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Aarthi Elizabeth, Chief Brand Evangelist, TrainerCentral is associated with this portal which helps the trainers to give their training sessions online. She talks to us about this venture of Zoho Corp.
What is the potential of EduTech for solo women trainers?
The online training industry is booming along with the rise of creator economy. This has led to a group of women transforming into solopreneurs right from the comforts of their homes. This includes home-based teachers, yoga instructors, dance professionals, home chefs and more. Platforms like TrainerCentral give them the autonomy to build their own brand and set up an entire business online without having to depend on any one.
Single trainers find it difficult to get their courses accredited from a valid organisation. In light of this, what potential do you see of such platforms growing in popularity with solo trainers?
Currently, solo creators and trainers mostly rely on massive open online courses (MOOCs) or course aggregators to publish their courses. These platforms help bring in the initial visibility for the trainer. However, in a marketplace model, individuals are lost in a sea of creators. These marketplace platforms also take a cut from the revenue generated by the trainers. What these trainers need is flexibility and autonomy to build their own brand. This is where TrainerCentral comes in. Our platform not only offers the autonomy but also comes with built-in marketing levers. With this initial push, trainers can establish credibility and trust among the learner community and also fully enjoy the benefits of their efforts. This also gives them the opportunity to build an identity and brand, for themselves and their business.
What support does Zoho give to the onboarded trainers to drive traffic of useful clients on the trainer platform? What are the chances of meaningful traffic coming to this platform?
TrainerCentral comes with a built-in marketing tool-kit including URL white-labelling, search engine optimised website builder, one-click social media embedding and custom email campaigns. This helps the trainer build visibility organically and establish their credibility to attract more learners. We also have plans to integrate TrainerCentral with CRM platforms including Zoho CRM, campaigns tools and other popular marketing automation tools to help trainers engage with leads better and convert customers faster. We're also working on the TrainerCentral Spotlight initiative. We'll be featuring popular courses created by trainers on our website and help them reach more learners.
Do you plan to expand the reach of your platform through partners or do you intend to reach the end clients directly?
Our business model is a mix of direct sales and channel partnerships. The idea is for any user to sign up and get started on their own. We will eventually launch TrainerCentral's Partner Programme to identify and on-board new channel partners who will help us take TrainerCentral to different markets.
How do you plan to face the challenge from many other similar platforms?
There are, of course, multiple tools in this market catering to the needs of trainers. However, the majority of these platforms do not offer in-built video conferencing capabilities. Online training is no longer just about offering on-demand video courses. Trainers are looking to engage with their learners through hybrid formats with a mix of live workshops and self-paced lessons. TrainerCentral with its in-built video conferencing functionality gives trainers the flexibility to deliver their courses in multiple online formats and helps them nurture an engaged community. Additionally, our aim is to democratize access to knowledge sharing. That is why we're offering TrainerCentral in regional languages like Hindi and Tamil (apart from English) and we also support international languages like French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, and Malay. This enables trainers to create and distribute courses in the language they and their learners are most comfortable with.