Course Creators Weekly #8 🗓 August 17th, 2020 - Why You Should Pilot Test Your Course

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  Revising course content post-production is painful
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  Test drive your curriculum, live—saving yourself the pain

Pilot testing helps you…

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  Ensure that your course delivers on its promise
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  Avoid late revisions, saving production time and effort

High-level steps to running a Pilot test

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  Prepare a low-fi course that simulates the future student experience
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  Recruit a small group of up to ~10 students
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  Schedule sessions over a few days, not weeks
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  Decide how you'll deliver your course—probably online
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  Find someone to help you run the pilot and take notes
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  Survey students at the end of each lesson/course
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  Make note of, and revise areas that can lead to drop-outs

First, the steps:

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  Make sure your site converts email subscribers well
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  Before publishing an article, pull out some quick tips and share them on their own
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  Once published, create helpful social media posts + link to your article at the END
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  Email your audience with the full article + ask for likes/upvotes on social media

More great tips:

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  Write authentically and promote your articles yourself
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  Write great content worth sharing—obvious but often forgotten
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  Adjust the format of your social media posts for each platform
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  Share your primary social media post at the end of articles + ask for upvotes
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  Be helpful—don't force-push people to your website
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  For LinkedIn, combine a long-form article with a short "highlight" post
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  For Reddit, share full articles, linking to your site for feedback/questions only
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  Choose the platform that works best for you—it may not be Twitter
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  Test and experiment to find out what works for you and each platform
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  Focus on basics, not tactics, e.g learn to write great titles

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  Create stuff worth finding
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  Think of it as helping—not bragging
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  Start with your passions, without claiming expertise
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  Don't claim to know it all—learn, fail, re-learn and share
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  Share your achievements through stories—the ups AND downs
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  Avoid subjective claims of expertise—let people decide for themselves
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  Never claim to be better than someone else—only your past self
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  Share your journey, especially where you started—makes you relatable
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  Give credit and elevate those who've helped you
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  Don't be too modest—strike a balance with sharing your wins
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  Let others promote you (e.g. testimonials)
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  Aim for quality over quantity in your relationships
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  Promote yourself when the context demands it
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  Be generous in helping others