The business model chosen and described in the past report considered packing my knowledge in a document (that may become in itself an e-book), which generates a power point presentation, which then transforms in a course that is sold through a digital platform and with marketing activities. For those users who want more, a personalized coaching is offered via e-mail or videoconference.
A couple of weeks ago I had a new support to my initiative. A Chilean University offered me to use their multimedia premises to generate my contents, in return they would use them in their online courses exclusively for a given time. They were interested in this "digital competencies for analogical managers" thing. The name is beginning to be catchy, since it is easy to understand and visualize the contents of the Course. A TV content producer offered me the same to run the course in their TV platform. I'll have both. I think that the more formats you offer your contents, the better. Once they are all available, you may assess which performs better.
The thing is, packing knowledge in a format that can be used massively is not about yourself just taking in front of your webcam with power point presentation and recording if your computer´s screen. Writing what your will say in that presentation is the first task, and I am finding it is a tiresome one. You come up with something which is okay for an e-book, but clearly won´t do for a lecture. Anyhow the first of the 9 modules of the course is already written in Spanish. I think that for the English version it is not a matter of using Google Translator. It must be edited and writen differently, though the concepts remain the same. As my english editor in these posts says, there are terms in Spanish that must be broken to pieces so they can be better understood in English.
Anyway, this first chapter took me over a month to write, and it was twice as big as I had thought it would be. Now I must transform what is written into "knowledge capsules" following the best practices I have found in the MOOCs I have attended so far. They are small capsules. There is no standard length of the lecture. There are virtual activities (watch a video, read a blog, answer a quiz) linked to the capsule. Even the with the e-book, there is a lot more than just writing it down: you must also do the self-publishing work. But all of this is encouraging. To take it with humor, there are digital skills to be learned in producing a course on digital skills.
This is my action plan for the forecoming months:
By end of June I must have produced this first module and published the first module's e-book, in both languages. By February of next year all 9 modules must be produced and uploaded. A tight agenda considering I must continue with my regular activity.
During 2014 the focus will be on massive marketing, though improvements of what has been so far produced must be attended as well. So, by the end of 2014 I must have a consistent flow of income from my online activities, which will allow me to get independent from my actual income source, and rely solely on what the Internet produces. The thing is new consulting opportunities are coming their way, with many attractive ones which are like the mermaids chants to Odiseus. I have decided I will take only those who strengthen this 2015 project, and leave the rest.
So, the action plan is decided upon, and now it is all just hard work.
In my next report I will talk of a tool I discovered recently which allowed me to save lots of time in what massive marketing is concerned. It also allows to make money while learning, though it is not in the core of my project.
I want to thank all who have written me to my LinkedIn account and my personal e-mail giving me their support. This one thing I want to share: regardless of your age, life is a wonderful rainbow of opportunities and when it comes to a job, the colors of the rainbow are seen when you replace in your mindset "looking for a job" by "working on what I love and have talent"
¡Just try!
Alfredo Barriga
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