In this episode, Tara discusses critical compentents for successful online courses, and why Facebook (and other social media platforms) miss the mark.
Hey, everybody, it's Tara Bryan and you are listening
Tara Bryan:to the Course Building Secrets® Podcast. Whether you're a coach
Tara Bryan:or a CEO, the success of your team and clients is based on
Tara Bryan:your ability to deliver a consistent experience and guide
Tara Bryan:them on the fastest path to results. This podcast will give
Tara Bryan:you practical real life tips that you can use today to build
Tara Bryan:your online experiences that get results and create raving fans.
Tara Bryan:Why? So you can monetize your expertise and serve more people
Tara Bryan:without adding more time for team to your business? If you're
Tara Bryan:looking to uncover your million dollar framework, package it and
Tara Bryan:use it to scale you're in the right place. Let's dive in.
Tara Bryan:Hey, everybody, welcome to today's episode. Today, I want
Tara Bryan:to dispel a huge myth that's out there in the industry, and
Tara Bryan:something that I think most people who are getting into the
Tara Bryan:online course or online program industry don't really
Tara Bryan:understand. Okay, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna reveal a secret. And
Tara Bryan:here's the thing. So it's all about the difference between one
Tara Bryan:way communication and two way communication. So let me
Tara Bryan:explain. So when you have an online program, or online
Tara Bryan:course, so often people say, Well, I just need to have a
Tara Bryan:place where I put my videos, and maybe have, you know, a place
Tara Bryan:for q&a or something else. But most of the time, it's just, I
Tara Bryan:just need some sort of location to put my videos and that will
Tara Bryan:be it, that will be my course, it's going to be great people
Tara Bryan:are gonna buy it, and go through my videos and learn all the
Tara Bryan:things and it's going to be super successful. But here's the
Tara Bryan:reality. And, and so, the reality is that 97% of people
Tara Bryan:don't actually finish courses. So why do you care about that,
Tara Bryan:and you care about that, because if you don't finish a course,
Tara Bryan:you don't actually get results, right. So if your students are
Tara Bryan:not actually completing your course, or doing the activities
Tara Bryan:you want them to do, regardless, if they completed it or not,
Tara Bryan:then they're not going to get results. And if they don't get
Tara Bryan:results, they're not going to stay, they're not going to
Tara Bryan:ascend to your higher level offers, they're not going to
Tara Bryan:become raving fans, they're not going to refer all their friends
Tara Bryan:and colleagues, right? So you run into this trap of always
Tara Bryan:getting people into your course and not having them actually
Tara Bryan:stay. And, you know, improve the lifetime value of your
Tara Bryan:customers, which as we know, is it's much more expensive to keep
Tara Bryan:acquiring customers than actually just keeping the ones
Tara Bryan:that you have. Okay, so how do you change that.
Tara Bryan:So again, as I mentioned, the biggest, I think, unknown or
Tara Bryan:thing that people don't think about when they are creating
Tara Bryan:their online course is that it's not just about throwing videos
Tara Bryan:out there and hoping that somebody takes them, you really
Tara Bryan:want to create a conversation, you want to create an a
Tara Bryan:relationship with your customer. So they keep going, right, they
Tara Bryan:get to that end state, they get to that result that you've
Tara Bryan:promised them that you're excited for them to get. And,
Tara Bryan:again, it gives you more street cred to say, hey, all these
Tara Bryan:people have gotten results from working with me. And you can't
Tara Bryan:do that with a one way relationship. So the all of
Tara Bryan:those sort of marketing platforms that have the ability
Tara Bryan:for you to host your courses, meaning you can host your
Tara Bryan:videos, and maybe there's, you know, a way to add a worksheet
Tara Bryan:or a workbook or something like that, or, you know, connect to a
Tara Bryan:Facebook group. The challenge is, is that you're not actually
Tara Bryan:getting information about the actions that they're taking. So
Tara Bryan:this last week, we did Gamify My Course Camp, and one of the
Tara Bryan:things we talked about was archery practice. So you want
Tara Bryan:them to hit the bullseye, not only the bullseye of the actual
Tara Bryan:result that you're promising them, but along the way, you
Tara Bryan:want them to actually do certain things to get to the place where
Tara Bryan:they can get the result. Because as we know, like, you know, you
Tara Bryan:can't passively do things.
Tara Bryan:So, but how do you know what action they're taking? How do
Tara Bryan:you know if they're on the right track? How do you know that
Tara Bryan:they're actually interacting with what you're putting out
Tara Bryan:there? And that's where a system that actually tracks the
Tara Bryan:behavior of your learners becomes important. That's where
Tara Bryan:it's a two way communication because here's the reality is,
Tara Bryan:if you can measure it, you can, you can, you know, make some
Tara Bryan:changes around it, right. So if your goal is for somebody to
Tara Bryan:watch this video and apply Get to their work, you want to know
Tara Bryan:that they're actually doing that. So you know, one where
Tara Bryan:they're dropping off and to what their challenge points are. And
Tara Bryan:learning management system allows you to track every
Tara Bryan:everything that's happening within your, your program. are
Tara Bryan:they interacting? Are they watching the videos? Are they
Tara Bryan:doing the activities? Are they? are they interacting with other
Tara Bryan:people? Are they asking questions, all of those things.
Tara Bryan:And if you can measure it, then you can create a system around
Tara Bryan:it, then you can automate it, then you can actually make some
Tara Bryan:decisions based on what they need to keep moving forward. And
Tara Bryan:so that's why a learning management system is important.
Tara Bryan:That's why a system that allows you to track what people are
Tara Bryan:doing throughout the process gives you the data that you need
Tara Bryan:to successfully keep them on the path and get them to results. So
Tara Bryan:the next time you're looking at, you know, where is your course
Tara Bryan:and what is important, you know, what you're sharing, yes, it's
Tara Bryan:important. If it's something that is going to drive Somebody,
Tara Bryan:help somebody get guide, somebody, whatever you want to
Tara Bryan:call it to a result, that's the whole purpose of what you're
Tara Bryan:creating is to actually help people do the thing that you
Tara Bryan:have sold them on. And so using the information that you get
Tara Bryan:around that two way communication allows you to come
Tara Bryan:in at the right times, provide feedback, see what they're
Tara Bryan:doing, provide them support when they're kind of falling off. But
Tara Bryan:you don't get that on Facebook, if you put your whole course on
Tara Bryan:Facebook, you don't get that tracking, you may see what they
Tara Bryan:viewed, but you don't see the the granular sort of activity
Tara Bryan:that they're doing. You put it on your marketing platform, same
Tara Bryan:thing, you're not getting that two way communication, you're
Tara Bryan:not able to see when they're completing and what that looks
Tara Bryan:like, and how they've done various things throughout your program.
Tara Bryan:And so that's why so often when you're working with somebody
Tara Bryan:who's talking about, you know, here's how you successfully
Tara Bryan:create an online program that gets results. They are using a
Tara Bryan:learning management system, they're using something, you
Tara Bryan:know, anywhere from Kajabi, to a WordPress site to Thinkific and
Tara Bryan:Teachable, and some of those other tools that are
Tara Bryan:specifically made for courses are specifically made for
Tara Bryan:courses because they track the activity that's happening in the
Tara Bryan:program. And so you can see and anticipate and automate the
Tara Bryan:various activities that you want them to do. Because the goal is
Tara Bryan:if they do this, then this happens. If they do this, then
Tara Bryan:this happens, right, your whole program is all about being able
Tara Bryan:to see that they're taking the action that allows them to get
Tara Bryan:closer to the goal.
Tara Bryan:Alright, so that is my tip for you today is really
Tara Bryan:understanding that there's a difference between something
Tara Bryan:that hosts your videos, and something that gives you
Tara Bryan:information about how people are interacting with your videos.
Tara Bryan:And that is where the power in the experience comes into play
Tara Bryan:that allows you to not only help your customers be successful,
Tara Bryan:but keep them moving down the path that allows them to get
Tara Bryan:what they need to be successful. All right, there you go.