Teaching in Alignment

There are two types of alignment that are important to consider in setting up your online course and the business that supports it.

It's critical to be aligned "vertically", with our higher purpose...our mission, vision, values, and purpose for teaching online.

And it's also critical to be aligned "horizontally", with our ideal customers... the people we are here to serve.

Your course exists at the intersection of those two alignments, at the sweet spot where your vision of the difference you want to make in the world meets the people who want to achieve that transformation, with your guidance and help.

Where does your vision for the transformation you want to deliver meet up with the people who want to achieve that transformation, with your help?

In order to reach those future customers, we need to use the tools provided by digital marketing. For some online course creators, marketing comes easily. But for many others, it doesn't.

Many people who are drawn to teaching, are "people people", rather than numbers/data/algorithm people. But digital marketing works by skillfully using numbers, data, and algorithms to bring our ideal future course participants to us.

"People people" thrive in face-to-face teaching situations, where they get real-time interaction with and feedback directly from the people they are here to serve. For extroverts, for example, getting up in front of a live crowd can feel energizing as the audience's responsiveness flows back towards them.

But what happens to those same "people people" in an online teaching situation?

The technology itself can feel like an opaque wall rather than a transparent window, blocking the instructor's view of their online learners. The solution to that is fairly simple, fortunately: practice with the technology you'll be using, in a safe low-stakes situation, until you feel comfortable.

But how do we reach the people who haven't even shown up yet, for our online course, in order to make them aware of the course to begin with? There are many wonderful programs out there that teach digital marketing for online course creators, and we can learn from all of them. We can learn techniques and skills and methods of digital marketing.

What's harder to learn, though, is the mindset shift that has to happen in order to reach out to people we've never met, and bring them into our sphere of influence where our products and services can work for them.

For many of us in the Learn and Get Smarter community, our primary motivation for teaching online is to be of service. But how do we find the people we want to serve, especially when there is so much emphasis in the digital marketing space on making lots and lots and lots of money... on seeing our potential customers in terms of what they can give US, rather than on how we can serve THEM?

young woman using laptop PC and various pictures. internet streaming service concept.

Many people in the Learn and Get Smarter community struggle with these questions. I know I certainly do. That's why I'm so thankful that my path crossed with Korrie Olszewski, who focuses on digital marketing for service-oriented coaches and entrepreneurs.

Korrie joined us at the Learn and Get Smarter community meeting on August 8th and shared her vision for creating alignment between our highest purpose and our practical goals of serving our customers. Many of us found her approach to digital marketing harmonious and in alignment with the way we want to present ourselves online.

I am very much looking forward to learning more from her! Check out Korrie's website to learn more about her work and her unique perspective on digital marketing.

How do YOU feel about reaching out to your future potential customers?

Does that come easily to you?

Or do you struggle with it?

Do you feel that your course, and your business, are deeply aligned with your central mission and vision and values and purpose and goals? Do you have a clear sense of the exact type of people you'd like your course to help, and exactly how you want it to make a difference in their lives?

It's important to get clear on all those things first, BEFORE starting to actually build your course. Come on over to the Facebook group and let's talk about it...or if you prefer, drop me a line at Rebecca@learnandgetsmarter.com.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these important topics that every course creator has to face.