Successful entrepreneurs are voracious learners and readers. It's important to be abreast of changes, trends and updates in business and in industries. One of the ways that entrepreneurs and business owners can do this is by taking courses or classes. We asked some entrepreneurs and business owners what were some of their favorite courses that they purchased to help them grow their business.
#1 – Amazon FBA Bootcamp
The thesellingfamily.com's Amazon FBA bootcamp course showed me helped me get moment in three areas: (1) Sourcing retail products (finding products for ridiculously cheap prices). (2) How to manage my products and what software solutions to use. (3) What channels are most profitable/reliable (Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist)
Thanks to Jake Sabatino, Liaison Technologies!
#2 – YouTube Course
Fantasy Couch is a sports media company that heavily relies on organic reach via social media and video. The company's YouTube channel saw tremendous growth (doubled from 2014 to 2015), but the growth slowed down and became stagnant towards the end of 2016 and early 2017. I purchased a YouTube course and now my channel is back on track, gaining tons of subscribers and views. Believe it or not, it wasn't the content in the course that helped me achieve this new success. I already knew half of the course material and the rest was directed towards marketing expensive services and products. Although I learned a few things from the course, most of the material didn't apply to me. The act of me putting my foot down, putting a stop to my procrastination, and taking the course sent a strong message to my mind. After that course, I was dedicated to fix my problem, so I took other free courses, watched hundreds of videos about YouTube and read ebooks. This was how I was able to put the spark back into my YouTube channel. If you see a course and it has good reviews, I suggest you take it and stop procrastinating.
Thanks to Huseyin Aksu, Fantasy Couch!
#3 – Amy Porterfield's Courses
As a 1:1 Private Mindfulness Coach looking to scale my business with online courses, a book, and a budding podcast, I went straight to the top and jumped on board with Amy Porterfield's Courses That Convert and Webinars That Convert. And to ensure I had visibility for this new online endeavor, I joined Selena Soo's Impacting Millions Group for powerfully connecting with the media and major high end influencers, including Huffington Post. Best investment I ever made.
Thanks to Elisabeth Manning!
#4 – Udemy Digital Marketing 201 Course
Funny you should ask this question as I just took the best course of my life just last weekend. The course is called Digital Marketing 201 and it's found on Udemy. I saw the instructor livestream building a startup earlier that day and purchased his course at the end. The instructor reveals 3 strategies he uses to get traffic for new startups and I got to say, each one of them is a diamond in the rough. I used 2 of them already to outstanding results that have increased the downloads of our apps by 5x in just one day. Amazing! I recommend any entrepreneur looking to get more leads and traffic take this course immediately!
Thanks to Craig Hoist, 100 Things LLC!
#5 – Lights Camera Expert
I'm the owner of North Pole Notes, a subscription letter service to for customers to send personalized letters from Santa all year. Back in October of 2016, I purchased the course, Lights Camera Expert with Paula Rizzo and Terri Trespicio. Both are seasoned professionals who have helped me make adjustments in my business to gain media attention and recognition of my product. Since then I have been featured in online magazines and blogs, all due to their teachings of the inner workings of the industry.
Thanks to Dana Gutkowski, North Pole Notes!
#6 – Podcaster's Paradise
I am the Founder of YourBestManager.com and the Host of the Your Best Manager podcast. The course I purchased was Podcaster's Paradise. I just released Episode 50 which is a highlight show that you can check out to understand the production quality that has resulted from the course/training. When I was preparing to launch my manager training and coaching business, I wanted to find a way to stand out, leverage my strengths and build a strong network. I thought that hosting a podcast would give me the opportunities that I was looking for to expand my reach and build a trusted brand. One of the podcasters I had been following for a while was John Lee Dumas of EOFIRE. John is an authority figure in the podcasting world and so when I wanted to learn how to create and grow a successful podcast, I naturally gravitated to his course and online community, Podcaster's Paradise. Since launching my podcast in November 2016, I've produced over 50 episodes and had the opportunity connect with and interview some of the biggest names in the leadership and management space. More importantly, I've been able to reach an audience that would have been otherwise inaccessible.
Thanks to Jamie Newman, YourBestManager.com!
#7 – Entire MBA in 1 Course
As a film producer who runs his own production company called Whitley Films Productions, I wanted to change my focus to how most producers approach the industry and start treating my company like a structured corporation. To do that I went back to my alma mater and got my project management certification from Cal State Fullerton. This allowed for a structural approach for handling all aspects of film production management. Following that, wanting to further my understanding of finances, I took the online course titled, An Entire MBA in 1 Course, taught by Professor Chris Haroun on Udemny.com.
Thanks to Jacob Whitley, WhitleyFilmsProductions.com!
#8 – Speak to Sell Program
Education is the core of my business. Get Yourself Into College® is devoted to transforming the overwhelming college preparation and application process into a meaningful, exciting, and empowering experience. Lisa Sasevich's Speak to Sell program was exactly what I needed to launch and grow my business. As a former English professor, I knew how to provide students, families, and organizations with useful knowledge. However, what Lisa's Speak to Sell course taught me was how to create presentations that supply audiences with high-quality free educational content while also gracefully leading into sales. I earned almost $7,000 through my very first talk using her method. That was back in 2012. I've continued to use the techniques I learned in her course and my business has skyrocketed. Increasing my company's revenue feels great. However, what feels just as great is knowing that I have a method that enables me to offer substantive educational (rather than salesy) presentations, which also happen to help me support the growth of my business.
Thanks to Dr. Jennifer Bernstein, Get Yourself Into College, Inc.!
#9 – Marie Forleo's B School
Marie Forleo’s B School helped me mainly with connections to the online business world. I started connecting with and learning from other online business owners and was able to connect locally in Washington DC with the DC chapter of B school students. Those connections brought me clients, online service providers I hired to work on my company rebrand, amazing new business ideas and inspiration, and publicity through an online summit I participated in. Who you know is everything in business!
Thanks to Catherine Wood, Unbounded Potential!
#10 – Dale Carnegie's Course
I was painfully shy when I was in my early 20s and arrived on a full-time basis at my family plumbing, heating and cooling business. So, my shyness was a very clear area of opportunity for improvement, since sales was an area I where I would need to improve. Fortunately, I followed the sage advice of an industry friend. He recommended I take the Dale Carnegie 12-week course, just as he had. This class forced me to walk to the front of the room and be in front of a group of strangers to make a speech, week after week, for 12 weeks in a row. Talk about pressure! The good news is, I learned to endure it at first and muster the courage to do it. Funny thing is, by the end of the class, I actually looked forward to giving my speech. I got so good at it, I actually won the weekly prize two times. What was the weekly prize for forcing myself to the front of the room and giving an impassioned speech? A Dale Carnegie pen. And I treasured it then, and still do. This for me was a good jumping off class. I actually became a really good salesman and communicator with my staff. I owe a lot to confronting my fear and learning how to speak with others. I have recommended these classes to my own consulting clients, and they, too, have benefited from them.
Thanks to Al Levi, The 7-Power Contractor!