We didn’t expect to ever teach an online course
In 2005, we had no online courses.
We had been conducting on-site workshops since we started Psychotactics in August 2002, but there was no plan for any online courses. Then a client nudged us to start up a course. “I’ll be happy to do an online course with you”, she said.
Except we never saw that client ever again
We created the sales pages, set up the syllabus and then we waited for that client to sign up, but she didn’t show up. Instead other clients signed up. Our first course, way back in 2005, was priced at $6000, and 15 clients were part of that amazing start to our online course career.
But what of the missing client?
We call these clients, kicking angels. They’re like little angels that push, shove and bug us to start a course. And when we’re ready to get started, they change their plans. We’ve had this happens for the cartooning course, the headlines course—and several other courses as well. The only job of the kicking angel is to make sure we get started on our way. Then they disappear into the darkness.
Even so, our courses were too overloaded
When we first started our courses, our courses were similar to everyone else. We too had courses that were loaded with content. Every student was engulfed in a deluge of information—and they were happy.
But we weren’t satisfied with the way things were going
While clients were learning a lot, they weren’t getting to an amazing standard. Of course, this brings up the question: What is an amazing standard? The answer is relatively simple. Let’s say you sign up for the headlines course, what would you prefer: A truck load of notes and videos, or the ability to write outstanding headlines?
Luckily we had good teachers
My father started and ran a secretarial college along with my mother, and they successfully ran that college for over 25 years. My grandmother was a school teacher as well, so teaching pretty much runs in the family. But the teaching didn’t stop there. When we moved to Auckland, we had great mentors and learned from the best in the field.
When we’re not teaching, we’re cooking—and eating
We love cooking all types of food. My wife, Renuka cooks Japanese, Italian, Spanish—pretty much everything but Indian food. Indian food, on the other hand, is my specialty. We love our coffee and we eat out a lot, both in Auckland as well as in all the places we’ve visited across the planet. In fact, that’s how we decide to visit a place: we first check out the food, then we book our tickets. For the three-four weeks we’re away, we mostly eat, drink and sleep. And yes, walk a lot. You have to walk if you eat so much.