March Promotion: Teacher Who Books the Most Revenue Keeps 100%!

Posted on 02. Mar, 2011 by Ryan Busch.

March 2011 Promotion: Teacher Who Books the Most Revenue Keeps 100% of Earnings!

eduFire Teacher Who Books the Most Revenue Keeps 100% of Earnings!

MARCH PROMOTION TIME! The teacher who books the most revenue keeps 100% of it!

Welcome March eduFirers! Last month we wanted to see you teaching in the new eduFire t-shirts. March is here–now it is time to do some serious teaching on eduFire. We want to inspire you to teach, teach, teach, and teach some more–so, this month, the eduFire teacher who books the most revenue will keep 100% of his or her fees.

That’s right…not 75%, not 85%, but 100%! We’ll even pay your PayPal fees.

The rules are the simplest yet–here they are…

March 2011 Teacher Promotion Rules

  • Teach paying students on eduFire
  • Earn the most money from 1:1 or 1:M sessions–keep it all!
  • Counting starts March 1 and ends March 31st (all times based upon Arizona Time)
  • At the end of the month we’ll send out a payment representing the 15% in fees to the winning teacher

Let’s get inspired this March!  Reach out to your current students, dig up the email addresses of your former students, go out and find new students–get them in to class and teach ‘em! Schedule as much as you can–the more classes and sessions you teach, the better your chances of keeping 100% of your earnings in March!

March 2011 on eduFire is your time to shine–you can take that to the bank!

Bank 100% on eduFire

Bank 100% on eduFire

Continue Reading

eduFire and The Fitness Angel Make History: Live, Video Fitness Classes Started Today

Posted on 10. Feb, 2011 by Ryan Busch.

The health & fitness industry is huge and home exercise videos have long been a hot item for people trying to get into shape. But just like books and static video classes only offer a little educational and instructional help–fitness videos have the same drawback. eduFire is changing that–the same way that it changed video into a social learning experience…

Meet Carroll Roberts (aka The Fitness Angel)

Carroll Roberts (aka The Fitness Angel)

Carroll taught a historic class on eduFire today and I wanted to let everyone know about it. Carroll is going to be offering regular personal training, live on video, through eduFire.  You can take these classes from anywhere with an internet connection and you actually engage Carroll, ask questions, and get specific fitness answers just as if you were in the same room with him.

Several members of our community attended and we all had a great time. So check this out–meet Carroll and learn more about this fun fitness class.

Way to go Carroll!

Try: Absoglutely with The Fitness Angel

Carroll Roberts teaching a live fitness class on eduFire

Carroll Roberts teaching a live fitness class on eduFire

Continue Reading

Using eduFire to build information about Industries (ex. my class on Digital Marketing Franchise)

Posted on 20. Jan, 2011 by Ryan Busch.

How might eduFire serve the development of information for different industries?

Digital Marketing Franchise Class

Digital Marketing Franchise Class

The more time I spend in the tomes of the eduFire community, the more fascinated I become with the variety if educational concepts being employed on the site. This got me thinking–why not use eduFire to educate people about information related to specific industries?

Around the same time as this thought, someone mentioned the concept of a digital marketing franchise. I’ve run my own consulting business and I love digital marketing–but I hadn’t really heard of this concept. So rather than feel like an idiot about my own fields of expertise–I started searching for some basic information about the concept. I quickly found that the majority of the information out there was was all an attempt to sell me a franchise–but it didn’t tell me much about the concept, the risks, the costs, etc…

So…I thought I’d try to put these two ideas together as an example of how eduFire can serve people who want to strengthen the cannon of information about an idea. I’m a neutral third party (I’ve never owned a franchise, I don’t work for franchises)–but I am inquisitive, an educator, and I am passionate about digital marketing. So–here’s a stab at a survey of Digital Marketing Franchise. This class is free of course–the goal being to broaden objective information on an idea.

Of course–this is one example of an idea–but there are so many other people like me who want to know more about whatever they find interesting. Those people could be doing this. Companies could be doing this. For all of the flashy marketing and salesy information out there–there still exists a need to actually examine and evaluate things from a basic level. To ask questions and interact. To explore and review without a bunch of made-up lingo and fast talk. I think that for companies–the people who participate in this sort of engagement make better customers. I think that potential customers appreciate clear messages and and the ability to make decisions based upon concrete ideas.

Know anyone who’d like to try this? Tell them to look at eduFire as a concept for actually communicating with interested people.

Continue Reading

eduFire Offers Official eduFire Merchandise

Posted on 18. Jan, 2011 by Ryan Busch.

Visit the eduFire store on CafePress

Visit the eduFire store on CafePress

It is official (the merchandise that is)! We’ve built a store at http://www.cafepress.com/edufire. We had a number of questions about eduFire t-shirts during the eduFire Christmas party, so it only made sense for use to get a store up. There’s a HUGE variety of things in the store–(how cool is an eduFire yoga mat?) so I hope you’ll enjoy the selection.

So get out there and fly your eduFire colors! Support your favorite learning community and get a cool t-shirt, coffee mug, dog bowl, or whatever!

Continue Reading

Happy Holidays eduFire

Posted on 22. Dec, 2010 by Ryan Busch.

Happy Holidays eduFire!

Happy Holidays eduFire!

Happy Holidays eduFire!

Hello All,

It is holiday time here in the US and I thought I’d take a moment to send warm wishes to everyone (regardless of your country or religion). We had a lovely Christmas party this past Sunday (thanks to Marco, Mair, Enrique, Alan, and everyone else who attended).  We had a great presentation showing a variety of different Christmas traditions. Most memorable for me was talking with people from other countries  (Romania and Egypt come to mind) about the celebrations that many of us have during this time of year. It is just terrific to imagine a world like we have here on eduFire where we can share ideas and learn from each other–I can’t think of a better way for the world to become more united than through mutual learning!

Here’s a lovely screenshot of the party:

eduFire Christmas Party

eduFire Christmas Party

I also wanted to thank everyone who has provided feedback to me on the process that we’ve been going through–your patience, support, and commitment are great!

Happy Holidays wherever you are and I look forward to a terrific new year with you all.

All my best,

Ryan Busch | President of eduFire

Continue Reading

Tis the Season to Teach

Posted on 15. Dec, 2010 by Ryan Busch.

Tis the Season to Teach

Tis the Season to Teach

Hello eduFire!

On the heels of yesterday’s exciting news about eduFire’s return–we have another exciting announcement.Because you were so patient. Because we love you. Because we want to have a great end of the year…

Teachers will earn 100% of the fees that they charge for classes taught from December 15, 2010 to December 31, 2010.

That’s right–you keep it all–we are even going to pay for the transaction costs that Paypal charges us. This is our gift to you for being the best teachers in the world. There is only one exception–this only applies to classes, not 1:1 sessions. 1:1 session will continue to be done as normal.

What does this mean for you? Here are some thoughts:

  • Schedule and teach as many courses as you can!
  • Get out and tell as many people as you can to take your courses!
  • Charge for courses–free courses are good for marketing, but charging for courses allows us all to keep eduFire working. Consider discounting (rather than free)—you’re getting a bigger percentage, so pass on the love and get more students.
  • Promote, Promote, and Promote some more!

All of these things will help you to make more money, gain new students, bring more people to eduFire, and add to our community. All good things that will continue to build your opportunities to become world renowned teachers.

We are still working to get things back on track and we’d like to work closely with each of you as we work to get operations back to 100%, so all we ask is that you coordinate with Marco to ensure that we are only offering one class at a time during this period. This will allow us to better monitor the user experience.

I wish you all happy teaching–now get out there and tell everyone you know (get out your email lists, blogs, twitter accounts, facebook–whatever you have) to come take courses on eduFire before the end of the year. Classes taught on January 1, 2011 are back to normal–so go get ‘em!

Wishing you happy teaching,

Ryan Busch | President | eduFire

Continue Reading

We’re Back! Bug Fixed: Schedule New Classes Now!

Posted on 14. Dec, 2010 by Ryan Busch.

eduFire is working again!

eduFire is working again!

Hello eduFirers!

I have some VERY exciting news to share–one of the major bugs that we’ve experienced in the last few months has been fixed! Teachers and students should now be able to enter classrooms as normal!

I don’t think that there are enough exclamation points available for me to express how excited I am to share this with you!!!

While we still have some other challenges to conquer–this was a MAJOR concern for everyone–but thanks to Scott and Jared (the programmers from eduFire’s original team), it seems that you can all return to using the eduFire platform for your classes. So no more skyping on the side ;)

Please let us know if you run into any issues– we just ran a paid test and everything went smoothly. But, if there are still any  “bumps in the road” showing up (an we apologize if that happens)–just make sure to point them out and we’ll look into them.

Again–thank you all for your patience and commitment to keeping eduFire alive during this all–now–get back to teaching!

All my best,

Ryan Busch | President | eduFire

Continue Reading

Getting Better Acquainted with Ryan

Posted on 08. Dec, 2010 by Ryan Busch.

Hi all,

I mentioned that I’d spend some time letting you know more about me–but someone beat me to the punch (at least a little bit)!

TutorTek.com posted a little write-up about me (btw–thanks for the mention). He mentions my work with University of Phoenix and StraighterLine. So let me tell you a little more about my passion in this industry.

I started in higher education with University of Phoenix. While I worked primarily in marketing disciplines (that’s the ultimate basis of my career–whether in or out of education); I have spent time counseling new college students for Axia College of University of Phoenix, developed new innovations with Apollo Group’s R&D technology division on new learning technologies, support academic affairs operations as a projects director. My work at Apollo Group ranged from local to international efforts (as far out as China)–all focused, in some way, on increasing access to education.

That’s the basis for my life’s work to date–increasing access to education. It is my belief that education should be as widely available as possible, that is should not be hidden behind walls, and that cost should not be a barrier.

This is the philosophy that drew me to StraighterLine. From 2007 to 2009 I co-created the concept of StraighterLine (at the time, part of SMARTHINKING). As the original team member–working with the CEO, I developed the current concept of StraighterLine: self-paced, self-directed college courses available for students through a monthly subscription. StraighterLine has been doing well…but for me, here’s the biggest success: one student earned 12 college credits (a semester of college) for $99!

If StraighterLine could offer a full degree it would cost a student less than a thousand bucks. That’s a powerful thing.

My hope in working with eduFire is to bring out new opportunities for people with that same sort of power.

So what about you? Tell me about who you are :)

Continue Reading

Happy Thanksgiving eduFire!

Posted on 24. Nov, 2010 by Ryan Busch.

Hello folks,

I know that eduFire is a global community–but as we in the U.S. are celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I thought I’d extend good wishes to all of you out there in eduFire land.

So–regardless of where you live–Happy Thanksgiving :)

Best wishes from eduFire,

Ryan Busch | President

Continue Reading

eduFire has a New President: Ryan Busch

Posted on 16. Nov, 2010 by Ryan Busch.

Camelback Education Group NAMES RYAN BUSCH PRESIDENT OF EDUFIRE COM

Hello eduFire!

Camelback Education Group(CEG) just sent out a press release a few minutes ago announcing me as the new president of eduFire. So I wanted to jump right in and directly introduce myself to you all. My name is Ryan Busch. I’ve been working with CEG and eduFire for a little over a year. I’ve been involved in higher education and e-learning for a number of years and eduFire is the most exciting idea that I’ve seen–I am so very privileged and excited to have an opportunity to work with you all and with eduFire.

Let’s get right to the heart of things: I know that there have been a number of challenges in the last few months–and it hasn’t made it any easier that you’ve all been wondering about who is taking control of the site. Some things take a little time to prepare and I want to tell you all how much I appreciate your patience.

I have spent several weeks working on solutions to these challenges–and I hope that soon I’ll be able to announce we’ve resolved these things. But until then–know that we are working to move things along as fast as possible. We’re here and we want to make eduFire better than you’ve seen it before.

I’d also like to thank Marco and Debbie for everything they’ve done in the last few months–they are amazing people and I we are all thankful for their support. I just can’t say enough about them (I’m sure that you feel the same).  They are a vital part of eduFire and we look forward to continuing and growing and Marco and Debbie are an important part of this process.

I’ll spend time in the next few weeks getting more involved with the blog and other areas to help you learn more about me and I can’t wait to tell you about the improvements and new ideas that we have in the works.

Thank you all–you are the best community of teachers and learners on the planet!

All the best,

Ryan Busch

Continue Reading