Adrian Tobey of Groundhogg joins Chris Badgett in this episode of the LMScast podcast where they discuss validation, marketing, and how the new Groundhogg CRM for WordPress can work within your website to make managing your lead funnel and students simple.

The inspiration for Groundhogg was to remove the friction and frustration from the marketing management side of a business operating within WordPress. It is easy to get lost in the software when running an online business, so having an all-in-one WordPress solution can be extremely valuable. Groundhogg also provides a visual and linear way to design customer journeys.

In this episode Adrian speaks to the importance of validation over the technical aspects and tools you use on your website. A lot of course creators focus on the details of what individual tools can do, rather than investing the majority of effort into finding an ideal customer avatar and delivering results to them.

Adrian also shares a roadmap to building a strong funnel for customers and what things you will want to consider. Laying out your ideal customer avatar and journey you want that customer to take with a pen and paper is the first step, and then you can use a tool like Groundhogg to organize emails, offers, and what pieces of interaction you will implement to make that customer journey work.

From analytics to funnel management, Groundhogg can do a lot for a WordPress website or online course business in its infancy. You can collect metrics on everything from open rates, interaction with your site, and local time of users. Adrian shows a demo of these features in this episode, so check it out on podcast.lifterlms.com if you’d like to see more of the ins and outs of a Groundhogg site.

You can find Groundhogg on Twitter and Facebook at @groundhoggwp. They have an active Facebook group, so if you have any questions feel free to drop them in there or email Adrian at [email protected]. Thanks for joining us!

Ali Mathis of the LifterLMS team joins Chris Badgett in this episode of the LMScast podcast to discuss the new Recommended Resources page designed to help point course creators and membership site owners in the right direction for tools, from microphones to the best hosting for LMS sites.

Chris shares the story of creating his first course, and some insights he has learned over the years about creating effective course sites and the tools needed to solve problems for your students.

Chris’s first online course was about how you can create the perfect omelet. He created it while house-sitting for someone. He shares his experience and motivation behind creating that course with his computer and a video camera. If you’re interested in checking out his course, you can find that on Udemy.

Chris emphasizes the value of minimalism with an online course website and how that can prevent you from getting overwhelmed. One of the most effective ways to navigate all of the noise in the online content creation ecosystem is to focus on delivering results to your listeners and students and adding tools to your process as you find they will be useful for your program.

There are places you can implement tools easily, such as scheduling meetings. It can be difficult to manage time zones for meetings, especially if you’re working with people around the world, so implementing tools such as Calendly and Google Calendar can help if that becomes an issue for you.

You can learn more about the Recommended Resources for LifterLMS users at LifterLMS.com/Recommended-Resources. Thanks for joining us!

Michael Greenberg of Call For Content shares great tips with Chris Badgett of LifterLMS about monetization and advertising for course creators, coaches, and consultants in this episode of the LMScast podcast. Chris and Michael dive into some tips and tricks for positioning your content and becoming an authority in your space.

There is a lot of value in positioning your business in a small niche. Michael shares the story of his father’s real estate practice, and how he has managed to create an effective niche by serving a group of 10,000 individuals or less. Michael’s father works in real estate, but more specifically St. Louis, Missouri real estate. And even more specific than that, multi-family commercial investment real estate in that local area.

Michael’s playbook on authority marketing goes in depth on how you can find a niche group of customers to serve and position yourself effectively in that area. You can find that at CallForContent.com.

Chris and Michael also discuss ways you can get your name out there and market to your audience by partnering with others who serve an audience that is adjacent to yours. You can also have guests on your webinars, courses, or other training materials who have an audience that would be well served by your content.

One interesting thing Michael does when creating his eBooks is that he tries to make sure most people are not going to read them. By creating very specific content that is highly interesting to a small set of people, he can generate a lot of authority in that space.

At CallForContent.com you can find out more about Michael and the playbooks he has created for online business owners who are interested in marketing their products and services. He has a 30-minute office hours on the site where you can schedule a session to strategize with him about your business as well, so be sure to check that out. Thanks for joining us!

Brad Williams and Lisa Sabin-Wilson from WebDevStudios share knowledge they have gained from working in the LMS development space in this episode of LMScast with Chris Badgett from LifterLMS. Lisa and Brad have developed internal training for Starbucks, the National Parks Service, and INTAP.

A common theme from guests on LMScast is creating and simplifying processes. Brad and Lisa utilize near regimented processes to work with clients, especially in the discovery phase when they are learning about a client’s needs and project requirements. Having specific processes outlined for your business helps to scale and make the work you do simpler and more effective.

Lisa shares what she looks for to create an effective discovery process with a client at WebDevStudios. Often a productive discovery includes learning what the client is looking for with the student process and experience. Some LMS site owners will want a quiz system, content dripping, a social aspect, student management, etc., so figuring all of that out from the start and laying out a solid roadmap makes the build process significantly easier to work through.

WebDevStudios has been working with websites and LMS sites for 11 years, and over that time they have scaled up to 32 employees. They share some things to look out for when growing your business, and why processes are crucial for smooth and successful project and client work.

Working with people who really understand and appreciate what you are doing is also an important aspect of a strong team, especially a remote team, as we often see in the WordPress world. Having a core team of people you trust to lead facets of your company down the road is a culture you will want to cultivate.

You can learn more about Brad, Lisa, and everything they have going on at WebDevStudios.com. Thanks for joining us!

Cory Jenkins and Jonathan Hall share with Chris Badgett the process behind creating the Course Scheduler plugin for LifterLMS in this episode of LMScast. Cory and Jonathan are prolific product creators in the WordPress and Divi space. The inspiration for their products is typically inspired by pain points they have and see in the WordPress ecosystem.

The Course Scheduler plugin allows you to have students purchase a course at any time and have the ability to take the course during the specific start and end dates you set. This tool can be very useful if you are interested in running a course once a month, once every three months, once a year, etc. By running your LifterLMS courses in this fashion you gain access to some great group learning opportunities that recreate the class learning style of traditional education.

It is easy to become burned out and overloaded when working online. Cory speaks to how having fun with your services and products is a good way to get a read on whether your projects are improving your lifestyle. Creating great products is hard to do when the business owner or driving force behind the project is stressed and not operating at 100%.

Giving back to the community you serve builds trust, authority, and reciprocity. Aspen Grove Studios is constantly releasing tutorials, free resources, and helping people out in WordPress communities on Facebook. Divi Chat and WP The Podcast are a few resources they have for producing free content for the WordPress ecosystem.

To find out more about Cory Jenkins, Jonathan Hall, and the developments at Aspen Grove Studios, be sure to check them out at AspenGroveStudios.com. And they have a suite of Divi products and services at Divi.Space

Ryan Moore from Uncanny Automator joins Chris Badgett in this episode of the LMScast podcast to discuss how course creators can make their courses more student-centric and create a more engaging learning experience by integrating LifterLMS with other learning tools, such as your CRM, other plugins, and other websites, with Automator.

Automator is designed to help you create a course experience for your students that works for students who are struggling with some content, and also works well for students who are really advanced. The Automator plugin allows you to deliver the right type of experience and the right type of interventions to students, and make sure they can learn at their own pace and perform well with the content they are learning.

Ryan and Chris dive into the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and how they work with the different types of online courses. Students who are intrinsically motivated to take a course will tend to engage with the program, because they are interested in making a change or learning a skill. An internal training setting is an example of an extrinsic form of motivation for students taking a course. Learning design for your course site will change based on which form you are using, so it is important to know who your course site is designed to teach.

Blended learning is a way you can incorporate tools on your website, as well as off your website, that help engage learners. This can take the form of offline classes, live training, or engagement outside of your site, such as on social media. Automator can help you coordinate and integrate with tools outside of your website to bring together a blended learning experience for students.

To learn more about Ryan Moore and Uncanny Automator be sure to check out AutomatorPlugin.com. If you have any questions about Automator and if it is a good fit for your website, you can reach out to the Automator team on their website. Thanks for joining us!

Expert affiliate marketing manager Dustin Howes shares insights and strategies for online course creators on how to build strong affiliate armies with Chris Badgett in this episode of the LMScast. Dustin shares his background in affiliate management, and he and Chris go over some great ideas as to what you want to keep in mind when building an affiliate program for your course or membership.

Chris and Dustin discuss the different types of affiliate programs. There are managed platforms such as ShareASale, Commission Junction, and Impact. Managed platforms offer advantages such as collecting W9 forms and making sure everyone is paid, whereas a plugin like AffiliateWP does allow you to manage your own program, but there are more responsibilities that come along with that.

Recruiting affiliates is another challenge website owners face. Dustin recommends using a CRM dedicated to affiliate management, such as BuzzStream. The idea behind this CRM is to manage your relationships in the marketing realm separate from the CRM, such as MailChimp, ConvertKit, or ActiveCampaign, that you use for leads.

Affiliate armies are not built overnight. You have to think in the long term when creating an affiliate program, because your affiliates may not create their first piece of content for a few weeks after joining your program. And then it will take time for their content to start ranking in search engines.

Dustin recommends sending out two newsletters a month to your affiliates. One will outline the promotions and coupons you will be having for the month, so they can get prepared by creating content. The second newsletter will cover strategies they can implement to grow their business as an affiliate.

You can find Dustin Howes at Coalition.Marketing and on LinkedIn. Thanks for joining us!

David Shriner-Cahn joins Chris Badgett on this episode of the LMScast podcast to discuss how course creators can smash through the plateaus they face in business and overcome unexpected roadblocks. David shares key observations he has made about successful entrepreneurs from his podcast Smashing the Plateau.

A common roadblock for course creators is the concept of expert syndrome. Experts in a field are often exited by solving the high-level and often complex problems in that field. This can lead to teachers presenting too much information to students or presenting that information in a confusing manner. David and Chris cover some ways you can put yourself in the mindset of a student to best teach them the information they need to get the results they are looking for from your course.

David and Chris dive into the benefits of securing time in your schedule to focus on things that do not produce client work for your business. One trend David has noticed with successful entrepreneurs he has interviewed is they make time to strategize. Even 30 minutes a day of time you give yourself to reflect and decompress can go a long way.

A book recommendation David shares for course creators is The 80/20 Principle. In it the author discusses how in business and in life 80% of our success comes from 20% of our activities. The author also discusses how you can reverse-engineer this principle to create the kinds of outcomes you’re looking for in your business.

David also emphasizes the value behind having a set of questions you ask your best clients and customers in order to hone in on what they are struggling with and how you can add value to their operations. One way you can do this with clients is to schedule a meeting with each one once every quarter to go over how it is going.

To learn more about David Shriner-Cahn, check out his podcast Smashing the Plateau. You can also find him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Thanks for joining us!

Online marketing expert Daniel Daines-Hutt from Amp My Content joins Chris Badgett in this episode of the LMScast podcast to discuss best practices and marketing strategies for online course creators and membership site owners. Daniel shares some terrific content marketing strategies he uses to generate mass interest in his products and services.

One struggle course creators can face is the equivalent of writer's block. Daniel talks about how you can create a routine and use templates to create your content. This helps a lot when creating long-form content. Sitting down to write a massive blog post or produce a course can be a daunting task if you don’t have the structure in place.

Daniel shares the structure he uses to create his blog posts that can reach 30,000 words. He starts out by writing out notes on a piece of paper and forming those into chapters and topics to cover. From there he uses a recorder like Camtasia or Snagit to record himself talking, and he will talk through the steps and then write the first draft of the blog posts, followed up with around 15 or more edits.

Chris and Daniel also dive into a some advanced marketing strategies for paid ads. One key point Daniel emphasizes is the importance of figuring out how much a customer is worth to your business. If you know how much a customer is worth, then you know how much you can spend to acquire them.

One common deterrent for content creators online is if someone has already created a course, blog post, YouTube video, or other media on your topic. But Daniel points out that the value from content comes with the transformation it provides.

You can learn more about Daniel Daines-Hutt at AmpMyContent.com, and you can check out his paid ads blog post at AmpMyContent.com/promoted-content/. You can also find him on Twitter at @inboundascend. Thanks for joining us!

The URL Dr., Kim Merritt, joins Chris Badgett of LifterLMS on this episode of LMScast to discuss how course creators can best use video animation to enhance the quality of their video content. Kim shares an in-depth layout of her process for creating animations, as well as some tools she uses to make it all come together.

Chris and Kim dive into the things you can do with your marketing strategy to promote your LMS site in a wholesome and effective way. When presenting videos in courses if you don’t have a walkthrough on screen or a product you can physically show, you will need to create some other form of visuals.

Kim shares a bit of her backstory with how she got started using animation about 5 years ago with creating video animations teaching her marketing clients, and they hired her to create those video animations for them.

Creating videos that combine different video types, from the talking head, to animation, to PowerPoint, is very powerful for creating easily consumable content for your students. This is especially important with course content that students are not intrinsically motivated to consume, such as internal training.

Chris and Kim talk about the process behind taking knowledge and expertise and turning that into effective course content. Kim works with incorporating various scenes and characters together in animation and splicing that together with live video. You can also utilize gamification features, such as LifterLMS notifications and achievements to extend interaction with your content to areas of your site outside of videos.

To learn more about Kim Merritt be sure to check out TheUrlDr.com, and you can find her on the LifterLMS experts page at LifterLMS.com/Experts. Feel free to reach out to Kim if you'd like to see if she can help you out with creating video content for your courses.