We know about Web 2.0. What about Org 2.0?

By David Lynch | Published: March 11, 2011

By now, the idea of Web 2.0 is nothing new.  Higher speed connections, social networks and online communities leave no misunderstanding that the next iteration of the internet is here and now.

But what about Org 2.0?  If the web has changed our behavior, how is it likely to impact the behavior of organizations and businesses, especially yours, in this decade?

In a terrific post this week from Harold Jarache, he summarizes the The 2020 Workplace, Jeanne Meister and Karie Willyerd’s book where they make 20 predictions by the end. William Gibson said, “The future is already here – It’s just not very evenly distributed.”

Here are some of Harold’s thoughts on where we are with some of his predictions, with the help of Jeanne and Karie’s book:

  1. Your mobile device will become your office, your classroom, and your concierge. We’re already seeing this with young people. They’d rather go without a car. Mobile computing is the future that is already here.
  2. Web commuters will force corporate offices to reinvent themselves. Yes, working online IS different.
  3. Job requirements for CEOs will include blogging. How else can you communicate with everyone effectively and efficiently? It’s sure not by email and face-to-face is difficult in distributed organizations. I would include podcasts & video in this statement.
  4. Social media literacy will be required for all employees. I give this perhaps 24 months. We no longer offer training on email. Connecting to online social networks for working and learning will be a fact of life much sooner than later.
  5. The lines among marketing, communications and learning will blur. I’ve called this the integration of organizational support. What we at the Internet Time Alliance call working smarter is a culture supported by social learning; collaborative work and a leadership framework. Technology enables this but the three pillars are more important than any technology platform.

Check out Harold’s blog.  We think he’s a thoughtful writer.

We started LiveMind to help people teach others on topics about which they are passionate in the type of training environment they are likely to see in the future.

Are you ready for Org 2.0?

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Come Back to Learning

By Arlen Bitsky | Published: March 9, 2011

You and I were built with an inherent drive to discover new things. But the responsibilities we take on as adults may force us to put off learning more about our world. Crying babies, bills, and work all make learning seem superfluous.

In college, I never came across a course on how to function as an adult in society. In the “real wold” we learn pretty quickly that not everything is common sense. Maybe you picked up French-toast-cooking from your mom, or changing your oil from your dad. But who teaches you how to manage a household budget? How can we preserve a youthful inquisitiveness in a world where time is always of the essence?

Recently, I’ve decided my options are limited; learn from my mistakes (which takes forever), develop the ability to read books as fast as John Travolta ‘s character in Phenomenon, or go to LiveMind.com.

LiveMind is the open marketplace for live online learning. It gives us the freedom to learn virtually anything. And thanks to LiveMind experts like Keith Price, I can learn all about managing a household budget without acquiring superhuman reading abilities. All classes are offered in live, online interactive sessions using state of the art tools and technology including live video and audio interaction with the instructor and advanced presentation capabilities. Go to LiveMind.com now to sign up and come back to learning.

Posted in Online communities, Online Learning | Leave a comment

A live, online solution so businesses succeed with social media

By David Lynch | Published: March 7, 2011
LiveMind is an open market for live, online learning.  In the spirit of an open marketplace, we encourage teachers to post about what they are teaching and how they are using online learning in innovative ways.  Here is a post on the power of social media and its benefits for your business from one of our teaching partners, Rob Petersen, President of BarnRaisers, an online marketing solutions company focused on social media.  Rob and Toby Bloomberg are teaching a class on LiveMind called Social Media Marketing GPS, an eight session course to give any business a roadmap and hands on training for social media marketing success
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A picture tells a 1000 words, the chart below says social media is here to stay. It’s from Google Trends and measures search volume for the term, social media.

Social media graph
View more presentations from robpetersen

Some more facts to reinforce social media staying power and show what’s now needed are:

  • 74% of companies in 2011 say they have a social media program
  • 54% are investing in social media as a customer service channel
  • Only 14% of these programs measure return on investment
  • #1 social media need for companies is a knowledgeable staff

(Sources: eMarketer, eConsultancy, Sherpa)

Where should a company go for this knowledge? PR? Advertising? Digital? Consultants? Maybe they should look to themselves. In our experience, the fastest adopters and the ones who experience the most success are those who know their business and customers best.

I’m excited to be teaching a course called Social Media Marketing GPS withToby Bloomberg to help companies learn and see results with social media through programs they execute for themselves.

Social Media Marketing GPS is a live, online 8-session course with instruction and “hands-on” training to give any business a roadmap for social media success. It occurs through a new, online learning platform, LiveMind, to deliver 1-on-1 “hands-on” training without you having to leave your office.

7 “hands-on” knowledge skills you’ll learn as you go from development of a strategy to a customized social media plan generating real results are how to:

  1. Determine success, accountability and the right allocation of time and resources
  2. Create social media initiatives that support branding, customer care or business development objectives and culturally align the enterprise
  3. Use social network tools of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to their maximum effectiveness and in line with best practices
  4. Develop blogs that build business and customer relations
  5. Determine what transparency and authenticity, two important social media values, means to your company
  6. Understand content valuation
  7. Measure and track social media return on investment (ROI)

Toby and I are partnering because we’ve helped companies large and small, B2C and B2B, profit and non-profit, achieve success with social media.

Toby, a former board member of the American Marketing Association, does workshop for the AMA all over the country. Recognized by Forbes as one of the country’s foremost blogger, she is the author of the e-book, Social Media Marketing GPS. The book, viewable below, is the genesis for the course and has been downloaded 10K+ time all over the world.

Social media marketing gps from diva marketing (6)

I teach as part of a Social Media MBA faculty at Rutgers University, one of the first universities in the country to offer a Social Media Mini-MBA. I also do “hands-on” social media business training with the U.S. Small Business Administration and PRSA (Public Relations Society of America).

We begin online training on March 15 at 1 pm ET (Tuesday). You can find the details here.

Know someone who might benefit? Please pass this on. After all, it’s called social media for a reason.

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How to establish an effective (and profitable) pricing strategy for online teachers

By David Lynch | Published: March 7, 2011

An online learning environment is also a marketplace.  The value of the learning is measured to a large degree by the cost of the course.  After someone takes a course, whether they go on to the next one or spread the word to others, is again largely determined by price.

How is this any different from merchandise we buy at a marketplace?  We don’t think it is. For an online environment to be successful, the price has to be equal to the rewards, both for the students who take the class and the teacher who is looking for some measure of profit.

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive from teachers is:  How do I establish an effective (and profitable) online pricing strategy for my class?

Here’s some guidance we give our teachers at LiveMind.

  • LOOK INTO YOUR MARKETPLACE FOR SUPPLY AND DEMAND:   Look at different angles in terms of supply and demand.  What is your level of expertise in the class you want to teach? How many people do you believe would want to take your course? What other options do they have now?  What is the price of those alternative options? How many classes would they need to take to find the benefits of the class rewarding? What is this worth to them?
  • ESTABLISH GOALS:  Look at your own motivations, both in the short and long term.  The basic pricing question you need to ask yourself is:  Is it important for me to make a certain amount from every class (the short view) or will word of mouth increase my classroom size so my students can help build my community (the long view).
  • ALLOW TIME FOR PUBLICIZING: Give yourself some time to get the word out.  We all have a network whether it’s e-mail, social media or personal PR.  Look at response rates and signups as you publicize.  We’re here to help.  We’ve found some things work for everyone and everyone also requires and deserves some customization.  Let us help you where we can.
  • FOLLOW UP FOR FEEDBACK:  Have a mechanism in place to help assess how you did. Encourage your students to rate your class, your teaching and make certain they provide comments on both in the forms we provide at LiveMind.

Think of it like this.  If you were a vendor at the marketplace selling food, clothing or a specialty item, you would establish a price based on the people that were passing through and what a fair value is for what you’re offering.  Howis an online teacher any different?

Ready to get started?

Posted in Teaching Online | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Live Classes. A safe place to ask questions.

By David Dean | Published: February 28, 2011

I learned something today about asking questions. Some places are safe to ask questions and some are not. Here is how I discovered (or rediscovered) this fact.

My son went to a school assembly today to see a famous children’s author. The author asked the kids “Who is your favorite author?” My son raised his hand and was picked. His question to the author, “Does it have to be one of your books?”

As he retold the story several times, each adult who heard it asked “Did he laugh?” or “Did anyone laugh?” The answer was no. In fact, my son, and all the other kids in attendance don’t understand why a question like that might be funny. For these kids a question like that, even directly to the author, is a normal, safe question. If the same question was asked at the local library, in a room full of adults, it would almost always elicit laughter.

Now ask yourself, where is your safe place to ask a question. Is it at work? It depends on the question and context. The middle of a management meeting at an ad firm may be a bad place to ask what a Google Adword is.

At LiveMind, we are building a place where it’s safe to ask questions. What is your question? It’s safe to ask. Promise.

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6 ways online learning is highly social learning

By David Lynch | Published: February 21, 2011

LiveMind Online Learning GroupIt might seem like a paradox that learning online can be highly social, perhaps even more than a classroom offline, but hear us out.   Blogger Kristen Winkler says Myngle, the largest online teaching platform, recently got its 100.000 user after being in business for 3 years.

That’s pretty social in our opinion.  When we started LiveMind, the open marketplace for live, online courses, classes and events, we wanted to raise the bar on online learning.  So we designed our teaching platform to achieve a better social learning experience.

Here are 6 ways live, online learning is a highly social learning experience.

  1. NO GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES:  People are teaching topics they are passionate about  to students who are equally passionate about learning these topics, wherever they are, and in the comfort of wherever they happen to be.
  2. SIDEBAR CONVERSATIONS ARE ENCOURAGED:  Our view is the passing of notes (through a chat exchange on our platform) is encouraged as long as the teacher is looped into the conversation too.  Why not allow for questions and possible improvements in real time?
  3. TRUST IS BUILT WITH EACH CLASS: In our model, the teacher has to prove their value with every class.  So, it is the classroom experience, the repeats, the referrals and the advocacy of participants through comments and ratings that determine the longevity of the course; it is consensus and collaboration that contribute to continuing education, not a predefined curriculum.
  4. CURRICULUM EQUALIBRIUM:  While we on the subject of curriculum, the balance between what courses teachers choose to teach and the participants choose to take allows for a better type of learning product to rise to the top in our opinion.  One that is equally crafted by teachers and students through the mutual benefits of choice and collaboration.
  5. CONTROL:  If you’re not a social butterfly (and most of us aren’t), one way we believe online learning is actually a better experience than an offline classroom is you can decide your level of participation.  So you can be the person you want to be in class.  You don’t have to worry about getting extra points for speaking up.
  6. IT’S FUN:  Learning, online or offline, should be instructional, but also uplifting, inspiring and fun.  We put our money where our mouth is on this point.  We have a simple guarantee for each and every one of our classes.   If you take a class for a fee and you aren’t completely satisfied, we won’t charge you for the class. We want you to have an outstanding live, online learning experience every time you take a class, and we want you to come back for classes again and again.  Is there anything to stop you from this experience?
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10 Reasons You Should Be Teaching Online

By David Dean | Published: February 18, 2011

Nice post about the benefits of teaching online via LiveMind.

Thanks Edudemic

View the post here

Posted in Teaching Online | 1 Comment

Looking for a new career path in 2011? Thought about being an eTraining Specialist?

By Rob Peterson | Published: February 13, 2011

Has the economy in the last couple of years made you rethink where the best market for your skills might be?  US News says one of the best careers in 2011 is in the area of Training Specialists, especially eTraining Specialists.  The US Labor Department reports the number of jobs is expected to jump by 50,500 jobs, or more than 23 percent, to 267,000 jobs by 2018.

In most cases, you’re going to train people doing something you’ve not only done yourself, but done successfully.  And, with the benefits of technology, you’re going to be able to speak and influence a larger audience online than you would in a traditional training setting.   US News says it’s important to get to know “e-learning and other technology skills.  People who have these skills have an advantage.”  They say the stress level on eTrainers is low too.

We didn’t know eTraining would be such a hot job growth area when we started LiveMind.com, a marketplace for live, online courses and events that brings together experts with a passion with those who want to learn virtually anything, but we’re glad that’s the case. We’re also glad to be doing our part to help create more jobs, especially ones where people get to do what they done, successfully, only now online.

In Clive on Learning, a blog about learning and technology, Clive Shepard encourages “learning technologists better get those low stress, well paid jobs while they last.”

Do you think doing being an eTrainer is something worth considering for you?

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LiveMind is Hiring Experts in All Fields

By David Dean | Published: February 10, 2011

LiveMind, the online marketplace for live social leaning is hiring experts to teach online classes in all areas. What are you an expert in? Are you able to explain it clearly and answer questions from students in a live, online classroom?

If you are selected to be an approved LiveMind teacher, you will earn up to $100 / hour and a minimum of $25 an hour to teach your expertise, from home, on your schedule.

To apply, click here and fill out our simple application.

Posted in Online Training | Leave a comment

3 best practices for online learning empowerment

By Rob Peterson | Published: February 6, 2011

The European Union conducted a study of e-Learning for e-Inclusion.  The study was undertaken to measure the effectiveness of a live, online learning environment and the degree to which participants feel empowered. 

While it’s clear online learning environments offer convenience and eliminate geographic boundaries, the benefits of technology are limited if there isn’t an environment of rich learning, social inclusion and personal empowerment.

From their study, here are 3 best practices for online, learning empowerment.

HELP TEACH TWO SKILLS, NOT JUST ONE: A benefit of an online environment is that students learn internet skills as an added value.  They rely on interactive tools to demonstrate internet capabilities and have participants leave with increased self-confidence.

MAKE THE STUDENT/TEACHER RELATONSHIP A PEER-BASED RELATIONSHIP: : Live, online instruction is participatory.  Students have a richer experience if they feel they are taught in more of a peer environment, rather than a traditional instructor led lecture series. 

CONVENIENCE IS ENHANCED BY CREATING AN INFORMAL ENVIRONMENT.  Online teaching is convenient and the online classroom should be informal.  Put people at ease, keep things relaxed and de-emphasize rules.

At LiveMind we’ve created a live online learning environment that is fully interactive, enabling anyone to share their passion – with friends or anybody with shared interests – in an informal yet engaging live online exchange.

Do these results increase your interest in taking an online, learning course?

 

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