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1. Do you have any courses your organization is especially excited about? Feature them on your online catalogue! Make them stand out.
2. The use of graphics can effectively round out the online experience by enhancing and personalizing it. A flat, boring webpage usually translates to a flat, boring experience.
3. Highlight any important dates or special promotions. Help keep your learners as informed as possible so they can make decisions pertaining to their education needs that are not only timely, but personalized.
4. The use of live social media updates can enhance communication and keep your program relevant.
5. Using ratings and reviews keeps your learners adequately informed. What did past registrants think of the content? These reviews can help others make the decision as to whether a particular course is right for them and their learning goals.

These are ONLY a few of the helpful tips that our team has come up with to ensure your organization’s online continuing education experience is nothing less than outstanding. If you want to make a tangible and positive impact with your continuing education and really give your members what they need, please contact us at info@inreachce.com.

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• Think, software compatibility! Allow plenty of time to make sure your visuals are compatible with the webcast software and send your materials to your moderator/coordinator early-on. When rushing to get materials in at the last minute certain visuals like animations or videos can lead to glitches.

• Spice up your PowerPoints. While a clean design and professional font are key, don’t be afraid to add some pizazz and razzle-dazzle to make your presentation memorable. No one wants to sit through black and white PowerPoints.

• A picture is worth a thousand words. When speaking about a particular topic, it’s attention-grabbing to have a picture or illustration related to the subject matter to really drive home your point.

• Follow the 7×7 rule. Instead of miles and miles of text on one PowerPoint slide, remember the 7×7 rule: 7 bullet points of 7 words each. Following this rule will ensure a clean, digestible presentation. Also, your slides are just an aid! Resist the urge to jam a ton of information onto one slide. It’s not meant to be a crutch, but a helpful visual.

• Course titles should be logical and concise. Wordy, lengthy titles can turn learners off and reduce participation. The average human being’s attention span is quite short. Brevity is almost always more appealing.

• Be engaging! When it comes to the actual presentation, delivery is important! It’s difficult to see every facial expression via a webinar or webcast so it is really important to emphasize certain points with hand gestures and vocal inflection. Bring life to your presentation using your voice and overall presence.

• Have a great attitude! You’ve been asked to share your unique knowledge and attendees have taken time out of their busy schedules to absorb the knowledge you have to offer. The pride you take in your work and your enthusiasm will translate into a truly memorable learning experience.

For more tips from Jennifer check out her Huffington Post article, “8 Ways to Rock your Presentation”.

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Non-dues revenue streams come from a variety of sources, with the most common ones being education and certification programs, conference registrations, as well as exhibitor and sponsor fees². Given this heavy reliance on non-dues revenue, and that many associations regard supporting and furthering their members’ careers and professional development, it is no surprise that education and certification programs are a key source of non-dues revenue.

The question then becomes how to deliver this key member benefit in a way that matches the needs and expectations of an increasingly diverse member base. With tighter travel budgets, and younger professionals who often don’t receive discretionary professional development funds, associations have to balance the expectations of older members with the needs and preferences of younger members.

For many associations, online continuing education provides the perfect answer for these challenges. Online education means associations deliver educational content on-demand, freeing members from scheduling conflicts and enabling them to get the information they need at their convenience. If in-person events are still a lucrative source of non-dues revenue, associations can generate an additional revenue boost by live-broadcasting their in-person events so those with travel budget constraints can still participate. These are just two of the many ways that online continuing education can be a significant source of non-dues revenue. Look for our upcoming blog on how to make the most from your online education program.

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Here are some course design tips we thought you might find helpful:

• Make it bite-sized. Over-loaded schedules and frequent interruptions makes time for continuing education a luxury. Providing learning in bite-sized chunks will help your learners get key points or tips that they can immediately apply to their professional practice. If accrediting bodies require certain course durations for certification, be sure to build in a fast-paced review of pertinent points. The faster pace can create the feel of bite-sized learning and help refocus distracted learners.

• Offer it on-demand. If you’ve got a live webinar or webcast, make sure to offer an on-demand version of it. That way people who can’t attend the live event can access it later. Creating both an on-demand audio/video course, as well as a podcast of the event, will meet a wider variety of learning styles and accommodate the need to provide convenient options for your learner.

• Keep it interactive. As Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneer in the study of memory discovered, within a month we forget 90% of what we learn unless we apply and master it. So even if you followed Tip 1 and presented bite-sized learning or longer courses with bite-sized reviews, there’s a good chance your learners will quickly start to forget the content. Combat that tendency by introducing interactive elements to your course such as quizzes that require learners to apply their knowledge and take a more active role in the course.

• Think long-term. Most of you have long relationships with your learners. Whether they are valued employees who look to you for on-the-job training, or respected association members who rely on your continuing education to maintain their certification, your role is to provide opportunity for continuous learning and constant growth. So make sure your training and education programs offer a variety of courses to meet the needs of new-comers to the field, as well as experts looking to expand their knowledge in niche areas. Also consider building in a clear course progression, so learners know which course to take next to further develop their knowledge of a topic.

As the old saying goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” Stop trying to combat competing demands, constant disruptions and short attentions spans. Embrace the challenge and utilize the tips above to engage modern learners in more effective ways.

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Today’s work places are fast-paced ever changing environments that demand that employees constantly develop new skills and hone their existing ones. Whether your learner is a skilled doctor needing to stay up-to-date with the latest medical advances, or a fork-lift operator who must remain current with all safety requirements, continuous learning is a must. This need for instant access to information is part of what is fueling the move to digital, or online continuing education. And with 30% of employees working remotely, online education provides economical and logistical benefits.

One of the main benefits on online continuing education is that it enables anytime, anywhere access. Between interruptions every 5 minutes at work (often by work applications and collaboration tools) and spending 41% of the workday on tasks that don’t actually help get work done, to being distracted by smartphones, the modern learner is left with 1% of the typical workweek to devote to learning. So it is only natural that such an overwhelmed and distracted workforce seeks flexibility about when and how learning occurs. The days of marathon training sessions or multi-day training courses are numbered as learning becomes more on-demand and more collaborative.

These changes are reflected in what we’ve seen here at InReach. While we have a diverse client base that covers a number of industries, as well as market sectors, there’s a common thread that is the growing preference for online, on-demand education. As you think about your continuing education program, take the modern learner and their preferences into consideration.

Remember, this is only a small piece when it comes to understanding the modern learner. Learn what makes the modern learner tick from a recent webinar I hosted that delves deeper into the behavior of learners and how organizations should be adapting to meet their needs.

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If you’re anything like me you thought, “Yeah right! There’s no way I can do that!” and curled up into the fetal position to wait for the enormity of this demand to pass. Hopefully, like me, you also remembered your mother’s wise words, “You can’t eat a whole cake in a single bite. Break it into pieces baby girl!” and decided to tackle the marketing of your continuing education in small manageable bites.

And that’s what I aim to do in this series; take what can be a daunting task, marketing your continuing education (CE), and break it into manageable bite-sized pieces to savor. By looking at each of the 4P’s individually it’s easier to take them from the theoretical to the practical. To-do lists create themselves, and you’ve left with actionable strategies to test.

So let’s grab our fork and dig into the first P—Product.

According to BusinessDictionary.com a Product is, “A good or service that most closely meets the requirements of a particular market and yields enough profit to justify its continued existence.” I really like this definition since it gets at the root of what makes a good product. It is something people want, and are willing to pay for.

In the world of CE, the product is obviously the CE content, your courses. And while it would be easy to lick the icing off our fingers now and consider this topic done, it warrants a little more attention.

When thinking of content, think about the requirements of your learners (your market) and remember that while there is some homogeny, there is also diversity. Now, think about your CE courses (your product). Do you offer the same course in a variety of formats (live webinar, on-demand, podcast etc.) to meet the diversity of preferences within this group? Offering the same course in multiple formats is an easy and quick way (assuming you use InReach) to meet the diverse needs of your market and yield more profits.

When considering the requirements of your learners (market) it pays to keep their motivations front and center. While compliance is key, your learners also rely on you to educate them on the latest developments in their field. Has there been a recent development or event that requires new knowledge, or has a new law been passed that will affect their profession? If so, do you have a course that can educate your market on these changes? Are your courses relevant to your learner’s needs? Let’s take a look at this recent example:

This scenario followed the spate of Ebola courses here in the US. One of our clients, a medical association, recognized that their members would value a course to educate medical professionals on the disease. Within a matter of days, they gathered a panel of experts, held a live-streaming webinar and enabled their members to access expert, relevant and timely information. Then, the association took the next step. They diversified the product by making their live-streaming webinar available on-demand to allow a greater percentage of their market to consume the content on their terms. That’s a great example of a good or service that most closely meets the requirements of a particular market.

If you’re now hooked and want to take a few more Product related nibbles, check out these websites:

http://mnav.com/focus-group-center/marketing-questions-for-customers/

http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/market-research/top-20-questions-that-research-could-help-you-answer

http://www.profitworks.ca/blog/916-blog/marketing-strategy/281-good-marketing-questions-to-ask.html

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The infographic provided some great facts on the benefits of podcasting as a delivery type. And this really made me pause and consider this often ignored type of continuing education, the podcast. The benefits of podcasts are numerous. Podcasts require fewer technological investments on the part of the learner. Many of your learners might not have a tablet to make viewing an on-demand course pleasurable, and while you can watch a course on a smartphone, who wants to squint at a 4 inch screen for an hour? Listening is another story. Learners can download a podcast to their smartphone, or MP3 player, and listen to it anytime.

And that is another benefit, podcasts only require your auditory attention. So whether they are inching through traffic, or weaving through crowded subway platforms, learners can listen to their CE and put their commute to good use. And, as the infographic points out, auditory learning really sticks with you. Learners who listen to something are twice as likely to remember it two weeks later compared to learners who just read content.

Added to this is the boom that the podcasting industry is experiencing. According to the Washington Post, over 1 billion podcasts were downloaded in 2013 a 25% increase over the previous year, and 20% of Americans listen to a podcast at least once a month¹. This is evidenced by the skyrocketing popularity of shows like This American Life and Planet Money.  Even better, the listener demographic skews toward the younger end of the market, with half of all listeners under the age of 34². And, as you look for ways to connect with Millennials and the young professionals entering your field, podcasts might be a good way to reach that niche.

Finally, podcasting is an inexpensive way to create content. You don’t need to invest in high quality graphics for slides, you don’t have to worry about backgrounds, lighting or any of the details that come with videos. You just need a clearly written script and a quiet room to create some quality content.

So as you develop your m-learning strategy, don’t forget about podcasts. In fact, if you are still shaping your 2015 plans and want a pilot m-learning program, why not consider a podcast?

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