With all the hustle and bustle surrounding the holiday seasons, it’s easy to forget about holiday safety. Rushing around is a prime cause of workplace accidents, after all, as is being distracted. With that in mind, and not a minute too soon, we’ve pulled together the following safety training suggestions for characters in made-for-TV holiday specials. Hope you enjoy this and that you have a wonderful holiday season. Convergence Training makes learning management systems (LMSs), e-learning courses, and more. Contact us to learn more or set up a demo. You may also want to download our FREE Guide to Effective EHS Training and our  FREE Guide to Effective Manufacturing Training. Safety Training for Characters in Animated Holiday TV Specials Here are the safety (and other workforce) training suggestions we’ve pulled together for some of the characters from these popular TV shows. We’ve broken the character lists down by the special they appear in, and have included a total of six specials: Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town The Year Without Santa Claus How the Grinch Stole Christmas Frosty the Snowman Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer A Charlie Brown Christmas Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town In case you don’t know, or don’t remember, this is the story of how an red-headed orphan named Kris Kringle (nope, not Krispy Kreme, but if you look at him when he gets older, you DO wonder if there’s a connection…) becomes Santa Claus. Fred Astaire handles the voice of a mailman telling the story, and it features some great tunes, including one of my faves, "Put One Foot in Front of the Other." Here are our safety and other workforce training suggestions for some of the characters: Special Delivery (S.D.) Kluger-For our kindly narrator, voiced by and bearing a remarkable resemblance to Fred Astaire, who is an old-school mailman, we recommend our Email Basics course for to step into the new era. Kris Kringle-Captured in the tight embrace of evil, magic trees; crawling down long, narrow chimneys; even locked up in the slammer. Give this man a dose of Confined Space Awareness training. Winter Warlock-For one of the two singers of "Put One Foot In Front of the Other," we suggest Pedestrian Safety. Burgermeister Meisterburger-The episode kicks into high gear when the Burgermeister trips on a toy, breaking his leg. Our medical evaluation: he needs Slips, Trips, and Falls. The Kringle Elves and Momma Kringle-They seem too nice to joke about. Well, they’re toymakers, so let’s give them some Hand and Power Tool Safety training and let them keep up the good work. The Citizens of Somber Town-I thought about a course on moods and depression, but their real problem is the contradiction between their values (especially those of the kids) and the values of the Burgermeister. These differences can be resolved with some Conflict Management training. Topper the Penguin-What’s a penguin doing at the North Pole? Get back to Antarctica where you belong, our cute little black-and-white friend. Some Precision Instruments & Measurement training, especially on compasses and GPS, is just what you need. Jessica the School Teacher-Jessica initially scolds Kris Kringle for bringing the children of SomberTown toys, but her heart softens and she changes her mind after Kringle gives her a doll. A little Adult Learning is in line to show even adults can grow (and in this case, it’s ironic, since her day gig is as a teacher). The Year Without Santa Claus If Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town focuses on the early Santa, then The Year Without Santa Claus depicts Santa in his later years: bed-ridden, suffering from a cold or flu and chronic back pain, disenchanted with the holiday season, and ready to "bag it" this year without delivering any presents. Sound like anyone you know? The musical high notes of this one come compliments of the loveable "Miser Brothers," Heat Miser and Snow Miser. Here are our safety and other workforce training suggestions for some of the characters: Santa Claus-Not the spry young Kris Kringle we met earlier, this Santa is grumpy, sick, bed-ridden, and notably obese. Our First Aid for Emergencies course includes information on diabetes, and a special course dedicated to the Dirty D is coming very soon. Remember, Santa-diet and exercise. Mrs. Claus (aka "Mrs. C")-If Santa wants to dodge his yearly duty to deliver presents this year, Mrs. C knows the importance of Meeting Customer Expectations and ultimately rights the wobbly ship in time for the holiday season. Jingle Bells, Jangle Bells, and Vixen the Baby Reindeer-These two good-natured elves and this young-but-plucky reindeer try to save Christmas by leaving the North Pole and mixing it up in the "real world," but they’re not prepared for life in the big city and wind up in the pokey (a surprisingly common occurrence in these shows, it seems). Our recommendation is a triple serving of Hazard Awareness. Heat Miser—Heat Stress, of course. Cold Miser-You guessed it-Cold Stress for this one. Mother Nature-She’s called in to address a conflict between her two sons, Heat Miser and Cold Miser, and with the deft manner in which she handles these two, it looks like she may already have received some Environmental Hazards training on the job. How the Grinch Stole Christmas The story of a grumpy, green, elf-like character, his sadly mistreated yet inexplicably loyal (and supremely cute!) dog, and their fruitless attempts to bring an end to holiday cheer in nearby Whoville. This one features the narrative talents of none other than Boris Karloff, displaying more elocution skills than he did in Frankenstein, and the music highlight is, of course, the tune about the Grinch himself. My favorite line explains that the Grinch is "a bad banana with a  greasy black peel"…what’s yours? Here are our safety and other workforce training suggestions for some of the characters: Grinch-He seems angry-maybe Stress Management and Prevention? He’s mad about all the noise in Whoville on the holiday, especially the singing-maybe some Hearing Conservation? And hey, about that madcap toboggan run down the hill you live on-how about some Alert Driving? Grinch’s Dog-What this little sweetie really needs is a course on recognizing misplaced loyalty. But we don’t have one. So we’ll suggest our Line of Authority course, so our fuzzy canine friend can recognize authority and (in this case only) disobey it immediately. Cindy Lou Who-She’s young, sweet, and naïve, but she still should have known something was wrong when she discovered the Grinch in her home. We recommend a course on Good Housekeeping so she’ll recognize a hot mess when she sees one in the future. Frosty the Snowman In this one, we watch as a down-on-his-luck magician tosses out his worthless magic hat, only to find that it brings a snowman to life. Hilarity, shenanigans, adventure, and sentiment follow, natch. The movie’s narrated by Burl Ives, and the show-stopping tune is named after the big guy himself: "Frosty the Snowman." Here are our safety and other workforce training suggestions for some of the characters: Professor Hinkle, the Magician-Tosses out his magic hat only to discover it’s got enough magic to bring Frosty to life. Should have consulted our Equipment Maintenance and Reliability course. Hocus Pocus, the Rabbit-He’s a cute, friendly, and helpful rabbit-what’s not to like? I’m not sure we’ve got a joke for that. Come back next year and see if we do better. Frosty, the Snowman-A man poorly suited in a world that’s too hot. We’ve got just what he needs-Refrigeration: Compressors and Ice Makers. Karen-A good-natured girl who tries to travel with Frosty in a refrigerated box car to the North Pole and nearly catches her death of a cold. Our Flu Awareness course is in order (this is from our blog, but our full-scale, fancy Production-department model is coming soon). Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer In this thrilling tale,  a young reindeer shows you can be born with a grogblossom, go into self-imposed exile, round up a crew of fellow travelers, and still return in time to win the girl, save the family, re-establish community, and save the day. Not only that, we learn that dental care at the North Pole is finally put in goods hands. Once again, Burl Ives does the narration, and the smash hit song is the title tune, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Here are our safety and other workforce training suggestions for some of the characters: Santa-A big snowstorm has Santa stuck at the North Pole on the big night. Rudolph ultimately saves the day, but what the big guy needed was an Emergency Action Plan. Rudolph the Reindeer-Even as a young buck, barely born, our red-nosed friend is told by no less an authority than Santa that he’ll never get to fly and pull the sleigh with that red nose. Might be a need for a bit of Workplace Discrimination here. Donner and Blitzen-Did you know that Donner was originally known as "Dunder" (German for "thunder") and Blitzen was originally known as "Blixem" (German for "lightning")? It’s true. And so we suggest some Electrical Safety for our explosive Nordic friends. Or maybe just an all-day Thor-fest. Rudolf’s Mom-The show makes it clear that Donner is Rudolf’s Dad, and we meet Rudy’s mum, but she never gets named (tell me if I’m wrong on this, but I think I’m right). That sounds like low-level Sexual Harassment to me, and just plain not fair. Abominable Snowmonster of the North-By the end of the show, he’s tamed and asked with putting stars on top of trees, so we’ll offer some training for Working at Heights. Herbie the Elf-For the toy-making elf who wants to be a dentist and is teased as a result, we recommend Diversity in the Workplace. Yukon Cornelius-An entire series of mining safety training for our bearded friend, who’s both (1) obsessed with "silver and gold" and (2) quite the risk-taker (wandering the frozen tundra alone, willingly setting off on chipped ice flows, single-handedly attacking The Abominable-and taming him, no less!). Island of Misfit Toys-Faced with a bleak future, some would say no future, these toys no one plays with might become candidates for Substance Abuse training. Luckily, things don’t seem to have turned that way when we meet them mid-episode. King Moonracer-We’ve got no joke for the winged lion-kind of the Island of Misfit Toys, but he’s got such a cool name we thought we’d mention him here. Why he never got a role in a 1970s-era James Bond movie, we’ll never know. A Charlie Brown Christmas The show starts with Charlie Brown being depressed and confused. What’s new, right? This time it’s because he doesn’t understand the meaning of the holiday season. To help him find meaning in the season, Lucy offers him the chance to direct the school play. Though we see precious little real thespian activity, the music is tops (thanks to Schroeder and Vince Gauraldi) and the dance moves are as hot as any on Soul Train. Here are our safety and other workforce training suggestions for some of the characters: Charlie Brown-Who can make yet another joke at Charlie Brown’s expense. I can’t. I can’t do it. I won’t do it. Happy Holidays, Charlie Brown, even if you are "the Charlie Browniest." Lucy-Lucy sells psychiatric therapy sessions (for the bargain price of a nickel, even, though you have to account for inflation to get an accurate assessment of that), so it seems like in today’s workplace, she might have a role in HR training. Snoopy-What more can you say about the perpetually happy, graceful, and successful Joe Cool? He should take an OJT Mentoring course and teach us all his secrets. Schroeder-Schroder is in charge of the music for this episode. And as we’ve already discussed, the tune-age is H-O-T smokin’ hot, so we’ll suggest a little Fire Safety training in case things get out of hand. Linus-Linus is cool, and Charlie Brown’s best friend. I don’t begrudge him for carrying that blue blanket everywhere, but you wonder what greater meaning it has. Our Symbols, Standards, and Schematics course is in order for learning more. Pigpen-A nice enough guy, to be sure, but you still assume our Hand Washing and Hygiene course could benefit. Conclusion: Happy Holidays to All from Convergence Training We’d like to wish all of you a happy holiday season, regardless of the particular holiday(s) you celebrate. May your family be happy and healthy, and may good fortune smile your way. Are you familiar with the TV specials we included in this article? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Which were your favorite specials? Which were your favorite characters? Do you still watch any of these today, even as an adult? If you liked this post, you may also like: Workforce and Safety Training Suggestions for a Family Thanksgiving Super Bowl Party Safety Training Suggestions Workforce Training Suggestions from TV Series "Breaking Bad" Sharknado Safety Training Valentine’s Day Safety Poem Safety Training for the Mayan Apocalypse Zombie Safety Training for Halloween The post Safety Training for Santa and Friends appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.

As we wrap up a year of double-digit growth at Enspire, we wish Happy Holidays to our valued clients and partners, and we have big news to share! As of today, Enspire’s leadership simulations live under a new name: Abilitie (pronounced ability). This year, our leadership simulations have taught and inspired thousands of participants in over 20 countries - and we are excited to build on that momentum by creating a new company with a clear focus on corporate talent development and management. Enspire will continue to create award-winning e-learning and blended learning solutions. Abilitie will focus on leadership development experiences and talent management solutions, with an emphasis on people management, business acumen, and cross-functional leadership. In 2016, Abilitie plans to launch an exciting new product in the recruiting space - stay tuned for more! To find out more about Abilitie’s innovative leadership development programs, we invite you to join us for a 30-minute webinar on one of the dates below: December 18th at 12 PM CST December 22nd at 12 PM CST January 6th at 9 AM CST January 7th at 12 PM CST Register Here Hyperlink with: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/5525979785892931842   The post Enspire Launches Abilitie appeared first on Enspire.

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It’s time to streamline Streamlined learning is all about making it easier to create, customize, deliver and consume the knowledge that employees need to improve their job performance, whenever and wherever they are. With increased pressure on L&D to meet the rapidly-changing needs of the business—to compress turnaround time on learning programs, plus identify how learning directly links to the bottom line—we think it’s more important than ever to streamline learning across the organization. Here are 5 tips: 1. Develop a learning strategy that aligns with overall business objectives. To truly impact the business, L&D needs to invest resources in activities that directly help the organization meet its business objectives. Improving L&D alignment with business objectives involves the following: Linking overall business objectives to departmental or group objectives. Outlining individual performance objectives that are required to meet the departmental objectives. Identifying individual core job behaviors, that when performed consistently, will help employees meet their performance objectives. Defining learning that will provide the knowledge employees need to perform job behaviors properly and consistently. Once there is a learning strategy in place that aligns with business objectives, L&D can truly prove the value of learning and impact on the business as a whole. 2. Provide consistent training through short microlearning modules. Microlearning is the next big trend in corporate learning and it’s no wonder. The fire hose approach to training simply doesn’t work. Microlearning takes a far more streamlined approach to driving knowledge growth and sustainment. Not only can the microlearning content being delivered be more tightly tailored to an individual’s job function, but unlike traditional methods, microlearning can zero in on what the employee knows and doesn’t know. Additionally, adopting a microlearning approach provides the opportunity for learning organizations to escape the inflexibility associated with massive course development and become more agile. Microlearning module updates can be made quickly and efficiently, ensuring learning keeps pace with changing business requirements. 3. Separate "need to know" from "nice to know". There’s a tendency to train employees on everything possible. But, it’s better to take a strategic and practical approach to determine what they need in their heads versus what they need at their fingertips. For information they only need once in awhile, allow employees to access knowledge directly at the point of need, by using a knowledge-on-demand performance support capability. This means employees can search for the information they need, when they need it, without having to keep that knowledge top of mind. 4. Define and track behaviors that drive success.  It’s not enough to simply provide learning, organizations need to identify consistent job behaviors that lead to superior performance. This information should be passed on to leaders and managers. Have them observe behaviors and document whether or not employees are exhibiting them to correlate performance to job actions. Then, have them provide coaching and mentoring in areas that employees find challenging. A consistent, streamlined methodology will allow the organization to truly track and impact job performance as well as the bottom line. 5. Use an integrated solution to deliver streamlined learning. Streamlining learning takes effort, and the ability to coordinate a variety of activities and inputs, to keep on top of what employees need at any moment in time. In an ideal world, a solution that allows you to integrate all components into a single, easy-to-manage platform,that can be used in every part of the organization, can be extremely beneficial. Specifically, this type of solution would: Allow you to deliver daily microlearning content, adapted to each individual employee’s requirements and knowledge gaps. Provide multiple access points to allow employees to access learning whenever and wherever they wish (i.e. mobile, POS system, desktop, etc.) Offer knowledge-on-demand so employees can access information at the point of need. Accept behavior observation inputs from supervisors, and allow those inputs to modify learning content to ensure learning drives proper job behaviors. Highlight areas where employees need additional learning to fill knowledge gaps, or where coaching or mentoring is required. Provide comprehensive reporting and analytics to allow you to identify the value of learning and link it directly to business outcomes. If you deploy a solution that does all this, plus leverages the latest brain science techniques and employ methods to engage employees in their learning success, you can create a streamlined learning ecosystem that’s designed to be responsive to—and contribute directly to—the business bottom line.   Written by Laura Martin. The post 5 Keys to Streamlining Learning appeared first on Axonify.

  At Talented Learning, an independent learning tech market research and consulting firm, we recently compiled an obnoxious 85 question survey detailing over 450 points of LMS business, market and functional data.  We collected statistically significant hard data about the global LMS market providing us unparalleled and unique insight into what LMS buyers are buying today. Most other analysts’ surveys and resulting data are the output of sending out a blast email request to 100,000 HR professions and drawing conclusions from the few hundred responses from those who have too much time on their hands and dated LMS expertise. We took the much tougher path and went to the LMS vendors one by one to get the best, most accurate and timely data.  Seventy LMS vendors of all types have graciously filled it out so far.  Vendors are out on the front lines winning and losing every day.  They always know what is selling and what is not.  When vendors lose two or three sales opportunities because of the same lacking feature, it magically shows up on their product roadmap.  The functionality that exists in the collective LMS community illustrates what buyers are buying. Our survey was designed to allow us to [...] The post Mobile LMS: The Facts appeared first on Talented Learning.

2015 has been a busy year for elearning with record numbers attending events, entering awards and joining in the debate about how to move the industry forward.We’re looking back on some of the best moments and milestones of the past 12 months.JanuaryLearning TechnologiesThe largest L&D show in Europe returned for its 18th year, busier than ever with more than 7,500 visitors, 150 free seminars, 250 exhibitors and two packed exhibition halls at London’s Olympia.The scale of the event highlighted the growing interest in how to best utilise technology to modernise learning in the workplace.Elearning games, video, blended learning and multi-device content were all among the hot topics.The 2016 event takes place on February 3-4 and promises to provide lots of inspiration for the next 12 months.FebruaryLearning Awards The Learning and Performance Institute (LPI) saw a record number of submissions for the 2015 Learning Awards, which celebrate outstanding achievement, best practice and excellence in corporate learning and performance.Hosted by Strictly Come Dancing’s Claudia Winkleman, the event at The Dorchester in London on February 5 saw an extremely high standard of entries.LPI Chief Executive, Colin Steed, said: "This year we have been taken aback by the huge increase in submissions, all of which have been extremely high quality. With such a large number of entries the competition is fierce, making the achievement of our shortlisted entries all the more impressive."All eyes will now be on the 2016 Learning Awards which take place on February 4. MarchLearning Solutions The convergence of technology and training was this year’s theme for the big spring gathering organised by The eLearning Guild.Learning Solutions in Orlando, Florida (March 25-27) saw a keynote address by Tom Wujec of Autodesk who highlighted the importance of innovation to learning.Learning Solutions 2016 takes place from March 16 to 18.   AprilLaunch of Apple Watch The long-awaited Apple Watch launched in April this year and almost instantly the L&D world started to think about what it might mean for digital learning.David Kelly was one of the first in the learning space to write about the new tech. He said: "I think there are great opportunities to leverage the context-sensitive nature of this device to support learning and performance. A small bit of relevant content inserted into the right place at the right time can be incredibly powerful."    #GameWeekApril 2015 saw the very first #GameWeek, exploring the role of games in elearning and their effectiveness in the workplace.The week-long social media event, hosted by Sponge UK, bought together blogs, infographics, opinion and resources from across the world about game-based learning and gamification.In a keynote interview, Professor Karl M. Kapp said: "Saying that games don’t teach is ridiculous. It’s like saying lectures don’t teach, discussions don’t teach or homework doesn’t teach." MayLearning & Development ShowThere was something for everyone at this year’s CIPD Learning & Development Show with 28 different conference sessions on leading edge themes by some of the world’s leading learning practitioners.It was a bumper year in the exhibition space with more than 160 learning suppliers and more than 60 free learning workshops.JuneSummer Forum This one-day follow up event to January’s Learning Technologies conference proved a valuable mid-year catch up for L&D professionals.Summer Forum 2015 saw conference presentations by Deborah Frances-White on learning and creativity, Asi de Gani on mobile delivery and Julian Stodd on social learning.July#Blimage!This month learning saw its own ‘mini-phenomenon’ as #Blimage hit social media.The challenge started as some fun between Learning Technologies expert, Steve Wheeler and education blogger, Amy Burvall.This is how it worked: Send an image to friends in your personal learning network. Challenge them to write a learning-related blog about it and share on social media. They then challenge their friends with an image of their choice. In just 6 days, almost 100 bloggers responded to the challenge with Dutch and Spanish language versions also springing up. The hashtag is still continuing with offshoots such as #twistedpair and #blideo.AugustLaunch of Adapt framework V2.0The responsive elearning design framework Adapt launched its second major version in August this year, bringing with it new features and several improvements.The update has accessibility improvements, right to left language support, question banks, new plugins and improvements to themes and performance.2016 is expected to see further development of the Adapt Authoring Tool which allows non-technical users to create responsive elearning courses without needing to do any coding.Launch of Captivate PrimeAugust also saw the launch of Adobe’s own Learning Management System, Captivate Prime.The new LMS promises a learner-first approach where "employees don’t dodge learning, but embrace it."SeptemberDevLearnNorth America’s biggest learning technologies event kicked off on the last day of September this year with another stellar crowd gathered at Las Vegas.Innovation in the making was the DevLearn strapline for 2015 with practitioners from across the world in attendance to showcase the latest elearning technology and design.  World of Learning It was the 23rd year for the highly-respected World of Learning Conference and Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham.The event provided a valuable insight into some of the key issues facing L&D from talent management, employee engagement, leadership development and coaching, to collaborative learning, elearning development and delivering business growth.OctoberLearning Now TV celebrates first birthdayThe live-streamed internet television channel reached a milestone in October this year having broadcast to a growing audience for a whole 12 months.The free channel for the L&D sector screened inspirational interviews, debates and round tables, as well as advice and guidance on real-world issues.Executive producer, Colin Steed: "We’ve been overwhelmed with the positive response to Learning Now TV since its launch last year."NovemberTowards Maturity Industry Benchmark ReportEmbracing Change is the title of the 2015-16 Industry Benchmark Report launched by the independent research organisation, Towards Maturity at the start of November.  It’s a must-read study for learning and business leaders looking to improve performance with quality research and insights from more than 600 L&D leaders.eLN’s first national conferenceThe eLearning Network (eLN) held its first national one day conference, Beyond Click Next in London in early November.The UK-based non-profit organisation for the elearning community has also seen its profile and support grow in 2015.Elearning AwardsIt’s one of the biggest nights of the year for the elearning industry and 2015 smashed all records in terms of the number and standard of entries.Elearning Awards organiser, Mark Penton said: "It was the toughest competition to date and congratulations are in order to all of the winners and everyone that was shortlisted. The Awards programme has been a true recognition of the breadth of elearning worldwide and we’d like to thank everyone who was involved."December   Excellence in Technology AwardsThe 2015 Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards were announced on December 3.Often called the ‘Academy Awards’ for learning, talent and business, they cover more than 50 categories recognising excellence in all aspects of elearning.With 2015 proving such a busy year there’s not enough room in this post to include everything, so please feel free to expand the list either in the comments box below or on Twitter to @Sponge_UKFinally, may we wish you all a very happy New Year from everyone at Sponge UK. Discuss a project Subscribe to our newsletter The post Elearning Review of the Year 2015 appeared first on Sponge UK.

Dear Freesounders, It’s been a while since our last post, but as always we’ve been busy working on many Freesoundish things. This time, we’d like to let you know about the new Audio Commons initiative! During the last year we’ve been working together with two other research institutions (Queen Mary University of London and University of Surrey) and three companies (Jamendo, Audiogaming and Waves), to prepare a project proposal for one of the funding lines of the European Commission (Horizon 2020 programme). The project we proposed is to support that Audio Commons initiative, and the good news is that we have been granted the funding! This means that we will start now working in this project together with the aforementioned research institutions and companies and with the aim of attracting more people in our way. But, "what is Audio Commons all about and why are you explaining all of this to us"? Well, the objective of the Audio Commons initiative is to promote and facilitate the reuse of Creative Commons audio content in production environments. This includes the development of new technologies for annotating and organising sound samples and music pieces, the development of technologies to support easy licensing procedures of CC audio content, and the development of tools to allow easy access to CC audio content within existing production environments such as a DAWs or video editors. Freesound is playing a big role in this initiative as, together with Jamendo, we will be the first repository of CC audio content to be part of the initiative. You’ll find more detailed information in the Audio Commons web site: www.audiocommons.org. We’re very excited to start this new initiative and to work on all the challenges that it poses. We sincerely think that the Audio Commons initiative and Freesound can be greatly beneficial to each other, and expect that the outcomes of this symbiosis will also be very valuable and useful to the whole Freesound community. That’s all for now, we’ll keep you informed! cheers,   frederic

It is coming up to that time of year when it is prime opportunity to evaluate the results of the previous and plan for the next. One key part of this evaluation is reviewing your current business processes and in particular the software and systems in place to support them. Are you using the best option for your business or are you in need of a system revamp? There are many tell-tale signs that it is time to replace your current software.  

There’s a lot of work involved in marketing and selling online courses. You can’t just launch a course and expect people to find it. You need to optimize it for search engines, create content that attracts traffic, maybe run some ads, or try any number of marketing strategies. The big problem is getting people to your site. There are millions of sites out there and your audience - the people who need to buy your course - are on many of those sites. You need to convince them to leave those sites and come to yours to buy your course. But what if there was a way they could buy it right from those sites? What if, instead of seeing your ad or link and then maybe clicking through, they saw your course right there and bought it? Wouldn’t it be awesome if that could happen? Well, that’s why we created the Sales Widget! Read on to see how this works. What Is a Sales Widget? Sales widgets are a great way to promote and sell your online courses on another website. With no design or technical experience required, sales widgets enable you to create a button or card that’s completely customized to your brand, and easily embed it on a third-party site; be it your blog, a forum, or any other channel on which you have an audience! In fact, there’s a sales widget on this blog! If you look at the sidebar on the right, you’ll see a widget for a a course on ‘Getting started with Thinkific’. The course is hosted on another site, but we’re able to display it here with the Sales Widget. And, you can enroll in it right now without leaving this page. That’s the beauty of it! For step-by-step instructions on creating a sales widget, head to our knowledge base. How to Use It Ok, now that you know how to create a Sales Widget, the big question is: How do you get it on another site? You can’t just ask the New York Times to add your widget to their site. That’s never going to happen. But there are better ways to go about getting your widget out there. Add it to your other sitesIf you’ve got a separate blog, or other websites with similar audiences as your online course, instead of redirecting traffic with a link, you can use the Sales Widget.For example, just like we’ve done for this blog’s sidebar, you can also add your course to your blog. If your blog attracts a lot of traffic, they’ll see the widget and some might just buy the course right there. You can even write targeted blog posts and embed it in the post. Ask your friends or affiliatesIf you don’t have any other sites or blogs, you can ask your network. The entrepreneurship community is filled with people who love helping each other out. You can reach out to people who know and support you and ask them to add your widget to their site, if your audiences align.In fact, some of your biggest supporters are your students, the ones who’ve already bought your course. If your course helped them, they’ll be more than willing to help promote you by displaying your widget on their sites. Finally, you can reach out to your affiliate network to add your widget to their sites. Guest postYou probably already know that guest posts are a great way to get your brand out there and perhaps get a link back. Well, if you’ve built up a good relationship with the editor of a blog you guest post on, you can try to squeeze in a widget or two in your guest posts, as long as it’s pertinent to the topic. After all, you don’t want to come off as spammy. Buy ad spaceIf you run display ads on other sites, you can possibly get your widget in the ad space, instead of using a banner. This will work if you’re paying by time or impressions. The advantage here is that your display ad is just an extra step between potential customers and your course. If people are clicking on your display ads, then using a widget instead will get them to checkout faster. Post it to forums and submission sitesThere are lots of niche forums and sites where you can submit your content or courses. Some even allow you to add HTML, which is what you’ll need to post your widget there. If you’re a regular contributor to any of these sites, you could potentially promote your courses there with widgets. Again, don’t be spammy about it. Make sure it’s relevant to the discussion and that you’re known in the community. Innovate! These 5 ideas should be a great place to start, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more ways to sell your online courses with the Sales Widget. Every instance where you’re trying to get people to leave one site and come to yours is an opportunity to use your widget. The Sales Widget is available to you if you already use Thinkific. And if not, what are you waiting for? Thinkific is the best platform for creating and selling online courses. Start for free and access the Sales Widget now. We’d love to hear your ideas if you’re using your Sales Widget in other places! Leave a comment below! The post Sell More Online Courses with Sales Widgets appeared first on Thinkific.