how to build, deliver and sell online courses (besig 2016)
TRANSCRIPT
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:[email protected]
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