The answer: a spot in the new 50Plus Nation "course catalog". We have started curating courses created by others who want to reach our 50Plus members via a true "shared learning" platform supporting the mission of building and supporting a community of 50Plus individuals wanting to earn income as solopreneurs. It will be place where you can take courses that support you in the nuts and bolts of becoming a solopreneur or learn what other 50Plus solopreneurs have to offer.
Types of Courses
There are different theories on course creation. Some people swear by free "beta-tests", the way I launched my first course, others support the idea of paid "pilots" sold at a discounted rate, and yet others prefer offering courses at full market price confident that they will fly. On 50Plus Nation it will be a mix, some courses will be beta-tests, others will will be paid pilots and yet others will be proven courses offered at a market price. My goal is to make sure that all of the courses on 50Plus Nation will be high quality, fairly priced and pertinent for the 50Plus demographic.
The Initial Courses
I am starting with offerings from 3 other course creators, two who are budding 50Plus solopreneurs and the other a talented Millennial who recently took the plunge to find her niche. Diana Todd-Banks has been an advocate for the 50Plus demographic for some time. Lindsey Hazel and Bev Roberts, are fellow alums from the Course Launcher program that helped me launch my first course. My choice of their courses comes from my own experience related to the subject of their courses. Each represents something I needed based on events in my own life in the past six months. I would confidently make a guess that I am not alone in any of the needs that drove to me to recognize the value of their offerings.
A Definitive Guide: How to Sort, Pack and Cherish End of Life Matters
Mid-year last year I had to begin managing my 95 year old mother’s affairs which culminated in October with the sale of her home of 50+ years which required emptying it out and all the decisions on what to do with most of its contents. Diana's course on becoming a Professional Estate Organizer (PEO) was exactly what I needed but didn’t have. Her work is based on intense personal experience coupled with in depth research. I know there are a lot of fellow 50Plus individuals having to deal with the exact same thing. My experience was very hard but I know it would have been very different if I had access to Diana’s PEO course before tackling the issues of my mother's possessions last year.
Sleeping in Uncertain Times
At the moment I would venture a guess that at least half of the adult population of the United States hasn’t slept well since last November. I know until recently I wasn’t sleeping well at all. Outside events had taken over and I could not get even a single night of quality sleep in a full week of trying. I was at a loss feeling like a Zombie many days. Then serendipity struck, I discovered Bev’s course Sleeping Fabulously in December. Bev is a sleep expert who teaches you how to establish an effective sleep routine in her one month program geared to helping anyone develop more effective sleep habits. I had my doubts at the outset but I have been sleeping so much better since the second week of her class. Sound sleep is a true gift, especially in a time of such great uncertainty.
A Guide to an Important Digital Design Tool - Canva
Canva has become my go-to tool in my work on the 50Plus Nation website. Canva can stand in for programs like Adobe Illustrator which costs too much for many. The good news is Canva is free. Lindsey Hazel has created a course she calls Consistent Canva that in 30 days helped me begin to make the most from Canva for creating the brand image - colors, font styles and general look and feel of the 50Plus Nation website. Lindsey is an excellent teacher with a real knack for keeping things simple and easy to understand. I don’t know what I would do without Canva at this point. Even having become a bit fluent in Adobe Illustrator, Canva is the tool I always grab first. If you just want to take a look at Canva, do it here.
Multiple Teaching Platforms
I created my course on Teachable and like it as a platform. However, I realize that there are other good courses being created on other excellent platforms. In the course catalog each course is represented in a thumbnail image. Clicking on the thumbnail will take you to an information page on 50Plus Nation explaining the course in complete detail. If you get serious and think you would like to take the course there is a button that will take you to a page outside of 50Plus Nation to sign up for it. In the case of my course, Find Your Niche Online clicking the button at the bottom of the information page takes you to Academy.50PlusNation.com a custom URL that leads to the 50Plus Nation school on Teachable.
Please Take a Look and Provide Comments or Feedback
I encourage you to take a look at all four of the courses in the nascent 50Plus Nation course catalog. If you have a course you would like to offer at a fair price with 50Plus Nation playing an affiliate role let's talk. If you have suggestions for courses you would like to see created please share them. The subject of my next course is going to be How to Teach Online geared to this 50Plus audience. I am convinced that I am not alone in realizing that the niche I found, becoming a solopreneur, is a subject that lends itself to being taught online for a 50Plus audience. My "How to" course will be for others coming to that same realization. Online teaching can be very rewarding, an ideal solopreneurial undertaking.