Growing up my mother was constantly taking classes. Her passion was textile artistry, many would have deemed her an expert. To her, she was always hungry to learn more, never satisfied with knowing what she already knew.
As a child, school was fun for me. However, history was not my strong suit. Now, reading Historical fiction novels, I am learning history in a form of a story, not just dry dates and events. Too bad our educational system doesn’t teach history like that, taking a character and having them experience history in a story format.
In business, I am always learning, continually trying to better my skills. Most small business owners, especially new to an industry, do not have much cash set aside for continuing education. I have found several avenues that fit my budget perfectly, Free!
Recently I have noticed that there are webinars popping up on Facebook. Persons marketing this free service are hoping that you will then come to them for your business needs. It is an interesting way to market. However, utilizing these free webinars is a great way to learn even just a few gems of knowledge that you can translate into furthering your education in your own industry.
Another is going to networking meetings with a specialized speaker. I attended one that was facilitated by an expert in social media. Another great way to market, by offering your knowledge as an expert in your field. I came away from that meeting with another few gems of knowledge. An added benefit was connecting with the facilitator which gave me a new connection and we now refer each other business.
Lastly, I utilize my local library. Mine has the connections of allowing it’s members to use databases that the library subscribes to for their members. I have been using lynda.com. Pretty much anything you want to learn is stored in their databases of webinar courses. If your library doesn’t offer this, a small monthly fee can be paid to lynda.com to use their services.
Continually growing professionally helps stop your business from growing stale. Being curious lets you find out what’s new that you can apply to help your business grow. Challenging ones self is a great motivating factor. It’s never to late to teach this old dog new tricks.
