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The fifth pillar of our Blue Ocean Formula is the selling system. The selling system is focused on four key elements. Connect Converse Convert Continue These four elements are key in getting people to know, like, and trust you. The “know like trust” factor is a marketing concept that states that people will do business […]
According to Research and Markets, the global eLearning market is forecast to grow to USD $388.23 billion by 2026. That means there is a massive potential for published authors, who already have content to deliver derived from their book. Taking the content from your book and turning it into digital learning assets provides you with […]
One of the big challenges with many online learning programs is the low completion rates. Various research has the percentage rate for completion of online courses between 5 and 15 percent, with research from Research Gate putting Massive Open Online Courses at 3 to 6 percent. Self-paced courses, by their nature, have the learner studying […]
Often we get asked “What is the difference between a book and a course?” or “Why build a course when I have a book, aren’t they the same thing?” Great questions, and the simple answer is that one is about information, while the other is about transformation. A book is very informational. Generally it contains […]
Tuesday Talk – Why you need an ecosystem of learning products In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, talks about the importance of having an ecosystem of learning products.
Are you currently blogging to pretty much no one? Perhaps you’re a business with a website that is getting approximately one view per month? How do you change that? There are plenty of answers to this question of course but here we’re going to look at some of the very best. Rebrand There’s a good […]
Tuesday Talk – The 5 p’s to nail your niche In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, talks about the five key elements you need to nail your niche.
Two of the biggest struggles facing coaches, consultants and aspiring course creators is getting the knowledge out of their head and into a structure for their online program, and pitching or promoting their program. It is these two struggles that hold them back from transforming their expertise into a wildly profitable course that allows them […]
Who are you developing for? Without a clear idea on who is going to be accessing your online course, how can you deliver an effective user experience? It’s not just a case of putting content together, but having a clear understanding of the user persona – who they are, their needs, goals, motivations and frustrations – […]
Tuesday Talk – You Don’t See Dot Points on a Billboard In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, talks about visual design principles and what we can learn from marketing about how to use imagery to engage learners.
Subject matter experts are sitting on a mountain of intellectual property but struggle to unpack it. The mistake is thinking that they must provide the learners with a heap of content. The result is this huge course full of information and the learners become overwhelmed. The prospect of climbing a mountain would be daunting for […]
Tuesday Talk – 10 Ways to Lose a Learner In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, talks about destructional design – an anti-look at what we should be designing in learning – to disengage our learners.
No matter what type of course content you’re creating, the goal is the same; to develop educational content that is engaging and effective. After all, you don’t want to put hours into coursework only to have it fall flat, or for those learning from it not to grasp the most important concepts. In order to […]
Tuesday Talk – What type of course creator are you? In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, talks about the different types of courses that can be created and what sort of person creates these courses. https://youtu.be/bBD8SwFbawg
Tuesday Talk – The Power of Visual Models In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, talks about the power of visual models not just for the creation of your learning program but also the pitching and promotion.
Are your headlines performing as well as you’d like? Do you want to write more effective headlines? If you are a content creator, the best way of promoting your content is by writing titles that drive traffic. Create headlines that capture attention and convince people to click through to your content. A short, catchy headline […]
Tuesday Talk – 5 Steps to develop the PRICE for your program In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, talks about how to use the PRICE model to determine the price for your course or program.
Tuesday Talk – Rabbit, Deer & Elephants In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, uses the analogy of rabbit, deer and elephants to explain the different possible levels of course programs. https://youtu.be/gFsLuq0sNlk
Getting ready for your course launch? This is a highly exciting time and has the potential to create a massive influx of sales for the learning experience you’ve been working so hard on. But it also has the potential to be a huge disappointment! There are few things more upsetting than launching a course and […]
Tuesday Talk – Turning your Expertise into an Educational Enterprise In this edition of Tuesday Talk, our Chief Learning Architect, Matthew Mason, talks about how you can go from a simple course creator to having an educational enterprise.
One great Zoom feature is the ability to place a virtual background for your meetings and events. This is an opportunity for you to provide a really professional-looking background that portrays the best image of you and your business. When you sign up for a Zoom account there are a number of virtual backgrounds that […]
Over the last several years, more and more membership sites have started to pop up on the Internet. The idea of launching a membership site is growing more popular among online business owners because of the recurring revenue they can generate. If you are thinking about starting a membership site, it is essential to understand […]
When selling high ticket items, it’s absolutely paramount that what you’re selling and your content writing is of the very top quality. Not only will this be apparent in your marketing but it will also ensure that you don’t get people asking for refunds or bad-mouthing your product. Your aim is to get as many […]
While the world of business continues to develop at an exponential rate thanks to a combination of new techniques and technology, there are occasions where traditional models are still king. The AIDA model is undoubtedly one of the best. When used with a modern twist, it can completely transform your approach to content writing and […]
Do you feel as though your online course is not being marketed as well as it could be? Maybe you want to try and generate interest and enrolments but you just don’t quite know how, and you want to do something about this. Either way, you’ll be glad to know that it is now easier […]
Online learning has never been more important than now. From schools to businesses, online courses have quickly become an effective alternative to in-class courses, helping people to continue to learn wherever they are. Online courses come in all shapes and sizes, so if you’re looking at creating your own, take a look at our simple […]
Do you have a great idea for an online course but don’t have the confidence to put yourself out there as the expert? Confidence is something that you work on building over time. It’s not something that we’re born with and it takes many positive experiences in order for you to build up confidence in […]
Microlearning is an approach to learning that focuses on bite-sized doses of information instead of overloading yourself with knowledge. When studying, it’s extremely common to find ourselves overwhelmed by a large book or video that lasts a long time. The amount of information we get from a big source can make it difficult for us […]
Prefer to watch the video – click here The global online course market is expected to reach $325 billion by 2025. But the self-paced online learning market is in decline, with revenues expected to fall by 6% a year. Completion rates for these types of courses can be as low as 15%. So why is […]
Are you creating vitamin or painkiller courses? If the answer is vitamin courses, then you should consider shifting to creating a painkiller course to increase the enrolments and engagement in your courses. Both types can be well developed and well delivered courses, but a painkiller course is something that your learners are going to desire […]
If you are looking for the best graphic design tool, you will have a number of different options to select from. This can make it a little bit overwhelming, as it’s hard to know which tool is going to be right for you without trying them all. Luckily, we have done all of this hard […]
Once you have a clear understanding of the why you can then start to work on the what. Understanding the What The biggest question at this stage is “What problem are you solving?” The end goal of any learning experience should be to solve a problem. The reality is that people don’t want to buy […]
Learning and development practices have undergone a radical transformation over the years. Thanks to technology and different approaches to learning, the focus has shifted from being a teacher-led experience, to a learner-based one. In a world where learning takes on many forms, from the classroom to the virtual classroom, learning practices need to be adapted […]
To create a quality visual design and a positive user experience in your courses, you need to apply the CRAP design principles. CRAP is a design principle detailed by Robin Williams in her book The Non-Designer’s Design Book, which stands for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. Contrast Contrast is one of the most important visual […]
Are you working to create an explainer video for your brand? Here’s everything you need to know about the explainer video script including why it is so crucial and how to ensure yours is superb. Explainer videos are a brilliant way to engage and communicate with customers and clients as a brand. You just need […]
Explainer videos are a common educational tool and most of us have probably watched them at some point. An explainer video (or edumercial) is simply an animated video that uses a voiceover to explain a topic, while animations and diagrams help to support the explanation and make it clearer. They are often used by businesses […]
It’s never been easier to start learning about a new topic. The internet provides you with a huge wealth of resources, making it possible to soak up information that simply wouldn’t have been available in the past. Of course, though, the online learning market is always changing, and the way that it has grown over […]
Video is becoming a more popular and beneficial way to communicate information and learn. As a course creator or content developer, you’re going to want to know the five essential tools for recording video to produce a successful learning asset. Camera One essential tool for video creation is to have the right camera for the […]
While education used to be a public service in many places, it is becoming increasingly common for people to learn from businesses, rather than in a traditional classroom. The Digital Age has made it possible for companies to provide online courses to countless students, and this industry has never been as big as it is […]
Video has always been an extremely powerful tool for trainers, offering a way to convey information in an engaging way. In the past, producing videos for yourself was too expensive and time-consuming to be reasonable, but this has been changing in recent years. To show you how you could use this type of content to […]
A good course title can help improve brand recognition, set you apart from the competition and also give people a general idea of what your course is about. Unfortunately, picking an enticing title is a lot harder than it seems.A great way to build an effective title is to use analytical data such as popular […]
What is The ‘Lizard Brain’ As an entrepreneur or learner you might have come across the term ‘Lizard Brain’, but you might not be 100% sure of what it means or have been bombarded with confusing definitions. Also known as the Reptilian Brain and a metaphor for the amygdala (a key section of the limbic […]
There are so many ways to learn today, but the primary aim of teachers, educators and edupreneurs remains to engage the audience. As technology advances and more and more people capitalize on the availability and accessibility of online learning materials, visual content plays an increasingly influential role. If you’re designing digital learning programs, or you’re […]
Webinar tools allow us to connect with each other even if we are unable to meet in person. They allow educators to provide learning for their students from afar. With increasing numbers of people turning to webinar solutions, there are multiple tools to choose from. Here we provide an overview and comparison of some of […]
Which webinar platform do I use? This is a question I often hear with people looking to start delivering content through webinars, or more accurately Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT). More and more organisations are moving to the use of virtual tools to deliver training to their staff and clients, taking advantage of the benefits […]
Online learning is a popular concept that continues to grow thanks to its convenience and affordability. Many factors create an excellent online learning platform, and visual design is one of them. In fact, it is one of the most critical elements for digital learning, and here are six reasons why: Increase engagement In the same […]
When people are creating a new learning experience, whether it be an online or virtual experience, whether it be conversion of face to face into online, or the creation of something new, we see that there’s often a number of key common mistakes that are made. These are mistakes that actually have a negative impact […]
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail (Abraham Maslow). The great quote can be applied to many situations, especially to the design and development of a digital learning experience. One of the big mistakes we see when people are putting their content online is that they start with the technology. They […]
As with any learning, the initial aspect of designing the experience is on of the most critical stages. For virtual training events to be effective, greater engagement and interaction must be designed into the experience. The following are some strategies you can use to design and develop an engaging learning experience. 1. Objectives Undertake an […]
A comparison of Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi and Learn Worlds If you are looking to try and create an online course, you will of course need to make sure that it goes as smoothly and to plan as possible. There are many ways to make sure of that, but one of the major considerations that you […]
Often we see a number of posts on social media where people are asking “what platform should I use to get my courses online?” And the community responds with this whole range of suggestions around what would be a good platform, based on their own individual experiences. Very rarely do we see comments to take […]
To ensure that your online course is successful, it’s often a wise idea to pilot it. This is basically a way of testing it, so that you can iron out any issues before you start taking on real students. How you decide to pilot your course depends very much on the type of course. Here […]
Many marketing campaigns are developed using a funnel approach. The marketing funnel breaks down the customer journey, from the “awareness” stage when they first learn about a business, product or service to the “purchase” stage, where they are ready to buy. The funnel approach can also be used to break down the learner journey. It […]
The first step in designing and developing any learning experience is to understand your why. Why are you devoting your time, money and effort in building and delivering a digital learning experience? The basis of the edupreneur / entrepreneurial spirit suggests that impact and profit are going to be two of those factors. As an […]
If you are creating online training courses, you will need to have the best possible content and courses fast. You have to meet the needs of your learners, and this requires you to have a specific list of content development tools to ensure that your attendees can learn something. To be able to do this […]
Delivering a learning campaign moves away from the “one and done” learning event, to a learning experience that is spaced over time, using multiple points of learning. The concept of the learning campaign borrows from the marketing campaign concept, where users receive marketing information over a period time through multiple points of contact. In the […]
When you look at successful entrepreneurs, you’ll find that operating in that entrepreneurial sweet spot, that place where their product, passion and price all intersect. To be successful as an entrepreneur, an educational entrepreneur, you also need to find that sweet spot where the problem, product, passion and profit combine. Missing any of these factors […]
So, you’ve got an idea for an online course – but is it going to work? Are people going to want to enroll in it? Only by doing market research can you tell whether your course is likely to be a success. Market research could also help you to find faults with your current course […]
Last week I delivered a presentation at the Melbourne L&D Leadership Summit. Titled “Beyond one & done – Delivering performance with learning campaigns” I discussed the implementation of campaign learning, a progressive learning event with multiple points of contact over time, that provides a more agile and effective approach to delivering performance outcomes. After the […]
In our last article we discussed what campaign learning is and the comparison of it to the marketing campaign. But why should we use campaign learning to achieve organisational performance targets? What benefits does it provide? There are numerous benefits to using campaign learning. These include: Focused on performance outcomes Multiple mediums Learning spaced over […]
A key goal of learning is to change behaviours. To change the behaviour of how we think, respond and perform, to achieve an outcome. But the desired change in behaviours is not going to happen immediately. It is not going to happen as a result of a “one and done” learning event. It needs to […]
Last week one of our team got married (congratulations Daniel and Miku) and it reminded me of the quote “It’s not about the wedding but the whole marriage” and how relevant that quote is when creating a learning experience or training program. The wedding is a single event, but is actually the start of a […]
I’ve been a gamer since I can remember. My parents had purchased several gaming consoles, captivating my childhood and teen years. What was it that made my dad and I spend hours typing code to make a balloon float across the screen? And what was it that made my mum and I stay up all […]
One size doesn’t fit all. We need to be able to personalise the learning experience for all. Have you ever undertaken a training course where you covered content you already knew, or content that was relevant? We probably all have at some stage, I’m thinking about all the OH&S induction training I have done at […]
People learn best when they are active participants in the learning experience. To achieve the best learning outcomes we need to build experiences that immerse the learners in environments and scenarios that make them active participants. Many past and current training initiatives fail to immerse learners. Role plays in face-to-face workshops don’t provide the realism required, […]
The following is the second in a four part series on using digital learning technologies. Technology is rapidly changing. We have access to so many types of technology to craft different learning experiences. With the different types of technologies come different features, that provide us with a wide range of benefits. Different modalities One of […]
The following is the first in a four part series on using digital learning technologies. Many trainers, facilitators, training organisations and businesses who deliver predominately through face to face are asking themselves the question “Should I use eLearning to deliver training?”. It’s an interesting question, but with the wrong focus. People often talk about developing […]
In this month’s best of the blogs we turn our focus onto the use of video in learning. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million.” – Olsen and Loquist Video has become a common media for sharing and distributing information. We only have to have a look […]
Over the past 12 weeks I have been involved in a Working Out Loud circle, based on the work and book by John Stepper. One of the outcomes of the WOL circle has been my decision to share more. One of the ways I plan to do this is through my monthly “Best of the Blogs”. […]
Bigger is seen to be better. In our personal lives we want bigger things. A bigger house, bigger boat, and a bigger pay packet. In business, we also want bigger things. Bigger group of customers or clients, bigger volume of sales, bigger profits, a bigger return on investment. But bigger is not better when it […]
Training solves all problems. It doesn’t matter what the performance problem is, training will fix it. Right? Wrong! Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. I’m sure many of us have had a client, SME or management approach us to develop a training solution to fix the performance problem. Because they believe that training will fix the […]
Content curation has been listed as a future skill needed for L&D people. But how do we curate? What should we use and what should we discard? There is so much information available to us on the web. We have a struggle to manage the deluge of data. The volume of video data is enormous, […]
For too long training and learning events have been too large, requiring learners to try (and usually fail) to remember large pieces of content. Bite sized learning provides content in smaller easily consumed chunks of content. ‘Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasibly possible and necessary to resolve it’ (Descarte). Descartes must […]
Aug 13, 2015 83 views 8 Likes 0 Comments Share on LinkedIn Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Most people love face to face training, but it’s not always viable. In our busy lives it’s not always easy to get people away from their jobs and into a classroom for an extended period of time. […]
Once upon a time…stories were told to entertain, educate and engage. Storytelling has been around as long as civilisation has existed. Stories in sacred text thousands of years old have withstood the test of time and are still told across the world today. You will remember a parable told to you as a child yet […]
If you don’t measure results, you can’t tell success from failure. Evaluation comes in all shapes and sizes and it can be difficult to know what’s important. Too much evaluation can slow down training implementation and frustrate the participant as the questions are too long, irrelevant to them and have no improvement measures. Asking the […]
Learning is not simply an event happening inside a learning management system (LMS). It happens in classrooms, in the workplace, as discussions between people or through an individual’s self-study. But how do we track these learning events? Well, with advances in technology, we now have Tin Can (or more accurately xAPI) to capture the learning […]
Admit it, we have all thought it! But how do you make sure training is relevant, ensuring participants are more interested in what you are saying then what’s on the lunch menu? It’s easy to become so caught up in what we want to say that we can forget that communication is a two way […]
As an instructional designer, the task of creating quality training resources can be daunting. However, with greater access to technology based tools it is becoming easier to create learning resources; in particular technology enhanced learning objects. What is a technology enhanced learning object? To put it in simple words, a technology enhanced learning object is: […]
Once upon a time, stories were used to teach. They were used to deliver powerful meaning and messages. They were fables, bedtime stories and fairy tales. Stories were told around a campfire or more recently, read in a gripping novels or watched in an engaging animation or film. In today’s learning environment, programs can be […]
Yes I admit it, I am one of those people that loves it when a new update comes out on the latest piece of software, or when a new online product is created that will make my online experience a little easier. My personal preference is to research the latest trend then to sit and […]
The other week I was exposed to a Health & Safety eLearning induction course. It was terrible! 35 slides of only text. I could not progress from one slide to the next until the obligatory 15 second delay (which is surprisingly long when bored). This was followed by a 20 question multiple choice quiz (MCQ) […]
Video is a powerful learning tool, yet it is often underutilised. The popularity of YouTube (with more than 1 billion unique users each month and over 6 billion hours of video watched during this time) and other video sites, such as Vimeo and TED Talks, highlights how people are engaged when consuming knowledge through video. […]
Selecting the right media for digital learning can be a real puzzle. It’s a media puzzle. (You might not get that reference right now but keep reading and you will). The puzzle exists because there is just too many options and it is easy to be swayed by something pretty and shiny. So what is […]
