I’ve been following Penny Mondani of Penny For Your Thoughts for some time now. She has written an article on how to create a course outline. You will find that this article is a very useful tool to help you focus on creating your instructional product. Check out Penny’s article here.
A Good Take On How To Write Course Outlines
August 21st, 2010
Where Have All The Jobs Gone?
August 7th, 2010There used to be a time, not so long ago, that you would graduate high school or college, get a job and work there until age 65. Most jobs were in the industrial and manufacturing sector. Those jobs are fewer and far in between. Today, the vast majority of jobs can be found in the service and information sector. In a few short years the North American economy has gone from manufacturing to a knowledge – based economy.
Let’s assume that you are either unemployed or underemployed. You don’t see a future for yourself in the career path that you had once chosen. No one is hiring; jobs are scarce. What are your options?
- You could sit at home and wait for an employer to call (I’ve been there; it’s not a pleasant feeling).
- Go back to school? It’s too expensive and takes too long. Don’t get me wrong; I believe in education, but in your situation you are looking to make money in a short period of time.
- Create something from what you know. Now there’s an idea. Imagine that you have created an ebook , online course, or other instructional product. You charge $25 for your product and you sell it to 100 customers. Do the math…would that help your financial situation at all?
The Next Step
- Start writing down your ideas of areas in which you are knowledgeable.
- Next to each area of knowledge write down potential informational product topics.
- Once you have potential topics, start researching to see whether or not there is a potential market. I like Google Adwords: Keyword Tool; it will give you a good idea of how many people have search for your potential product.
- Finally, pick a topic , get to work, and make money.
This approach may not be for everybody, but it might just be worth exploring. Just take a few minutes to write down your ideas. You never know where they might take you…
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An Addition To The Family
August 1st, 2010No, I’m not a grandfather yet. I just thought that I’d let you know that there is a new blog in Net Learning Solutions Inc library. I am now writing a blog entitled Teaching Your Kid. It is written for parents who want to teach their kids life skills that are not taught in school. Please check it out and leave a comment or two. Better yet, subscribe to it.
Writing three blogs(plus designing courses) does take up a lot of my time, but you can be assured that I will continue to update Money In Your Jeans on a regular basis.
Assessing The Need
July 25th, 2010Is there a need for your proposed educational product? How big is your niche market? Will your product serve the needs of the market?
The Needs Analysis
- The first step in analyzing whether or not a market exists is to do a Google search of all relevant terms of your chosen topic. Make a list of all words, sentences, synonyms (even antonyms). Search these words to see how they rank. Is there a market?
- Find out where your potential customers are. Search for forums related to your search terms. Join the forums, but don’t try to sell your product or idea (most forums have strict policies against self promotion). Ask questions, post comments, but don’t sell.
- Once you’ve found your potential clients, analyze their needs. What are they asking? What are their needs and wants?
- Make a list, a chart, etc of your findings. What have you learned? Is there a need for your product? Do you have to reconsider your approach?
These are but a few of the questions that you must ask before you start designing your product. What is the sense of creating something without knowing what your market needs and wants? What might seem as a good idea to you might not have any appeal to your target audience. Simply put, you have to do your homework.
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The Power of Social Media
July 19th, 2010This video says it all:
Finding Your Niche
July 11th, 2010The biggest mistake that educational product designers make is that they try to be everything to everybody. They don’t focus on a particular niche market. Let me give you an example: I spent twenty-five years in the field of drivers’ ed; many people consider me an expert in this area. When I decided to blog about driver safety, I surveyed the internet to see what was being written about drivers’ ed. I soon realized that parents are left to their own devices when it comes to coaching their kids after they’ve taken driving lessons. Teach Your Kid How To Drive targets this particular niche market.
What is your niche market? Narrow down your topic by going to Google Blog Search. Once you’ve narrowed your options you can then start focusing your energies on your work.
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It Takes A Village
June 27th, 2010They say that it takes a village to raise a child. In that village there is a tribe – a tribe of experts that helps individuals within the community. I view Money In Your Jeans as a village where we all meet to discuss the creation on online learning materials. I guess you could say that I am the village leader - I am the instructional design expert of our village.
From me, you will learn the tips and tricks of creating high quality learning materials. “Great!” you say, “that’s what I’m here for, but what do I do about marketing my products?” You might have seen a sign post in our village – the Third Tribe (affiliate link) sign post; it points to the social media marketing experts in our village.
Who are the leaders of Third Tribe? They are the gurus of social media marketing; people like Chris Brogan, Sonia Simone, Brian Clark, and Darren Rowse. Imagine having access to the collective knowledge of these four people in one place. Imagine being part of their tribe. I have been part of the Third Tribe since its inception in February 2010. Not only have I learned from the four tribal leaders; I have received advice and ideas from other members of the tribe.
I think that you would benefit from checking out Third Tribe. What’s in it for you? A chance to join a group of likeminded individuals that are willing to share their knowledge with you. What is in it for me? Third Tribe will pay me a monthly commission if you join (you can earn commissions as well, once you become a Third Triber). I only recommend products or services that I believe in and that I have used. Trust me, joining Third Tribe is money well spent.
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KWL
June 13th, 2010Back in 1992, the Alberta government in its infinite wisdom decided to privatize driver testing. There was a mad rush to train all of the driver examiners on all classes of licenses. I was one of those examiners. I could test people going for the basic driving license, as well as taxi/ambulance drivers, and motorcycles. I had to be trained to test for semitrailers and school bus licenses. When my time came to be trained my boss, Pete, walked to the blackboard and wrote KWL – what do you know, what do you want to learn, and what will you learn. That training session was the best training that I ever attended, because Pete didn’t waste my time by going over stuff that I already knew.
I’m in the process of designing a course for those of you interested in learning how to create learning experiences online. I need to know what you know and what you want to learn, so that I don’t waste your time. Please leave a comment or two about what you need to know and I’ll get cracking on the course.
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I Hate “Informational Products”!
June 5th, 2010I got your attention didn’t I? What I meant to say is that I hate the term “informational product”, because it makes me think of infomercials (mind you I have been known to watch them at two in the morning when I don’t have enough skin to shut my eyes).
I see informational products more as teaching and learning resources than as information for sale. Most informational product authors are trying to teach their audience something. If that is what you are trying to do, then you are in the business of educating your clients.
Don’t let the idea of creating teaching and learning products scare you. It requires a certain set of skills, but the good news is that they are easy to learn. This blog will provide you with the basic skills to design educational products.
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Making Dough With What You Know
May 30th, 2010Pretty catchy, eh? I have to thank my wife for the tag line. It captures the very essence of what this blog is all about – putting money in your jeans by creating informational products from what you know.
People are hungry for knowledge. According to Wikipedia Google is used several hundred million times a day for searches on various topics. What does that mean to you? Simply put, someone out there is probably looking for your expertise.
I can just picture you saying: “But I’m not an expert!” Face it, you know more than you think you know. Do people ask you ‘how to” questions? How do I log in?…How do you make bread?…How do you do that?…etc, etc, etc. Get the point? In someone’s eyes you are an expert. Still don’t believe me? Try this: create a list of what you are good at and post it in the comments section. Try it, you might just surprise yourself!
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