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Dear Coach...
Since I started developing courses by email (CBE's) this summer
(2001), I've received lots of email from coaches asking me how I
set them up, if it's working financially, and what I recommend
that they do to create an ecourse of their own.
So, I figure this week's Passive Revenue focus on Creating an
eCourse would be most welcome.
First, the terminology
There are different terms in the world of distance education...
TeleClass: A live, interactive conference call with an
expert and students/participants.
RealClass: RealAudio of a TeleClass.
CBE: A course by email (like Passive Revenue for Coaches)
where the person receives a lesson every day or week via email.
CBT: Computer based training using software/DVDs.
IBT or WBT: Internet/Web based training that one
does online via the web or Intranet vs CDs.
eCourse. Generic/broad term than includes most of
the above.
So, what is a course by email (CBE)?
A course by email is a series of emails that a person can
receive that will teach them something valuable.
The email can contain passive elements (text, images) and/or
active elements (flash animated files, interactive test taking,
or links to RealAudio or video).
There are typically 10 to 100 lessons in a CBE.
Typically, a lesson would include...
An introduction/overview
3 to 5 key points
A couple of examples/stories
A suggested action step (optional)
and a final comment
You can also include things like...
An invitation to comment/add to this lesson
An invitation to a TeleClass in a couple of days where folks can
discuss/learn more about this lesson
A link to a discussion board where folks can express themselves
or ask questions
A link to a special report that explains more about today's
topic
A link to a website with a tool, more info, links, etc.
You can earn revenue from a CBE in any
of the following ways...
Charging for the ecourse itself, typically $19 to $79. (passive
revenue)
Licensing the ecourse to others to broadcast/use/teaching (passive
revenue)
Upselling the free or pay subscribers to a live TeleClass or
RealAudio course that is more comprehensive than the CBE content
is, by a factor of at least 5 or 10. (passive
and active revenue)
Carrying banner ads for other coaches, or affiliate type
products/services (passive
revenue)
Carrying banner ads for other courses, TeleClasses, your
coaching services, CDs/tapes, or events/trainings (passive
and active revenue)
Making the CBE free, but charging for immediate access to all
lessons (for those who can't wait for the 3 to 24 months for all
of your lessons to cycle through).
Other benefits of creating/broadcasting
CBE's...
It's an easy way to develop IP (intellectual property) because
you can write one lesson a day or week. After a couple of
months, you've really got a resource that can be packaged in a
number of ways. I've found this much easier to do than trying to
sit down and write a how to book (ugh).
The daily lessons/nuggets are far easier because you only write
for an hour or so each day, you have a receptive/responsive
audience of readers/subscribers, you easily get into the habit
of a daily broadcast, and you come up with clever stuff because
during the rest of your day, you're noticing things, stories,
ideas you could weave into the next morning's broadcast.
You'll attract people who are ready to DO something about this
area in their life because you're offering a solution/steps vs
just 'information' that might come in an ezine. It's a more
focused subscriber list.
You'll be able to immediately tweak/improve your
writing/lessons/content if you ask for input from your
subscribers. By the end of the CBE, you'll have evolved
your work several iterations worth, making it a more
stable/robust offering. (This is a big deal.)
Finally...
Writing a CBE is fun. You'll be more creative as a result of
starting a CBE. And you'll be in the solutions biz instead
of just the information biz. Big distinction. People
take CBE's because they want to change, fix, improve, resolve,
accomplish or acquire something.
I hope that this has been helpful.
Thomas
In the next lesson, we'll talk about how to select your topic
and package your content.
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with
thomas leonard
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