Insight Mapping 201 - LIVE on Skillshare

My second Skillshare class is now live. This will be a different experiment.  While the first class was free, this second class is going to be set as a "premium" class.  Under the Skillshare model, it means that you need to be subscribed to Skillshare to take the class. You cannot pay per class, you pay a monthly subscription.

I have more than 100 students in the first class but none have been overtly active, meaning that none have posted a project or interacted with me in any way.  There are four positive reviews and no negative reviews.  

Here are my questions:

• How many of the students in the current class will enroll in the second?
• How many new students will enroll at no added cost to them because they are already subscribers?
• How many new students will subscribe because they want to take this class (or because I brought them to the platform and they saw other premium classes of interest)?

Getting new students to subscribe is entirely up to my external marketing efforts.  Getting students to enroll in the class from within the existing Skillshare membership was relatively easy when the class was free because there are many ways of getting a free trial membership. 

Creating this second class was MUCH, MUCH easier than the first and I think it is at least 50% better in terms of production quality.  The first class almost looks like a draft of something that should never have been published.  I'm considering redoing it entirely.

Another milestone - 100 students

Today, I reached 100 students in my Skillshare class and I'm still at 100% positive reviews.  I'm going to celebrate those two numbers and NOT go into what such wonderful metrics don't tell you.  There's always a story behind numbers.

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Insight Mapping 201 - Mapping for Creatives

Insight Mapping 101 is doing well with 55+ students.  To be honest, the target was 25 students in the first two weeks, so having doubled that, I am wondering if 25 wasn't a very low threshold.

I'm working on the second class now, which is going to be a little more advanced and tackling three different insight maps.  Since Skillshare is a platform primary designed to allow creative types to share their knowledge and learn, I've decided to develop something that is going to help all of them, whether they are students, teachers, or both: Insight Mapping 201: Mapping for Creatives.

Here's the outline for the class:

Outline for Insight Mapping 201; Mapping for Creatives

Key insight from the process of creating Insight Mapping 101:  There has to be an easier way to put the videos together and a better way to manage the audio stream.

Yes!  The learning curve is steep at this point, so the leaps ahead are quite interesting.  Instead of creating "slides" which I can then narrate, I am creating each video lesson using the concept mapping tool's presenter mode and recording all of it as a screencast. After about 8 hours of working with the presenter tool, I think I know what I'm doing.  Each slide in presenter mode is a "view" that can be used the same way a step in animation can be used in PowerPoint.  Individual presentations (a set of related animations) can be easily hyperlinked and they will transition automatically in presentation view.  I had no idea this was possible until I tried.

Here's what it looks like for the introduction video.

Coming up

• Insight Mapping 101: Workshop when I reach 75 students
• Insight Mapping 201: Launch early March 2016

Insight Mapping 101 - Key Milestone Reached on Skillshare

Hurray!  I received my 25 student "pin".  This must be an example of the gamification of teaching.  

Teaching a class on Skillshare is rewarding in many ways, some of which I had not anticipated.  

For example, while I was fully aware of the 25 student milestone, I was determined not to pay too much attention to it because my goal is very long-term and trying to reach 25 students in the first two weeks after launch wasn't going to do much for my long-term strategy.  

Still, there is nothing like a target.  This one is almost an anchor.  Twenty-five students is a key milestone because that's when Skillshare starts giving you some attention, in two ways:  First, you class starts trending in the class catalog; second, you can start getting paid.  Of course, you need hundreds of students to make it an income-generating activity, and you need at least a dozen courses to keep the momentum going.

There is a temptation to stop the marketing when you reach 25 students.  That would be a mistake.  The next big milestones are probably those I need to set for yourself to make sure I both work well with the Skillshare platform, understanding how to make the most of it, AND keep moving towards my long-term objectives.

• 20% enrollment (visits to page/enrollment)
• Five positive written reviews, with specific comments, not just the "yes, I recommend the class" variety.
• Ten projects posted for every 100 students (10% conversion from enrolled to project posted).
• Five comments/questions from students in the discussion area.
• Develop a complete curriculum around insight mapping
• Create and launch one new class every 6 weeks

Insight Mapping 101 is LIVE!

Insight Mapping 101, a free class on Skillshare.

The class is free and by following this link, you also get a month free of premium access to ALL Skillshare classes.  There is a small catch.  You will need to create a free account on Skillshare. 

So, what's the class about you ask?

Insight mapping is a variation of concept mapping that focuses on eliciting and documenting insights from any given event, activity or experience.  It can be used by individuals, in support of team work, or by entire organizations.  This class is a short introduction to insight mapping for individuals.

For additional context, read this post on LinkedIn:  Individual Reflection and Insight Mapping.

Any feedback, questions, comments would be welcome!