First 30 Days after my course is created: Expanding your reach
We’ve spoken about how to appeal to your network and establish yourself through social proof with a thought out strategy for ratings and reviews, but how do you build beyond your initial network and entice new enrollments to your course? Remember, the more interest and enrollments you can generate during your first 30 days of launching, the better your chances are of getting featured or prioritized internally on Udemy. This prominent positioning in the Udemy marketplace will help your course be seen by a greater number of potential students.
EXPAND YOUR REACH
Expand your reach and start connecting
We often hear new instructors say they’re hesitant to market themselves, they don’t feel like they have a network, or they just don’t know where to start. But there are almost certainly people who are eager to see what you’ve been working on! When you shift your thinking from “I’m selling something” to “I’m sharing with people who want to learn what I offer” you will find things much easier. Think of this first step as generating good karma and getting to know your potential students.
Three easy steps
- Think about all the networks you’re a part of or have wanted to join
- Review your target student description and research where your students hang out online
- Sign-up or join those communities and start getting to know your students
Focus on giving information versus selling
Decide on a few websites, groups, or social media sites you want to experiment with, and join or update your profile. Remember that you’re just joining the party, so behave as if you would socially, not as a salesman. The goal is to show that you are informed about your topic and able to discuss it in a way people can understand and find appealing. Start out by posting or offering useful information and generally being of service.
Try different techniques and styles when answering questions, offering information, or responding to others in chats. You’re going to be looking for what resonates with people, and also gathering information about their problems, questions, and goals. This is a process of trial and error, and you’ll learn a lot about your students both by what works and what doesn’t.
If you join a group or site but realize it’s not where your target student is, don’t give up. There’s a lot out there, so keep expanding your circle. You can ask what other groups people are a part of, and go look there. Eventually, you’ll have a handful of sites and groups to work with.
Where to look for your community
Start with who you know. Keep spreading the news in your personal network.
Professional and alumni networks. List out every group you’re a part of or could be a part of. It might be from several years ago, but that’s fine. Check back in with these groups and follow them on social media or sign up for their newsletters. You will be surprised how long people remember contacts! See what they have been doing and get back into the circle.
In real life. Every time you attend a meetup, event, conference, or social events such as church, school, or community meetings, you are interacting with people who might be interested in learning from you. Use your face-to-face meetings to ask questions and see how they react. Test ideas and ask for opinions.
YouTube. You just completed filming a course and perfected your audio and video skills. This is a community of people you’re already similar to! Create a YouTube account and fill in your profile. Next you’ll use this to promote some of your own course videos, but for now, just start commenting and liking other videos to get started.
Make a Facebook business page and find groups. If you have a personal Facebook page you might be tempted to use that, but it’s not professional and your friends might find too much promotion annoying. Create a business page and start posting articles about your topic, trends, and other items of interest to your audience. Facebook groups are a good way to find collections of people interested in a topic.
Brush up your contacts on LinkedIn. Your professional network includes people you’ve met at conferences, former colleagues, and others in your industry. Don’t worry about overlapping contacts between social media sites.
Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and more. Use hashtags, conduct searches, and keep looking. When you see someone who is the student you want, see who they follow and interact with. You’ll probably also learn things that could inspire another course!
SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Promote your course by sharing your knowledge
Once you’ve discovered where your students are online and started engaging with them, you’ll be able to naturally start promoting your course. It’s important to keep creating value for the community as you start to sell to them. Remember that for each time that you mention your own course, you want to interact at least three times without selling anything. Having a balance ensures you don’t seem pushy and keeps your audience interested.
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Nice. Short, sweet and to the point. Thanks.
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