3 reasons why I β€οΈ online learning…
In our very first episode of the SPARKLEandTHRIVE podcast/videocast, I talk about how online learning has transformed my life and TechPixies as a business over the past year.
FOR YEARS, I’ve been surviving, not thriving. In 2019, I put a stake in the ground and I decided it was time to stop surviving and start thriving. This journey from surviving to thriving has been a long time in the works – 16 years in fact! I’ve tried and failed and tried again and I have learned a lot in those failures – more than in my successes BUT now is the time, my time, TechPixies time to thrive.
In this episode, I tell the story of how TechPixies nearly failed (when we were trying to be a face to face only programme) but how the women who worked for me encouraged me to keep going even when I had to let them go because I couldn’t afford to keep them on.
I talk about how, in order to take TechPixies online, I needed to not only raise money (remember I had to let people go because I couldn’t afford to keep them on!) AND I needed to upskill myself in how to build an online business selling courses.
One of the things I tried to do right after I raised investment was reach out to people in the online course creation space on LinkedIn to see if any of them could mentor me as I made the transition from face to fact to online. Crickets. No one responded to my requests.
So what I learned early on is that one of the major benefits to online learning is instant access to experts in the industry you are interested in.
π NUMBER 1 BENEFIT TO LEARNING ONLINE: INSTANT MENTORSHIP FROM THE EXPERTS
After 6 months of trying to do it on my own and feeling like I was letting my investors down, I found a course online called ‘Digital Course Academy’ run by Amy Porterfield.
It transformed my business so much that I’ve even become a partner in her next DCA launch. Doors open 2 September. If you are interested in online course creation (like I was!) you might want to check out some of the amazing free resources she has like a free course creation starter kit or a quiz that will help you work out what kind of course you should create (all links listed at the bottom of this post).
This course was transformational for me and my business. I believe 100% that if my students are successful, I’m successful and that is something that I’ve learned from all my online mentors. So when I applied the learnings from DCA, I was able to transform the TechPixies Social Media Magic course in such a way that our online students started to see the same benefits as our face to face students.
π NUMBER 2 BENEFIT OF ONLINE LEARNING: You can learn anything! (but not all online courses are created equally!)
In the video, I talk about how you can learn anything online now – cake baking, dog training, social media management. There are literally online courses for everything.
BUT… it is possible to spend good money on bad online courses when really, you want to spend good money on good online courses.
So what is the difference between a good online course and a bad online course?
β Good online courses have both video and audio. Those videos are short, ideally 5-10 minutes long so you can learn in small chunks, apply quite quickly and get a small win.
β I prefer 5-7 modules with 6-9 lessons.
β You want an online course to have supporting documents, things you can print out and support you with your audio and visual learning.
π NUMBER 3 BENEFIT OF ONLINE LEARNING: Online Support
The third thing to look out for when looking to sign up to an online course is that the course provides support. SOOOO many of the online courses out there are quick wins (for the course provider), meaning you buy the course but there is no support to go along with it.
Make sure the course you join has a support system – like Zoom calls or a Facebook group. TechPixies for example has a Facebook group for students and alumni which only people who have signed up for can be a part of.
π LIST OF MY FAVOURITE ONLINE COURSES
π Want to learn about Social Media? TechPixies of course! We have worked hard to create a face to face and online experience second to none that will help you navigate the world of social media. Our popup Social Media Magic Facebook group launches next BUT if you want to be the first to know about it, you can sign up for our weekly tips: https://techpixies.com/weekly-tips/
π Want to learn about Online Course Creation: Amy Porterfield is the go to guru on this. Digital Course Academy is the perfect course for learning how to create an online course. If you have a talent or a skill that you have been building up over the years and you want to build an online course around them, you will want to do this course PLUS… I’m a DCA parter, so if you want to get my extra support as you navigate your way through her programme make sure you download the course creation starter kit or take the course creator quiz.
π Want to learn about List Building: All online businesses relies on building a list. Amy also has a brilliant course called List Builders Society, which I’ve also done and LOVE and totally works. Her methods have helped me reach so many more women – women we can help get upskilled and on the right path. So I highly recommend this course. Check it out at https://www.amyporterfield.com/listbuilding
π Want to learn about creating an Online Membership business? Stu McLaren is your man. I kid you not, I waited 12 months to get into his course called Tribe. I’m not a partner with Stu, so can’t offer you anything with regards to Tribe at the moment, but you can find out more and watch some of his student success stories here: http://bit.ly/tptribestu
π Want to learn about PR? I really enjoyed Annie Ridout’s PR Course (author of the Freelance Mum). Off the back of that course, I ended up in an article in Forbes. I wanted to learn how to do PR myself but what I really valued almost more than the course was access to Annie’s amazing Facebook group which is specifically for her students. A group of women really making it happen. Annie’s PR course is on sale now: http://bit.ly/tpannie
π Want Business Coaching? Ok… so not fitting all of the criteria for my ‘perfect’ online course BUT still a good course: Rachel Hollis’ Business Coaching programme: http://bit.ly/tphollis
I know that these courses might not be of interest to you BUT if they are, I hope you found this helpful.
Donβt forget, you can listen on the podcast too!Β π