How Creating an E-Learning Course Can Scale Your Time and Resources
Imagine having a clone of yourself that could talk to potential clients and make friends all over the world while you simply lounged in your living room. That’s what well planned video production allows you - The ability to record your image, message, and experience and share that with anyone across the globe. So why then don’t we all make a hundred videos and call it a day?
The answer to that question really lies in mindset. It takes a lot of work to make a video, and most people don’t want to go through the effort if they don’t know exactly what their plan is for the video when its done. Believe me, I’ve made tons of content that no one ever watched, let alone spent money on. It’s frustrating when you pour your heart and soul into creating a product that nobody can find. If you don’t have the mindset in place to plan how people will find your content and benefit enough from watching it that they will give you money, it becomes hard to justify the time and energy you will spend creating a video.
For me, it finally got to a point where I couldn’t accept the alternative of not having a digital product. I was tired of cashing in my time for less than $4 an hour, working 7 days a week bashing my head against the wall as I built my business and tried to make every one of my customers happy. There had to be another way I could serve my customers without physically being present for each step of the process. I’ve known about e-learning courses forever, even produced a few for other clients in the past. But for the longest time I kept telling myself I wasn’t good enough… I wasn’t worthy of being an expert. But I finally decided to swallow my doubts and push record.
By the end of producing my first video course for myself, I suddenly felt so accomplished. I now had a product I could leverage and tell my customers about. I now had achieved a permanent clone of myself that can go teach people while I sleep. Now I just need to start producing more video clones and have them work to funnel business back to my team. This first course is by no means perfect… In fact I will probably never make a dollar from it directly. But the principle of it is that it is an extension of myself that can live in the digital world and reinforce my expertise and personality in my field.
Expanding your location and reach are the other big bonuses to producing a video product of your expertise. The world is a lot bigger than we make it out to be sometimes. Have you ever just drove through a new city and watched all the houses go by? Each and every one of those houses is filled with people who are going through the same problems you face on a day to day basis. Imagine if you could help them all, like a virtual Santa Claus, being everywhere all at once. Video allows you that power. Now granted, an e-book or a podcast can offer you the same reach, but having high quality video in your toolkit will help to establish you as a professional and do wonders to help your audience resonate with you.
Why produce an E-Learning course rather than a YouTube Video Blog or a Snapchat feed? There is a certain level of perceived value and prestige in an E-Learning course that other video mediums just don’t compare to. A well organized E-Learning course has been meticulously thought out, organized into bite-size chapters on specific concepts, and produced with the intention of being a premium product that will provide a clear roadmap to learning a new skill or concept. Taking the time to distill your knowledge into an E-Learning course will enable you to ETERNALIZE your process and teaching, creating a timeless product that you can build once, and sell again and again.
If you’re planning to start producing your own online learning course, my first piece of advice is to start with a simple, manageable topic. We all have been guilty of trying to bite off more than we can chew. There’s no quicker way to burn out and lose inspiration than starting something too big to finish with your current workload and schedule. Pick a topic you know well, that you can teach in one sitting. And remember, deliberate intentional practice will make you better. Once you get the hang of producing a course, you can gradually dive into more challenging subjects, longer materials, and increase the production value and editing quality in your courses. As you build your teaching skills, it’s okay to start with an iPhone and a decent clip-on microphone from Amazon. But once you get the hang of things, do your audience a favor and step up your video quality. If you are charging for your courses, you want to be sure that you are making them as high value as you can so your students will have a great experience and come back to purchase your future courses.