7taps®  is Available in a Pro Edition in addition to the "Forever Free" Community Edition

Last month we talked about the brand-new authoring tool, 7taps®, that features a stack of cards you can customize as a microlearning asset.  You will recall 7taps® entered the market in October 2020 and boasts it delivers an astounding 99% completion rate in corporate training*. Some questions remain from our last discussion. Such as: is the 7taps® product professional enough for big business? Is 7taps® still a rookie when it comes to authoring tools? What are the differences between the Forever Free and Pro Editions? Who is their target customer? Businesses or individuals? Lots of questions! Let's get to the answers.

Porter's Five Forces

First, if you've ever taken a marketing class, then Porter's Five Forces should be familiar to you. You can see the Threat of New Entrants detailed in the image on the below - 7taps® falls into that box as a new entry to the market. Next, in the rectangle below the title box, you'll see some of the obstacles 7taps® is working to overcome in its rookie year. No one said it would be easy to enter a market with powerhouse competitors like Articulate® and Vyond®. But, we know there will always be barriers to entry and economics of scale. Customers will always exhibit brand loyalty; 7taps® knows if you want customers to switch, well, it is expensive. However, only ten months into the market, and it looks like the 7taps® leadership team is prepared to make that investment. 

Competitive Advantage

One colossal advantage 7taps has over its competition is customers will never lose access to their card stacks - never - not even if they downgrade from the Pro Edition to the Forever Free Community Edition. Never. Who does that?! Yep, the rookie - 7taps®. 

Owner and founder Kate Udalova recently shared 7taps® has over 2,400 customers in the Forever Free (B2C) and Pro Editions (B2B) - this after being in the market for a short ten months. Not bad, considering this is its rookie year, and the leadership has already reeled in some of the world's largest companies, such as Qantas Airlines, H-E-B, Geisinger, and Radisson Hotels, to name a few.

Revisiting the Forever FREE Community Edition

Remember, Forever Free is genuinely free – there are no hidden costs to create or use 7taps®.  You create a free account (visit the IDOL courses Academy June Blog for the how-to directions) and immediately start building your card stack. I made the 7taps® card stack sample shown below with a client's specific branding colors of navy and teal blues. First, I designed the theme (color palette and font) and then transferred the state education client's content to the cards. I also edited down some of the content to fit the card space. This card stack appears in the final chapter of a state microlearning lesson for teachers and administrators in elementary education.

Would you like to see the IDOL courses Academy card stack microlearning lesson titled, "Is a Career in Instructional Design Right for You?" If so, simply use the camera feature on your cell phone to capture the QR code icon on the below. Once you do, your browser will ask if you want to open the object in Chrome, for example. Click on the browser message, and it will load the card stack about determining if you have what it takes to be an instructional designer. I created the card stack with the 7taps® Pro Edition.

Did you know ALL of the instructional information designers must contribute to design eLearning or blended training? What about the information instructional designers must know about asking questions, interviewing SMEs and stakeholders? Did you know instructional designers must also be excellent interpersonal communicators and be good listeners?  These cards might give you a good understanding of an awesome instructional designer's essential characteristics, traits, and strengths. This card stack is a fun take on stringent requirements for people seeking a new career as an Instructional Designer. If you're ready for life as an ID, then you'll also want to check out the IDOL courses Academy.

Creating your Pro Edition Card Stack 

Back to 7taps® details. If you want to use your logo, color palette, and images, you'll want to set up a Pro Edition account. As you know,  7taps ® is super user-friendly. So first, create your Pro Edition account - it's the same process as we used to set up for the Forever Free Community Edition.  

Start to set up your account; then, you'll see 7taps' ® Six Principles as previously featured in June. These items are a reminder of why Microlearning is so powerful. Also, they are a fantastic way to remind you to incorporate microlearning into your training or education-based lessons.

1. A shorter attention span is the new normal, 

2. Educator experience should be smooth, 

3. Learner experience should be smooth,  

4. Good learning is a blend of experiences, 

5. No extra graphic design jobs, and

6. Uncompromised mobility.                       

Of course, as you can imagine, the  7taps ® Pro Edition offers more features and benefits than the Forever Free Community Edition. You'll find a pricing chart on the 7taps ® website showing the specific differences between the two. 

So What's the Difference?

Remember, the Forever Free Community Edition is, well, Free. Whereas the 7Taps® Pro Edition costs $99 a month. Some feel this price is low, while others say it's a bit steep. Keep in mind the target audience is business users. 7taps® was created for business users, so there are more perks with the Pro Edition. For example, with Pro, you can add team members to your main account. It's possible to share one Pro Edition account, but it can get complicated and costly to do so. 

Udalova explains, "we thought about freelancers when creating the free-forever Community Edition. We provide discounts to independent freelance instructional designers. We don't have any specific discount in mind, we resolve discount requisitions on a case-by-case basis, but we encourage every independent instructional designer to reach out (to check with us) for a discount." She emphasizes leadership created the Forever Free Community Edition, so users never lose access to their design courses. And Forever Free is 7taps's competitive advantage over companies and tools like Articulate® and Vyond®. 

It's worth noting that if you want to add a team member to the Pro Edition, you'll want to email the 7taps® support team asking them to enable the Teams feature (more than one user on your Pro account) for you. It's not an instant access kind of thing, but the folks at 7taps® get back to you quickly, and you will be charged $99/month for the extra team member. 

I found ten main differences in the Forever Free and Pro editions are

1. Number of sharable courses (3 vs. unlimited),
2. Ways to share (2 vs. 4),
3. Uploading Images capability (no vs. unlimited),
4. Custom Themes (no vs. yes),
5. Adding Team Members (No vs. Yes, but $99 each per month), 
6. Uploading Audio (Yes limited vs. unlimited), 
7. 7taps Branding/Watermark (yes vs. no),
8. Adding Logo/Personalization (no vs. yes),
9. Analytics (limited vs. enhanced), 
10. Price (free vs. $99 per month). 

For now, within both versions, 7taps® chooses the thumbnail for your card stack displayed on social media. Sadly, you cannot select an image nor upload an icon or avatar. Nor can you record your audio in the Pro Edition. You can ask for audio to be recorded for you in the Pro version, but it's just not the same as choosing the perfect voice-over for your training asset. 7taps® decides for you, and these are ample growth opportunities. Udalova assures users that choosing a personalized thumbnail is on the 7taps® road map for Q3 2021. So users will not have to wait much longer. I hope the audio upgrade is not too far behind either!

It's True. 7taps®  Forever Free and Pro editions are Slackers

What's better than a Knowledge Base, ChatBot, and Chat Agent for Help/Support? A    leadership team in step with Jeff Bezos' of Amazon. The 7taps®  leadership team created a Slack Community for Customer Service in real-time. For example, I asked a question in the 7taps®  Slack Community as I created the ID career card stack and was surprised when I received an answer in less than five minutes. Now, that's instant customer service!

7taps® Card Stacks Might Help You Land that Perfect ID Job

Now, you know all the details of 7taps®  for both the Forever Free Community Edition and the Pro Edition. So what are you waiting for, IDOLs? Sign up for your Forever Free Community Edition today.  Udalova explains, "7taps®  stands for saving your money, time and nerves, whether you are a newbie or a seasoned Instructional Designer."

Whether you are just starting your career or showing hiring managers that you are seasoned and still improving your skillset by learning new authoring tools, 7taps is a great way to do it. 

For all of you job-seeking IDOLs®, she shares, "We have several cases when would-be IDs used 7taps®  Forever Free Community Edition during job interviews and blew the interviewers away. As a result, they got job offers - and the tool used to impress was free - plus they didn't spend months learning the tool!" Great idea, easy to use, and wins over people who can hire you - IDOLs®, take note!

As Udalova says, some people are interviewing, made and 7taps®  assets in interviews by walking hiring managers through the thought process behind designing the card stack, explaining the creation is FREE with unlimited access and zero licensing fees, all of which are super impressive to companies looking to increase profit and decrease expenses in training. The folks who are doing this in job interviews are hitting home runs, and you can, too. 

Seriously, IDOLS, you have a fantastic opportunity to create a 7taps® Forever Free account and add some microlearning assets to your portfolio. I challenge you to spend 30 minutes a day learning 7taps®. Then, invest a few hours overall, and you will have an incredible asset to add to your IDOL courses Academy portfolio! 

If you'd like to share in the IDOL courses Academy, I'm sure there will be folks who love to see your card stack and others who can provide constructive feedback on your 7taps®  asset. 

I can't wait to see what you create! If you have questions or comments, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. 

Thanks, Cheryl 

Written by:  Cheryl Oberlin, M.Ed., M.B.A., M.A.

Cheryl Oberlin lives in a world where the sun is always shining bright, Tiki Bar music plays loudly, her three adult kids communicate well, and her husband refreshes her coffee every hour. She admits to being a recovering academic letter collector. Cheryl promised her family in 2020 that she is retired and no longer collecting degrees in higher education. As an instructional designer for the state of Texas Education Service Center, she creates courses for teachers and administrators who work in elementary education. As the senior copywriter for byROOwrites, LLC., she pens creative, persuasive, and informational copy for clients in various industries worldwide. In addition, she listens to positive vibes, podcasts, and audiobooks to continue her love for learning (shhh! don't tell her family!). 

Visit her instructional design and copywriting websites for more information. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn®. byROOwrites, LLC is Oberlin's company offering copywriting, content creation, and edtech consulting.