at the end of your article.  Tweet this. 27. Become a HARO source HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a great service that connects reporters with relevant experts (aka news sources). By signing up as a news source, you’ll receive an email three times per day that includes media opportunities in which you could be quoted. Reply quickly for the best chance of getting selected for a quote in an article, and ask for a link back to your site.  Tweet this. 28. Partner with other online instructors Find other online instructors who serve your target audience and have courses that are complimentary to your own. Consider becoming an affiliate for them (and vice versa), or bundling your course together with theirs to create a special "package deal" to offer to new students.  Tweet this. Thinkific users also have the option of adding other instructors to their online school, which makes partnering with other online instructors so much easier. To see how this works, check out our video tutorial. 29. Find promotional partners Find people who serve your target market but who do not compete with you directly and ask them to promote your course to their audience. For example, a blogger who writes articles about your topic but who does not have an online course would make a great promotional partner because their audience would likely be interested in your course. Contact potential promotional partners and ask them if they would be interested in promoting your course to their audience in exchange for a fee or a percentage of sales generated.  Tweet this. 30. Offer a satisfaction guarantee Offering a satisfaction guarantee to your students is a great way to increase your course sales because it reduces the risk that a person assumes when they buy your course. It also conveys confidence because you wouldn’t offer a satisfaction guarantee unless you knew that very few (if any) of your students are going to unhappy with it. A commonly offered satisfaction guarantee is the 30-day money back guarantee, where anyone who is not satisfied with your course can request a full refund within 30 days of their purchase.  Tweet this. For more tips on offering money-back guarantees check out this episode of Teach Online TV: 31. Offer a payment plan Some people will want to purchase your course, but they don’t have the space on their credit card to pay the full purchase price of an online course upfront. However, they can pay for the course if those payments are spread over an extended period of time. For example, if you sell your course for $497, you could offer your students a payment plan of $97 per month for 6 months as an alternative to paying $497 upfront.   Tweet this. 32. Answer relevant questions on Quora Search for discussions related to your course topic on Quora. Add value to the discussion by sharing your insights. Don’t try to hard sell your course in your posts, but definitely include a link to your website or course in your Quora bio.  Tweet this. For more tips on using Quora to market your online course check out this episode of Teach Online TV: 33. Use Google Adwords You can use Google Adwords to create ads that appear in the search results for specific keywords related to your topic. If you know what keywords your target audience is using to search for your topic online, this is a great way to get your course in front of them just as they are searching for your topic.  Tweet this. Have a look at this guide to quickly set up your Adwords account and start advertising. 34. Use Facebook Ads Using Facebook, you can create ads that target people based on their specific demographics, interests, behaviors, and affiliations. Keep in mind that Facebook is a social network, so people are there to socialize (not to buy stuff). You’ll need to get those people off Facebook (and on to your blog or email list, for example) in order to sell your course to them.  Tweet this. 35. Get bloggers to review your course Find bloggers in your industry and ask them to review your course. A good review from a popular blog related to your topic can definitely help you to increase your course sales. The best way to get your course reviewed by a blogger is to offer them free access to your course in exchange for a public review of your course on their blog. You can even offer to include them in your affiliate program (more on this later) so that they earn a commission whenever someone who reads their review decides to purchase your course through their affiliate link.  Tweet this. 36. Promote your course on other people’s YouTube videos Find popular videos related to your course topic on YouTube. Contact the owner of the video through a private message and tell them you have a way for them to make some extra money from their videos. Offer to pay them include a link to your course in their video description or even a call-to-action to check out your course in the video itself.  Tweet this. 37. Start a Facebook Group Starting a Facebook Group centered on your topic is a powerful way to build a community of people who are potential students for your course. Running a Facebook Group is also great for personal branding purposes because it helps position you as an authority on your topic.   Tweet this. For a complete guide on how to create, grow and maintain a Facebook Group check out our article - How To Use Facebook Groups To Build A Thriving Community. 38. Start a LinkedIn Group Starting a LinkedIn Group centered on your topic is another great way to build a community of potential students for your course, especially if your target market is professionals. LinkedIn is also a great platform for professional networking in general, which can lead to numerous opportunities including speaking engagements, partnership opportunities, client referrals, and more.  Tweet this. 39. Write a Press Release Press releases are a great way to get the word out about your online course. Plus, getting featured on news outlets, large publications, and popular blogs helps to increase your ranking in search engine results. There is a correct way to write a press release (see www.wikihow.com/write-a-press-release), so make sure you write it in proper form. You can also find people who will write and submit your Press Release for you on Fiverr. Keep in mind that the goal of a press release is not to sell your course. It’s to create news, and tie that news to your course. Once you have your press release prepared, submit it to a press release distribution website such as PR Web.  Tweet this. 40. Submit a post to Buzzfeed Buzzfeed is one of the web’s most popular news sites. Getting an article published there can result in some excellent exposure for your brand. You could submit a post about your course, but a better approach would be to submit a post about your topic and mention your course in the post as a helpful resource. Here are some guidelines on posting to Buzzfeed: www.buzzfeed.com/help/how_to_use  Tweet this. 41. Set up a Facebook Page Create a Facebook Page (this is separate from a Facebook Profile) for your online course. Name the page after your online course or something very similar to it. This will help your Facebook Page rank in the search results on Facebook for your course topic. Having a Facebook Page will allow you to attract fans for your page so you can share content related to your topic with them. Hire a graphic designer to create a professional cover image for your page, and include a link to your course in your page description. You can also run Facebook Ads from your Facebook Page (you can’t do this from a personal profile).  Tweet this. 42. Comment on other Facebook Pages Visit other popular Facebook Pages related to your topic and leave comments on those pages as your Facebook Page (not as your personal profile). People who see your comments will also see the name of your Facebook Page and may decide to check out your page. From there, they will be able to learn more about your course and also choose to like your page if they want to see your future posts.  Tweet this. 43.  Comment in Facebook Groups Join a few Facebook Groups related to your topic. You can search for groups about your course topic from the main search bar on Facebook. In order for this strategy to work, focus on adding value to the groups that you join. Share helpful tips, answer questions, and participate in discussions. Most Facebook Groups prohibit self-promotion, so make sure you read the group guidelines before you share any direct links to your website, blog, or course with the group. The goal here is to build relationships with your target audience.  Tweet this. 44. Share infographics on Pinterest Infographics are very popular on Pinterest. Create an infographic that shares some interesting facts, statistics, or a step-by-step process related to your topic and publish it on Pinterest. Include a link in your post to help drive traffic from Pinterest to your website or online course. You can easily create attractive infographics using Piktochart.  Tweet this. 45. Participate in discussions on Forums Use Google to search for forums related to your course topic. Forums are essentially online communities where people who share a common interest hang out and interact with each other. Get involved in the discussions. Answer questions. Be helpful. Pay attention to the questions people ask about your topic (this is also a great way to get ideas content ideas for your course). Don’t promote your course without first adding value to the forum.  Tweet this. 46. Create an affiliate program Let other people promote your course for you in exchange for a percentage of each sale by creating an affiliate program for your course. But don’t just sit back and hope that affiliates will find you. Be proactive. Reach out to people who have audiences that would likely purchase your course and ask them if they would be interested in promoting your course as an affiliate.  Tweet this. Thinkific users can easily add people (including their students!) to their affiliate program. With a few clicks, you can add a new user to your course, designate them as an affiliate, and choose the commission they will receive from each sale they refer as seen below: 47. Translate your course into another language Translating your course into another language is a great way to increase your sales without having to create additional courses. Unless you are fluent in another language, you should probably hire someone to help you with this. Pay them to re-write your presentation slides and record their voice in the chosen language. You can find professional translators on freelance networks such as Upwork and Freelancer.  Tweet this. 48. Buy Forum signatures Most forums and message boards allow people to have a signature that appears at the end of their posts. That signature is a great place to add a link to your course.  And here’s the cool thing… it doesn’t have to be your signature! Find people who have a high post count in forums related to your topic who are not using their signature. Send them a private message and offer to pay them to add a link to your course in their signature. When they change their signature, it will automatically update in all of the posts they’ve published in that forum.  Tweet this. 49. Buy Tweets or Facebook Posts on Fiverr There are numerous sellers on Fiverr who will promote your message to their Twitter followers or Facebook Fans. Look for sellers with a large number of fans and a high rating from previous customers. Ideally, they should have a fan base that is likely to be interested your course. Make sure you tell them exactly what to post. You can even give them a specific image to include in their post as well.  Tweet this. 50. Buy posts on Instagram accounts Find Instagram accounts with a large number of followers. Send the owner of the account a private message and ask them if they would consider posting an image from their account to help promote your course. Since Instagram posts do not allow links, it is appropriate to ask the owner of the Instagram account to change the link in their bio for 24 hours, and then post an image with a description that instructs their followers to click on the link in their bio.  Tweet this. 51. Record a Google Hangout Host a solo Google Hangout to record a short promotional video for your course. Publish the video on your YouTube channel and on your Google Plus Page or Profile. Since Google owns YouTube, Google Plus, and Google Hangouts, they give preference (from a search result standpoint) to videos that are created using Google Hangouts. Include a link to your website or course in your video description.  Tweet this. 52. Create a Google Plus Page In addition to having a personal Google Plus Profile, you can also create a Google Plus Page specifically for your course. This is a great place to publish information about your course topic, including links to blog posts, podcast interviews, helpful resources, etc. Hire a designer to create a professional cover image that promotes your course. Benefits of Google Plus posts include a higher ranking in Google search results, the potential for your posts to be shared by others, plus you can link to other web properties from your Google Plus Page including your blog, other social media accounts, etc.  Tweet this. 53. Buy YouTube ads Buying YouTube ads is a great way to promote your course to people who are watching YouTube videos related to your course topic. You can also target your ads to specific geographic areas and/or demographic criteria. To learn more about advertising on YouTube, click here.  Tweet this. 54. Buy banner ads Reach out to websites and blogs that serve your target audience and offer to pay them to add a banner ad for your course on their website. Before you commit to paying a web site owner for a long period of time, ask for the opportunity to test your ad for one month to see how their website visitors respond to your ad. You can find a designer on Fiverr to create banner ads for you. Create a unique link or coupon code for each website you place banners on so you can track how many sales come from each website.  Tweet this. 55. Post a slideshow on Slideshare Slideshare is a website where you can share presentations, documents, infographics, etc. Posting a portion of your PowerPoint presentation is a good way to get some traffic. Do not directly promote your course in your slideshow title or description. Instead, include an invitation at the end of your presentation to visit your website or learn more about your course.  Tweet this. The post 55 Proven Marketing Strategies To Increase Online Course Sales appeared first on Thinkific.

[Post by Arden Rose, Account Manager at GeoMetrix Data Systems Inc.] Join CLO at the 2016 Spring Chief Learning Officer Symposium to explore how learning is being redefined - by our times, by our organizations and employees and by us. Mike Prokopeak: Vice President, Editor in Chief, Human Capital Media Jeffrey Pfeffer: Professor of Organizational Behavior, Stanford Graduate School of Business Brian Robertson: Author of Holacracy: the New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World Gretchen Rubin: Author of Better Than Before Michelle Gielan: Author of Broadcasting Happiness For more information visit: CLO Symposium

We held a webinar that explained how to make "Manufacturing Training that Works" not all that long ago. If you missed that webinar, you can view a recorded version of it right here time you wish. The webinar runs 40 minutes even. During the webinar, you’ll hear a few mentions of a guide. If you’d like that guide, click the button below to get a copy for yourself. Convergence Training is a training solutions provider with a strong manufacturing training offering. We’ve got off-the-shelf e-learning courses, a series of learning management systems (LMSs), and we make custom training solutions too. Contact us to set up a demo, view full-length previews, or ask some questions. The post Free Manufacturing Training Webinar-Recorded appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.