The Benefits of Blogging for Your Online Course Business

By 1 Comment

Image of word cloud with blog largest - benefits of blogging

**This post was originally published on 07/27/15 and updated on 04/26/18.**

The benefits of blogging are huge.

If I had to name the three things I’ve done over the years that have enabled me to break free from working for others and create an income and lifestyle based on my own terms, consistently building e-mail lists and speaking – whether at conferences or via digital channels – would be number two and three on the list.

But number one – by a long shot – would be blogging.

That may go against what you hear in other places. Blogging just isn’t as trendy as it once was, and truth be told, I don’t spend quite as much time on it as I once did (more on that in the future). But when I reflect on what has fueled the success I’ve had to date, it’s clear to me that nothing else has been as big a factor.

There are at least three huge benefits of blogging. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tools & Tips Tagged With: , , ,

The Course Itself Is Less Than Half the Battle

By 1 Comment

Marketing your online course - photo of hands holding table with text "Marketing Plan"

For much of my consulting career I’ve been a follower of Alan Weiss, the Million Dollar Consultant and I can remember being struck many years ago by an assertion he made about what it takes to be a successful consultant:

You need to spend more than half of your time marketing.

This was a response to the large number of questions he got (and still gets) about what the right methodologies are for consulting. About negotiating “deliverables” with the client. About how best to handle billing. About just about anything other than actually getting the clients that would lead to building a successful consulting business.

Most of the people I encounter who are trying to sell online courses should take Weiss’s advice to heart. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: ,

7 Ways to Elevate Your Expertise

By 1 Comment

Whether your aim is to sell online courses, become a consultant, or otherwise make money off of your smarts, being an expert in your field or industry is certainly important. But for most of the readers here on Learning Revolution, that’s already a done deal. They are experts. The bigger challenge right now is how to become known as an expert.

known as an expert - compass with needle pointing the word expert

Believe me, this is familiar territory for me. Most of my work – and by extension, my income – is heavily dependent upon me being known as an expert – and that has to be based on a heck of a lot more than me just saying I’m an expert (which, of course, anyone can do).

Become Known as an Expert: 7 Focus Areas

So, with the hope that it will be of some help to readers here, I thought I’d share seven areas I focus on to make my expertise more visible. For my money, anyone who really wants to be known as expert – and increase the chances of pulling prospective customers to them – needs to be doing at least some of what follows. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

3 Valuable Resources from My “Do This Now” Folder – Marketing Edition

By Leave a Comment

Do It Now

One of my personal “best practices” is to keep a “Do This Now” e-mail folder of tips and techniques that can help me grow my business. When I find something really useful and actionable, I e-mail it to myself, put it in that folder, and then act on it as soon as possible. (I also don’t let the folder grow beyond 10 items – at that point, something has to get done and removed before anything else is added.)

Naturally, many of the tips I collect are highly valuable not just for me but for anyone trying to sell online courses or other educational experiences, so I thought I’d share some recent items that I found very valuable. These cover three areas that I think are essential for effectively marketing educational products (each of which I cover in Leading the Learning Revolution): blogging, e-mail, and Google Adwords.

Here you go:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Boost Your Brand and Rocket Your Reputation with Dorie Clark

By 1 Comment

Dorie Clark - Branding Expert - PhotoWondering how to really stand out and create long-term customer loyalty in the competitive market for lifelong learning, continuing education, and training? Building brand and developing a rock-solid, trustworthy reputation have never been more important, and few people know more about how to do these things than my guest on this episode of the Learning Revolution Podcast: Dorie Clark.

Dorie is a branding and marketing expert who shares her insights regularly in well-traveled channels like the Harvard Business Review blog network and Forbes. Her new book, Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future – the focus of this podcast – was published by Harvard Business Press Books. Her most recent book – definitely relevant for anyone visiting this is site –  is Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It.

I knew Dorie was just the person to talk to when it came to exploring how education businesses – from training firms, to associations, to individual subject matter experts – can better manage their presence and impact in the market place. Listen in for some great insights and practical tips on how you can boost your brand and rocket your reputation.

Listen to the Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | iTunes

Show Notes

00:42 – Get the podcast on the free Instacast or Stitcher Radio apps to download or stream it to you mobile phone or tablet without having to connect to your computer to sync.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: , , , , , ,
Next Page »