Game Developer Salary Survey 2012 - GameCareerGuide.com [Originally published in Game Developer magazine's free Career Guide issue, this annual survey provides a comprehensive breakdown of salaries and job prospects for entry-level game developers and beyond.] Every year, we ask thousands … Continue reading →

Brand new, high converting landing pages are now available in your Thinkific school! Course landing pages are the primary selling platform for your online courses - your landing page is where students find out what they’ll be taught, and where they make the decision to purchase your online course. Today, we are pleased to announce the official release of our newly designed landing pages designed solely to increase sales & signups for your online courses. Course landing pages are the primary selling platform for your courses - do yours convert?Click To Tweet The new landing pages have gone through rigorous testing with our beta team. The confirmation is in - the new landing page gets the nod of approval from both instructors and students alike, and the numbers confirm they lead to more signups for your courses! Key features of the new pages include: Clean design with primary tones pulled from your branding colours to ensure a consistent look with your brand Clear call to action drives purchasers to signup for your course Course description focus, making your sales copy the most important part of the page More prominent instructor bio to start building trust and your relationship, with the option to add long-form copy and HTML to this section of your page To preview and switch your courses to the new design simply: Visit your course in your Thinkific Dashboard View course details Turn on or preview the new landing page via the link at the bottom of the page The post New High Conversion Landing Pages appeared first on Thinkific.

Kelsey is a University of British Columbia alumni with a degree in English Literature and History. While completing her undergraduate degree, she served on multiple student organizations and was the Editor-in-Chief for UBC’s History journal. On top of being an active HelpHub tutor, Kelsey is working in the student services department of a children’s art school as well as facilitating an after school literacy program for elementary students. In the fall, she will begin her graduate studies at UBC in the school of Education. She likes to spend her spare time watching one of Canada’s greatest pastimes, hockey. Ready to work with Kelsey? Get in touch with her on HelpHub or learn more about her below: Social: Twitter - @kelselle Hardest class you’ve ever taken: Geographical Biogeosciences. It was a course recommended for Arts students with very little background in Science. The funny part about this course was that the further along we got with the material, the harder it became to understand. It got to the point where we were being introduced to basic Physics questions - I’ve never taken a Physics class before, and it was hard for me to understand which symbols meant what. On top of struggling with the course material, I felt having to solve Physics questions (with no Physics background) added another challenge to succeeding in the course! How long have you been tutoring/teaching: I spent two years as an ESL tutor. I was recommended to tutor by a friend, I didn’t initially have an interest in tutoring but decided to pursue it after I realized how rewarding it can be. I’m not helping to facilitate an after school literacy program for kids ages six to eight. Previously, I was an editor for two years on the board of UBC History’s undergraduate journal, reviewing submissions and conversing with student authors about their work. I became Editor-in-Chief of the journal in my last year of undergrad. What do you like most about tutoring/teaching? I enjoy making English and History accessible for people that might not be interested in these subjects, or are facing barriers that prevent them from fully engaging with these subjects. I put a lot of emphasis on the learning process and understanding the things that I tutor. I’m always striving to make learning a positive experience for people, that way when they revisit these subjects in the future, they are able to positively and actively engage with the material. What made you decide to major in English Literature and History? I really enjoyed the kinds of questions we were asking in my high school English and History classes. They were thought-provoking, challenged me, and allowed for nuance - I didn’t do well with questions that only had one answer to them, or only gave you two options (yes/no). The assignments and questions I’d encounter in these classes had no control over the process in which I arrived at my answers; I like having agency over my own thinking process. I also enjoyed how these subjects were taught to me: I always felt like my teachers were trying to tell me a story, and I always enjoyed listening. I’m always striving to make learning a positive experience for people, that way when they revisit these subjects in the future, they are able to positively and actively engage with the material. Favorite school memory: I was active in four student organizations during my undergrad. I’d say my best school memories came from being a part of these organizations - although each organization had something different to offer to the UBC community, I felt that all the people I met through these organizations sought to elevate and encourage others to succeed in their own way. I felt very inspired by the people around me - I don’t have any particular memories that jump out at me, but I do remember the way I felt being in these organizations. Favorite subject in school: In high school, I really enjoyed my English and Social Studies classes. At UBC, I enjoyed English and History, as well as the few Anthropology and Gender Studies classes that I’ve taken. I found the discussions from these classes were the most valuable to me; I like learning from others! Favorite late night snack: Vietnamese salad rolls! Is there a subject/trade you wish you could learn not related to your major? Marketing, Communications, Environmental Sciences, and Law If you could study abroad anywhere in the world for free, where would it be and why? Great Britain because was immensely influential in the early beginnings of Canada, I think it would be interesting to study there and see how they teach about North America History. I’d also like to go to New Zealand, they have strong Indigenous Studies programs and initiatives there that I want to learn from! Favorite way to study: I like to think about the themes I encounter in my classes. I stress over paper topics and theses ideas all the time, I never allocate time to think, "okay, now I’m going to think about my term paper topic for my Environmental History course." Because I think about the things I learn outside of class time (sometimes while I’m walking somewhere or grabbing a bite to eat), my ideas come when I least expect them. As a result, I have all these scratch notes and point form texts that I’ve accidentally sent my friends or written on my arms or in my phone. I never think, "well, I have nowhere to write this down, so I’ll think about it again later." Truth is, I’m going to forget it later, so I write down my ideas as they come to me, no matter the situation! Best advice you’ve ever gotten from a teacher or mentor: A fellow student leader once told me, "it’s up to you to make it yours" - it was her interpretation of UBC’s motto, "tuum est," which translates from Latin to "it’s up to you" or "it is yours." To connect with Kelsey, sign up for HelpHub and start chatting with her and thousands of other tutors now!

About Sharkworld | Sharkworld - a project management game Sharkworld offers aspiring project managers the opportunity to gain experience with several aspects of project management in an attractive and motivating setting. The game creates a convincing virtual environment in which … Continue reading →

We’ve got 4 new features to tell you about this week, and all are things you’ve been asking us for so we’re happy to share! Our goal is to continually improve the student experience and their learning outcomes, while making it easier for you to administer and deliver your courses.   Site Wide Promotions Now, instructors can create coupons that apply not just to a single course, but your choice of a group of courses or even your entire site. Huzzah! These coupons give you the ability to offer things like a free course of the coupon holder’s choosing, or a percentage off any course in your catalogue. The promotion ideas here are almost infinite! Details here.   Pass / Fail Quizzes Quizzes are intended to solidify student learning, and you now have the option to show a percentage grade and require a specific score in order to pass. Students will be unable to complete the course until they get a passing grade. Details here.   Student Notifications We’ve given you more control over what emails your students automatically receive. Now you can turn off automated student notifications from the system. Find the new options in your dashboard under notifications.   Private Courses Marking a course as private allows a published course to remain accessible to existing students, but require new students to contact you for enrollment. This is PERFECT if you want to close enrollments on a course, ensure students meet certain criteria before they join, or do a VIP launch of an upcoming course. Details here. An online course platform that listens to its users. More new @Thinkific features! Click To Tweet The post More control over promotions + more appeared first on Thinkific.

About This Project | Adjunct Project About This Project Two-thirds of the faculty standing in front of college classrooms each day are off the tenure track. But getting information about the salaries of this army of adjuncts and the campus … Continue reading →

How to Setup a Free Trial of Your Online Course and Increase Conversions A free trial is a great way to increase sign ups or sales for your online course. For my own online course my free trial increased course sales by over 40%. I definitely recommend setting one up for your course. What do I mean by a Free Trial for your online course? To be clear, I am NOT talking about giving free access to your entire course, not even for a limited amount of time. That just opens you up to abuse. What I mean by a free trial is you pick a few short pieces of content within your course and offer them for free to anyone who signs up for the free trial. After they check out those free pieces, they should be prompted to purchase or enroll before they can access any more information. 3 Reasons Why Free Trials Are Great for Online Courses: It’s a great way to build your list - make sure you collect emails from anyone before they get access to your free trial. Then you can put them into your drip marketing campaign. It builds trust - by giving them something valuable for free and letting them play with the product you build trust in your product and how you’re delivering it. Now they’re more comfortable pulling out the credit care for a full purchase. It let’s you offer something to people who aren’t ready to buy just now. And of course you can then follow up with them later. 3 Reasons Why Free Trials Are Great for Online CoursesClick To Tweet Here are the best practices when setting up a free trial for your online course: Get their email - can’t stress this enough - get an email before they get access to the trial Give value - make sure what you offer for free is of great value - their evaluating you here and if your free stuff is great, they’ll be much more likely to sign up for the full version Keep it short - make sure it’s short enough that they can consume it in one visit - you don’t want them leaving before they hit the paywall. I suggest 2-7 minutes - 15 minutes max. Have a paywall after the free trial - ensure that when the free content has been consumed they are offered the opportunity to pay and sign up for the full version. Set up an auto responder email campaign for anyone who signs up for your free trial. This should be automated so they start receiving emails shortly after the trial starts. Best Practices When Setting up a Free Trial for Your Online CourseClick To Tweet How do you set up a free trial for your online course? If you’re a Thinkific customer it’s super easy to set this all up. In fact we do it automatically for you! All you have to do is tick the box for "include in free trial" next to any content item you want in your free trial. We then take care of all the best practices above including collecting emails for you, and offering up a paywall at the end of the free trial, and with our marketing integrations you can set up autoresponder email campaigns in your mailing system of choice. Of course you could hire a developer to build all this for you, but with Thinkific it’s ready to go in seconds! Already a Thinkific customer? Check out our support article on how to set up your online course free trial. Not yet using Thinkific? Create a free account now to check out how easy it is to get started creating and selling your online courses today. The post Sell More Online Courses with a Free Trial appeared first on Thinkific.

Another great bit of info from Mark Guzdial’s blog: Home About Computing Education BlogWhat happens when professionals take on-line CS classes: When Life and Learning Do Not FitJanuary 9, 2013 at 9:46 am Leave a comment The journal article on … Continue reading →

A few weeks ago, we shared our 115+ FREE Stock Images Download (which you should grab if you don’t have it already!), and it’s been EXTREMELY popular. One of the challenges of creating and marketing online courses can be sourcing GORGEOUS images to go along with your courses, so we’ve done the work for you! We had so many people ask us for more that we’re revealing our sources. We are so pleased to share our top 5 free stock image sites where you can find stunning images to use in your online courses today. Check out the list of the 5 Best Sites for Stunning FREE Images for online coursesClick To Tweet Looking for stock images online can be painful, but not if you know where to look. We’re sharing our top list of favourite free stock images for you to use! While these sites are listed as free, it’s always important to check the license before you use any images to confirm your use is within their terms of service! https://unsplash.com/ - 10 new photos every 10 days. Subscribe to be the first to know. http://www.lifeofpix.com/ & their sister site http://www.lifeofvids.com/ - Free stock images & video clips http://startupstockphotos.com/ - You don’t have to be a startup to love these office-centric shots! http://www.pexels.com/ - One of the larger sites, pulling in images from multiple sources http://stokpic.com/latest-100/ - Love the overview grid of the most recent 100 images   Want a head start? Save time and grab our top picks: Download 115+ FREE Stock Images Right Now The post Top 5 Free Photo Sites to Customize your Online Courses appeared first on Thinkific.

Today we’re thrilled to announce Related Products and Bundles. Together, these new features let you create powerful upgrade and add-on options for your Thinkific courses! Related Products Related Products allows you to list other products to purchase on your course landing page as alternatives to purchasing the course alone. Using related products alone is ideal when you have multiple versions of the same course. For example, you might have a mini course on eBooks that sells for $29, and also have a complete course on eBooks that includes the content from the mini course and more for $39. With Related Products, you can list the complete course for sale on the mini course’s landing page. Related Products + Bundles When combined with our Bundles feature, related products really shines! Together, these features enable course creators to build powerful upsell offers for course landing pages. Check out our offer ideas below. Build powerful upsell offers to maximize online course sales.Click To Tweet Try out These Powerful Offer Ideas: Create a site-wide subscription option by adding all of your courses to a single bundle, for a monthly price. Bundle related courses together at a discount. You can purchase course A alone, or you can purchase course A & B together at a reduced price. Create bundles with additional, non-course options. For example, purchase course A alone, or purchase course A with an hour of consulting time, or even an hour of consulting time PLUS a copy of your book. Best Practices: Include further details about upsell options in your course description. This is the best place to fully explain what the different options are, and why the purchaser should consider them instead. If you use bundles to sell things that aren’t courses (like consulting or an ebook), you’ll need to deliver those separately. Some of our instructors create a separate "course" for these items with a one page description, along with details on next steps for setting up a consulting call or how to claim the included download, to streamline delivery of these options. Remember that purchasers are only purchasing the single item that they select. If you associate a bundle, be sure that the bundle includes access to BOTH the listed course and any additional courses you’ve promised. Similarly, if you want to upsell straight to another course rather than a bundle, be sure that the new course also includes all of the content from the first course.  Check out our full support articles for Related Products and Bundles. The post NEW: Upsell Your Courses appeared first on Thinkific.

BBC News - Viewpoint: Computer code frees us to think in new ways. Very well said. There’s lots here to like and agree with: To date the reasons behind the changes have seemed very skills-based, as if instilling particular skills … Continue reading →

His pursuit of knowledge took Bairav halfway around the world from India to the United States where he is currently working towards a post-graduate degree at Santa Clara University in California. Not only does he have a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics plus four years as a Senior Systems Engineer under his belt, he is also an Oracle Certified Java Programmer. If you’re struggling with Math or Programming, Bairav is your guy! Ready to work with Bairav? Get in touch with him on HelpHub or learn more about him below: Twitter: @bairavaraman Hardest class you’ve ever taken: High School Chemistry. I always procrastinate to learn Organic Chemistry for no reasons which eventually ended up as tough class. How long have you been tutoring/teaching: Since 2006 when I was still in high school, I used to help my classmates understand subjects like Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science. What do you like most about tutoring/teaching? My ultimate aim is to help students to understand the subject and make them to work on it independently. I consider my tutoring successful when the student reaches that confident stage. What made you decide to major in Electronic Engineering? I was fascinated by the electrical and semiconductor concepts I learned in High School Physics. My ultimate aim is to help students to understand the subject and make them to work on it independently. Favorite school memory: Final day at high school, I felt elated for completing the courses successfully and felt uneasy to miss my best friends and school life. Favorite subject in school: Mathematics, I always excel in that subject. No matter how hard the subject is I will learn. Favorite late night snack: Haldiram’s khatta meetha. Is there a subject/trade you wish you could learn not related to your major? I would love to learn Astronomy. If you could study abroad anywhere in the world for free, where would it be and why? England or Spain. I love to visit these countries because of it’s historical greatness, tourist destinations and soccer leagues. Favorite way to study: It’s simple: LLRP methodology. Listen to class, learn on the same day, revise regularly and practice mock tests. Best advice you’ve ever gotten from a teacher or mentor: My Mathematics mentor always emphasize the 8S statement: Sincere Serious Systematic Studies Surely Secure Supreme Success. To connect with Bairav, sign up for HelpHub and start chatting with him and thousands of other tutors now!

I almost walked away from the majority of sales from a promotion I ran a few weeks ago, and nearly disappointed many of my customers in the process. I wanted to share this story with you, to help save you from making the same mistake with your online course promotions. The Customer’s Perspective This weekend I was shopping at a store I visit every few months, and the clerk handed me a great coupon (50% off!) for my next visit, with a short expiry date. I tossed the coupon in the bottom of my bag, telling her that there was no way I was going to remember (I can’t tell you how often I find coupons I fully intended to use, only AFTER the expiry date). She smiled knowingly, and I walked away. And of course it hit me - this was a TERRIBLE experience for both of us! The store isn’t going to get any additional business as a result of that coupon, and while I actually frequent the store and very much would like the discount, the reality is that even if I plan to stick the coupon to my fridge and set a calendar reminder as soon as I am not carrying an armload of bags - I’m not. I’ll have forgotten about it by the time I get back to my car, and I won’t remember until the next time I’m shopping (a week after expiry, of course). As the customer in this scenario, my overall experience wasn’t great. Of course, many of you are more organized than I am, but you’ll still need to add the extra step to remind yourself to use the deal, and ultimately, there’s a lost opportunity here. And I fell into this EXACT scenario as the merchant in this equation recently. The Merchant’s Perspective In February, on a whim I decided to put one of my regular products on sale, and I sent out an unplanned email to my list letting folks know. Even better, I got a few orders that day, and I considered my promotion a success! Then, other than a couple minor mentions, I didn’t give it another thought. For the next 10 days, sales were slow but steady, and I was up to a few hundred dollars that I hadn’t expected. Pretty good for an unplanned sale, right? Wrong. I remembered that it was the last day of the sale the morning of, and only by chance. I thought about sending out a final email, and I ALMOST didn’t do it because I didn’t want to bother people (I’m so Canadian!). I figured that those who wanted to get in on the offer would have already signed up, and I didn’t think people needed to hear from me AGAIN. But - despite being the most casual sale of all time, I knew better. I wrote up a quick last-chance email and sent it out. What happened next was a shocking - and important - reminder. For the rest of the day, I got sale. After sale. After sale. Ultimately, a full 73% of my total sales came in only AFTER that final reminder email, on the last day! And I almost didn’t bother to send it. I almost didn't bother to send the email that got me 73% of my sales.Click To Tweet I really knew better, but I was careless and too worried about not bothering people. Only, the thing to remember is that in addition to losing out on 73% of my total sales, I almost caused 73% of my customers to miss an opportunity to purchase that they clearly didn’t want to miss. We BOTH would have been dissatisfied if I didn’t reach out that final time. Not contacting your customers enough can do you BOTH a disservice. Click To Tweet So - what are the take-aways here? Things that can be put off to later, will. Time limits give a reason for your customer to take action. Reminders are a courtesy - don’t rely on your customer to remind themselves. If you’re running a promotion, make sure you reach out and let your subscribers know when crucial deadlines are coming up. The people on your list actually WANT to hear from you, and you can probably email them more than you think! They signed up for your list for a reason, and if you’re delivering high quality relevant content they want to hear from you. And, as we just learned, being *too* polite can actually be bad for both of you. * Of course, too much of a good thing can be a negative one! There’s a balance between appreciated reminders and relentless spam. Pay close attention to things like unsubscribes when you start sending out more email - you’ll know if there’s a disconnect between the folks on your list and the content you’re sending out by monitoring that number. I’d love to hear your experience with time-bound promotions. Have you used them? What worked and what didn’t? If you haven’t used them, why not? The post Lose 73% of Sales with This Mistake appeared first on Thinkific.

Is there any better time of year to host parties and backyard barbecues? Summer’s the season for entertaining outdoors, and yet so many of summer’s soirees follow the same routine - burgers, beers, and the occasional lawn game. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but if you want to be remembered as the host with the most, you’ll want to step up that grillin’ and chillin’ routine. So what’s the one thing better than a regular old party? A themed party, and a literary one at that. We’re here to help inspire your summer festivities. Check out these 7 great book-themed party ideas that are guaranteed to make your fete the talk of the town. 1) The Great Gatsby Party Breezy summer evenings by the sea are the perfect setting for a Fitzgerald-inspired roaring ‘20s party about love, loss, and the American dream. A Great Gatsby-themed party is not just a throwback but a class act. Gin is in when it comes to cocktails, and doing the Charleston to Jazz Age tunes is a must for all party attendees. If you feel like playing Gatsby, throw some silk shirts around and gaze longingly into the distance. Or deck yourself out in feathers and pearls and flirt the night away. 2) Jaws, the Party Peter Benchley’s 1974 classic novel, Jaws, became the definitive blockbuster movie of the summer of 1975. For anyone planning a pool party or a beach event - make it Jaws-themed! It’ll be the event of the summer social calendar. You’ll have a blast creating shark-themed decor, mixing up Bloody Marys, and blowing up inflatable shark pool toys! The best part is that even those who haven’t read the book can get in on the frightening fun. 3) Haruki Murakami Party Want something a little more low-key, a little more cerebral, but still literary-themed? Here’s how to step up your hipster cred with your hard-to-please literati friends - throw a party based on the works of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. Play jazz on vinyl, cook spaghetti, and tell everyone to bring their pet cat. Decorate with maps of Tokyo’s intricate subway system and pin up postcards of mysterious-looking sheep. 4) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Party In need of a family friendly book-themed party? This one’s perfect for entertaining children and the adults they bring along with them. At this Lewis Carroll-inspired event, tea and cakes must be served, of course, and games of croquet must be played. Label all your refreshments with "Drink me!" and "Eat me!" Festoon your yard with decks of cards, silly hats and grinning Cheshire cats. 5) Treasure Island Party If you and your friends need an excuse to swear like sailors, walk the plank, and otherwise party like pirates, we’ve got you covered. Or rather, Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island has got you covered. This summer soiree is especially fun if you’re lucky enough to have a boat or a beach to host your buccaneer ball. Decorate with Jolly Roger flags, treasure maps and gold doubloons. Serve up rum cocktails and other sea-worthy treats. Best of all, see how long you can keep your guests saying "Arrr" and "Matey!" 6) A Dr. Seuss Party Summer’s the time for playful rhymes, and what better way, to spend the day than counting fish or refusing a dish or following a cat decked out in a hat? Bring all your favorite Dr. Seuss books to life with a party that everyone, of any age, will enjoy. Serve red and blue fish candies, greenify some eggs and ham, and ask everyone to dress up as Thing 1, Thing 2, or the Cat himself! 7. A Harlequin Romance Party Whatever you think of romance novels, you know that a Harlequin Romance summer party is going to be a hit with the crowd. Have a photo booth at your party where everyone can dress up and pose like they’re on the cover of the summer’s steamiest read. Serve food with titillating names like, "seduced and spellbound salsa," "passionate danger punch" and "tempted by his touch tortilla chips." You’ll have people laughing, living it up, and potentially finding love, all in one torrid summer night. What kind of book-themed party are you throwing this summer?

Receiving a certificate upon completion of a course is an important part of learning culture. Whether it’s the certificate earned to mark a childhood milestone or the one you are handed when you walk across a university stage, certificates in education are universal. And now, we’ve brought certificates to the online world for Thinkific courses! Certificates allow course creators to automatically deliver an official, secure, and verifiable certificate of completion to students who have completed their course. Certificates can be combined with our new Pass/Fail Quizzes to ensure that students have successfully mastered core concepts in order to complete the course. Automatically generated upon course completion Digital certificates are verified and secure Certificates can be shared directly to LinkedIn Certificates look professional, adding credibility to your program Completion Certificates: NEW for Thinkific hosted online courses!Click To Tweet Certificates are a feature exclusive to our Premium and Professional plans. Ready to setup your certificate? Full details in our knowledge base here. The post Introducing: Certificates appeared first on Thinkific.

SCVNGR’s Secret Game Mechanics Playdeck | TechCrunch Guide To This Document: This list is a collection of game dynamics terms, game dynamics theories that are interesting, useful and potentially applicable to your work here at SCVNGR. Many of them have … Continue reading →

Having your course ready to go is step one… but then what? Building is only half the battle; getting your course in front of people so they’ll purchase is the other half, and deserves a lot of time and attention. There are many ways to get your first course sale, but there are a few common tips and tricks that we’ve seen work well time and time again. Let’s dive in! The best time to start telling people about your course is before it launches. This is the right time to start telling your audience what you’re up to, and to get the gears in motion for a pre-sales campaign. Offer up the first chapter or a small sample of what you’ve got in the works, and give your nearest and dearest (ie: your existing list) a tempting offer to jump in site unseen. Check out this past blog post all about building hype. The best time to start selling your online course is before it's available.Click To Tweet Don’t have a list built? You probably have one and just don’t know it. In addition to past students and industry contacts, you can export all of your LinkedIn connections easily by following the instructions here. Your existing contacts are a great place to start, as these are the people who are already interested and engaged in what you are doing, so it’s a great time to reach out.   Participating in online communities can be a great way to expand your audience. In any niche, you are bound to find large groups of people who would welcome a new, knowledgeable participant interested in the same things they are. Some great places to look for communities include: Linkedin Groups Facebook Groups Google+ Communities Twitter Chats If you haven’t heard of Twitter chats, these are a great way to dive into connecting on this social platform. Twitter chats are group conversations that are connected via hashtags, and are a perfect way to meet new people in your niche.  My favourite listings of twitter chats are http://chatsalad.com/ and http://tweetreports.com/twitter-chat-schedule/. Our friends over at Buffer also have a great post up all about these events. You found a group, but what now? When considering etiquette in new communities, I like to equate online communities to their in-person equivalent. If I’m walking into a networking event for the first time and start shouting "BUY MY STUFF!", I’m probably going to get a security escort out the door. Walk into the room screaming BUY THIS and security will escort you out. The same rules apply online.Click To Tweet If, instead, I find a friendly bunch engaged in conversation and join in (adding some valuable points along the way), I’m going to have a much better time. Communities aren’t a one visit proposition - but if you find some groups that are in your niche and that you can really add value to, you’ll find this can go a long way in building your audience organically.   Testimonials are a valuable way to instill confidence in potential purchasers. If they can see written feedback by past students, they are more likely to buy. If you’ve taught before, perfect! Pulling out reviews you’ve received as a teacher (even if written for other material) is helpful here. There is also value in getting your course content into a few hands early, to capture fresh reviews before going live with your launch. If you have a course that caters to a specific group, getting it into the hands of people who are known in your space can do wonders. If you can get a personal review or recommendation from someone who is respected in your niche (and even better, if they’re willing to share the link out, perhaps with a bonus affiliate cut?) that’s a great kickoff. Always give more than you're asking for.Click To Tweet Just remember - when reaching out always give more than you’re asking for, and you’ll be in good form.   There’s nothing quite like being face to face with someone to not only introduce them to your course, but to also build a genuine relationship along the way. If you can teach about a topic, you can speak to a group about it. Check Meetup.com and other event sites in your area to find groups who are already getting together who might be interested in what you are teaching. Groups are often looking for speakers for their events, and if you can get in front of a group of new-to-you people to share what you know about a topic that interests them, you’ll likely find that this translates into a few sales, too. If speaking isn’t your thing, attend for the face to face connections. And, of course, if you can’t find a meetup that suits you, start your own! Inviting people out to connect over a common topic is a great way to find and build your tribe. Even when you sell online, getting face to face with your audience is vital.Click To Tweet Here at Thinkific, we love to get out to speak to local groups and events. Having a face to face connection with our local customers is really valuable, and we love the opportunity to put some faces to names! In-person relationships are also great when you want to ask the tough questions about where you can improve, or if you need a guinea pig for a new module. The perfect opportunity to call up a new friend!   Offering webinars with valuable must-have content to your target audience can be a great way for them to get to know you - and if you deliver on what you’ve offered for free, they’re more likely to purchase seconds. Webinars are particularly beneficial because they’re a way to connect directly with your audience, where folks can ask questions and get answers real-time. I love the community aspect of these events and find them more valuable at times than something like a pre-recorded training video, which doesn’t have the same personal experience. Fixed timelines help you beat audience procrastination.Click To Tweet Webinars also benefit from being a fixed point in time - as we learned earlier this week, specific timelines are perfect for beating audience procrastination!   T These are just the tip of the iceberg as there are so many ways to get out there, but I wanted to share these specific tips not only because they work, but because I can’t stress enough the value of building relationships and connecting with people! The added benefit of finding students this way is that they are MUCH more likely to be really engaged, and to refer you to their friends and their own networks when they know and trust you due to the relationship you’ve built. Now, it’s your turn to share! I’d love to hear what you guys have been doing - what’s working, what’s not, and how you got your first sale. There’s a lot of great insight in this community: share a comment with your story!   The post 5 Ways to Make Your First Course Sale appeared first on Thinkific.

Are you looking to add audio, narration or voice-overs to your Powerpoint or Keynote slide presentations? This can now be done directly within Thinkific, and you can deliver it as part of your online course! Often, simple is key. We’ve heard from many of you that you’d love to create your course by simply adding audio to your Powerpoint and Keynote slide presentations, without having to fight with technology in the process. So, we built it for you. Easily Create Voice Over PowerPoint Presentations with @ThinkificClick To Tweet Simply: Save your slide presentation out of Powerpoint or Keynote as a PDF file Add a new presentation lesson type to your course, importing the PDF you just created Record audio narration slide by slide, directly within the system And you’re done! Students will be able to flip through your presentation slide by slide, and your audio will play automatically. This makes it super simple to convert existing presentations for your courses. Since launching this, we’ve seen people creating online courses faster than ever. You’re able to go from PowerPoint to a complete online course without any extra tools or software. If you’ve already got a presentation ready to deliver, you can use Thinkific’s presentation tool to easily create an online course. Sign up for a free account now to try it out today! Or if you’re already signed up, give our presentation tool a try and see how easy it is to create online courses. Free Download As a bonus, we’ve put together a free resource with the 5 Best Presentation Practices used by our most successful course creators. Knock your next presentation out of the park with this free guide. Knock your next presentation out of the park with these 5 Best PracticesClick To Tweet The post New Feature: Voice Over PowerPoint appeared first on Thinkific.

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If you’re looking for more channels to promote or sell your online course, Quora.com can be a great option. It only takes a few minutes a few times a week to generate an increase in your online course sales. If you’re one of those that likes a quick read or a short list here’s my summary of this post: 1. Setup a Quora account 2. Search for questions that interest your target audience 3. Set your alerts to questions relating to your online course 4. Respond to these questions and add value 5. Include a link to your online course in your response 6. Watch sales increase Setup a Quora Account: Setting up a Quora account is easy.. just head over to https://www.quora.com/ and get started. Search for questions that interest your target audience: Once you’re setup enter your search terms in the search bar. Think about what people would search for if they were looking for help that your course could address. For example if you have an online photography course I’d start searching for "photography course". That’s an obvious one, but you can get more creative and search for specific terms relating to your topic like "f-stop" or "DSLR" or "camera" or "camera settings" etc. These searches should lead you to some questions that you might be able to help with. The goal here is to find not only good questions but questions that would be of interest to your target demographic. Set your alerts to find questions relating to your online course: If you find a good search term that seems to yield some good questions for you then follow that topic. For topics that you follow, Quora will alert you when questions are asked about those topics. You can then choose the ones to respond to. Respond to these questions and add value: When you find questions that interest your target audience, answer them and include a link to your course.The key here is to add value in your answer. Simply linking to your course is not nearly as effective as writing an answer that adds real value. This has the benefit of helping establish you as an expert to trust as people read your answer, making them more likely to click on your link or take your online course. The key here is to add value in your answer. Simply linking to your course is not nearly as effective as writing an answer that adds real value. This has the benefit of helping establish you as an expert to trust as people read your answer, making them more likely to click on your link or take your online course.The biggest benefit of writing a well thought out valuable answer is that it is more likely to get upvoted by other quora users and so remain at the top of the list getting more views. The biggest benefit of writing a well thought out valuable answer is that it is more likely to get upvoted by other quora users and so remain at the top of the list getting more views. If you take the approach above you’ll get a few notifications of questions every day, and you can choose which ones to respond to. It shouldn’t take you more than 10-20 minutes a few times a week and you can create a new inbound channel for online course sales. We’d love to hear from you if you have tried Quora to promote your courses or have other ideas or suggestions about how you’ve been marketing your online courses. Please share your ideas in the comments below! The post Sell More Online Courses with Quora appeared first on Thinkific.

Having just recently moved to British Columbia, Melissa has joined our large community of Vancouver-based tutors. She manages to stand apart as one of our most experienced Language and English tutors. With several languages already under her belt, her hope was to learn 10 different languages by the time she turned 30. Although she didn’t quite reach her goal, we know she will continued to learn and flourish. Other than Language Education, Melissa’s two greatest passions include eating and traveling. Since moving to Vancouver, she has fully immersed herself into the local food culture. As for her passion for traveling, Melissa just returned from a trip to Alaska and hopes to visit the Philippines sometime next year. Ready to work with Melissa? Get in touch with her on HelpHub or learn more about her below: Location: I recently moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. Before that, I lived most of my life in Montreal, Quebec. Education: I have a B.Sc. in Psychology and a B.Ed. in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from McGill University. I also took courses in translation at Concordia University, and I am currently working on my M.A. Hardest class you’ve ever taken: I would have to say Abnormal Psychology, a course about intellectual and emotional disorders. My Psychology degree was really about getting to know myself. So, Abnormal Psychology was scary because every Psychology student goes through the analysis thing - analyzing yourself and analyzing other people. And doing that in Abnormal Psychology can definitely be uncomfortable! How long have you been tutoring/teaching: My first teaching experience was at the age of eight. I taught Karate. I didn’t know it then, but that was my first career experience in teaching. Later on, I taught self-defence classes. I don’t teach martial arts anymore, but I still practice for the love of the sport. I started tutoring English and French about 20 years ago. After tutoring casually for two years, I decided to take two CEGEP courses on how to tutor. I’ve been tutoring ever since. I have worked with students in elementary, high school, CEGEP, and university. I have also tutored Business English to adults. As a teacher, I have taught Business English to adults in private language schools and I have taught English at the high school level in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Montreal. I specialize in pronunciation, literature, and writing. What do you like most about tutoring/teaching? Teaching and tutoring are humbling experiences. You get to discover how much other people can teach you. I learn as much as I can from my students. What made you decide to study Language Education? My cultural background plays a big role in my decision to study languages. My parents are actually from Mauritius, so I grew up speaking French and Creole. Most people look at me and assume I am Chinese and speak Mandarin. I can’t even count how many times I had to explain why Mandarin is not my first language. But I did feel like I should learn Mandarin. After all, my grandparents are from China. Mandarin was the first language I wanted to pick up during my formal schooling. Following that, I kind of got carried away. My goal was to speak ten languages by the time I turned thirty. I studied Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese. I didn’t reach my goal of ten languages, but I didn’t give up. I started researching more about why I didn’t succeed. I looked up language learning strategies and interviewed people about their language learning experiences. Today, I specialize in language learning, and I think that my language background has helped me understand what learning difficulties students go through. As you can tell, I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of all this. Teaching and tutoring are humbling experiences. You get to discover how much other people can teach you. I learn as much as I can from my students. Favorite school memory: Reading Macbeth with my grade 10 English teacher. Prior to that, I never knew how to read Shakespeare. I ended up hating it and only read his plays because I had to. When we studied Macbeth, I felt like I truly understood it. I love witnessing the relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband. It truly is a classic! Favorite subject in school: My favorite subject was Math. I loved how straightforward it was. My favorite math class was Calculus 2. Favorite late night snack: I don’t have one because I don’t eat late at night. But when I was in university, my favorite late night snack was dried mangoes. Is there a subject/trade you wish you could learn not related to your major? I always wanted to be a firefighter, a mechanic, a psychologist, a physiotherapist, a dentist, a martial artist, a travel writer, a stunt person, and finally, a chef. Yes, I am passionate about a lot of things. =) If you could study abroad anywhere in the world for free, where would it be and why? Finland! They are going through an education reform to teach by topic and not by subject anymore. I think it is a wonderful idea and I would love to experience it! Favorite way to study: I used to study better at night. Now, I’m lucky if I can keep my eyes open by midnight! As a teacher, I have a treasure chest of studying/learning strategies. It depends on what and when I am studying. Note cards work for language learning. I like to highlight too, but I’m very particular in my highlighting technique. I actually took a highlighting class once. Sounds ridiculous, but it turned out to be quite helpful! Best advice you’ve ever gotten from a teacher or mentor: Before you draw Picasso, you must learn to draw a horse. This came from my English teacher and she wanted me to learn the grammar rules before I started breaking them. Of course you can say walk before you run, but adding Picasso to the mix gives it that special touch! To connect with Melissa, sign up for HelpHub and start chatting with her and thousands of other tutors now!

One really effective way to accelerate course sales is using webinars. This week, rather than just telling you how this can work, I wanted to share the detailed case study of one of our instructors who has used webinars almost exclusively to drive sales. Even better, we’re going to dive right into his story with all the details of exactly how he did it. John’s story is a favourite of mine, because it’s a great example of how dedicated focus to one channel that’s working can really drive growth. More importantly, I chose his story for a case study because this is something that can be translated to countless different topics to drive online course growth! Learn the winning webinar funnel that earned John $20k/mo. in online course salesClick To Tweet Download the full case study below to learn: - John’s Course Creation Best Practices - Why he Moved from Udemy to Thinkific (and the sales he saw as a result) - 3 Things to Include in Your Webinar - The Complete Webinar Funnel John Used to Grow His Audience The post Earning $20,000/month with Webinars appeared first on Thinkific.

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Summer jobs can either be the best or the worst experiences of your high school and college years. You might discover a career-defining passion and make invaluable connections for your future, or you might make an hourly pittance doing something as intellectually stimulating as watching paint dry. However you choose to occupy yourself for three glorious months, the end result will be eye-opening - you’ll come a little closer to knowing what you want to do, and what you absolutely, definitely, don’t want to do when you graduate. The path to finding your calling is a winding one, and that’s never more clear than when you think about your favorite writers. Many of today’s renown writers held down a variety of jobs before completing their literary magnum opus. To name a few: Kurt Vonnegut The author of Slaughterhouse Five was a car salesman. Vonnegut owned a Saab dealership in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Stephen King The prolific thriller and horror novelist worked as a high school janitor after graduating from college. The inspiration for his first work, Carrie, struck while he was cleaning the women’s locker room. Tom Clancy Hollywood owes much to Tom Clancy, who penned such action blockbusters as The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games. Prior to his star-studded literary career, Clancy was an insurance agent who wrote novels in his spare time. Charles Dickens Dickens, one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian Era, worked in a boot polish factory at the age of 12. His job was to paste labels on to the pots of boot polish, and he did this for ten hours a day while his parents and siblings languished in debtor’s prison. Alice Munro Canada’s Nobel-prize winning author and master of the short story worked as a waitress, tobacco picker, and library clerk to pay her tuition throughout college. Harper Lee Before winning the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee was an airline reservation agent in New York City. L.M. Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery was a teacher before creating one of the world’s most beloved fictional characters, Anne Shirley, and penning The Anne of Green Gables series. She didn’t enjoy teaching, but it gave her the opportunity and freedom to write in her spare time. John Green The author of tear-jerker The Fault in Our Stars was a chaplain at a children’s hospital, a publishing assistant, and a production editor for a book review journal before publishing his first novel. Langston Hughes Before he published his first book of poetry, Hughes held down a variety of odd jobs. He was a cook, a launderer, a personal assistant to a historian, a seaman, and a busboy at a hotel. William Faulkner This Nobel laureate was the postmaster at the University of Mississippi for a mere two years, and he was supposedly terrible at it. Faulkner closed and opened the post office whenever he felt like it. When he was at work, he spent his time reading, playing cards, ignoring the customers, and losing the mail.