Focused on Freelance Instructional Design

In this week's podcast episode, you'll learn why transitioning from teacher to instructional designer is a great fit for teachers, and a list of 12 transferrable skills they commonly possess.   Essential Learning Points: Numerous real-life experiences and instructional design skills are hardwired into a teacher’s brain from the time they start their teaching programs In general, teachers are more likely to get creative with their ideas, incorporate problem-solving and real-life scenarios, and generally bring more variety to the standard knowledge check   Key Quotes: "Teachers understand Instructional Design. They may not be familiar with instructional design or instructional design language, but they will quickly discover they have been using it all along." "Instructional designers are CONSTANTLY learning. Teachers are lifelong learners, so they're usually up for this sort of challenge."    Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.  

Most freelance instructional designers fail because they go into it without changing their mindset first. Removing the mental limitations that are holding you back from success will help you to overcome all sorts of challenges in your business and career. In this week's podcast episode, learn eight tips for adopting a success-driven mindset that will help inspire and prompt you to start seeing opportunities everywhere.   Essential Learning Points: How to have a clear understanding of your worth and value and a firm grasp on what others are willing to pay for your services Training your mindset not to let challenges deter you from your goals The benefits of being part of a network that brings you the resources, inspiration, and connection you need to build a thriving instructional design career and business   Key Quotes: "How you perceive and interpret events and process information, your emotions, and the toxic people you bring into your life are all factors that influence your success." "Presenting yourself as an employee looking for work makes you feel the need to approach every business or company as an opportunity that you should be grateful for instead of looking at it as a way of finding mutually beneficial gains from the relationship."   Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Freelance Instructional Designers Mastermind FB Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/eteachonline) Why Instructional Designers Need to Niche Down (https://www.eteachonline.com/podcasts/focused-on-freelance-instructional-design/episodes/2147795166) How to Plan & Set 90-Day Goals for Your Instructional Design Career & Business (https://www.eteachonline.com/podcasts/focused-on-freelance-instructional-design/episodes/2147774679) Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

The most successful freelance instructional designers are those that cater to a specific niche. Having a niche makes your offering more targeted, which increases the likelihood of someone identifying with the service they're looking for. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you can't just blend in with the crowd. You need to have a specialty. But how do you figure out your niche? And what happens once you've become successful in a specific area? Should you stay put, or expand into other areas? That's what we'll be talking about in this week's episode. Key Quote: "Niching down doesn’t limit you – it lets you cut through the noise by putting your unique spin on the tired topics everyone else is trying to talk about."   Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) StayFocusd (https://www.stayfocusd.com/) Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Finding clients and landing jobs for eLearning design work can be a challenge… Not only are there a lot of options on the market when it comes to freelance work for instructional designers… But there are also many conflicting recommendations on where you should look that can quickly become an overwhelming decision to make. And while we all want to find the best contract work for our instructional design business, it can be easy to get derailed and make some bad decisions. Well, I'm here to make sure you don't do that! In this episode, you'll learn 8 tips to keep in mind when searching for freelance instructional design work.

Whether you are a freelance instructional designer or have any type of eLearning design small business, a great website is essential for your company’s success.  If you are looking to build a new freelance website or make your current site more effective, in today's episode, you'll learn 10 key steps to getting started and helping your instructional design business website compete effectively in the online marketplace.   Essential Learning Points: Techniques to adding unique content to your freelance instructional design website How to communicate value and attract high-paying clients to your freelance instructional design website   Key Quotes: "Building a freelance instructional design website that stands out amongst your competitors can be a trickier and lengthier process than many think." "If you instantly communicate your main products or services in your navigation bar, what you do will be apparent at a glance, so potential clients know they’re in the right place." "The key to attracting high-paying clients is to remember that their needs come first, and your website must provide a solution to all their needs."   Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Freelance Instructional Designers Mastermind FB Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/eteachonline) Toby (https://www.gettoby.com/)   Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Are you aware of the various instructional designer job roles and specialties that are growing in demand? When looking for freelance or contract instructional design positions, it's crucial that you have a clear understanding of the defined job roles that are out there. And as you dive deeper into your career, you'll probably discover even more positions that you didn't even know existed. In this week's podcast episode, you'll learn about four typical instructional designer job roles and their descriptions; as well as a list of other role titles that you might be interested in researching!   Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Freelance Instructional Designers Mastermind FB Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/eteachonline) Camtasia (https://techsmith.z6rjha.net/15Nr4g)   Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Effective planning for your instructional design career and freelance business is essential for continuous growth. But simply setting goals for your plans isn't enough… You must follow through with and achieve your goals, which is a completely different challenge. And that's usually where the problem lies. To ensure you get where you want to go with your instructional design career and business, you need to have a solid process that ensures the goals you're setting are realistic and achievable. If you set unrealistic goals without a clear plan of action, you're pretty much guaranteed to fail. And if this sounds familiar to you, don't worry because I've got you covered! In this episode, I'll share with you a practical goal-setting method I've used to grow my instructional design career and business.   Essential Learning Points: How to develop a practical plan for setting achievable goals for your instructional design career and business How to set SMART goals, a popular way to approach goal-setting The importance of breaking your goals down into smaller, more manageable tasks   Key Quotes: "90-day planning is much more manageable because your plan will have to be more realistic about what you can actually accomplish in a 90-day period." "The process of achieving your goals is a journey, so before you start plotting your stops along the way, you should know your starting point." "Ensuring your goals are 'SMART' makes it easier for you to foresee how close or far away you are from achieving them."  Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Freelance Instructional Designers Mastermind FB Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/eteachonline) Clockify (https://clockify.me/)   Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Getting the information you need to produce the course you want can be a challenge… Not only are there a lot of factors that you have to consider to forecast the SMEs vision successfully… But there are also many potential questions you could ask them that can quickly become an overwhelming decision.  And while we all want to gather the perfect amount of information from our SME (if there is such a thing), it can be easy to get derailed and go off track during your meeting. Well, I'm here to make sure you don't do that! In this episode, you'll learn five tips to remember that will help you determine the best questions to ask a subject matter expert during your next meeting. So be sure to use these go-to questions when you need help determining interview questions for your SME!    Essential Learning Points: The value learners receive when you focus on acquiring the best possible information from SMEs How to stick to a plan during an SME interview   Key Quotes: "The quality of the material you get from an interview depends on the quality of the questions you ask." "There’s no surefire way to find 'the perfect question to ask a subject matter expert.'' Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Freelance Instructional Designers Mastermind FB Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/eteachonline) Hunter (https://hunter.io/)   Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

One of the perks of being an instructional designer is that the work can transcend across all industries, creating a plethora of opportunities available for instructional designers to succeed. While at the same time, rendering a wide array of important skill sets. When choosing to become a profitable instructional designer, there are a few skills that every person should know.  In this podcast episode, you'll learn about seven essential skills you'll need to have if you want to become a profitable and effective instructional designer.   Key Quotes: "A good instructional designer should be able to stand in front of or preempt questions and apprehensions from learners based on predicted reactions." "Educating your client and sticking to the facts shows that you can proactively communicate timelines and costs and avoid scope creep."    Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Freelance Instructional Designers Mastermind FB Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/eteachonline) StayFocusd (https://stayfocusd.en.softonic.com/)   Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.

Why aren't clients or hiring agencies contacting you for your freelance instructional design work? You could have the most incredible services to offer... Projects that you've spent tirelessly perfecting each and every element of them... It's by far one of the most frustrating aspects of trying to find freelance or consulting work for your instructional design career and business. But clients aren't returning your call, and you're left scratching your head, wondering why. Well, there may be a good reason for it… And in this week's episode, I'll help you discover what it is. You'll hear about five common reasons why clients or hiring agencies aren't hiring you and, more importantly, ways to turn those limitations around and get those job offers to come to you instead of the other way around. There are also some bonus networking tips in the episode that will undoubtedly help you land your next gig!   Essential Learning Points: The significance of developing your professional brand Why having a professionally built website attracts higher-paying clients How to create unique outcomes for your potential clients Being strategic and doing your research about what clients are looking for   Key Quotes: "Successful instructional design freelancers and consultants always network and create those life-lasting profitable relationships." "Freelance and consulting instructional design clients hire you for your outcomes, not your skills."   Important Links and Mentions: Starter Toolkit for Instructional Designers (https://www.eteachonline.com/toolkit) The ID PLAN Academy (https://www.eteachonline.com/join) Freelance Instructional Designers Mastermind FB Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/eteachonline) Greenshot (https://greenshot.org/)   Thank You For Listening I really appreciate you listening to me and supporting the podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. I would also be eternally grateful if you would consider taking a minute or two to leave an honest review and rating for the show on Apple Podcasts. They're extremely helpful in reaching my audience, and I read each and every one personally! Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts to make sure that you never miss an episode.