I know that it can feel painful to invest in training programs and ecourses, especially when you are just starting out and cash flow might be low or you might not know who to trust with your hard earned dollars and your precious time. It can be scary and sometime you really don't know what you need to learn first or what strategy will actually help you to achieve your goals. And in many cases there's a multitude of people telling you to do this or that and it's just overwhelming right?
You start to think that just grabbing free courses would be a good idea, or perhaps don't even worry about that and spend your time surfing the web in search for blogs that answer your questions and give you clues as to what to do next.
This could be costing you more than you think.
WHY SHOULD YOU PAY FOR TRAINING?
1 |SAVES TIME AND MONEY
I know that you think by not paying for that training program on Pinterest that you are saving money and true, you are definitely saving that initial upfront payment but what is it costing you long term?
I am a long-game kind of girl, so I am always looking for the best long-term investment and I am certainly not convinced that free is necessarily better. You see, I place a high value on time and for every second I am trawling the web for a 'free' solution is time I could be spending mastering the content that I buy.
With paid training,everything is in one place and you don't have to scour the web for answers, asking questions and getting half baked responses or partial info. (In fact one of my missions with this blog is that I provide the answers you need to take action - even with my free content - but a lot of people don't think that way!)When you find a course that covers the topic you need to learn about, there's no more scrolling endlessly through blogs and hanging out on social media to find the answers you are looking for! It's all there for you.
2 |SUPERIOR LEVEL OF COMMITMENT
This is something most people don't think about when it comes to investing in training - by paying for training you are essentially demonstrating a superior level of commitment. You are making a stand that you will in fact commit to learning and you now have skin in the game or a stake in what you are doing.
The act of parting with you hard earned cash encourages you to actually do the work. There's something to lose now! With a free course, if you get distracted, it's cool, it doesn't matter and you never end up learning that new skill or strategy. But when you pay, this means you are far more likely to see it through, do the work and actually utilise the training to better your business, blog or personal life.
3 | ACCESS TO THE EXPERTS
People who take the time to create a course inherently go through a process of assessing their information they will be presenting to ensure it's both of quality and easily understandable and digestible. In order to explain the topic properly, they need to have a deep understanding of what they are talking about before they can package it up. Essentially, they have done the hard work for you!
When you pay for training, you get access to this knowledge and depending on the training you sign up for, this can include a great deal of access to the expert themselves and this can include feedback and guidance. That alone can be worth it's weight in gold when you are trying to learn something new or complex.
Another by-product is that paying for training gets you noticed by the expert and essentially could lead to more exposure for you. When you invest in the expert and take their course/training AND have success that you share with them, you can become a success story. Remember, the expert is a person too and they have an equal stake in your success - they WANT you to succeed!! So they get really excited when you do!
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HOW TO SELECT A TRAINING PROGRAM TO INVEST IN
When deciding on a training program to invest in there's a lot of considerations to take into account and the most important of which is not necessarily cost. For training that will level up your business or blog and give you the growth and fulfillment you are looking for, you will certainly be willing to pay!
A few things you need to think about:
- Time
Time is perhaps the most important thing to consider - can you invest the time into the training that's required for you to succeed. We all live busy lives, and I swear, our world seems to be getting busier and busier - or at least it feels like it! So knowing you have the time to invest in training will take a huge pressure off your hands. Always look at how long a training will take you and plan your schedule first to ensure you will be giving it the time it deserves. - Cost
Ok yes, cost is super important because we are not made of money and we do have to be responsible and ensure we can feed our families! Have a look at what you are getting for your money - are you getting the value you are paying for? If the training is a higher ticket program consider how you will be paying for it and if it makes more sense to take the payment plan or to pay in full. - Subject Priority
This can be the most challenging part - identifying what training is top priority for the growth and development of your business, blog or for your personal development. If you are unsure about this, you might need to take a step back and look at your overall strategy and goals to ensure that the training you are considering aligns with what you are doing. - Expert Teaching Style
While there's lots of considerations, the last major consideration to take into account is who the teacher or expert actually is. Sometimes you will stumble across an expert you haven't heard of, and that's ok! Just because you haven't heard of them or they are just starting out doesn't mean that their knowledge is not valuable! But look for their credentials, look for testimonials, and perhaps get to know them first. I know that i am never opposed to people asking to have a virtual coffee with me before signing up for my membership just to make sure they like my personality and teaching style - so that's an option! Think about who's delivering the training and consider if their teaching style appeals to you and communicates the information you need effectively.
SO WHEN IS FREE TRAINING GOOD?
Ok, so there's been a lot of talk about why you should invest in training, but there's also an equally important place for free training and the last point above about considering the expert in question and their teaching style leads us directly to this.
Free training is excellent for a range of reasons but my favourite is to give you a chance to get to know the teacher and gauge if you like their teaching style and personality. Not all personalities will be for you. There's experts I know of that do awesome things, have massive followings but I just don't mesh well with the way they talk or their mannerisms, so I know that taking training from them would be a struggle. Free training and engaging with their social media really gives you a sense of what you're in store for and allows you to at least make that decision a little easier!
