TEACH 'EM TO REACH 'EM

You're constantly on the lookout for sure-fire ways to

attract targeted customers to your online business.

Well, what do you know?

Really--what *do* you know? Think long and hard about

this, because you can use your areas of expertise, your

skills and/or your hobbies as springboards for promoting

and selling your goods or services to a captive audience

--by offering a free online course.

If It's Free, It's For Me!

Why offer a freebie when you're trying to make a profit

from your business? While at first glance the concept

might not make sense, it is actually one of the oldest

and most effective marketing techniques both online and

off. People simply love to get things for free, and

merchants oblige, with the goal of selling additional

goods back end. From taste testings at wineries and

supermarkets, to product samples delivered door-to-door,

vendors have used freebies for decades to promote their

products.

Free classes fall into this same "try something for

nothing" category. Again, using a comparable example

from the brick and mortar world, consider the craft

store chain that offers free classes on how to make

decorative wreathes. Where will most, if not all, of

the people who attend these classes purchase their

crafting supplies? It's a win-win situation; those who

take the class gain a new skill for free, and the store

gains new--and probably repeat--customers!

Those Who Can Do, Teach

"But I've never taught anything in my life!" Chances

are, you have--whether showing a child how to bait a

hook or bake cookies, or coaching a new co-worker on the

job, we all have opportunities to take on the role of

teacher now and then. "Teaching" is simply taking

something we've learned, and showing someone else how to

do it. The fact that your instruction didn't involve a

structured course plan or weekly quizzes doesn't make you

any less of a teacher in these situations.

When developing your free online course, focus on

selecting a subject that meets these three criteria:

· One that involves a topic or skill that you

consider yourself good at, or even an expert;

· Something that other people would love to learn;

· And, finally, has some sort of tie-in back to your

business.

Going back to the craft store example above, you can see

that offering free decorative wreath class successfully

satisfies all three of these qualifications.

Still not sure what you could possibly teach in your own

free online course? Begin with the third criterion--base

it on your business itself-- and go from there. Let's

say, for example, that you operate a marine supply company

aimed at sailboat owners; you might offer a free "Safety

Tips for Sailors" course, or a "Long-Distance Sailor's

Survival" class. Or if you specialize in providing

virtual office services to small businesses, you could

conduct a course entitled "Simple Bookkeeping Techniques

for Busy Business People," or perhaps a basic business

writing course. As with any marketing strategy, your free

course ideas are limited only by your imagination--as long

as you keep the three rules of thumb listed above in mind.

Develop Your Course Once, Teach It Thousands of Times

The best and most cost-effective way to develop and

deliver your free online course is to use an autoresponder

service that allows you to set up several (five to eight)

messages which will be generated automatically to those

who sign up for the class. Set up each outgoing message

as one "lesson" in the course; in the first lesson, you

might provide a complete overview of what information the

course will cover, followed by more specific information

in lesson two, and so forth.

Each lesson needs to be no longer than a short article,

ranging from 500 to 900 words. You might also want to

include little "assignments" at the end of each lesson,

encouraging your students to put into action the material

covered that day.

As for pacing your course, select an autoresponder

service that allows you to preschedule the time intervals

between lessons. You can then choose to send a new lesson

out each day, every other day, once a week, or whatever.

You only need to develop your course and set up the

mailing strategy once, and let the autoresponder take it

from there.

Using the Free Course to Promote Your Business

Keeping in mind that your free online course is a

marketing tool, you will of course want to somehow refer

your students back to your business Web site. This means

incorporating the additional products or services that you

offer, along with your URL, into each and every lesson.

The goal here is to strike a balance between sounding

flagrantly self-promotional and being too subtle. In

other words, you do not want to chase off those who have

signed up for your free course with a barrage of hype;

most of us already see too much advertising daily, and

have become desensitized to it. At the same time, you

want your "students" to know where they can find

additional information or tools on the subject--at *your*

site.

You can accomplish this by covering each lesson in

greater depth on your site (e.g., "For more information

on today's lesson, visit http://www.yoursite.com"),

including a trip to your URL as part of each day's

assignment, or simply posting a brief advertisement for

your site at the end of each lesson. If your course-

takers feel they have benefited from the free information

they have received from you, they will be much more

inclined to at least take a look at what else you have to

offer.

Many Internet entrepreneurs currently offer free online

courses to gain exposure and expand their clientele.

Although developing your own course requires a good deal

of effort up front, the pay-off in terms or increased

traffic and sales is tremendous. Incorporate the "teach

'em to reach 'em" philosophy into your marketing strategy,

and watch your business soar!

Chris Kilian operates several sites online that help ezine

editors. http://ArticlesNow.com Free articles for ezines,

blogs, and web sites. http://RapidReplyLeads.com

Explosive subscriber growth in under 48 hours and

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Open your own autoresponder http://RapidReply.Net This article is free for republishing
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