Monthly Archives: March 2021

COVID Update 2021…

Published March 23, 2021 | By daryl

Good news from the head shed here at JumpToConsulting. Mary and I both got our second COVID shots (Pfizer.) No adverse effects, other than a mild headache which was alleviated with Advil.

My advice — get your shots! The sooner we all do so, the sooner we get back to “normal”, whatever that was. Frankly, I do not understand the reluctance of too many, but maybe that is just my engineering (and consulting) mind. Science works!

It has been one heck of a year. Just over one year ago, we locked down here. Did not mess around — my grandmother died in the 1918 flu. She left behind an infant — my mother — along with a toddler, sisters, and parents. There is no doubt that loss affected my mother and ultimately me – making us better appreciate this beautiful gift of life.

Frankly, I am more than annoyed with those who did not (and still do not) take this seriously, and I wonder how many needless deaths occurred. No, this is not a political statement, although I realize politics played a huge role.

Here are some positives. Early on, a scheduled in-person class for April was cancelled, but we replaced it with a live on-line class. Some effort to convert, but it worked well. That led to three additional virtual classes in 2020, with two more currently scheduled in 2021.

I’m hooked — no more travel, plus it opens up a world wide market. The technology is impressive and reliable. (Have used Zoom, GoToWebinar, and WebX.)

As a result, additional classes are on the horizon. I now have a second marketing partner (a subject for a future post) and look forward to working with both.

The class formats have changed. Rather than cramming things into two full days, the classes are now spread out over three or four partial days. Start later, end earlier, and build in more Q&A time. This makes it easier for students to digest the material, and easier for me as in instructor too. Still experimenting with the format, and excited about the possibilities.

This has nicely tied in with my longer term goals to move things on-line. In 2018, I took an in-depth class on the subject (Course Builder’s Laboratory by Mirasee.com) but did not move ahead due to inertia — mine and the market. COVID changed that.

I’m now participating in a pilot program (Teach Your Gift Pro) that is focused on making the conversion from live to on-line. Both programs are highly recommended if you are at all interested in offering on-line education as part of a consulting practice.

Full disclosure — I have no affiliation with Mirasee, other than my admiration for what they are doing in the educational arena.

The technical classes at emiguru.com have superseded the long term goals of a short class on consulting. Rest assured — it is still on the drawing board.

In the meantime, check out the FREE webinar, or visit us at our FREE monthly teleconferences. The latter are always interesting, and helpful to me too as people share their concerns about making their own JumpToConsulting.

Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy. Better days ahead!

PS – Check out the following COVID related posts:

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A little marketing experiment that worked well…

Published March 9, 2021 | By daryl

Here is a follow on to a recent post about a marketing experiment shared with my colleagues at Teach Your Gift Pro.

Thought I would share a recent marketing experiment – a free one hour “Lunch & Learn” for as a sample of a multi-day technical class. Reminded me of a movie trailer.Worked well — we had 60+ prospective students for a $2000 course ($20K+ in house.) Minimal cost to promote. We used GoToWebinar but Zoom would work too. I suggest others consider this. Like getting free samples at Costco.

Been doing this class in-person for about ten years through a training company that markets to the defense industry. When COVID hit last year, we switched to virtual live on-line. I’m listed in their catalog which greatly simplifies my marketing. The fee split is fair — I just show up and teach. With on-line, no more travel — yea!

Thanks to Mirasee and the “Course builder’s Laboratory” the switch was a no brainer. Had to do a little reformatting, but otherwise very simple. Would have switched to on-line earlier but inertia (both mine and the market) kept things in-person. No going back now, and students prefer the new way too.

Now to share a little more success. Last year my class got a commendation from the Asst. Secretary of the US Navy. What a nice surprise that was. Also very gratifying as we learned we helped “keep them sailing.” A reminder that all our classes are more than just the $$$. Best wishes everyone.

“Lunch & Learn” sessions can work for consulting too. We already used this method in our practice, often co-hosted with test laboratories. Mini-seminars with mutual marketing. Everybody liked them.

A variation on this theme are talks at professional society meetings. These groups are always looking for speakers, which often meant flying a speaker in for the occasion. As we were doing dozens of live courses around the country, we had a standing offer for evening talks whenever we were in the area. It was always fun, and good for business too.
Thanks to Zoom (and similar platforms) on-line sessions are becoming more popular, such as the examples I’ve just described. And there are always both live and recorded recorded webinars, like the FREE one on consulting I did in 2018 for the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), my professional society. Listen here.

You don’t need to develop a full blown training program to take advantage of the explosion in on-line learning. While you probably won’t make money on short presentations, the are still great ways to gain ever critical visibility & credibility.