Laura Koller 6 years, 1 month ago-
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Hi. It’s been 2 months since I’ve visited this website. The last thing I did was to complete the second lesson in Basecamp, which was to download and install Evernote. That may not sound like much progress, but downloading Evernote was one of those things I’d read about in the writing community as being a great tool – but I’m not a tech girl, I hate the headache of learning new programs, so I never actually planned to download it. But then I was required to download it as part of this course. So I did.
Well, I can tell you now that I LOVE this program and it will be an essential tool for me as I move forward with planning my courses. At the time I downloaded Evernote, I was brainstorming and researching a presentation and it didn’t take much time to figure out how easy it was to organize the information in Evernote. It gave me a definite structure that made it easier for me to input all the individual pieces I wanted. It was a definite A-HA moment for me. Click!
I’m writing today because it was a monumental day for me. I gave my first company teleseminar on the topic of “Creative Ways to Teach Patients.” I had coworkers who told me they were not able to sign up because the seminar had reached max enrollment. I learned today that meant 125 callers, and the organizer actually overbooked so there may have been more. I received positive emails from participants in New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, and Chicago, and the organizer shared the feedback she had received from today’s evaluations: “Great speaker – Have her present more seminars.”
I know that I have a long way to go on this mountain, but the positive feedback I’ve received today has really bolstered my sense of purpose and determination. I’ve agreed to present at a monthly meeting with my coworkers next month, and I’ve also agreed to give this presentation as a teleseminar again in October. One of my main professional goals has been to gain experience in presenting to audiences on this topic, and I feel like I am finally making progress. Hopefully these speaking engagements will lead to a few more, and I will continue to gain confidence in my ability to motivate and persuade others.
The best part is that I will be able to use all of this information in the eCourse presentation that I create – the course content, the speaking experience. I am still completely intimidated by the many tech hurdles ahead, but I know now that I will be able to take each of them one at a time, at my own pace (however slow), and eventually I will be able to summit the mountain. And I have the growing confidence that there is an audience out there that is eagerly waiting for the course content I have to share.
Next step – I still haven’t marked the campfire lesson as complete. I really want to make myself do that first video. I think that will be another huge step forward for me. And then I need to find an amazing adventure buddy who will be ok with the fact that I may go MIA/off-track for two months – but values the fact that I am always prompt at responding to requests for feedback.
Please wish me early bedtimes for my kids – that would help IMMENSELY, to have a chunk of uninterrupted time (that I haven’t stolen for myself while I’m at work 😉
Welcome back to the warmth of the campfire.
A) Congratulations on your big success and confidence boost today. Those types of milestones are what motivate us all to do what we’re here (on Earth) to do. Best of all, the more chances you give yourself to do that, the more of those confirmations you’ll get. So keep at it.
B) Excited to help you get your hike on up the mountain. Hopefully you can launch a mini course and full course by the time you present in October 😉
C) Looking forward to more conversations to come.
Good luck with your kids and to finding your buddy match!
A mini course and a full course by October? Yikes! I think I’ll just have to start with working my way through the rest of Basecamp. I’m going to have to rely on YOUR confidence that I’ll be able to make all that progress. Just keeping my eye on the next step…
FYI I just got an invitation from the Quality Manager for the corporate Case Management Department to give the presentation via conference call at their annual departmental competency event in April. Those are all a lot of big titles I don’t entirely understand but it sounds impressive, doesn’t it?
LOL good strategy. One step at a time.
Congrats on all this momentum.
Curious, is the subject you’re teaching in these teleconferences the same topic you’re building eCourses around?
Because if YES, then at least you won’t have to reinvent the wheel or “figure out what you’re gonna do.” We can just help you develop a scalable, super creative version of it 🙂
YES I am planning to build my first eCourse around this topic – I’m now thinking about calling it “HealthCaring” – so that will save me a lot of time in the planning stage. I actually sat down last night and made a complete outline of all the topics I’d like to cover in a full course, but I’m sure I have more than enough content for a strong, solid start. I’m excited about the super creative part!
This is AWESOME, Laura!! Congratulations!!!
How things went > I still haven’t done the intro video (I will!). I also don’t have an adventure buddy, but I am finding other ways to hold myself accountable and make progress. I may find an adventure buddy later, but I feel comfortable with my momentum just now.
Where I’m at > I’ve hiked to the middle of Architekt Forest. I already worked through a lot of these questions and concerns before I started the hike up the mountain, so I’m able to move through the topics quickly.
I’m continuing to pursue speaking opportunities, and I’m using those to hold me accountable for revising and adding new content (yes the same content I’ll use for my first eCourse). Yesterday I presented to a room of 40 dietitians and that was well received. The regional quality manager walked in at the end of my presentation, too, and asked me to present on one of her conference calls. I’m also scheduled to present a webinar to a group of 80 case managers mid-month. I’m buoyed by the positive response, especially the fact that each time I’ve given the presentation someone has asked me to present it to a new audience. I’m “ooching” into this and so far the feedback has been great. I now have the confidence to call myself a “speaker” as well as a dietitian and teacher.
I’ve committed to a name for my course and secured a website: “Motivation Superhero.” A motivation superhero is not a motivation expert who has all the answers, but rather a motivation enthusiast who strives to lead by example and strive for their best each and every day. It’s not about motivating people, but rather about creating an environment in which people feel motivated. It’s an important distinction.
I have written a manifesto that states the 5 behaviors that a motivation superhero strives to do every day – the acronym is “Today I will… SMILE” and after multiple drafts I’m about 75% confident it’s finished.
I have a list of 5 motivation essentials and that acronym is “I CARE.” Those will be the headings for each leg of my adventure. There will be multiple subheadings and strategies included within each essential.
I’ve decided that my first eCourse will be a “Walk in the Park” and it will focus on one motivation strategy – probably “Implementation Intentions.” I will offer this as a free intro. The goal is to add one video, one motivation strategy at a time until I’ve built a “Day Trek.” My goal is to make each video no more than 5 minutes. That will keep me focused, plus in my life that’s about the max I feel totally comfortable committing to watch at any one time. And once I’ve created the first “Day Trek” – I think I’ll start with one I CARE essential until I’ve covered enough of that content – then I’ll start on another “Day Trek.” Ultimately, after I’ve finished a bundle, people will be able to sign up for one “Day Trek” or they can sign up for the complete “Vision Quest” package. So I have grand aspirations and an outline to match, but I’m telling myself that I will need to work on just one “Walk in the Park” at a time. Slow and steady wins the race, right?
What I want/need > Here’s the question I’m struggling with right now: How specific do I make the audience? The topic of motivation is universal. The essentials I’ll be covering are relevant for dietitians and healthcare providers, but also for parents and teachers and managers and leaders. Do I target healthcare providers (or even just dietitians to start) or do I target a more general population?
My original ambition was to target healthcare providers and to offer continuing education credits:
Pros: Since healthcare providers are required to earn a certain number of CE credits each licensure period, it would HUGELY increase the audience interested to enroll and follow through on taking my course. It will also enable me to make the course highly specialized for that group, which could be a very good thing.
Cons: I haven’t gone through the approval process before. I’ve read up on it and it’s probably not as complicated as I imagine (it’s not clear cut for an online course) but it is one more mind hurdle in the creation process for me. If I focus on healthcare and the approval process takes a while, then I will be marketing to a group of people who are not likely to take a work-related course until they receive “credit” for it. That means lost (or delayed) income. There is also additional documentation I’ll have to provide and track after receiving approval. There may be automated tools I can use, but once again it’s one more hurdle in the creation process.
If I target a more general audience:
Pros: I’ve just expanded the potential audience, likely beyond the number of people who would only take it for CE credit. It’s even possible that healthcare providers who wouldn’t be motivated to take it as a work-related course might decide to take the course for personal reasons, even without the promise of receiving CE credits. And just because I target a more general audience doesn’t mean I can’t later gain CE approval for the course. Much of the content I’m using comes from books with a general focus, and there are websites that offer CE credits for those general topics.
Cons: It takes my focus off my original intended audience and my crusade to start a revolution in patient education. It might water down the content – instead of focusing only on examples from healthcare, I’ll be using other real-life examples. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, to apply the rules to life in general and not just the world of healthcare.
Conclusion: OK, I think I’ve already answered my own question. Based on that analysis, probably best to target a general audience and, while earning income after launching that, I can work towards getting those CE credits to further expand my potential audience. I can also continue to seek out opportunities to speak to audiences of healthcare providers in order to bring that message to that specific audience. After hearing me talk, some of them might be motivated to take the course for personal reasons (haha – motivated to take a motivation course) but ultimately I’ll have the content and framework already established for whatever opportunites come my way. Man, am I brilliant or what?
What I’m going to do > In addition to watching the videos, I’m working on creating my platform. My current goal is to create a weekly blog (or maybe bi-weekly?) on the Motivation Superhero site so that I can draw people in even before I launch the eCourse. That way when people find my site they can look around and get a better idea of my message, and they will have the option to share and/or join my email list. I would like to have 8 to 10 posts ready before I launch (a buffer zone for overscheduled me) and to make things easy I can start with content from my presentations. I’m working at personalizing a simple outline for my blog posts, since adding structure often helps the words and creativity to flow. I’m just challenged by the time factor. I have a site launch date of 5/3/2017 post-it noted to my computer screen as my accountability measure. That’s now less than a month away!
Phew! That sounds like a lot of work, and I really am making progress 🙂
Love the Motivation Superhero idea you’re working on. So fun!
Congrats on all your momentum too. That’s wonderful to hear 🙂
Here is an awesome podcast on choosing your target. I was listening to it this AM.
They basically say, “Instead of picking a “Avatar” or “Niche,” pick one person that you know and make your offering just for them.
So the question is, who is someone you know (and would love to work with) and what could you create just for them?
They go into more details in the podcast 🙂
Laura, I identify with the “wandering off the mountain” syndrome. I have been on-again off-again for the last year+…
As far as audience, have you considered doing a quick “poll” during one (or more) of your presentations? Even just a quick “I need your help, can I see a show of hands who would be interested in a full course on this topic if there were CEUs available? And how many would be interested for your own professional or personal development independent of CEUs?” You might be surprised at how many raise their hands for one/both options. And I’d be surprised if any organizer would object to that type of 30 second poll — especially if you aren’t selling anything yet!
It looks like you’ve got quite the vision and I know *I’m* looking forward to hearing more. 🙂
Bradley – Brilliant suggestion, on so many levels. Picking one person brings so many things into sharper focus (and totally fits with one strategy – “Shrink the Change” – that I will cover in my course). I’ve heard this suggestion before as a strategy for writing blog posts. I’ve actually had a person in mind as I’ve built my presentations and envisioned my eCourse, but that suggestion leads me to believe that I can find someone who’s an even better fit for this role.
I spent some time thinking about this yesterday. I considered my ideal target audience – I’ve been so focused on the healthcare aspect, but it’s actually not essential to the course. Most importantly, I’d like to have someone who’s ambitious and seeking motivation to improve in one or more areas of life (work, family, or self). None of my coworkers seemed like the right fit for me. None of my friends seemed like the right fit either. And then it hit me – the one person who will champion my idea with enthusiasm, listen to my advice with gratitude, fulfill my requests with dedication, and share her feedback with honesty. My little sister. She now lives more than 2,000 miles away, but she is a wife and a parent, she works full-time in a management role, and she is one of the most ambitious people that I know. She also has a degree in computer science and works for a major technology company, so her expertise and/or connections may be helpful when I run into technical snags. She has a tendency to drive me nuts sometimes, but she is always seeking to improve herself in one way or another, she fits the profile to a “T”, and I think she would be happy to help me with this project.
Clever, too, because once I choose to enlist her help I will have a buddy along for the adventure. You are so sneaky!!!
Wayne – That’s a thoughtful suggestion, to do a quick poll. I may consider that later. Thanks so much for your input.
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