Leading the Learning Revolution book summary

“Knowledge Economy”

Change is the only reliable constant in today's knowledge economy.  The nature of work is in a constant state of rapid change.  Workers must constantly obtain new information and experience to remain competitive and employable.  This is equally true for creative leaders, whose work requires solid thinking for all their employees.


 Contemporary industry will ignore those who fall into disuse, but sustainable self-improvement requires a high degree of self-discipline and self-direction.  All workers should take personal responsibility for improving their skills and developing their education.  As everyone knows and adjusts to the knowledge economy, it is turning into a "learning economy".


 Anyone with a computer and Internet connection can connect and educate people around the world.  Advances in technology such as "reliable and low-cost web conferencing technologies" make it feasible and relatively inexpensive to benefit adult learning outside the classroom.  Corporate training departments now commonly provide e-learning.  More than 70% of professional and trade associations still offer some continuing education courses online.


 Worthy Models

 Using basic video and web tools, hedge fund manager Salman Khan has produced more than 2,000 videos and educated nearly 150 million students.  The founder of Khan Academy, started in education with the intention of teaching his cousin.  Today, the loyalty of teachers and students to Kahan's educational materials is a testimony to its value.  It symbolizes two personal traits required to succeed as a special education provider: extensive experience and a strong entrepreneurial spirit.


 Stephen Downs and George Siemens started a "Massive Open Online Course" (MOOC), which included "blogging, wikis, email and an open source learning management system."  The MOOC was attended by thousands of people around the world, the first of many large-scale online activities organized by Downs and Siemens.


 Multiplayer games can also become educational experiences.  The Institute for the Future oversees a number of "serious games" in which participants compete to develop intellectual solutions to suppress global problems such as global poverty.  According to the institute, this form of collective online participation promotes social learning.


 While learning on the Internet, online students chat with their instructors through chat, "multi-way videos" and discussion boards.  By providing feedback, online students also teach each other.  Online instruction has become an accepted and expected staple in leading colleges and universities.  The renowned and respected Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference recently launched a special educational website TEDEd (http://education.ted.com).

 Your market

 Send online promotions for your educational product only to those who can become long-term customers.  Focus on the niche audience that wants your special expertise.  Establishing a long-term, permanent customer base requires about 1,000 customers who become "true fans", whatever you buy, as they use your materials to promote and sustain your business growth.  Expect  An initial lead base of 50,000 to 100,000 individuals is required to secure the 1,000 customers who become your loyal followers.


 Do simple Google keyword searches that are relevant to your potential educational products.  For example, if you plan to teach entrepreneurs about cash flow, search for "small business cash flow".  See related Google ads and YouTube videos.  Use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.  Set up a Google Alert feed that collects online information that aligns with your search.  To define your audience, use SocialMention as a social media search tool and SurveyMonkey to complete an online survey.


 Once you consider your target market, place a test ad on Google.  Start with a "minimum viable product".  Develop an "always in beta" mentality about product development.  Don't spend a lot of time and money developing your educational products unless you have a strong lead base - a "minimum viable audience".


 For online marketing, provide a strong customer incentive on the landing page of your website, which should also include a call to action.  Buy a suitable email list for your marketing.  MailChimp offers a free list of up to 2,000 names.  Constant Contact is another popular email list provider.  His market research activities can be summarized as: "Listen, ask and try".


 Business model

 Select a solid business model for your educational products and services company.  Your model should include several options for creating and maintaining income.  Popular business models of educational companies include:


 • "P2 Community Model": Use this model to teach basic skills that always need updating.  The purpose of P2 is "Purpose × Passion", which is the mainstay of educational activity with constant renewal.  Your online community needs both purpose and passion to get involved.  Take the Elast Blogging Bootcamp founded by Leo Babuta.  It offers an online course that teaches people how to become a powerful blogger.  Another is SciMind initiative, which includes "self-learning learning materials" supplemented by expert support and peer learning.

 •  “The flipped model”: Educational entrepreneurs use this model to offer valuable free educational content to establish their subject matter experience before attempting to charge for their educational products.  This model allows you to establish strong brand awareness and build customer loyalty before selling.

 • "The Virtual Conference Model": This model uses advanced webinars or webcasting that enable students to attend educational conferences on the Internet in their homes or offices.  Some organizations sponsoring mainstream educational conferences fear that virtual conferences will break customer attendance numbers, but market experience does not support this concern.

 • "Massive Model": Use this Internet-based model to communicate to millions of people around the world from your computer at almost no cost.  Today's teachers can easily reach 10,000 people because they can reach a class of 20 students.  The "large-scale learning experience" includes educational materials gathered by experts and presented online to a large number of students.  These learning experiences are collaborative, as students naturally form their own comment groups.

 Differentiation

 Large amounts of free information on the Internet compete in cyberspace as an educational service.  To avoid lowering your values, develop a brand that customers want.  Different products from an online teacher require that you:

 • Be specific: Generate unique content or package familiar content in a new way.

 • Be "memorable": Do something your students will never forget.

 • Have a discussion: Talk to people about yourself.

 • "Unleash your powers": Identify what you do best.  Have a stranger give you an objective evaluation.

 • "Redefine your market": mold your product with your personality, make sure your prospects know that your work is born from their heart and is unique.

 • "Set the standard": Learn from the example of the Institute of Project Management, known as the gold standard for project management through its professional certification program.  Ted achieved a similar stature by holding the "Creativity, Design and Innovation" conventions.

 • "On the contrary": Most software companies continuously introduce new features.  In contrast, 37signals are successful with only a few software products that provide minimal features.  Do not try to be everything to all customers.  Grow and be proud of your niche.

 • "Create a Story": Starbucks successfully established a flattering story about its customers, portraying them as sophisticated people who understand the value of an elegant "European-style coffee experience".  Frame your offers so that your customers feel as if they are part of a particular community.

 • "Strategically copied": Successful companies often copy their products and image according to the design of domestic companies.

 • "Adapt Creatively": Gary Vaynerchuk made his family's wine business more than $ 4 million to $ 60 million a year by creating Vine Library TV.  He developed a loyal audience for this online educational company that showcases his wine expertise.


 Work with specific learning objectives, such as how to use your company's financial records and reports to "identify and document potential revenue recognition issues."  Combine the right goals with strong instruction to give your customers what they want and need.  Help them understand how the knowledge it imparts benefits them.  Edit your instructional materials at their bare minimum.  Repeat the most basic and important information repeatedly.  Split your content into memorable chunks.  Use multimedia: videos, cartoons, animated graphics, photos and music.  Actively engage your students by providing "checklists, worksheets and other tools".


 Sophisticated tools available for creating online learning materials include WordPress for blogging and Adobe Fireworks for image editing.  For online video, buy a digital video camera with audio capabilities.  Install a separate digital audio recorder to capture the sound.  TechSmith's Jing tool excels at scratching, which appears on your computer screen.  Work with a single platform that can handle your webinars and webcasts.  Excellent "quick course building tools" include TechSmith by Articulate and Chemtasia by Rapid Earning Studio.  Your customers should be able to access your content from your website;  WordPress also works well as your online platform for this purpose.  Choose a high-quality learning management system that offers advanced credit and integration options.  Regardless of the tools you use to develop your educational content, maintain full editorial control.  Most learning takes place informally.  Reach them through their educational content such as blogs, polls, pop quizzes and more, to stay on the minds of your true fans, especially between online learning sessions.  Use email to keep in touch with your learning customers and promote your products.  The famous AIDA formula - "Attention, Interest, Desire and Action" - applies to the marketing of educational products and any product category.


 Your goal as an online teacher is to make a lasting and positive impact on the lives and work of your customers.  Use products like the Mozilla Open Badge Project to test whether your customers are learning a lesson from your online courses.  Ensure your content is what they do.


 Develop a "learning platform"

 Build long term relationships with your customers.  Give them opportunities for meaningful change "in knowledge, in skills, in behavior".  To create a long-term customer, create a learning platform for your prospects.  Its learning platform provides the foundation for building customer trust.


 Know who your students are.  Engage and empower your educational offerings to make them an essential component of their lives.  Become an agent of change and learning leader for your online community.  When this happens, it exemplifies the essence of social learning and your business will flourish.

About the Author

Jeff Cobb, founder of Tagoras – a consulting firm specializing in continuing education – was co­founder and CEO of the e­learning organization Isoph and senior vice president of Quisic.

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