Investing in Myself

Investing in Myself

At the tail end of 2018, literally probably December 31, I made a huge purchase. I invested a not-so-small amount of money into an online coaching program. (Note: if you're here for music content, sorry!) Because Facebook knows I'm a struggling entrepreneur, I get TONS of ads for webinars, courses, coaches, etc. The ones I hate seem to be the ones I see most often: I'm a business coach who makes 7 figures! I can teach you how to be a business coach to other business coaches! It's like some weird pyramid scheme for ideas, rather than make up or $5 jewelry. 

I know my business needs some refining. I know the messaging is lacking. I also can't pass up the hot deal of free...so I have watched MANY a free webinar. Many of them have 1-2 nuggets of useful advice, buried in 90 minutes of the same-old-same-old junk (who knew, on social media you should be social!), and a hefty sales pitch complete with testimonials. Hey, I respect the hustle- but if I don't get actual value in your 90 minute webinar, I'm not signing up for your class. Period. Especially when most of them are in the 4 digit price point. 

And if you use a bunch of jargon- more power to you- but I'm clicking off. "Finding and leveraging my USP to get a higher ROI" sounds too much like alphabet soup. Sorry, not sorry, the only acronyms I have patience for are related to history and politics. 

There was one of these webinars though, that caught my eye, in part because I liked the woman so much. She was captivating, loud, confident, honest...all the things I feel like I lack when I talk about my business with people. Well, except for being loud. I'm super loud. (IT'S MY NATURAL REGISTER SORRY NOT SORRY)

I thought about it for months. I did a sales call with an assistant, who told me the class teacher had an actual MBA. My desire to go back to school is zero, but my need for real, helpful, marketing info is high. I weighed the pros and cons- the cost, the benefits, the "do the work money back guarantee." 

Ultimately, I decided that the cost of the class (yep, 4 figures!) was about the same as taking the same college courses. Plus, I can work on my own time, there's no textbooks, no jargon, no annoying classmates reading Ayn Rand...Nothing I've done has worked so far. I've read books, Googled, brainstormed, asked for advice, dumped money into FB ads, etc. etc., and still had more cancelled classes than classes I've run. It's demoralizing and I'm making no progress. My main goal is to make this business successful- so I don't have to hustle non-stop and only make teeny, tiny progress. I want to be my own boss, live on my own terms, more than anything. I have to make this work.

Why not try something drastic? 

So, on December 31st, I took the plunge, dropping a hunk of cash into this program. Most of it, to be honest, is stuff I've heard before. I like the weekly group calls, which give us space to bounce ideas off each other and the instructor. The Facebook group is useful. The workbooks and class structure really build off each other, which I think I enjoy most. I'm really starting to understand how to craft offers that realllly tug at the heartstrings- because often purchases are based on emotion. Anyway, I'll have to report back on how it turns out.

Have you ever purchased an online course (not from a university)? Where do you go for business advice?