TEACH 'EM TO REACH 'EM
By: Chris Kilian | Posted: 02nd February 2006
You're constantly on the lookout for sure-fire ways to
attract targeted customers to your online business.
Well, what do you know?
Really--what *do* you know? Think long and hard about
this, because you can use your areas of expertise, your
skills and/or your hobbies as springboards for promoting
and selling your goods or services to a captive audience
--by offering a free online course.
If It's Free, It's For Me!
Why offer a freebie when you're trying to make a profit
from your business? While at first glance the concept
might not make sense, it is actually one of the oldest
and most effective marketing techniques both online and
off. People simply love to get things for free, and
merchants oblige, with the goal of selling additional
goods back end. From taste testings at wineries and
supermarkets, to product samples delivered door-to-door,
vendors have used freebies for decades to promote their
products.
Free classes fall into this same "try something for
nothing" category. Again, using a comparable example
from the brick and mortar world, consider the craft
store chain that offers free classes on how to make
decorative wreathes. Where will most, if not all, of
the people who attend these classes purchase their
crafting supplies? It's a win-win situation; those who
take the class gain a new skill for free, and the store
gains new--and probably repeat--customers!
Those Who Can Do, Teach
"But I've never taught anything in my life!" Chances
are, you have--whether showing a child how to bait a
hook or bake cookies, or coaching a new co-worker on the
job, we all have opportunities to take on the role of
teacher now and then. "Teaching" is simply taking
something we've learned, and showing someone else how to
do it. The fact that your instruction didn't involve a
structured course plan or weekly quizzes doesn't make you
any less of a teacher in these situations.
When developing your free online course, focus on
selecting a subject that meets these three criteria:
· One that involves a topic or skill that you
consider yourself good at, or even an expert;
· Something that other people would love to learn;
· And, finally, has some sort of tie-in back to your
business.
Going back to the craft store example above, you can see
that offering free decorative wreath class successfully
satisfies all three of these qualifications.
Still not sure what you could possibly teach in your own
free online course? Begin with the third criterion--base
it on your business itself-- and go from there. Let's
say, for example, that you operate a marine supply company
aimed at sailboat owners; you might offer a free "Safety
Tips for Sailors" course, or a "Long-Distance Sailor's
Survival" class. Or if you specialize in providing
virtual office services to small businesses, you could
conduct a course entitled "Simple Bookkeeping Techniques
for Busy Business People," or perhaps a basic business
writing course. As with any marketing strategy, your free
course ideas are limited only by your imagination--as long
as you keep the three rules of thumb listed above in mind.
Develop Your Course Once, Teach It Thousands of Times
The best and most cost-effective way to develop and
deliver your free online course is to use an autoresponder
service that allows you to set up several (five to eight)
messages which will be generated automatically to those
who sign up for the class. Set up each outgoing message
as one "lesson" in the course; in the first lesson, you
might provide a complete overview of what information the
course will cover, followed by more specific information
in lesson two, and so forth.
Each lesson needs to be no longer than a short article,
ranging from 500 to 900 words. You might also want to
include little "assignments" at the end of each lesson,
encouraging your students to put into action the material
covered that day.
As for pacing your course, select an autoresponder
service that allows you to preschedule the time intervals
between lessons. You can then choose to send a new lesson
out each day, every other day, once a week, or whatever.
You only need to develop your course and set up the
mailing strategy once, and let the autoresponder take it
from there.
Using the Free Course to Promote Your Business
Keeping in mind that your free online course is a
marketing tool, you will of course want to somehow refer
your students back to your business Web site. This means
incorporating the additional products or services that you
offer, along with your URL, into each and every lesson.
The goal here is to strike a balance between sounding
flagrantly self-promotional and being too subtle. In
other words, you do not want to chase off those who have
signed up for your free course with a barrage of hype;
most of us already see too much advertising daily, and
have become desensitized to it. At the same time, you
want your "students" to know where they can find
additional information or tools on the subject--at *your*
site.
You can accomplish this by covering each lesson in
greater depth on your site (e.g., "For more information
on today's lesson, visit http://www.yoursite.com"),
including a trip to your URL as part of each day's
assignment, or simply posting a brief advertisement for
your site at the end of each lesson. If your course-
takers feel they have benefited from the free information
they have received from you, they will be much more
inclined to at least take a look at what else you have to
offer.
Many Internet entrepreneurs currently offer free online
courses to gain exposure and expand their clientele.
Although developing your own course requires a good deal
of effort up front, the pay-off in terms or increased
traffic and sales is tremendous. Incorporate the "teach
'em to reach 'em" philosophy into your marketing strategy,
and watch your business soar!
Chris Kilian operates several sites online that help ezine
editors. http://ArticlesNow.com Free articles for ezines,
blogs, and web sites. http://RapidReplyLeads.com
Explosive subscriber growth in under 48 hours and
the perfect method for delivering messages to your list.
Open your own autoresponder http://RapidReply.Net
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Tags: effective marketing, marketing techniques, first glance, lookout, hook, freebie, brick and mortar, mortar world, captive audience, decades, quizzes, co worker, supermarkets, craft store, life chances, wineries, product samples