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How to Write a High-Value Lesson Plan that Makes Your Course Easy to Sell

a step-by-step guide to organizing and delivering your course

The demand for online education is exploding.

The global market for online courses is estimated around $107 billion. A mind-boggling figure, right?

Imagine stuffing one-dollar bills into a 53-foot truck. Depending on how crumpled your bills are, you’d need around 1,000 trucks stuffed up to the roof to transport those 107-billion dollar bills.

Would you like one of those trucks to deliver a heap of money to you?

Then you must create a lesson plan so valuable that students get excited about buying your online course.

A high-value lesson plan motivates people to both study and implement your advice. It makes students so happy about their newly acquired skills that they tell all of their friends about your course. That’s how your course starts selling like hot cakes.

Ready to get started?
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2 Key Factors that Distinguish Satisfying Content from Forgettable Ideas

two ways to make your content unforgettable

Have you ever read a blog post, listened to a podcast episode, or watched a video and thought:

“I kind of get what this person is saying — and I think I agree — but it’s difficult to follow their main points. The content feels incomplete.”

When content consumers have reactions like that, it delays them from sharing your content and subscribing to get more — ultimately increasing the chances that the content will be forgettable.

Conversely, when your content resonates with your target audience, your platform becomes a resource those individuals will remember and return to.

If you want your reader, listener, or viewer to share and subscribe, rather than hesitate and move on, incorporate the following two elements into your content creation process:

  1. Structure
  2. Intrigue

Below, I’ll cover what they are, why they complement each other, and how you can put both of them to work in your own content marketing.
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Ask Yourself These 3 Simple Questions to Craft Better Headlines

answer these questions to write better headlines

Last week, when I wrote about how to become a writer, I forgot to mention something about why you’d want to be a writer.

Writers are communicators. If you’re proud of your ideas, you want to be able to communicate them clearly and precisely.

Headlines are your first opportunity to present your message to the audience you want to reach. The language you use should appeal to those people and make them want to find out more.

To review the next headline you write from the perspective of an editor who is focused on audience engagement, here are three simple questions you can ask yourself.
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Use This Step-by-Step Guide to Feel Confident and Connected at a Conference

Make the most of your next conference

For someone who spends most of her days sitting alone behind a computer, entering a crowded room filled with hundreds of strangers can be a bit intimidating. I know because I’ve been there, done that.

In 2015, I went to Rainmaker Digital’s Authority Rainmaker conference by myself. It was not only my first time attending a conference solo, it was also my first conference where I was representing my business, not an employer’s.

My previous employer sent me to the 2014 Authority conference, and what I learned that year prompted me to leave that job and start my own business. (You can read that story here.)

So, I couldn’t miss the next event — even if that meant going alone. And I’m so glad I did.

The conference provided me with motivation, smart guidance, expert advice, and a network of colleagues that have been integral to helping me grow my new business.

No matter what conference is ahead — but especially if you’re attending Rainmaker Digital’s Digital Commerce Summit this year on October 13-14, 2016 in Denver, Colorado — here are simple tips to optimize your experience before, during, and after the event.
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How to Write So Vividly that Readers Fall in Love with Your Ideas

use words that make them swoon

With a deep sigh, Helen Fields switches on her PC. Another Monday. Another article to write about leadership.

Hasn’t everything been written already?

Helen checks her Twitter stream and answers a few emails. She doesn’t feel like writing. Not yet. She googles the word “leadership.”

756 million articles. Ouch. But still … Helen knows she can help, encourage, and inspire her readers.

While sipping her green tea, she leafs through her notebook with article ideas. Nothing feels right. Everything feels bland.

She doesn’t want to write a humdrum article. She doesn’t want to dump her ideas online. She wants to write with power, passion, and pizzazz.

She wants to wake up her readers, electrify them with her words, and jump-start them to change the world.

Why write if you can’t inspire change? Why write if people only skim your subheads before clicking away? How do you choose vivid words that make readers not only remember — but also love — your ideas?
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3 Smart Moves that Supercharge Sales Funnels with Content

use content to power up your funnel

The problem with many business blogs is that they’re boring, product-centric, and full of corporate jargon — not exactly the juicy, engaging, personality-filled content that readers love to consume and share.

While you want to establish trust and authority with your audience, content that helps you meet business goals also fills your sales funnel with interested prospects.

So, if you’d like your content to be share-worthy and generate leads, this post is for you. Read on for three ways to supercharge your sales funnel.
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