How to Write, Create, and Sell a Video E-course in 7 Days

Introduction 24 lectures 39:55 Planning Your Course Any success you achieve is down to planning. But don't be one of those people who spend their lives imagining future problems and ends up not doing anything as a result. In the UK - where I come from - I would say this is the number issue that would-be entrepreneurs face: OVER-planning, OVER-thinking. The trick with effective planning is to do it quickly, WITHOUT too much thought! Worrying is what fools and mothers do. Business people need to be decisive, whether their instincts are correct or not. See the plan I have attached to this lesson to see how rough your first ideas can be. Designing Your Template A template is really just a more complex plan. The plan can be some notes about what the course will cover but your template will be more of a checklist you will use to make sure you're getting everything done. Again, I have included a template for you to look at so you can see what I mean. It probably sounds more complicated than it needs to in the video lesson but don't be intimidated because once your template is done, your course is pretty much done. It's just painting by numbers after that! Maintaining Discipline I mention in the lesson that I use Scrivener to help me plan and write my courses - and that there is a Scrivener template available for download. Well, there is, but I can't upload it to Simpliv because it's not a format they support. However, if you want to receive my complete Scrivener template for this course, just email me personally - - and I will send you a copy. Please note that you will need a licensed copy of Scrivener to run the file too! Finding The Time Finding the time to write or indeed to complete any project is about prioritising. It's simply not good enough to say that "life got in the way" or that "other things came up". Setting a goal and committing to its completion is what heroes do. Because when you say you're going to do something, that means you WILL DO IT, not matter what else happens. The only way to get this course done in a week is to set aside time every day and then do the work. No excuses. Okay? Choosing Your Topic It's likely you'll agonise over which topic you want to teach. My advice? Don't fret. Just pick the first thing you think of. It doesn't matter, even if you're wrong. It's important just to be decisive and get it done. That's the learning experience. Once you know you can create a video course in a week, it will give you the confidence to think through the next ones and know you can complete them too. You just need to get over your first time as soon as you can. Researching Your Subject As I mention in the lesson, there are three crucial reasons why you need to do some research. 1. To find out about your topic 2. To find out what issues are important to your potential customers 3. To discover whether your subject matter is an ALREADY popular topic This is because it's imperative you pick a popular subject - to ensure your success. Marketing is hard enough without picking a subject nobody is interested in! Using a Questionnaire One of the best ways to discover what your your course should address is to go to the source. Ask your potential customers EXACTLY what they want to see. You do this by sending out a questionnaire to your mailing list, no matter how small it may be. Way back in 2004, I did this same exercise - and the result changed my life. Armed with the knowledge of what my customers actually wanted from me, I was able to go full time as an online teacher within days of sending out a short questionnaire to my subscribers. Using Social Media Social media is a wonderful research tool in itself. You can try all kinds of fancy SEO tricks to discover keywords and search terms if you want. But really, interacting with real people on Facebook and Twitter will arm you with far more practical information, far more quickly, in the short and long term. There's a modern trend in online marketing and that is to make everything about numbers, formulas, computer coding, and acronyms nobody understands. Give me actual facts. That's all we need to know. (Remember that SEO is really just Someone Else's Opinion. Google actually makes sure that any and all SEO tricks don't work! Try not to get sucked in to the hype and nonsense.) Compiling Your Course This is where you need to get specific. You need to work out how many video lessons you want to include in your course and how long you want each of them to be. As I keep saying, you need to keep things simple and not be too ambitious for your first course. If you go overboard and try to create some massive masterpiece first time out, you'll most likely find that far too challenging to complete. Better to know that you can finish what you set your mind to - and you only do what you're capable of achieving quickly. NOTE: During the course, I mention there is a 7-Day Video Scrivener Template available for students. There is, however, I am prevented from loading it onto Simpliv's site because ".scrivtemplate" is not a file extension they support on their site. Should you want to use the 7 Day Scrivener Template, please email me direct to request a copy. I'll gladly forward it to you. The Writing Writing with confidence is about turning off your inner editor and believing that everything you write is fine - at least for the first draft. You're allowed to be awful when you write. That's what first drafts are for - all professionals agree on this, so don't feel your writing has to be anything special when you write your first draft. The point is to get anything and everything down first so that you have something to edit and polish later. Later is the operative word. Never edit anything until the ENTIRE first draft is down. Feel free to write quickly, without thinking, without going back, without fear. Just do it - and don't worry about a thing! The Editing Only start editing when you have written and totally completed the first draft of your course content. There's no point polishing something that isn't finished because you don't know what you will keep and what you will change and what you will delete until the WHOLE thing is done. I repeat: only start editing when you have completed the first draft. Then: Edit for sense Edit for logic Edit for clarity Edit so it's easy to read into the camera and sounds nice and natural. Planning The Shoot It's sometimes hard for us to appreciate that reality TV is nothing of the sort. When cameras roll, most people freeze and say nothing. That's why reality TV producers and directors plan every shot, scene and interaction before they start filming real people like the Kardashians and all those allegedly Real Housewives. The fact is, without a thorough plan, film never works. You need a script, a location, an action plan and all the equipment and personnel in place BEFORE you start any filming. The same is true of your course. Do it on the fly and it won't work. Do it right: make a plan and stick to it. Your Equipment Most people have this idea that film making equipment must be expensive and sophisticated. That's only true of the expensive and sophisticated stuff. You can make a course with free or cheap cameras that work in total auto mode. It's really not necessary to buy the most expensive gear to create online courses. Often high priced gear is hard to understand and use. At least cheap cameras are often just point and go. The Teleprompter As I say in the lecture, I regard my teleprompter as the one thing that makes me look professional. For a long time I made YouTube videos with a script in my hand and then tried to edit out the bits where I looked down at the words. As you can imagine, this was hugely time consuming and awkward. I made my first teleprompter (as you'll see in the video) but the problem was that the glass wasn't polarised correctly and ended up blurring the picture slightly on most of my early courses. I bought a proper teleprompter recently for about $200 on Ebay. Worth every darn penny. Film Software Again, film software used to be costly but as more digital cameras come with their own free software, this is no longer the case. Even professional software has plummeted in price these last few years with so many competitors entering the market. I have to say I think Adobe Premiere Pro is probably the best and most stable of all of them. And if you're going to be making videos a lot, then the $50+ a month cost for the Adobe Cloud suite is a pretty good deal. You'll likely make it back easily in course sales. (If Simpliv will let me say that!) See below for a PDF download of software options. Props Props includes everything in your shot, from the clothes on your back to the pictures on the wall behind you. Rather than make a list of everything you might need, it's a lot easier to build your set, even if it's just in a corner of your bedroom or office. At least then all you need to make your lessons work is in one place. Ideally you will want to shoot your entire course in one session. When you do, all your props should be at hand, ready. Be careful not to clutter your set. Sometimes a completely empty set is far more effective than a busy one. Presentation You need to look your best when on camera. People are so used to seeing people looking nice on film they can get upset if it looks like you're not at least trying. You don't want to give anyone a reason to ask for a refund - and sometimes your appearance will trigger one. Actually people don't need much of an excuse! Be clean shaven, wash your hair, wear nice clothes and smile a lot. These are all things that will make you more likeable and trustworthy. Film Editing Film editing isn't nearly as complicated as you might imagine. Pretty much anyone can do it. The only thing to remember is to keep copies of your original footage - even after you've made the lessons. You never know if you're going to have to go back to the originals. Most film makers have at one time been caught out by this because raw film takes up a lot of disk space and the temptation to delete it is strong. Better to get cheap drives to keep copies of all your raw film for at least a few years! See below for a listing of the software available to you for editing film. Choosing Your Platform This course is on Simpliv and I would expect you to look to Simpliv first for your course hosting needs. My advice is to stick with Simpliv for a while - at least - so that you can see how teaching courses suits you. When you feel confident, then you can branch out on to other platforms - though if you're doing well, you may not need to - or feel the need. As time progresses I'm sure a lot more sites will pop up that want original content. I receive many emails from eLearning sites wanting me to upload to alternate sites - and probably because they find my name on Simpliv. I'm sure this will happen to you too. Uploading I tend to upload videos and resources one at a time as I compile my courses. The bulk uploader doesn't always seem to work well or connect with Dropbox as it should. But that's just probably me. I'm not all that tech savvy, despite having been an online educator for over fifteen years! Plus in my part of the world - Australia - we have the worst internet connection speeds on the planet - worse than some third world countries. A national disgrace. The only thing the Ozzie government has done is tax web purchases - there isn't even any decent legislation here because it's so poorly serviced - and a haven for piracy that is unacceptable in a so called civilised society. The fact that the Australian government also wants to loosen online copyright laws is also cause for grave concern. The Sales Page Personally I think there's way too much hype written about sales pages. Fact is, many items online sell without anything more than a brief description. Sometimes people just know what they want and will see a smarmy sales page as a deterrent to the purchase! I guess the right way to develop a Udemy sales page is to see it for what it is - an opportunity to bond with your student before they buy your course. I don't know about you but when I like an instructor, I usually know I'm going to like them before I take the course. And I look for the "likeability factor" deliberately when I watch the promo video and read the course blurb. If I don't like the instructor at that point, I won't buy the course. I think that's the right way to think about things! More Sales Page Tactics But just in case you have no idea how to write compelling copy, I've included this basic advice to help you, really only so that you don't forget the basics. Honestly, don't fret too much over your sales material. Freezing because a fear of expressing yourself isn't going to help anyone. Better just to be natural and don't worry too much about saying everything that needs to be said. People always accuse me of not saying anything specific in my sales material but I really don't see the point. People don't by specs, they buy hopes and dreams. The Launch! When you have completed all the videos, text lessons, quizzes, whatever, and uploaded the PDFs you want to include in your course, you will need to get the course approved by Simpliv. This usually only takes a day or so, especially if everything your uploaded is of good quality and you have a sympathetic Simpliv reviewer. The most common reason for rejection by Simpliv is poor sound quality and you may need to deal with that if it's a problem. If so, I recommend using Adobe Audition or SoundSoap to tweak your sound - or consider rerecording your audio. It may seem extreme but it will be worth it in the end. Best of luck with your course. If you need anything, let me know! Welcome to The 7 day E-Course Experience WelcomeHi, this lesson is basically to enable you to see me, to let me introduce myself and reassure you that - yes indeed - with my help you CAN create a video course in just 7 days. That's a week from today, you too could have a course up and running! To give you some idea, usually on the day of release, Udemy will push your course for the first SIX HOURS of its existence - so you can usually expect to make sales from Day One! That's awesome, right? And that's even if you don't have a mailing list! So what are you waiting for? Let's get this show on the road... Oh, and anything you need, just ask. It's my duty and honor to serve.Rob ParnellYour Success is my Concern Introduction. 24 lectures 39:55 Planning Your Course Any success you achieve is down to planning. But don't be one of those people who spend their lives imagining future problems and ends up not doing anything as a result. In the UK - where I come from - I would say this is the number issue that would-be entrepreneurs face: OVER-planning, OVER-thinking. The trick with effective planning is to do it quickly, WITHOUT too much thought! Worrying is what fools and mothers do. Business people need to be decisive, whether their instincts are correct or not. See the plan I have attached to this lesson to see how rough your first ideas can be. Designing Your Template A template is really just a more complex plan. The plan can be some notes about what the course will cover but your template will be more of a checklist you will use to make sure you're getting everything done. Again, I have included a template for you to look at so you can see what I mean. It probably sounds more complicated than it needs to in the video lesson but don't be intimidated because once your template is done, your course is pretty much done gPlanning Your Course Any success you achieve is down to planning. But don't be one of those people who spend their lives imagining future problems and ends up not doing anything as a result. In the UK - where I come from - I would say this is the...