How To Get Your Money’s Worth Out Of Online Training

How To Get Your Money’s Worth Out Of Online Training

March 13th, 2011 // 3:04 pm @ admin

I am a big fan of online training courses. It is part of my do-it-yourself stubbornness that extends from business development to home improvement.

Each year I purchase and take part in at least 4 online programs and I’ve gotten really good at them. Here are my best tips for getting your money’s worth out of online training courses:

1. Ask questions – while it won’t always fit in your schedule, do everything you can to attend the live online portions of a program. When you’re there, ask questions – lots of them. You paid for the course, make sure you get your personal questions answered. If there isn’t a live portion, write your questions down and email them to the trainer. Anyone worth their salt, will respond to them. If not, ask for your money back.
2. Don’t watch all the recordings at once – many of the programs I purchase allow me to download all of the recording at one time. It’s tempting to wait until I have time to watch them all before I get started but if I do, I’ll never get started. Grab your calendar and set an appointment with yourself for one hour per day for as many days as necessary to get through the whole training. If you need to take a break or two now and then, that’s cool, but stick to your calendar.
3. Take notes – as you are watching the video (or listening to your audio), grab a notepad and take notes. Writing your ideas down programs them in your brain in a deeper manner than listening or watching alone.
4. Set up your notes in the right way - As you make notes, you’ll have lots of great ideas. Draw a line down your paper about 1/3 of the way across. At the top of that column, write “Ideas”. At the top of the other column, write “Notes”. As you watch/listen to your training, write your ideas and notes in these columns for easy reference later on.
5. No more than five tasks at a time – Most training programs require you to take action on your new knowledge. Rather than watching the whole video series, making a task list and then tackling it all at once. I suggest watching a few minutes of video, taking notes and creating a short task list. Once you have three to five tasks, stop watching and go do your tasks.
6. Tell your trainer about your results – most people who put together online training programs are really good people who want you to get results. Don’t forget to tell your trainer about your results. Each time I have done that, I’ve developed a great relationship with the person and have even gotten some free stuff that way.

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Category : Blog &Goal Achievement