By Milana Leshinsky
Imagine sitting on your porch and watching your kids play in the
backyard. At the same time, you are holding a telephone and
talking to 20 people from other states, Canada, Australia, UK,
and other places all over the world. Modern technology made
this possible!
Teleclasses are a fun way to connect with other like-minded
people, learn a new skill and pick up some useful information.
It’s just like distant learning (or distant teaching, if you're
the leader) held over the telephone. Everyone dials the same
conference line (also called a bridge line), and listens to the
class leader (also called an instructor).
Some teleclasses are interactive, where participants are
encouraged to ask questions and share ideas. These are much
more interesting and fun, since everyone can contribute to the
discussion.
Conducting your own teleclass is also a great way to make money
from your knowledge. If you are a coach or consultant, or know
something others are willing to pay for, you can put together a
profitable teleclass.
Here are the steps to organizing and conducting a successful
teleclass:
1.) Decide who you'd like as your participants. If you already
have a business and defined your target market, it's best to
create a teleclass geared for your target audience. This
strategy will allow you to reduce the time you spend preparing
for and marketing your teleclass. Your idea participants must
represent a specific group of people that you can easily reach.
EXAMPLES:
- recently divorced women
- parents of autistic children
- parents of college students
- couples after 50
- musicians trying to form their own band
2.) Name your teleclass. Be specific, don't make people guess
what your teleclass is about. Your class title is like the
headline in an ad - make it short, punchy and to the point.
EXAMPLES:
- "Sharing Custody With a Jerk"
- "Is Your Business Running You?"
- "How to Stop Your Divorce"
- "5 Steps to Making it Big in Publishing Business"
3.) Think of what else you can offer to your class participants.
Whether you’re giving a fr*ee teleclass or charging for it, you
need to have a back-end product or service related to the topic
of the teleclass, to maximize your profit potential.
EXAMPLES:
- Teleclass name: "Rich Coach - Poor Coach"
Back-end service: "12-Week Practice Building on the Internet
for Coaches" program.
- Teleclass name: "How to Build Your Very First Web Site"
Back-end product: "Create Your First Business Web Site in 10 days"
tutorial on CD.
4.) List 5-10 points you’ll discuss. Explain each point by
stating the problem and offering a solution.
EXAMPLES:
- "Finding the right realtor, the best school district and a
safe neighborhood is very important to a single mother. You'll
learn everything you need to know about relocating to a new town
in the first half of the teleclass."
- "Sharing files between your home computers is very important
when you have multiple users in the house. Discover exactly how
to create a simple computer network and connecting all of your
home computers together."
5.) Specify who will benefit from your teleclass the most by
stating your target audience somewhere in the class description.
EXAMPLES:
- "This teleclass is perfect for the parents being stressed out
over living with their college age child."
- "Business owners in their 1st year of start-up will especially
find this teleclass helpful."
6.) List your credentials. What qualifies you for giving this
teleclass? Did you go through the same situation a few years
ago? Did you conduct an extensive research on the subject? Do
you work with clients/patients who deal with the same type of
problem? Include your credibility factors at the bottom of the
teleclass description.
EXAMPLES:
- "About Instructor: Milana Leshinsky has built her Internet
consulting business with no previous business experience and
with only $50 in her pocket. She currently owns 17 successful
web sites, is a full-time Internet entrepreneur, and helps her
clients profit from their knowledge."
7.) Create a web page and put all of the above information
online. Treat your teleclass as a product, giving it its own sales page and an order button. To learn how to make your own web
page, visit http://www.firstbusinesswebsite.com and get the
"Create Your First Business Web Site in 10 days" tutorial.
8.) Reserve a bridge line. There are free and paid bridge
lines available, although I prefer to pay for a bridge line to
insure its reliability. Some of the bridge line providers
include:
- http://www.bridgerentals.com
- http://www.easyconference.com
- http://www.mrconference.com
- http://www.rentabridge.com
- http://www.telebridge.com
- http://www.teleconferenceline.com
9.) Announce your teleclass. Start with your existing mailing
list and network of friends, colleagues, and business partners.
Search for newsletters and web sites targeting the same audience
you are, and contact their publishers. You can ask them to
publish your article discussing one or more points from your
teleclass, and promoting the class at the end of the article.
Alternatively, you can purchase a small classified ad in their
newsletter to attract participants.
10.) Follow up with all participants by sending them a
complimentary report, article, tips or a tool they can use.
Include a page promoting your back-end service or product inside
your follow-up material.
EXAMPLES:
- "10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Punishing Your Child"
- "Self-Assessment for New Business Owners"
- "How Computer Savvy Are You?" Quiz
If you have never been on a teleclass, visit these two web sites:
- http://www.teleclass.com
- http://www.teleclassinternational.com
You'll find classes on topics varying from parenting and
relationships, to marketing, cooking and weight loss. You can
also list your own teleclasses with these web sites, in addition
to promoting it in other places.
When your teleclass is done, turn it into an e-book, series of
lessons, or a coaching program. This is exactly what I did with
my "Rich Coach - Poor Coach" teleclass. I saw the need for a
much more detailed program, and developed it into a "12-Week
Practice Building on the Internet for Coaches" coaching program.
You can also record your teleclasses and sell the RealAudio
version on your web site for an additional source of income.
Whatever you do with your knowledge, don't waste it - share it
with others who need your help, while building a long-term
business.
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