As promised in my session here are my slides from: What Online Teachers Can Teach Us About Connecting With Students The post Slides: What Online Teachers Can Teach Us About Connecting With Students appeared first on NCCE's Tech Savvy Teacher Blog.

Last year with help from The Compass we set out to gather some feedback from students on the apps they would recommend to others to aid study at University. We’ve repeated the event this year to find out in this fast moving market, what’s changed and what has remained popular. Recent statistics reveal that educational apps are the third most downloaded category in Apple’s app store, dropping just behind Business apps. But what constitutes as an educational app? Often apps that aren’t typically seen as educational can be assistive in University study, so using the speak-board on Penryn campus helped us gain further insight into the apps our students found useful and would recommend to others. This year, social media and social learning apps feature most prominantely; Facebook to "get involved with events", Pinterest for social bookmarking and newcomer YikYak which allows you to post updates anonymously and subscribe to feeds from specific geographical locations such as Penryn and Falmouth Campuses at the University. Referencing tools are again popular, with RefMe appearing for the second year in a row and Mendeley cropping up aswell. Discipline specific apps such as the Steinway Metronome app get a mention for music students. Organisational tools such as Wunderlist and LifeRPG appeared this year. With HabitRPG on last years list, the notion of game play in productivity would appear important to students. Apps that support student wellbeing remain popular, with Rain Rain helping us get to sleep, School Sucks podcasts on remedies for procrastination and Colour Switch to facilitate it! Thanks again to all who took part in the speak-board, if you’d like any more information about any of the apps mentioned or you’d like to talk about using apps as part of Learning and Teaching at Falmouth University please get in touch - etsupport@falmouth.ac.uk Here’s the full list of recommended apps from our speak-boards. Please upvote and comment on those that you find useful: Apps to Support Study in HE View more lists from Educational Technology

Government funding cuts in Adult and Community Education and the relationship with Ofsted’s ‘Inadequate’ Training Providers. All adult learners have some level of understanding in relation to Government Funding in relation to Adult Skills. This would seem to be the case whether they are looking for a basic course to improve their skills in order […]

We propose to publish a series of podcasts on the use of technology in the FE & Skills education sector, technology that is fit for the 21st century. Correction - Fit for the year 2016 - back in the year 2000, most of the technology that we use in everyday life was unheard of. You […]

James Taylor is one of the busiest English teachers I know. He has a lot going on and he is heavily involved in ELT, both online and off. We get into a lot during this interview, including: how he got into teaching why he started a blog Twitter and #eltchat his podcast BELTA TEFL Equity […] The post James Taylor Interview: Blogging, Twitter, English Teaching Methods, Non-Native Teachers and More! appeared first on Teaching ESL Online.

When using a piece of software you are sure to have experienced a bug. No? Think of your Twitter or Uber app, has it ever done something that you know it really shouldn’t or didn’t do previously? Yes? Then you have definitely experienced a bug. This is a small scale issue but some bugs can have detrimental effects especially when it comes to security. This post will take a closer look at the impact the type of programming language can have on cloud based software security.

via How Much Do Images, Videos and Infographics Boost Content Marketing ROI? - Scripted.

February has been an exciting month at Trivantis®. So, before we get to our usual Best of February article roundup, we’d like to share our top news this month. Trivantis released an eBook: eLearning 101: A Practical Guide! This free eBook will help you get started with eLearning and the course development process. Learn the basics of instructional design, eLearning standards, graphic design, and more. If you’re curious about the type of info you can expect from this eBook, our Trivantis Community Manager Jennifer Valley wrote a great article titled "Developing Quality eLearning at the Speed of Sound" this month in conjunction with the eLearning 101: A Practical Guide eBook. Download the eBook today! Here’s the rest of the Best of eLearning in February: Insights on Modern Learning by Laura Overton: LUC 2016 Keynote Speaker Laura Overton, Founder and CEO of Towards Maturity, is the keynote speaker for the 2016 Lectora® User Conference. See her keynote presentation on preparing for the bright future of learning at the conference—register today! 5 Learning Tech Trends to Watch in the Next 5 Years Gamification and learning expert Karl Kapp lists important learning and development trends on the ATD Learning Technologies Blog. Trend number one is microlearning, a trend where mobile learning plays a huge role. Tips and Tricks to Making Accessible Content More Interactive Trivantis VP of Product Management Laura Silver shares how to create content that’s accessible and still interactive using Lectora. Keeping Tabs on Lectora Interaction Templates Our friends at the eLearning Brothers shared their favorite click-and-reveal Lectora templates—great for saving space and allowing the learner to explore more information while staying on the same page. Lectora Advanced: Creating a Student Notes Feature You may have read the Lectora Basics series blog series by Trivantis Lead Content Developer Wendy Miller. We’ve now added a Lectora Advanced series for developers who want to get more creative with Lectora. Have another great article from this month to share? Post it in the comments below.     The post The Best of eLearning in February 2016 appeared first on .

With 2016 upon us, we now have a firm footing into the 21st century. Although we’re not quite at the Johnny Five stage yet (the robot demonstrated the ability to scan and instantly assimilate information in the 1986 movie, Short Circuit), technology is starting to revolutionize the learning landscape. In this article I will share […] The post The 4 Hottest eLearning Trends For 2016 appeared first on PulseLearning.

PulseLearning will attend the Learning Solutions 2016 Conference & Expo, produced by the eLearning Guild. Today’s training and development professionals are under increasing pressure to deliver innovative solutions on time and under budget. Learning Solutions 2016 is all about connecting industry professionals with peers who are focused on sharing what works as you explore proven methods for leveraging […] The post PulseLearning to attend Learning Solutions 2016 Conference & Expo appeared first on PulseLearning.

Ed4Online is proud to announce that it has been recognized as an Accredited Provider of continuing education by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). In reaching this high-level accreditation, Ed4Online is proving that they meet the demands of the ANSI/IACET Standard for quality continuing education and training. What does the Standard measure? The ANSI/IACET Standard measures all aspects of a continuing education and training provider’s program development across ten nationally recognized categories: Continuing Education and Training Organization Responsibility and Control Learning Environment and Support Systems Learning Event Planning Learning Outcomes Planning and Instructional Personnel Content and Instructional Methods Assessment of Learning Outcomes Awarding CEUs and Maintaining Learner Records Program Evaluation  What does it mean to be IACET Certified? The ANSI/IACET Standard reflects an international standard of excellence in providing quality education and training instruction, utilized by thousands of education and instruction programs worldwide. The standard reflects rigid and continuously evolving benchmarks for excellence set down by both the American Standards Institute (ANSI) and IACET. With IACET accreditation, Ed4Online joins the exclusive ranks of elite continuing education providers in being able to offer its students Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for the completion of courses. Created by IACET as a standard for measuring proficiency in continuing education models, a single CEU is recognized as 10 contact hours of organized continuing education—completed through courses offered by Accredited Providers. "Being able to back up the superior structure of our online courses with tangible CEU credits is something we’re extremely proud of and an accomplishment that will resonate with our students, as well as our partner institutions," said Dr. Tricia Seymour, Chief Operating Officer at Ed4Online. "To be recognized as an Accredited Provider is something we’ve been striving for and to finally reach this goal means seeing our penchant for quality realized in a way that we can directly communicate to our partners and students." In receiving accreditation through IACET, Ed4Online will now be able to pass on the many benefits to its partner institutions, to give its affiliates the confidence in knowing that Ed4Online meets the industry standards for quality. The IACET Accredited Provider process is rigorous and exclusive, marking a superior standard for compliant continuing education providers. For more information about the IACET accreditation process or to view the rigorous standards required for accreditation, please visit the organization’s website at http://www.iacet.org. To learn more about Ed4Online’s recent accreditation through IACET or to inquire about what it means to partner with an IACET Accredited Partner for continuing education courses, please visit the company’s website at https://ed4online.com.            

Ed4Online is proud to announce that it has been recognized as an Accredited Provider of continuing education by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). In reaching this high-level accreditation, Ed4Online is proving that they meet the demands of the ANSI/IACET Standard for quality continuing education and training. What does the Standard measure? The ANSI/IACET Standard measures all aspects of a continuing education and training provider’s program development across ten nationally recognized categories: Continuing Education and Training Organization Responsibility and Control Learning Environment and Support Systems Learning Event Planning Learning Outcomes Planning and Instructional Personnel Content and Instructional Methods Assessment of Learning Outcomes Awarding CEUs and Maintaining Learner Records Program Evaluation  What does it mean to be IACET Certified? The ANSI/IACET Standard reflects an international standard of excellence in providing quality education and training instruction, utilized by thousands of education and instruction programs worldwide. The standard reflects rigid and continuously evolving benchmarks for excellence set down by both the American Standards Institute (ANSI) and IACET. With IACET accreditation, Ed4Online joins the exclusive ranks of elite continuing education providers in being able to offer its students Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for the completion of courses. Created by IACET as a standard for measuring proficiency in continuing education models, a single CEU is recognized as 10 contact hours of organized continuing education—completed through courses offered by Accredited Providers. "Being able to back up the superior structure of our online courses with tangible CEU credits is something we’re extremely proud of and an accomplishment that will resonate with our students, as well as our partner institutions," said Dr. Tricia Seymour, Chief Operating Officer at Ed4Online. "To be recognized as an Accredited Provider is something we’ve been striving for and to finally reach this goal means seeing our penchant for quality realized in a way that we can directly communicate to our partners and students." In receiving accreditation through IACET, Ed4Online will now be able to pass on the many benefits to its partner institutions, to give its affiliates the confidence in knowing that Ed4Online meets the industry standards for quality. The IACET Accredited Provider process is rigorous and exclusive, marking a superior standard for compliant continuing education providers. For more information about the IACET accreditation process or to view the rigorous standards required for accreditation, please visit the organization’s website at http://www.iacet.org. To learn more about Ed4Online’s recent accreditation through IACET or to inquire about what it means to partner with an IACET Accredited Partner for continuing education courses, please visit the company’s website at https://ed4online.com.            

Here are the new courses we added to our Paper Manufacturing Training Library last month. For a look at all of our paper manufacturing training courses, click the following links: Pulping Paper Tissue Corrugated Packaging Or, just check out all of our e-learning courses. We’ll keep announcing new courses each month as they roll out, so stay tuned for more. To set up a demo and see the full-length versions, feel free to contact us. Fluidized Bed Boilers Black Liquor Testing Titration Fundamentals Paper Machine Doctor Blade Components and Troubleshooting While you’re here, why not download our free guide to effective manufacturing training? The post New Paper Manufacturing Training Courses: Fluidized Bed Boilers; Black Liquor Testing; Titration Fundamentals; and Paper Machine Doctor Blade Component and Troubleshooting appeared first on Convergence Training Blog.

When things go wrong, people have a tendency to want to blame someone, often as soon as possible. It makes us feel better to find the culprit or get the ‘bad apple’. We have the opposite tendency when it comes to ourselves. The cognitive dissonance of not meeting our self-image or expectations can be so powerful that we make up stories to cover our failures. And we actually believe them. This happens to judges, lawyers, doctors, nurses, and many other professionals. But it happens less frequently with pilots. Why? It’s all about the systems they work in. Aviation is one of the few industries that: Encourages learning from mistakes on an industry-wide scale. Leaves blame for after any accident investigation (usually). Uses data and science to confirm or deny assumptions. Tests hypotheses through simulation before implementation new procedures. Disseminates new knowledge openly and widely. Matthew Syed calls this Black Box Thinking in his book of the same name. Syed provides examples of how many of our work systems are broken, suffering from closed loop thinking by not allowing us to test assumptions and conventional wisdom. One excellent example is of 5 Israeli parole judges whose cases over a 10 month period revealed some shocking statistics. The chances of being paroled just after breakfast were 65%, while the chances of parole just before lunch fell to 0%. The judges did not make the same types of decisions when they were hungry. No one had ever looked at these human tendencies. While we may think that we are rational and professional, we are not. Data and science can help us build systems that are are better, safer, and ensure equality. "The evolutionary process cannot function without information about what is working , and what is not. The information can come from many sources, depending on the context (patients, consumers, experiments, whistleblowers, etc.). But professionals working on the ground have crucial data to share in almost any context. Health care, for example, cannot begin to reform procedures if doctors do not report their failures. And scientific theories cannot evolve if scientists cover up data that reveal the weaknesses in existing hypotheses." I would strongly recommend this book to anyone in management or interested in improving organizational performance. This is one of the best books I have read in the past few years, along with Gary Klein’s, Seeing What Others Don’t. Some of Klein’s recommendations align with the personal knowledge mastery framework, in that people need to seek out new connections in order to get new insights, as well as put forth ‘half-baked’ ideas in order to test them. Syed has similar recommendations. "But consider the following questions. Do you fail in your judgments? Do you ever get access to the evidence that shows where you might be going wrong? Are your decisions ever challenged by objective data? If the answer to any of these questions is no, you almost certainly not learning. This is not a question of motivation or intelligence, but if iron logic. You are like a golfer playing in the dark."  

Interview with Victor Yocco (@victoryocco), design researcher and authorWe answer the questions:What are your background and interests?What is andragogy?What are some of the key principles of learning design?How can psychology inform design?Can you tell us about your new book? LinksDesign for the MindFor a 39% discount on the book, use the Promo Code: smayoccoPhillyChiPADLAPodsafe music selectionVivaldi: Concerto No. 4 in G Minor "Winter" (Allegro movement) from The Four Seasons by the American Baroque Orchestra. Duration: 25:54

  You run a mid-sized division at a diversified manufacturer of industrial machines and manufacturing equipment. At the end of the quarter, your division finance officer comes to you with some bad news: Profits are down significantly in the quarter. You know you’ll be hearing about this from your boss at corporate headquarters. You know you’ve got to decide how to improve profits. You need to decide on an action plan and implement it before the end of the next quarter. The key to great decision-making? Context. Even executives with strong critical thinking skills can make bad decisions if they ignore the context around the decision.The best executive decisions aren’t just logical, they’re also accepted by the people who must implement them. A "correct" decision that your direct reports carry out half-heartedly isn’t going to carry the impact you hope for. To make bulletproof executive decisions, you must understand what factors should influence your decision. There are six variables to consider. 1. Clarity. The first key to making effective decisions is clarity about the problem involved. Do you understand what the problem really is? Have you framed it correctly? How do you proceed? You’ll probably want to investigate the financial results in greater detail. Have revenues declined? Expenses increased? Are there seasonal factors at play? Has a new product resulted in a greater-than-normal number of returns? Clarity about the nature of the issue is vital. So, before making any decision, ask yourself if you’re truly clear about the problem or situation at hand. 2.Information. The second key factor is information. It’s hard to make good decisions without accurate, complete information. And while we rarely have all the information we’d like, making sure you’ve gathered what’s available is important. As you work on increasing profits in your division, you’ll likely want to know exactly how big the decline was, whether there were any business segments or markets it was concentrated in, and whether it was due to one-time or ongoing losses. 3.Commitment. You may have analyzed the problem correctly and come up with a solution that’s sure to work. Congratulations! But other people will almost certainly be involved in implementing that decision, and how well your solution works may be largely or entirely dependent on their commitment to the decision. After reviewing the financial information in detail, you realize that quarterly profits declined because your sales team used more discounts and special offers to move product. Your firm changed its company-wide commission policies to emphasize units sold rather than sales profitability. But you know you’ll still be evaluated based on your division’s profits. You’d like to restrict the sales team’s use of discounts, but your sales managers don’t like this idea. They believe discounts are an important tool for their field reps, and are worried that sales volume will drop off if their reps aren’t free to use discounts to close deals. You can make an executive decision to restrict the discounts, but will it be implemented effectively, or will the sales team engineer other profit-eroding work-arounds? You need commitment from your sales team if your decision is going to be implemented effectively.   Click the infographic for full size   4. Goal alignment. Alignment is the degree to which the people involved in making, approving or carrying out a decision agree with the end goal the decision is meant to achieve. Worried a about whether your plan to improve profits is going to succeed, you fly to corporate headquarters to meet with your boss, the company’s chief operating officer. She reminds you that the company’s strategy has shifted. It’s now focused on growing market share, she points out, to increase production and gain more cost efficiencies. She asks you to find other ways to address the profitability issue, perhaps by focusing on reducing costs rather than tying the sales team’s hands when it comes to moving products. 5. Urgency. The fifth factor that influences decision-making is urgency. How much time do you have to decide? Do you need to make a decision today? This week? This month? How much time you have will have to gather information, analyze the problem and consult others? At the end of your meeting with the COO, she asks you to report back to her in one month with a plan to improve your division’s profit margins while staying aligned with the corporate strategy of increasing market share. You have four weeks to make a decision — it’s not an emergency, but you can’t wait long to get started. 6.Time required to decide. The last factor to consider is how long it will take you to arrive at a good decision. How many meetings do you need to have? How difficult might it be to gather the information you need? With the eyes of the C-suite now on you, you know you need to make the best decision you can in the next four weeks. As you fly back to your divisional headquarters, you ponder your next steps. Next Steps You’ve been very successful so far in the company by carefully analyzing problems and making solid business decisions. Those decisions haven’t always been popular, but they’ve helped you rise in the ranks. Now, though, facing opposition from your own boss and resistance from your sales team, you realize you need to take a different approach to how you make decisions. You’ll need to involve more people. Perhaps it’s time to call your direct reports together for a problem-solving retreat. Yes, that’s it, you decide. You’ll schedule a half-day meeting for next week to get your key executives working on the problem. It’ll seem sudden, but you’re confident that you and your team can come up with a good plan in the next month. You’re not as comfortable with this approach, but it reminds you of what you learned at that leadership development retreat last year. There are five different decision-making styles, ranging from relying solely on your own judgment to sharing decision-making with others. You remember that you tended to prefer to discover the facts and then make a decision yourself. But now, it seems, you’re going to have to adopt a different style if you’re going to be successful. That’s OK, though, you decide. After all, your goal is to ultimately land a position in the C-suite as a top company executive — not just to fly to corporate HQ when you need to consult with your boss. You know that being able to choose the best decision-making style will make you a better executive, and help land you the next promotion.   Ready to dive deeper into your decision style?   Check out our Decision Style Profile Assesment The post How to Make Bulletproof Executive Decisions appeared first on Discovery Learning Inc..

Have you ever experienced having mastered a web-based learning tool and then be informed that the tool was discontinued? Ning.com was new years back. Then Twitter.com and Prezi came. Then Pinterest.com followed. Now,  there is Snapchat.com. Soon more will come - and this is just a sampling from a very, very long list. I follow Jane Hart's Top 100 Tools website which is a good reference. When I saw the image and article from Style Motivation.com "When Old Becomes New", it reminded me of learning architecture. Oftentimes, the rapid and constant change and the abundance of options including the introduction of new software, which is usually free, cause learning professionals to be cautious or inhibit from testing and adopting the tools.Might it be that we focus on the newness of the tools and forget that learning goes deeper than just the tools? We  hear testimonials from those who adapt very well and we wonder how they consciously stay on top of the changes. There must be a common thread that makes it all worthwhile for these learning specialists to persist in their adaption and be willing to pay the price with their efforts and hours of labor.Focus on impacts and not the toolsIt is easy to be distracted by too many shining objects, new bells and whistles that glitter and are dangled in front of us as learning alternatives. Yet, let us realize the value that goes beyond the tool. We are wowed by the impacts the tool may have on how learners learn. Or should I say how the new tools make more apparent the old ways we learn, but manifesting it differently? Preserving the old and adding the newRay Kurzweil, a pioneering thinker in accelerating learning suggests that technologies have far more contributions in how people learn and behave. At present, our behaviors are still driven by old DNA structures that are hard to change. However, with new discoveries in neurosciences and technologies, these behaviors could be magnified to help learners faster and better. I am inclined to believe that in many of our use of tools, we may have missed the chance to observe how these magnified behaviors benefit learners and speed up learning. Magnifying learners' behaviors to learn faster and betterIn my research and work with clients and in workshops, I observed four behaviors that are magnified when I use new forms of learning technologies. Others have observed the same: Clark Quinn, Jane Bozarth, and many others, so this is not totally new. However, I observed that the behaviors are not referred to using a common language and terminology in learning and training. The descriptors I use are merely my own way of making the ideas meaningful in my work.The SeekerI got this idea from a webinar participant. In order to learn faster, learners tend to be seekers of knowledge and information. They look for answers, solutions and connections that will work and solve problems. The emphasis is not about Google as a tool, but rather the attitude and skill to seek answers.Action item: In designing a program, encourage the "seeker" behavior by inserting a challenge or an opportunity for participants to seek answers. The obvious tools of course are Google and other search engines. The ArgumentatorThe behavior of questioning assumptions against realities is about having an argument in one's mind. It helps learners discover what ideas work and how their minds are  when finding answers. We can also call this the questioning mind.Action item: In designing a program, encourage the Argumentative Mind (Argumentator) by proposing a debate and asking learners to cite pros and cons and assumptions versus reality assumptions. You can use polling, survey and discussion tools.The Value MakerThe learners learn faster when they add value by contributing a point of view, a new source, or a research reference. They add value to the learning of others in this way.  Above all, the process enhances the value of their own thinking and learning.Action item: Ask learners to do a journal of their learning using a blog or discussion. In TrainingMagNetwork.com we use the Add Insight feature so Proberlearners can create micro-insights and micro-records as they learn.    The Fact Finder - ProberI attended an undergraduate class research presentation at Scripps College where Francesca , my daughter goes to school and one student reported how she used Amazon's Artificial Mechanical Turk market place. The student used Mturk to conduct her study by submitting a request in the community to do a specific activity (sometimes for free, at times for a fee) and allowed the student to collect data. The fact finder - Prober,  conducts systematic research and study to fully understand the data and learn from his/her research goals and findings.Action item: For the length of a course, add a research project to help learners discover the facts and learn from their findings.Context Maker - Evidence ThinkerThe context maker is a mapper or pattern maker. He/she helps the learning process through extraction and extrapolation and adding context to the learning. One tool I love to use in my workshops is the micro-goal setting tool. It allows the learners to put into action an idea or concept in an actual micro goal and plan of action. This allows learners to make the idea crystal clear and adds an emotional experience while doing the micro-goal and plan. One of the significant benefit is a self-proof or evidence that ideas are put into action.Action item: Ask learners to make a micro-goal and micro-plan of application. I emphasized micro since making the plans huge and extensive diminishes the chance of learners accomplishing the plans.  ConclusionI am fascinated with new tools. I wish and and am also confident that there are many more coming. Amidst the abundance of shiny new objects, there is a hidden, often easy to ignore set of learning behaviors that are magnified. It improves the returns on our investment of time, effort, and painful adaptions if we seek deeper beyond the tools and learn to magnify the behaviors.  ReferencesCentre for Learning & Performance TechnologiesWhen Old Becomes NewWolfram Alpha, Computational Knowledge EngineTip 75: Insight Sharing - How They "Meet and MateAmazon's Artificial Mechanical TurkRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Continuing this deep dive into our resistance to gratefulness, Brother David Steindl-Rast, OSB shares this thought:Grateful living is a way of life which asks us to notice all that is already present and abundant - from the tiniest things of beauty to the grandest of our blessings - and in so doing, to take nothing for granted. We can learn to focus our attention on, and acknowledge, that life is a gift. Even in the most challenging times, living gratefully makes us aware of, and available to, the opportunities that are always available; opportunities to learn and grow, and to extend ourselves with care and compassion to others. Grateful living is based in, and reinforces, values such as respect, responsibility, and generosity. Small, grateful acts every day can uplift us, make a difference for others, and help change the world.Here are some ways to practice gratefulness from unstuck.com: Check out the video "A Good Day" from TEDxSF can get you in the right frame of mind (also contains a beautiful meditation from Brother David Steindl-Rast).Keep a gratitude journal logging one thing you are grateful for each day. If it gives you guilt, don't do it as often. Give a compliment each day. If you have negative thoughts about people or things, practice a reframe.  A cold conference room can become a room with a  great view, etc. When I get angry at people driving or in lines, I try to make up stories about them that explains how their behavior is rational and build my empathy for them. Give up gossip, or complaining for Lent.  Here are some gizmos that you might find fun: Special equipment isn’t necessary for practicing gratitude — the real work goes on in your head and heart. But if using a tool is helpful, go for it. Here are a handful of apps and websites that specialize in appreciation.Start your own Grateful Project by getting inspiration from 365 Grateful.Gratitude Journal for iPhone, Gratitude Plus for iPad: Both apps encourage you to write at least five good things daily, add photos, and rate the day.Red Stamp: This iOS app will send personalized cards and notes any way you like: email, text, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and paper mail.Appreciation Board: This dry erase board encourages you to share your gratitude with anyone who enters the room. Cost: $12.99

Have you ever experienced having mastered a web-based learning tool and then be informed that the tool was discontinued? Ning.com was new years back. Then Twitter.com and Prezi came. Then Pinterest.com followed. Now,  there is Snapchat.com. Soon more will come - and this is just a sampling from a very, very long list. I follow Jane Hart's Top 100 Tools website which is a good reference. When I saw the image and article from Style Motivation.com "When Old Becomes New", it reminded me of learning architecture. Oftentimes, the rapid and constant change and the abundance of options including the introduction of new software, which is usually free, cause learning professionals to be cautious or inhibit from testing and adopting the tools.Might it be that we focus on the newness of the tools and forget that learning goes deeper than just the tools? We  hear testimonials from those who adapt very well and we wonder how they consciously stay on top of the changes. There must be a common thread that makes it all worthwhile for these learning specialists to persist in their adaption and be willing to pay the price with their efforts and hours of labor.Focus on impacts and not the toolsIt is easy to be distracted by too many shining objects, new bells and whistles that glitter and are dangled in front of us as learning alternatives. Yet, let us realize the value that goes beyond the tool. We are wowed by the impacts the tool may have on how learners learn. Or should I say how the new tools make more apparent the old ways we learn, but manifesting it differently? Preserving the old and adding the newRay Kurzweil, a pioneering thinker in accelerating learning suggests that technologies have far more contributions in how people learn and behave. At present, our behaviors are still driven by old DNA structures that are hard to change. However, with new discoveries in neurosciences and technologies, these behaviors could be magnified to help learners faster and better. I am inclined to believe that in many of our use of tools, we may have missed the chance to observe how these magnified behaviors benefit learners and speed up learning. Magnifying learners' behaviors to learn faster and betterIn my research and work with clients and in workshops, I observed four behaviors that are magnified when I use new forms of learning technologies. Others have observed the same: Clark Quinn, Jane Bozarth, and many others, so this is not totally new. However, I observed that the behaviors are not referred to using a common language and terminology in learning and training. The descriptors I use are merely my own way of making the ideas meaningful in my work.The SeekerI got this idea from a webinar participant. In order to learn faster, learners tend to be seekers of knowledge and information. They look for answers, solutions and connections that will work and solve problems. The emphasis is not about Google as a tool, but rather the attitude and skill to seek answers.Action item: In designing a program, encourage the "seeker" behavior by inserting a challenge or an opportunity for participants to seek answers. The obvious tools of course are Google and other search engines. The ArgumentatorThe behavior of questioning assumptions against realities is about having an argument in one's mind. It helps learners discover what ideas work and how their minds are  when finding answers. We can also call this the questioning mind.Action item: In designing a program, encourage the Argumentative Mind (Argumentator) by proposing a debate and asking learners to cite pros and cons and assumptions versus reality assumptions. You can use polling, survey and discussion tools.The Value MakerThe learners learn faster when they add value by contributing a point of view, a new source, or a research reference. They add value to the learning of others in this way.  Above all, the process enhances the value of their own thinking and learning.Action item: Ask learners to do a journal of their learning using a blog or discussion. In TrainingMagNetwork.com we use the Add Insight feature so Proberlearners can create micro-insights and micro-records as they learn.    The Fact Finder - ProberI attended an undergraduate class research presentation at Scripps College where Francesca , my daughter goes to school and one student reported how she used Amazon's Artificial Mechanical Turk market place. The student used Mturk to conduct her study by submitting a request in the community to do a specific activity (sometimes for free, at times for a fee) and allowed the student to collect data. The fact finder - Prober,  conducts systematic research and study to fully understand the data and learn from his/her research goals and findings.Action item: For the length of a course, add a research project to help learners discover the facts and learn from their findings.Context Maker - Evidence ThinkerThe context maker is a mapper or pattern maker. He/she helps the learning process through extraction and extrapolation and adding context to the learning. One tool I love to use in my workshops is the micro-goal setting tool. It allows the learners to put into action an idea or concept in an actual micro goal and plan of action. This allows learners to make the idea crystal clear and adds an emotional experience while doing the micro-goal and plan. One of the significant benefit is a self-proof or evidence that ideas are put into action.Action item: Ask learners to make a micro-goal and micro-plan of application. I emphasized micro since making the plans huge and extensive diminishes the chance of learners accomplishing the plans.  ConclusionI am fascinated with new tools. I wish and and am also confident that there are many more coming. Amidst the abundance of shiny new objects, there is a hidden, often easy to ignore set of learning behaviors that are magnified. It improves the returns on our investment of time, effort, and painful adaptions if we seek deeper beyond the tools and learn to magnify the behaviors.  ReferencesCentre for Learning & Performance TechnologiesWhen Old Becomes NewWolfram Alpha, Computational Knowledge EngineTip 75: Insight Sharing - How They "Meet and MateAmazon's Artificial Mechanical TurkRay Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

"Tweet tweet." Do you hear that? That’s the sound of knowledge. Twitter is one of the richest resources for networking and seeking out the number one professionals in any industry. You can even directly communicate with them, and more often than not, you’ll get a reply too. What’s more, because eLearners are well…technologically inclined by nature, this means that Twitter is especially important in our industry. If you’re not involved, you could be missing out on essential information. So whether you’re a Twitter fiend, or you’re just getting started, this is a guide to the big names in eLearning that you need to follow.

In the last post, I suggested that the previous industrial economy mindset was counter-productive and was impacting education in unfortunate ways. The challenge is to "dial back" the mindset of excessive consumerism driven by business values that consider greed as positive. In order to tackle the complex real world problems that are created by this mindset and ironically that actually make it difficult to conduct business globally, we need to recognize that a changed purpose and vision of education that is more in line with solving the pressing problems that we all face is essential.Credit: www.storygeist.com  "Even astute business people would agree that it is very difficult to conduct business in zones in the world where there is repeated cycles of civil war with the exception of being an arms dealer or those involved in reconstruction efforts during interludes."With respect to change in education, the purpose of education changes from what it was in the past. Now the following might be a brief description of what we should be looking at:The purpose of education is to create a generation of learners who will become agents of change in our societies using all the benefits of technology to solve complex real world problems.The purpose of education is nurture the development of creators of new knowledge and new skillsets that are in sync with the needs of societies moving forward and enriching the quality of life for their citizens. Innovative thinking needs to be a natural skillset that needs to be encouraged and applied to all facets of the lives of individuals.The purpose of education is to create online global learning communities that will serve business and formal education. Due to the global reach of such technology, the collaborative goals of such communities should be to make accessibility easier for the nations of the globe that are disadvantaged.    E-Learning--An Existing ObstacleOne thing that should be made clear is that it is not the technology that is the primary driver of needed change; it is a changed vision and perspective. As a support for this idea, a case in point is the attitude that learners have in taking E-Learning courses. Keeping in mind that even the most recent generation has been brought up and educated with the mindset of excessive consumerism, we find that they approach E-Learning as if it is a "buffet table" spread before them. They choose from a list of courses those that fit their immediate goals, fulfill the assignment requirements, get their grades and then leave. This is the pattern of the consumerism mindset but we are faced with the troubling question:"If we seek to focus on the importance of collaboration as an important and desired skillset, then how can this be accomplished if each learner has an individualized mindset which runs contrary to the concept of a community of learners?"If the goal is to nurture learners to be a collaborating group dedicated to solving complex real world problems, then the emphasis needs to change from "I" to "WE". A startling revelation that really needs to be considered critically is the fact that many E-Learning organizations still design their offerings using the dated industrial mindset. This mindset can be seen at work in discussion forums in LinkedIn when the discussion is about online courses. "The advanced technology can not disguise the mindset behind the design." This is a problem that high education still needs to address effectively. Too much of the present E-Learning presented to students in institutions of higher learning still focus on the accumulation and memorization of information and how effectively a student can regurgitate the favourite perspectives of their instructors. Even if they use advanced and flashy media presentation tools, it still does not change the substance of what learners are learning. It is also the reason that many learners disconnect from their learning because all it represents to them is a classroom exercise with no real ties to the outside world.What we need to strive for in the design of effective E-Learning is "thoughtful engagement" of the learner. Design that focuses on the habits of the mind; that engages, challenges and teaches student how to think in an online environment is far better than the previous industrial mindset that stated that it is important to teach students what to think. However, it can't end at the walls of the class whether the real brick and mortar or even the online LMS! The changes to the learning experience requires that we foster not the concept of " the course" but instead a much more personal, relevant, online learning community that transcends the boundaries of an LMS."Does higher education get this or do they think that it is still technology that drives learning?"    Changing the Focus Through Agile, Adaptive and Collaboratively Based PedagogyGiven the present state of E-Learning and the political, social, economic and moral events we see escalating which pose problems that seem to defy solutions, we have to ask a sobering question:"Why don't we see more effective collaborative efforts in finding solutions to complex real world problems today? Credit: www.cele.sog.unc.eduI believe that part of the problem is that developing collaborative skills with a focus on real world problems that learners can relate to is not a high priority in education and the collaboration that is encouraged, largely dealing with social issues, asks learners how they feel about what is happening but makes little effort to teach them the thinking skills required for them to become thoughtfully engaged with the topic with the idea that they can contribute to arriving at potential solutions that will be considered as a meaningful contribution by the society. So, what is the solution to this?We do have a choice. We may continue on the path we are on and pretend that what we are doing involves thoughtful engaging collaboration or we can stop and ask ourselves: will we be able to live in a future created by our children who are receiving an education that reduces them to simply a bar code and discourages any attempt to be real change agents in a world that so desperately needs them to be engaged in change?How, you ask? In my next post, I will detail suggested changes that need to be made that better reflect an agile, adaptive pedagogy required for the nurturing of online learning communities... The last word belongs to the BOSS.

Understanding what your visitors want is paramount to selling your courses online. When someone visits your site, they’re going to look through your course landing page and curriculum to see whether you answer the questions they have. If you don’t specifically address their concerns, they aren’t going to pull out their wallets for you. So how do you find out what your visitors are looking for? In this episode of Teach Online TV, we cover a really easy way to do just that. So with Hotjar, you can collect qualitative information on your website such as heatmaps, visitors playbacks, and even polls and surveys. Heatmaps give you a visual representation of what people are looking at on your website and where they’re clicking. Recordings show you exactly how they’re moving their mouse and the things that they are reading or clicking. Finally, you can actually drop little surveys in to collect information from people who are visiting your site. And these serve both as a great way of gathering some information and also engaging people a little bit more when they arrive on your site. With surveys, you can ask people things like how they found your site, so that you know which marketing channels are working, or what information they’re looking for, so that you can improve your sales copy. You can even collect email addresses by offering them a discount for your course. To implement this in your Thinkific site, head over to Hotjar, grab the installation code from your dashboard and drop it right into your site footer code. You can access your site footer code in Thinkific under your advanced settings, and you can start setting up your heat maps, your recordings, polls, surveys and a few other great tools that will help with your growth.   The post Teach Online TV #06: Marketing Research Using Hotjar appeared first on Thinkific.

The complete blueprint? Nah, there’s only one way to sell on webinars. Wasps. That’s right! You need wasps to make sales. You know, those flying, yellow and black insects that try to sting you. Chris Newman knows what we’re talking about. He’s the creator of Cinechopper, an online course for drone enthusiasts. The full price for the course is $1,475, and the only method he uses to sell them are webinars. One day, on his weekly webinar, Chris realized there was a wasp in his room. He freaked out, starting jumping around, screamed a bit, and spent almost ten minutes trying to kill it, all while his audience watched and laughed. So much for trying to be professional. His sales revenue increased by 50% that day. So, yeah, wasps. But in all seriousness, webinars are extremely effective. No matter what industry or niche you serve, webinars may just be the game-changing marketing channel you need to dramatically increase sales for your business. You’ve probably even attended a few webinars yourself, so you’ve seen first-hand how effective they can be. The reason webinars work is because they provide an environment in which you can quickly earn the trust of your target audience before you ask for the sale. By watching Chris valiantly vanquish a wasp, his audience saw him as a real person and immediately trusted him. You can’t get people to shell out $1,475 without building that kind of trust. Sharing some of your best content on a live webinar for free - content that actually helps your target audience - allows you to build trust and position yourself as an authority on your topic. You get to educate and interact with your target audience, which makes selling to them so much easier. If you do it right, you’ll find that by the end of your webinar, many of the attendees will actually be grateful for the opportunity to become your customer. The best way to convince someone you can help them is to actually help them. - Frank KernClick To Tweet From $0 to $20,000 per month in sales using webinars To help illustrate just how powerful webinars can be, allow us to share an example from one of our customers: John Michaloudis (www.myexcelonline.com) used our platform to create and sell his first online course. Using free webinars as his primary customer acquisition channel, John was able to go from $0 to over $20,000 per month in sales in just 6 months, enabling him to leave his full-time job to focus exclusively on teaching online (click here to download the complete case study). But John isn’t the only one using webinars to sell his online course. Here are a few examples of other entrepreneurs who have successfully used webinars to sell their online courses: Marie Forleo (B-School) Lewis Howes (School of Greatness Academy) Nick Stephenson (Your First 10K Readers) Chandler Bolt (Self-Publishing School) Amy Porterfield (Webinars That Convert) Nathan Chan (Instagram Domination) Ramit Sethi (Earn1k) Even though the entrepreneurs mentioned above are all using webinars to sell online courses, it is worth noting that online courses are not the only thing you can sell on a webinar. Webinars can be used to sell coaching or consulting programs, live events, software, and even physical products. However, since online courses are our primary area of expertise, for the purpose of this article we are going to focus on how to use webinars to sell online courses, and more specifically, how to sell online courses on live webinars.  It is possible to generate sales using pre-recorded webinars (often called evergreen or automated webinars), but that is another topic. We’ll start by outlining some of the main benefits of hosting live webinars, and then we’ll show you how to set one up, how to structure your presentation, and how to promote your webinar to your target audience. If you follow our advice, you can be up and running (and generating more course sales!) in no time. We’ve also created a quick-launch checklist that you can print out and refer to every time you run a webinar. Get it here. Okay, here we go… How to use webinars to sell your online course. #teachonline #webinarsClick To Tweet Benefits of Hosting Live Webinars In addition to generating revenue from your online course sales, there are several other benefits of hosting live webinars. Here are a few of the main reasons why online instructors are using webinars to sell their courses: 1. Build your email list Webinars are a great way to build your email list because people have to register to attend your webinar using their email address. This gives you the opportunity to communicate with them directly before and after the webinar. Even if someone registers for your webinar but isn’t able to attend it, you still have a way to communicate with them. 2. Attract qualified leads for your business Anyone who registers to attend a live presentation about your topic is most likely a qualified lead. A person’s time and attention is one of the most valuable things they can give you. If someone willingly volunteers to spend an hour or more with you on a live webinar, you can assume that they are serious. Very few people are willing to spend an hour of their time learning something that they are not seriously interested in. 3. Connect with your audience Hosting a live webinar gives you the chance to build a connection with your audience by interacting with them in real time. Throughout your presentation (or after your presentation when you do a Q&A session), you will be able to answer any questions your audience asks you. Doing that helps to build trust and also helps you learn more about the needs and concerns of your audience. 4. You don’t have to be technically savvy Even if you don’t consider yourself to be technically savvy, you can still host a live webinar successfully. We’ll recommend some specific programs you can use to host your webinar later in this article but, for now, just know that there is absolutely no shortage of software options to host your webinar. Most of them are quite simple to use, which means you can learn to host a webinar in a relatively short period of time. 5. Keep costs low (for you and your attendees) Webinars are essentially the equivalent of a live event, the main difference being that they are hosting virtually. This means that people from all over the world can attend your event, without incurring the travel and accommodation expenses that they would normally incur if you hosted your event at a physical location (like a hotel conference room, for example). Many webinar programs can host 1,000 attendees or more at a time. Excluding marketing costs, your cost to host a webinar will likely fall somewhere between $0 and a few hundred dollars, depending on which program you use. When you compare that to the cost of booking and staffing a hotel conference room, you can see why webinars are extremely cost effective. 6. Educate before you sell In the book Influence by Robert Cialdini, an entire chapter is devoted to discussing the principle of reciprocity. According to Cialdini, one of the best ways to sell a product or service to someone is to provide massive value to them upfront before asking for the sale. When you help someone for free, they are more inclined to reciprocate (by purchasing your product or service). Webinars give you the opportunity to share valuable content with your audience for free before you introduce your online course to them and ask for the sale. Not all of your attendees will go on to purchase your course, but everyone who attends your webinar will benefit from the free training you provide to them during your presentation. We spoke with Ryan Smith from Agreement Express, and he put it this way: "Focus on providing value and educating, not pitching. Use the education in the webinar to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to your solution." - Ryan Smith 6 benefits of using #webinars to sell your online course. #teachonlineClick To Tweet Webinar Programs and Equipment (Technology) There is definitely some software and equipment required to host a live webinar. The good news is that there are numerous options available to you, most of which are pretty inexpensive. Basically, you will need a program to host your webinar, an account with an email marketing service provider, and a microphone and webcam to communicate with your audience. Oh, and you will need a computer or a laptop with a strong internet connection (which we assume you already have!). We won’t get into too much detail here, but we will recommend a few of the options that we have used or that our customers have used successfully. Keep in mind that the specific programs and equipment you use to host your webinar are not nearly as important as your overall webinar marketing strategy and the content and experience you provide for your audience. Do some research to determine which software and equipment options are a good fit for you, but don’t get bogged down by all of the options that are available. Just pick something and go with it. If you decide to use different programs or equipment later, that’s fine. Here are some of the webinar programs we recommend: Crowdcast.io Go To Webinar Zoom Google Hangouts Easy Webinar Webinar Jam Here are some of the email marketing service providers we recommend (by the way, we integrate with all of these): MailChimp Convert Kit Aweber Get Response Active Campaign Infusionsoft For your microphone, we recommend using the Blue Yeti or Blue Snowball For your webcam, we recommend using the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C290 On a side note, you may want to use 2 separate computers or laptops to host your webinar (if you can). One would be for giving your presentation (sharing your screen or presentation slides with the audience), and other would be for following a presentation script and/or keeping an eye on the question and comments that your audience types into the live chat. We spoke with Michael Buckbee from Blockerwall, and he shared some excellent advice to help you avoid any technological hiccups when you host your webinar: "Practice both the actual presentation, but also with the webinar tools you’re going to use. At my last webinar, I was using a new system and had mistakenly set the slides to display on only half the screen. I had to stop and reset midway due to audience complaints. If you can, setup a second computer (or even a phone) as a guest webinar attendee and periodically check it to make sure things are working." - Michael Buckbee That’s it! Once you have all of these in place, you are ready to start setting up your webinar. The next step is to create a Registration and Thank You page so people can sign up for your webinar. Your Webinar Registration Page and Thank You Page Before you start promoting your webinar, you’ll need to create a Registration Page to send people to. This is the page that explains what your webinar is about, who is hosting it, when it is happening, etc. You’ll also want to create a Thank You page (also called a Confirmation Page) that confirms someone’s attendance after they register for your webinar and tells them what the next steps are. To create an attractive webinar Registration Page and Thank You Page, we recommend using LeadPages. They have several templates to choose from that have already been proven to work effectively. What to include on your webinar Registration Page: A compelling headline The title you give your webinar is very important. It must be compelling and intriguing enough to make someone want to register. Don’t be vague. Make a bold promise. If someone reads your headline and still doesn’t know what the webinar is about, you’ve written a bad headline. There is a great article about blog headlines by Brandon Gaille, one of the top business bloggers in the world. Even though the article is about creating a headline for a blog post, his tips can definitely help you create a catchy headline for your webinar. Summary of topics covered Use bullet points to describe the main topics that will be covered during the webinar. Tie each topic to a specific benefit to your target audience. We recommend including 4-6 bullet points on your webinar registration page. Information about the host Include your name and the name of any co-host(s) that will be presenting on the webinar. Include an image of each host, along with their applicable title or credentials. The goal here is to position yourself (and if applicable, your co-host) as an authority on your topic. Date and time of the webinar Make sure you include the exact date and time (including the time zone) for the webinar. You can even include a count-down timer to help create a sense of urgency. Here is an example of a webinar Registration Page: What to include on your webinar Thank You (Confirmation) Page: Confirm registration Thank the person for registering for your webinar. If you promised them a free resource in exchange for registering for your webinar (an ebook, checklist, or workbook, for example), let them know how they can download that resource. If a link to the resource was included in the confirmation email that you sent them, let me know. Alternatively, you can include a link to download the resource directly on your Thank You page. Social share options By including a few social media sharing buttons on your Thank You Page, you give the person who just registered for the webinar the opportunity to share the webinar with their network via social media. This can help increase the number of sign-ups you get for your webinar. Here is an example of webinar Thank You Page: When is the best time to host a webinar? There isn’t exactly a one-size-fits-all best time to host a webinar, but we do have a few suggestions. The first is to consider who your target audience is and what they are most likely doing during the day and time that you plan to host your webinar. If most of your target audience work a 9-5 job, for example, they probably won’t be able to attend a live webinar during typical working hours. In that case, hosting your webinar in the evening or even on a weekend may be your best option. If your target audience is entrepreneurs or people who work from home, you can definitely get away with hosting your webinar during a weekday afternoon (on a Wednesday or a Thursday, for example). The best thing you can do is host a few webinars at different times to see which days and times work best for your target audience. At Thinkific, we host a live webinar every Thursday at 11am PST (2pm EST), and so far that works well for us. Regardless of when you schedule your webinar, be prepared to start promoting your webinar 4-7 days before it starts. Don’t schedule your webinar for more than a week into the future, since most people will forget about it or make other plans by then. Strike while the iron is hot, as they say. Sending Email Reminders To Webinar Registrants Once you’ve set up your webinar Registration and Thank You pages, the next step is to set up your email campaigns. These are the emails that will automatically be sent to each person who registers for the webinar. There are emails you’ll want to send before the webinar, and a few more emails to send them after the webinar is over. We spoke with Lisa Work, a photographer and web designer who regularly hosts webinars to promote her online classes, and she suggested writing all your emails in advance and then scheduling them to be sent at the appropriate times. "I set up my reminders and follow up emails ahead of time, so I don’t forget and they are all automated. I then use previous ones as a template for new webinars - that saves tons of time." - Lisa Work You’ll want to create a separate email list for each live webinar that you host. Later on (after your webinar is over and you’ve taken down the replay), you can move the people who attended your webinar over to your general newsletter. Registration confirmation email: Immediately after someone registers for your webinar, they should receive a confirmation email. In this email, you should thank them for registering and remind them of the day and time that the webinar is happening. If you promised to send them any additional resources in exchange for registering for the webinar, include a link to download those resources in this email. Reminder emails: In order to maximize the attendance rate (also called the show-up rate) of your webinar, you’ll want to send out several reminder emails before the webinar starts.  Remember, these are the emails that you are sending exclusively to the people who registered for your webinar (do NOT send these emails to your entire list of email subscribers). Here is a typical frequency for webinar reminder emails: Reminder #1: send 2 days before webinar start time Reminder #2: send 1 day before webinar start time Reminder #3: send 2 hours before webinar start time Reminder #4: send 15 minutes before webinar start time Replay emails: Since the majority of people who registered for your webinar probably won’t attend (20-30% attendance rates are pretty standard), you should definitely send a recording of your webinar to those who were unable to attend the live training. Many of the people who did not attend your webinar will watch the replay and decide to buy your course. So if you don’t send them a link to the replay, you are literally leaving money on the table. Here is a typical frequency for webinar reminder emails: Replay email #1: send immediately or as soon as the replay is available Replay email #2: send 24 hours after live webinar (replay reminder and expiring offer) Replay email #3: send 48 hours after live webinar (replay reminder and last chance to buy expiring offer) Webinar Presentation Structure Depending on the nature of your webinar topic, the way in which you deliver your presentation will vary. You can prepare a slideshow presentation using PowerPoint or Keynote, you can share your screen to demonstrate certain tasks or programs, you can do a live video stream using your webcam, or some combination of any of these methods. If you’re going to do a slideshow presentation, we highly recommending reading this article about slideshow presentations by Seth Godin. Regardless of which method(s) you choose to utilize during your webinar, you should definitely try to generate sales at the end of your webinar. It would be a shame to spend all this time and energy (and money!) promoting your webinar, creating your presentation, and sharing amazing content with your audience, only to generate zero dollars in course sales at the end of your presentation. Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT need to be an expert salesperson to sell your online course on your webinar. You just need to follow a proven structure that ensures a smooth transition into the "sales pitch" part of your presentation that does not require you to be inauthentic, sleazy, or use high-pressure sales tactics in order to generate sales. "If you ask someone to take one big action ("stick around for another 30-45 minutes"), they’re not as likely to follow through as they are if you ask them to take a series of smaller actions ("stick around for five minutes," or "ask a question"). These smaller actions are called micro-commitments, and they take advantage of the fact that once a person says they’ll do something, they want to do it." - Kelso Kennedy The presentation structure we’re about to share with you is the structure recommended by Lewis Howes. Lewis has been selling his online courses using webinars for several years. He’s hosted literally hundreds of webinars, generating over 7-figures in online course sales in the process. The length of your webinar will vary (we suggest 60-90 minutes in length), but as a general rule, your presentation should be 80% content, and 20% selling followed by a question and answer (Q&A) period at the end. If your presentation lasts 60 minutes, here is what this structure would look like: 1. Meet and Greet (5-10 minutes before webinar start time) Check to make sure your audio and video is working Welcome attendees who are arriving early Encourage people to share the webinar on social media 2. Introduction (5 minutes) Introduce yourself (briefly) Housekeeping and request to remove distractions Tell them what the webinar is about Tell them who the webinar is for (and not for) Share the goals for the webinar and agenda 3. Your Story (10 minutes) Introduce yourself and share credentials for credibility Share the struggle you faced Share the transformation you went through Share the result you achieved 4. Main Content (30 minutes) Deliver on the promise of the webinar Provide proof (stats, examples, case studies, etc.) Break up your big idea into smaller, actionable steps 5. The Pitch (15 minutes) Introduce your course (the perfect solution!) Show them what is included Tell them the price of your course Include testimonials from other customers Show them the bonuses that are included (show the dollar value of each bonus) Present a webinar-only price for your course and all the bonuses Offer a guarantee (ie. 30-day money back guarantee) Create legitimate urgency (ie. offer a fast-acting bonus to first 10 customers) Call to action (give them a link to your check-out page) 6. Q&A (15 minutes) Answer any questions or concerns your attendees have Congratulate people who buy (call them out by name) Thank everyone for their time and close the webinar "Have the webinar be SUPER valuable and packed with useful content. Make sure your topic feeds perfectly into your course and then don’t be afraid to really pitch it - share the benefits of your course and show people how to sign up and what to do next." - Lisa Work Additional Tips For Increasing Sales On Webinars A huge mistake that people make when hosting a webinar is rushing through the "sales pitch" part of it because selling makes them feel uncomfortable. They love to teach their audience, so they do a great job of providing valuable content throughout their presentation, but when it’s time to present their course, they get nervous and lose their confidence, and their audience can tell. When you follow the presentation template we outlined above (and you provide a ton of value to your audience throughout your presentation), you’re giving your audience the opportunity to delve deeper into your topic by purchasing your course comes across as a natural next step. You are inviting them to become your customer. You do not need to hard sell. You don't have to be an expert salesperson to sell on a #webinar. #selling #teachonlineClick To Tweet Here are some tips to help you maximize your course sales from your webinar: Turn on your webcam before you start your presentation A great way to build rapport with your attendees and show them that you are, in fact, a real person before you begin your presentation is to turn on your webcam during the Pre-Chat so that the attendees can see you. Spend a few minutes chatting with people, thanking them for attending, asking them where they’re from, etc. before you turn off your webcam to begin your presentation. Offer a satisfaction guarantee After you present the price of your online course, offer a satisfaction guarantee (for example, a 30-day money back guarantee) to remove the risk of buying from you. Yes, there’s a tiny risk that some people will take advantage of this guarantee and ask for a refund shortly after taking your course, but more people will buy your course because you offered the guarantee versus if you did not. So in the end, you come out ahead. Leave your offer page up during the Q&A session After you finish presenting your course and you transition into the Q&A period of your webinar, make sure you leave the slide that shows the link to your course checkout page on the screen. Some people will decide to buy your course during the Q&A session, so you want to make sure they know exactly where to go to do so. Include time-sensitive bonuses for buying An effective way to encourage your webinar attendees to buy your course immediately after attending your webinar is to offer time-sensitive bonuses. Some examples of bonuses you can offer include a private coaching call with you or discounted (or even complimentary) access to additional courses you’ve created. If you give your attendees a specific deadline to purchase from you in order to receive the bonuses, make sure you honor that deadline. Do not give the same offer to someone who purchases after the deadline has expired, or you will lose credibility with your customers. An easy way to set this up is to create a special course bundle consisting of the one you’re pitching along with any additional courses, ebooks, coaching or other bonuses. You can then take this page down after your deadline so that no one else has access to it. Offer a payment plan In many cases, there will be people who attend your webinar and watch your sales presentation at the end who want to purchase your online course but cannot afford to pay for the entire course upfront. For that reason, you should always offer the choice between paying for your entire course upfront or paying for it over an extended period of time with a monthly payment plan (if you’re using Thinkific, you can set this up in your course pricing section). For example, if you sell your course for $497, you can give your customers the option to pay for the entire course upfront or with 6 monthly payments of $97 each. If they take the monthly payment option, they end up paying more for your course ($97 x 6 = $582), but spread over a longer period of time. Offer a discount If you don’t have additional bonuses to sweeten the deal, you could also try offering a time-sensitive discount. Of course, you run the risk of making less if people were going to buy at full price anyway, so only try this if you haven’t had luck with the full-price option. You can create a coupon code that automatically expires after a certain time to generate that urgency. Record the webinar Since a significant portion of your course sales will likely come from people who watch the replay of your webinar, it is very important to record your webinar so that you actually have a replay to send them! After your webinar is over, email the link to replay to everyone who registered for the webinar. Have fun! The last tip we can share with you to make the experience of hosting a webinar more enjoyable for you and for your attendees is to have fun with it. Don’t be afraid showcase your personality on your webinar. Be excited. Share a few stories. Bring a wasp along. Tell a few jokes (appropriate ones, of course!). If you don’t enjoy hosting your webinar, your audience probably won’t enjoy attending it. "If you can bring the energy and sprinkle in some humor, then people will be much more engaged and it will make it so much easier to attract sales." - Johnathan Dane Great tips for increasing your sales with webinars. #teachonlineClick To Tweet 6 Ways To Promote Your Webinar Setting up your webinar and creating your presentation is definitely a lot of work, but if you do it properly, it will all be worth it in the end. Once everything is ready to go, the final step is to invite people to attend your webinar! Basically, you want to get as many people as possible to visit your Webinar Registration Page. This is known as generating traffic. Here are some ways to promote your webinar and generate traffic to your webinar Registration Page: 1. Your email list Your email list is definitely a great place to promote your webinar. These are people who know, like, and trust you (hopefully!), and they have given you permission to communicate with them. However, do keep in mind that not everyone on your email list will be interested in your webinar, so don’t send them too many emails about your webinar or you will risk losing subscribers. A good rule of thumb is to send 2 emails about your upcoming webinar to your list. In the first email, share a story that naturally leads into an invitation to attend your webinar. Outline the topics that will be covered on your webinar, and include a link to your webinar registration page. After a few days, send a reminder email to the people on your list that did not register for your webinar after receiving that first email. Again, outline the topics that will be covered on your webinar, and include a link to your webinar registration page. Some people will appreciate the reminder, especially if they missed your first email and really want to attend. Others will read the email and still choose not to attend, and that’s okay too. Maybe it just isn’t a topic they are interested in at the moment. Ramit Sethi has perfected the webinar promotion email. He sends out emails that are as long as an entire post and explains a concept in them. Then, at the end of the email, he invites people who want to go deeper to a webinar around that concept. A really cool thing he does is automatically register people for the webinar if they click on his CTA, instead of making them go to the registration page and fill out their emails again. 2. Your website You should definitely use your website to promote your webinar, and there a couple of places throughout your website where you can do this: The top bar of your website Add an invitation to register for your webinar to the top bar of your website (remember to use a compelling headline!). Include a link to your webinar registration page. Some WordPress themes will let you do this, but if yours doesn’t, HelloBar is a great option. Here is an example of a webinar invitation that Lewis Howes used on the top of his website: In your sidebar Add an image that promotes your webinar to the sidebar of your website. When someone is reading an article on your blog, for example, they may see that image and decide to register. We use an image in our sidebar to promote the live webinar that we host every Thursday, as you can see below: At the bottom of your blog posts Another great place to invite people to attend your webinar is at the end of the articles on your blog. Consider adding a text invitation, or an image to make it really obvious. In a popup box A popup box on your website is also an effective way to promote your webinar because it forces your website visitors to decide whether or not they want to attend. With the other methods listed above, there is a chance that your website visitors won’t actually notice them. It’s hard to miss a popup. You can configure it to appear after a certain period of time, or just before someone tries to leave your website. Here is an example of a popup we have used on our website to promote our webinar: 3. Facebook Ads Facebook Ads are a great way to promote your webinar to a specific target audience because you can target people based on their demographics, specific interests, etc. Keep in mind that Facebook’s advertising platform is very robust and there is definitely a learning curve, so you should test a few campaigns on a small scale before you spend a significant amount of money on a campaign. You may even want to hire a Facebook Ads expert to help you out with this. If you run an ad to people who don’t know who you are (cold traffic), instead of promoting your webinar to them, promote a free gift that is helpful to them (like an ebook, cheat sheet or a checklist). After they download your free gift, invite them to your webinar. They are more likely to register for your webinar at that point since you just gave them a free gift (remember the principle of reciprocity?). If you run a Facebook Ad directly to your webinar registration page, it’s best to target people who already know who you are (warm traffic). Create a custom audience of people who already like your Facebook Page, have visited your website recently, are subscribed to your email list, or a combination of all of these criteria. If you haven’t already, make sure you install a retargeting pixel on your website so Facebook can track who visits your website. Also, try experimenting with video ads on Facebook. Chris from Cinechopper found that regular ads weren’t very cost-effective and a one-minute video ad converts a lot better. 4. Social Media Social media can be a great place to promote your webinar as well. But make sure you are strategic about it. Don’t spam your friends or followers with constant posts about your webinar, and make sure you create unique posts that are appropriate for each platform. On Instagram, for example, you could include a link to your website or webinar registration page in your bio, and then post an image that promotes your webinar and invites people to click on the link in your bio. On Twitter, you could schedule a series of Tweets to go out over a few days, each sharing a specific tip that is relevant to your webinar topic, along with a link to your registration page. On Facebook, you could create a post to invite your friends or followers to attend your webinar. Tell a quick story that transitions naturally into your webinar invitation, and include an image in your post so that it is not just a text post (images get more engagement on Facebook). On Youtube, you can mention the webinar in an outro and link to your registration page at the end. 5. Guest posting If you don’t have much of an audience yet, piggyback off someone else’s! With guest posting, you can land yourself on a high-traffic website and, hopefully, bring some of that traffic back to yours. Start by finding some popular blogs and sites in your niche and reach out to them with a guest post pitch. Follow this guide from Mirasee for best results. Include a link to your website or a link to your webinar registration page in your bio that appears at the bottom of your article. Make sure your article is helpful to your target audience and relevant to your topic. This will ensure that the people who decide to click on your bio to learn more about you are actually in your target market for your online course. 6. Promotional Partners & Joint Ventures This strategy is great if you don’t have a large audience, or you’ve already promoted your webinar to your audience. Basically, you find someone who also serves your target market but who isn’t a direct competitor of yours. Tell them about your webinar (and your online course), and ask them if they would be interested in promoting your webinar to their audience in exchange for a percentage of any course sales that are generated on the webinar. This strategy works best when the person you reach out to co-hosts the webinar with you. Since they’ve likely spent several years establishing trust with their audience, you want them to co-host the webinar so that they can introduce you to their audience before you begin your presentation. This is very important. A personalized introduction from that person helps to edify you and quickly earn the trust of that person’s audience. To take it a step further, you can even spend some time before the webinar to chat with this person and ask them questions about their audience. The more you know about their audience, the more you can customize your presentation to speak directly to that audience’s needs and desires. 6 way to promote your next webinar. #teachonline #webinarsClick To Tweet Ready to host your own live webinar? Class is over. It’s time to start taking action. Start by downloading our free Webinar Workbook. This checklist will help you plan and prepare a successful live webinar. Then, follow the instructions. Set up your registration and thank you page, create your presentation, start promoting your webinar, and make some sales. And don’t forget to come back here and let us know how it went in the comments below!  The post The Complete Blueprint To Selling On Webinars appeared first on Thinkific.

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