Anyone who still distributes DVDs as a "goodie" or even as a transfer offer after the seminar in 2019 does no one a favor. Sustainable continuing education can only be achieved through long-term and targeted support. Frame your training DVD as a reminder now and distribute the goodies 4.0: Access to your online course in the future.
Not a good idea even in 2010: The training DVD
Be honest: Do you still have DVDs or even CDs from your training sessions or speaking engagements lying around at home? Or are they even still actively used as a transfer offer?
A few years ago, it was common for trainers to give their participants a DVD after the seminar – so to speak, as a "goodie". The primary goal was often unclear: Were participants really supposed to watch the content at home and practice with it? And if so: When and how often? My suspicion: Many recorded their speeches and training sessions to sell an additional product.
It should now be clear that the DVD is no longer a unique selling point (USP). However, even as a transfer service, it was completely unsuitable as early as 2010:
Even if your name is on the cover: The personal connection to you breaks off as soon as the participant leaves the seminar.
Many people today don't even have a drive to play DVDs or CDs anymore.
Even with a drive, the barrier to entry is far too high: When am I supposed to insert the DVD, and how much time should I plan for it? There is a lack of specific instructions and support. Anyone who still uses a DVD as a learning transfer after the seminar is simply lying to themselves.
In 2019, DVDs and CDs only have mere nostalgic value. Or how often do you still watch DVDs yourself?
Speaking of sustainability: DVDs and DVD covers are made of plastic. Most educational DVDs are probably only watched once and then become uninteresting or scratched – and end up in the trash. Another good reason to distance oneself from DVDs as "goodies."
"The Continuing Education Lie"
About 80% of all seminars and training sessions today fail at transferring knowledge into practice.
This is what Dr. Richard Gris, trainer and author of the book "The Continuing Education Lie", means. Without application, even the highest quality seminar day is just a single day after a few weeks and months. Anyone who truly wants to create change must practice – repeatedly and over a longer period of time.
The term "continuing education lie" is absolutely applicable to seminars without any transfer services, no matter how harsh it may sound. One thing is clear: DVDs no longer offer any help in training 4.0 at the latest.
The effective solution for learning transfer: An online course
If you want to offer your participants support even after the seminar, an online course is the easiest and most effective method. You can upload your own content, create new material, and easily replace it if necessary. This gives you flexibility – unlike the DVD, which becomes unusable when the content is outdated.
Do you still actually have DVDs with current content from you? Good, because you can reuse the content, even if the cover is outdated! For example, incorporate the content into an online course and create a new, contemporary product with little effort.
The clear advantage of an online course over the DVD: Participants can access it much more easily – for example, using a tablet or smartphone while on the go, when they are heading home after the seminar day. The significant entry barrier is completely removed.
If you then keep in mind a few details, you have created a transfer offer as a goodie with very little effort AND maintain personal contact with the participant.
5 tips for creating online courses as transfer offers:
Make your participants aware of the online offer during the seminar and explain how they should use it.
Start your online course with a personal greeting – preferably via video message – and also explain when and how your participants should work with the online course.
Motivate your participants with an exclusive additional offer when they reach the end of the course or pass a small test. A personal coaching call with you, for example, about eight weeks after the seminar, is well suited for this. You can discuss the costs with your client in advance.
Structure your online course in such a way that the participant receives short reminders repeatedly and thus remains motivated over the long term.
Keep individual content as short as possible and always include a clear call to action: What exactly should the participant implement for their own actions afterwards?
Via smartphone, tablet, or laptop: Your participant can easily access an online course from almost anywhere today.
Why online courses are the training goodies 4.0
With an online course, you create an additional product without having to change your current training. Of course, you need to invest a few hours or even days at the beginning to create a course that fits your offering.
Tip: Start small and keep your first course really compact. This way, you can test the new offer at your leisure.
If you ever made video or audio recordings of yourself or your training for DVDs or even CDs: Perfect! Use that material in your online course, provided the content is still relevant. Otherwise, you can easily create a new video concept.
A new product always means new selling points for your clients. With an online course, you clearly offer an additional service that you can charge for. And rightfully so: With just one course, you have at least seven arguments as to why your training is even better in the future.
An online course is basically the goodie 4.0 for trainers, consultants, and speakers:
You get an additional sales product.
You don’t lose contact with the participant and can easily reach them even months later.
Once created, you can distribute it as often as you like – without the need for reprographics like with DVDs.
Distribution itself is also simple and possible from anywhere: For instance, you could collect email addresses at a trade fair and invite people to a demo course!
You can even showcase the online course during a sales conversation, for example, on a tablet.
Once your first course is ready for follow-up, you can gradually add more courses: For instance, to prepare for the seminar or very specifically on individual topics.
Would you like to try out how your content could look in an online course? No problem! Just make an unverbindlichen appointment with one of our experts and start under guidance with your first online course in 15 minutes. Have fun with it!
