This episode of LMScast with Chris Badgett features Shaun James from Pentester University. They discuss security for your course platform and website. Chris and Shaun share their experiences with hacking and how to protect yourself from it.

Shaun teaches people how to do penetration tests on websites and systems. Penetration testers are hackers that get hired to test security flaws in a system and they inform the customer about these risks in order to help prevent a real attack.

Shaun loves the cybersecurity business, and he has ever since he was young. He loves solving puzzles, and that is exactly what penetration testing is. Shaun shares his journey from learning penetration testing himself to how he started to share that information with others and gained a large following. He is now teaching people how to do penetration testing with online courses on his website.

There is always a small risk that you will get attacked by a hacker when you are online. You should learn how to prevent and mitigate attacks, but you should not shy away from the internet all together. Shaun and Chris discuss the different type of security attacks that can occur to your course platform and how you can go about preventing them.

Hackers can gain access to your information through wifi connection and bluetooth, so it is important to be aware of that possibility. They also talk about what you can do in order to protect your computer’s camera and microphone from being hacked.

AJ Morris from Liquid Web joins Chris Badgett of LifterLMS on this episode of LMScast. AJ shares his journey from working in a school environment to becoming a product manager at Liquid Web.

Liquid Web is a hosting platform that provides you with easy accessibility to backups for your website. Liquid Web also has iThemes Sync, which allows you to manage all of your WordPress sites from one place. You can install and update plugins across all of your sites at one time.

The goal of a business is to create customers. So it is important to understand the mindset of the customer when you are trying to sell to them. Understanding how your team understands the mindset of the customer is also important, because they are the ones creating the product for them. Chris and AJ toss this idea around, and AJ shares tips from his experience as a product manager.

Working with people who have less experience in a certain area than you can be frustrating. Chris and AJ riff about how patience and putting yourself in the customer’s or student’s shoes will help you work well with them.

John Shea joins us on this episode of LMScast with Chris Badgett of LifterLMS. They discuss the pros and cons of self hosting courses versus those on course marketplaces.

John Shea is a serial course entrepreneur who has created courses using both course marketplaces and self hosting. He shares his story of how he got into creating courses. John started out on Udemy and branched off into Skillshare, and now he is doing some work with self hosted courses.

The online marketplace will allow you to do less work with marketing and advertising, but you have to play by the rules of the company, including what your price points are. On the other hand, hosting yourself can make advertising and building connections more difficult.

John shares some of his strategy he uses to build online courses. He and Chris talk about negative feedback they have received and how they have dealt with using that feedback in order to improve. John also tells some ways that you can generate income from a free course through affiliate marketing and other routes.

In this episode of LMScast Chris Badgett of LifterLMS interviews WordPress and freelancing expert Carrie Dils. They discuss Carrie’s journey from running a small blog to running her own company and teaching courses on Lynda. She also tells of her experiences with podcasting.

Both Chris and Carrie agree that podcasting has helped them significantly with becoming teachers. Getting in front of a camera and delivering content to an audience has helped them become more comfortable with the teaching environment and has made them better communicators.

Carrie has many roles in her business and life that she has to fill. She shares her process of switching mindsets in order to accomplish different goals and fill different roles. Carrie believes anyone can join the WordPress space, but having a unique niche and personality is what makes you successful.

Chris shares his origin story and how he became interested in WordPress and course development. Carrie also shares how she learned how to use WordPress on Lynda and now is teaching others how to learn WordPress with the same platform. Carrie is releasing a book about her journey soon called “Real World Freelancing. A No Bullshit Survival Guide.”

Mike Weiss from the Client Engagement Academy joins Chris Badgett on this episode of LMScast. Chris and Mike discuss the current state of the online education industry. They talk about the low completion rate of online courses and how digital badges can help solve that problem.

Mike shares some statistics on the completion rates of courses and some tips and tricks as to how digital badges can help improve that rate. He also tells some of the strategies his company uses to raise the completion rates of their courses.

Chris and Mike discuss how digital badges are becoming relevant in not just the online workplace, but in the physical workplace as well. Employers are starting to use online courses in order to train employees. Some are also taking that to the next level and requiring it for application. The digital badge can act as a proof of a skill that is currently scarce in the online workplace.

Mike also believes that it is essential to understand the statistical data of your company and your courses. You should set up a way to find out the velocity at which people go through the content in your course, and how tests and quizzes are a great way to do so. Providing options your students would like to have for the flow of content is important to their success as well.

In this episode of LMScast, Chris Badgett of LifterLMS interviews Jennifer Bourn of Bourn Creative and Inspired Imperfection. She shares her knowledge of the branding and design aspects of business. Jennifer also shares some tips on providing clarity in your business and how that can lead to greater success.

Deciding on and defining the purpose, values, and personality of your company will help the company take shape. It will also help clients get on board with your product by sharing a story that resonates with them. Owning your values and personality will open you to some promotion opportunities with others who share those values.

People will most likely have preconceived notions about what you do and what your business is about. This makes it especially important to be crystal clear with them about what you do. Clarity in promotion will also help with getting customers on board.

Chris and Jennifer talk about the steps that course creators should use to create a brand and design for their course. Most of this includes outsourcing, because then you can put more energy into what you do best. You can gain a lot of leverage out of course templates, which are formats filled with sample information and you only have to change out that information with your course information.

Focusing on customer experience should remain the number one priority. Do not hesitate to go to market just because your design is not perfect. You can launch a pilot of your course with a small number of people if you want to test your content.

Attending events with other people and promoting your product at networking events and conferences is a great way to make connections and sell material.

Charles Byrd shares his journey with Evernote in this LMScast. He shares how it has helped him stay organized in his business and daily life. He and Chris Badgett discuss how Evernote can help an online course creator with aspects of business that are necessary for success.

Evernote is an application that can be downloaded on all of your devices. It allows you to take notes and access the information anywhere you are. This level of organization helps with time management and contributes to the efficiency of the course creator's life.

Chris and Charles talk about how Evernote can help you build relationships with clients and partners, improve your own skills, manage time, and build your online community. These are all essential aspects of the course creating business that Evernote can help with.

Charles has used Evernote to integrate all of these parts into his business and has become more successful as a result. He covers examples and talks about how this universal tool has improved his life by helping him manage his time and reduce stress.

In this episode of LMScast Chris Badgett talks with Ali Mathis about the Done For You set up service that is offered through LifterLMS. They also clarify the definitions of some terms that are used in course creation that can sometimes be confusing.

With the LifterLMS Done For You set up service, the LifterLMS team will work with you to get your course launched as quickly as possible. There are different service packages you can purchase with different levels of set up assistance so you can focus on creating the content and doing what you do best.

Working with someone through this service has many benefits, as Chris and Ali discuss. The LifterLMS crew has a lot of experience creating courses, so they have gotten it down to a science. This means that they can avoid mistakes that the novice course creator might make. They can also work with you to get your course up and running in five to ten business days.

You can find out more about the LifterLMS Done For You set up service by visiting lifterlms.com/dfy

Thank you for joining us for this episode of LMScast!

In this episode of LMScast, Brad and Andy from The Great eCourse Adventure talk about how they bring their own brand of uniqueness to the the realm of online education courses. They discuss their journey from creating courses that were within ‘the blueprint’ to thinking outside the box and developing their own style.

The current online education industry is full of informational course which can be boring. Many people who buy these courses are swamped with information and get overloaded, causing them to become bored and tune out. Brad and Andy talk about how their approach to the industry engages customers by providing them with interactive features, narratives, themes, and jokes. This makes their courses memorable and help students better understand the material.

Brad and Andy share how they discovered the vast benefits of adding personality to courses and how that makes the business more exciting for them and for their audience. They are also working on creating a culture and community around their courses. They want to change the way people view course creation by turning it into an art form or craft. This will help avoid the get rich quick scheme mentality.

Brad and Andy are changing the way the producers and consumers of courses view the industry by leading the way with their creative teaching strategies. They are also examples of people who don’t need to take a vacation from their lives, because they do what they love on a daily basis.

You can learn more about Brad and Andy at TheGreateCourseAdventure.com.

This episode of LMScast covers finding success in your area of passion through finding your niche and producing quality content. David Payette of Payette Forward shares his journey from the Apple Store in New York to living his dream in Hawaii. Chris and David discuss the critical elements that make blogs and online courses successful.

Blogging is a very powerful form of communication. David has used the knowledge of fixing iPhones that he learned from his experience with being a technician at an Apple Store to create a blog that teaches people how to deal with iPhone issues. He used Google AdSense to monetize his blog, and this has generated a great amount of income for him. One of the reasons David is successful in the blogging industry is because he writes about something he is passionate about, and he testifies to how passion in what you do will take you a long ways.

In business planning for success but preparing for failure is important. Working with others will help you get through rough patches in business. Other people can also help you to manage fears, stay realistic, and stay motivated. David talks about avoiding shortcuts and tricks in SEO and content production, because they will ultimately hurt you.

You will learn numerous tips on how to improve and monetize your content, optimize SEO, and most importantly produce results. You will also receive tips regarding trends found in successful courses and marketing. Continuous improvement is one of the most valuable things you can do in business and in life in general.

You can learn more about David’s blog at PayetteForward.com.