Ep.4 – Community Cultivation for Course Creators

Your online community space can be the most supportive resource for your students. In episode 4, we’re going to talk about how to create focused community spaces for your students to connect, collaborate, share and support one-another through your eCourse transformation.

Watch, listen and check out the show notes below…


EPISODE 4 SHOW NOTES:

The Three Phases of Growing your Community:

1. Getting it Going:
– At the core of every community is one thing. PASSION!
– Create the community you’ve always wanted to be a part of.
– Before launching your community, write out your “Code of Honour.”

Exercise:
a) Write a list of all the things you DO and DON’T like from the communities you’re a part of.
b) Write out all the features that are most important to your community.
c) Draft up your Code of Honour (watch/listen to episode to hear ours).


2. Keeping it Going:
– Quality of conversation is more important than quantity.
– Follow up on old conversations to re-spark people’s inspiration.
– Be present & have other representatives who keep the conversations going.
– Use email to direct members to hot topics and conversations.
– Encouraging your community to post videos and images is great for engagement.
– Gamify your community experience with challenges.

Exercise:
a) Write out your 2-3 key strategies for keeping your community engaged.
b) If you were interviewed on Oprah, what 5 questions would you want her to ask you? (these will identify the conversations you want to be having in your community)


3. It Goes on its Own:
– This is when your community takes on a life of its own (the goal).
– Be committed to the longterm journey and keep showing up for your members.
– Be patient and don’t get discouraged on the journey of getting here.

TWEETABLE: “If you want more conversions, start having more meaningful conversations.”The Great eCourse Adventure


Tech Resources:

Before you check out the links provided before, we encourage you to start where you are, with the budget you have and the level of tech skills you have.

Below are a bunch of different resources you can check out for building your online community experience.

  1. bbPressbbPress is forum software with a twist from the creators of WordPress. Easily setup discussion forums inside your WordPress.org powered site.
  2. Muut: Muut powes lively discussions for millions of sites, making users happier and more likely to return.
  3. Disqus (comments) Disqus offers is an add-on tool for site owners to power discussions, increase engagement, and earn revenue. 
  4. IPboard: This dedicated forum software is a flexible, integrated set of apps for building great communities on the web.
  5. Ning: Ning’s scalable hosted platform gives you the tools and expertise you need to publish and connect with your community – all in one place. Easy. Powerful. Affordable.
  6. Mightybell: Create a dedicated community around an identity or interest with Mightybell Network.
  7. Facebook comments: The Facebook Comments WordPress plugin makes it easier for you to setup, administer and customise Facebook comments from your WordPress site.
  8. Private Facebook groups: Facebook Groups make it easy to connect with your students. Groups are dedicated spaces where you can share updates, photos, challenges, documents and message other group members. You can also do Facebook LIVE, answer questions and support all your students. This is the easiest place to start until you’re ready to scale up.

We hope this has been another informative, inspiring episode of eCourse Adventures LIVE. Let us know your biggest takeaway or most burning questions around eCourse Creation!

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