RE: STEEMIT CONTRIBUTION – WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?
I think Steemit needs a way to entice professional bloggers to post their content here with a system that rivals the way it's done in the "blogosphere." I've followed a lot of bloggers and taken a couple courses and this is how they do it:
- Create a lead magnet: giving away a valuable online asset for free (an e-book, checklist, brief course)
- Promote lead magnet through a blog post or social media ad.
- Capture as many email addresses as you can.
- Build a relationship with your email subscribers with automated emails and followup, providing useful, high quality info according to their topic of interest.
- Eventually, when they are warmed up, pitch them a product. (A book or course)
- Pitch them again for a back-end sale.
- Get referrals and start the process over.
This system works, and I've sold an online painting course this year, making some money and I've enjoyed teaching, but you need SO MUCH online "machinery" to make the system work: a self-hosted blog, a plethora of plug-ins to run it, an email service provider, software to run your online courses, ads and a ton of marketing.
You have to pump out so much free content to get customers. Not complaining. I thank God for the provision this year through that. But that's just how it is.
Then along comes Steemit. You just put out good content. You don't buy blogging software or email systems or facebook ads. Eventually, you get paid for the content. It's amazing.
But what Steemit needs, in order to appeal to big name bloggers like Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, or Amy Porterfield, (who collectively have audiences as big as half the population of Chicago) is a way to upload and manage courses. Like Teachable or Udemy. Only decentralized, and with a pay-what-you-want pricing structure which is inherently built into Steemit.
I'm not sure how to do it. But maybe the team that is working on DTube could figure something out.
I'm toying with the idea this year: Should I build my email subscriber list more (1,200) and continue to market courses to them or create courses on Steemit?
I love creating content. But I'm not a fan of marketing.
So, we need to find a way to create courses on Steemit!
I hear you Matt. I know I have been Blogging and a full time IMer for 10 years now. I think the potential to get some of those big time Bloggers you talk about ( also others like Pat Flynn, John Chow, Darren Rowse) is most certainly there. The qualities you spell out with Steemit (a stupidly, simple system of just putting out quality content and getting paid for it) will eventually start to catch on and entice many in the World of Internet Marketing to make the switch over. I am a long time member at the Warrior Forum ( the largest IM forum in the World) and since I joined Steemit a few weeks ago I am slowly spreading the word over there. Gradual mind you , as I don't want to inundate other Warriors with Steemit since I am still testing the waters myself. But I see the sky is the limit here to be quite frank. And I think it will be just a matter of time. But one thing we cannot be is 'complacent' , and sit around and say "build it and they will come". Start creating some dialogue in these online communities. Get the word out and direct people to some of the top educators here who really can help the newbies navigate the Steemit terrain . That's one of my goals for 2018, once I get more experience.
This ia a brilliant idea, but you don't have to wait for Steemit to do it. Anyone can extend the platform. Someone could easily put together a Udemy type interface on top of the steem blockchain.
as someone that makes courses on skillshare (i put the @teamvideo 3hr skillshare course there) i think this is a super idea, yeah we should have a web app for mini courses!! :)
I have seen that idea work, but the downside is, you would need to get followers first to get their email addresses unlike other social media like Facebook where you can use their advertisement feature to make your content visible to prospective clients.