Teaching MDS by Kimberly Van Diepen

The final class I was able to attend was taught by Kimberly Van Diepen. It was how to teach MDS to your customers. I consider myself a pretty adapt MDS user, but I know that the program has several customers and other demos scared. I wanted to see how Kimberly had taught her customers to get over their fears.

The first thing Kimberly recommended, was to get comfortable with MDS yourself. You have to know the basics before being able to teach those basics to others. Of course her biggest recommendation was to visit www.Mydigitalstudio.net. There are tutorials on just about anything on that site that can really help you overcome your own reservations about MDS.

 The next step in teaching an MDS class, is of course to find new customers. One of the biggest resources is to tap into those customers who have downloaded the free trial.

 The trial users are such a large market of potential class customers, that Kimberly devoted some time specifically to connecting with them.

 The other thing is to make sure you keep your customers excited about MDS. There is absolutely no way to break it. It's quick and simple to restart and with new downloads every week, how can you help but stay excited?

 So, now you are ready to teach your first MDS class. First find your potential students.

 The basic MDS class is set up to do exactly that....teach the basics. It offers a chance to play to with Text, Photos, stamps, punches, background papers, and embellishments. It's literally just a class to show them the basics.

 Kimberly made sure we knew that an important part of the class is to teach them how to purchase digital downloads.She also shows them how to order print products at every class she teaches.  That will not only keep them excited, but help increase your sales.

 Once the basic skills are mastered, you can add an advanced MDS class. This will demonstrate new tools and improve on the skills they have already mastered in the basics class.

 Once they have taken the advanced class, the other opportunities are endless. How about a Card or scrapbooking class? What about a Holiday gift class? There are several options to keep the excitement and classes going.

 Finally Kimberly talked about her MDS Club. This is a new take on an old idea. Instead of having a monthly stamp club, these participants purchase MDS downloads each month. She recommended having a members only site where they can show the items they have made as well as offering a monthly webinar for club members only.

One of the best things about MDS is that the entire class can be taught either in your home (where each customer brings her laptop and follows along) or in an online webinar setting where the customer can take the class at his or her own speed in his or her own time. Really, with MDS, there is no downside to hosting a class. You will increase your own knowledge as well as tap into a brand new stream of revenue. There is a webinar in the works on this topic, but the date and time hasn't been set yet. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement coming soon.