how to build, deliver and sell online courses (besig 2016)

HowtoBuild,DeliverandPromote

Secureyourfutureandbuildyourschoolinthecloud…

OnlineCoursesHowtoBuild,DeliverandPromote

• Build• Deliver• Promote• Q&A• Demosite:wp-lms.com

HowtoDevelopOnlineCourses

BuildyourContent

• Doyoureallyneedanyspecialsoftware?• Whatarethemaintools?• Pros&Cons

eLearningSoftware

• Whatisit?• Whyuseit?

WhyuseeLearningsoftware?

• Professional• Consistency• Protection• PlatformAgnostic• Visibility

*Awordofwarning

eLearningDevelopmentTools

Somethingstoconsider:

• Features• Support• Budget• Development(pace)• Delightfulness(UX)

Whatarethemaintools?

• Articulate• iSpring• Camtasia(TechSmith)• Others:AdobeCaptivate,Lectora,Raptivity

*Afewthingstheyhaveincommon

Articulate

2Products:• Studio13– Presenter,Quizmaker,Engage- Pros:quickstart,supportcommunity, importquizzes- Cons:expensive,nottooflexible,HTML5versions

• Storyline- Pros:veryflexible;goodforHTML5,builtforthefuture- Cons:expensive&steeplearningcurve

* Worthdownloadingthedemosevenifyoudon’tintendtobuy.

Articulate

iSpring

Suite8:• RationalizedproductlineintoSuite8(2016)– Pros:bestHTML5support,stable,screencapture,outputtovideo,goodvalue

– Cons:supportnotavisibleasArticulate(butOK),upgradecosts

*AlsohaveamorebasicpresentationonlyversionandafreePPTconverter

iSpring

Camtasia

CamtasiaStudio8:• KnownmainlyforscreencapturebuthasothereLearningfeatures(importPPT,quizzes,audio)– Pros:powerfulvideoediting,combinemultiplecontenttypes,goodvalue

– Cons:eLearningfeaturesnotasdevelopedasotheroptions,PPTiscapturedbyvideosonotascrispasArticulate/iSpring

*HasaMacversionbutdoesn’tincludequizmaker.

Camtasia

iSpringDemo

TrackingyoureLearningContent

AkeyadvantageofusingeLearningcontentistheabilitytotrackandreportuseractivity.

• SCORM– TraditionalLMS• Non-TraditionalLMS?– TinCan/LRS– Analytics:Google,PiWik,GetClicky

DeliveryourCourses

• WhatisanLMS?• DoyouneedanLMS?• Options:– Commercial– Open-source–Wordpress

CommonElementsofanLMS

üOrganizecontent(courses)üDisplaycontent(lessons)üManageusers(roles/groups)üUserreporting(analytics)üAssessment(quiz/assignment)üProgressdeterminedbyassessment

3paths:

• Open-source:M,D,S• Commercial:B,L,eF,Mc,Ar&iS• Wordpress• DIY

LMSOptions

WordpressLMS

WhyIthinkWordpressmakesmostsense:

• NeedaWPsiteformarketing• Minimalcost(notSaS)• Setup&maintenance• Extensibility• Completecontrol

WordpressLMS

3WordpressLMSPlugins

• Sensei• LearnDash• WPCourseware• Others:Lifter,Namaste,CoursePress

*Demosavailableat:wp-lms.com

LMSPlugins– FeatureComparison

WordpressLMS– CommonElements

• Courses,Lessons,Modules&Quizzes• Automatedprogression• Proprietary• Extendable• eCommerce

SENSEI

• OneoffirstLMSpluginsforWordpress• DevelopedbyWooThemes• Pros:clean,unified,solid• Cons:inflexible,developmentpace,basicquizzes.

LEARNDASH

• Developedfromacollectionofotherplugins• Maturing• Pros:comprehensive,extendable,powerfulquizfeatures

• Cons:complex,overdeveloped

OtherLMSPlugins

• WPCourseware• CoursePress(Courses)• LifterLMS• Namaste• LearnPress• WPLMS

ContentApproach– PlatformAgnostic

• SeparatelearningcontentfromLMS• Link/iframethecontentinthelessons• EasiertoswitchLMS/site/theme• Simplerlessonstructure• Safer/hardertocopy• UseLMSquizzesforprogression

CourseCreationProcess

1. CreateCourse2. CreateLessons(+Modules)3. CreateQuizzes4. Order/Associate5. Assignusers

LessonCreation- Build&Switch

• CreatelessonsasregularWPposts• Duplicatelessons• Switchthepostsovertolessons• DeactivateDuplicatePost&Switcher• KeeporiginalsourceasWPposts– Putthemin“draft”modeifyoudonotwantthemvisibleonyoursite)

Awordaboutduplication…

Lessons&Quizzesmustbeuniquetoacourse.

• AlltheWPLMScanhavebuiltinwayorplugintoaidinduplicatingcontent.

• Butitcanleadtoahugeamountofcontenttomanagesothinkcarefullyaboutnamingitems.

• ThisissueisnotuniquetoWordpressLMS.

Tips&Tricks

• DokeepacleanoriginalofeachlessonasaregularWPpost.

• Doseparatelearningcontent(link/iFrame).• Dodemo/testcoursesasaregularuser.• Don’teditlivecourses(add/deletelessons).• Don’tupdateimmediately(stagingsite).

CompanionPlugins

• PostTypeSwitcher• DuplicatePost(VsPostDuplicator)• WooCommerce• ThemeMyLogin• WisdmLabs• UncannyOwl*LinksfortheseonWP-LMS.com

Promote&SellyourCourses

• Howtosellyourcourses?• Approaches:– Individual–Membership– Drip-feed/recurring

• eCommercePlugins• Howtopromoteyourcourses?

eCommerceApproaches

• Sellindividualcourses• Membership• Recurring

eCommercePlugins

• WooCommerce• PaidMembershipPro• EasyDigitalDownloads• S2Member

Twoapproaches:• Natural– Free(notreally)– Slowresults

• Paid– Upfrontcost– Quickresults

Promotion:MarketingyourCourses

Promotion:Natural

Naturalmethods:• Existingclients• Listbuilding(Freeofferortrial)• SEO(SearchEngineOptimization)– Longtermstrategy– Publishcontent(posts)featuringkeywordsthatyouwanttotarget

– Linkbuilding

Promotion:Paid

Paidpromotion:• Advertising– PPC(Pay-Per-Click):GoogleAdWords&Facebook– SEM(SearchMarketing):Bidonkeywordsandappearinsearchresults

• Affiliateprogram– Paycommissiontootherwebsitestosellyourcourses

– Quiteeasytosetup,buthardtomakework

Q&A

THANKYOU!

Demosite:WP-LMS.comEmail:peter@becourse.com

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