190: How To Know When to Spend Money on Conferences, Retreats, Courses and Other Business Education

HerBusiness

As business owners, we have an ongoing need to upskill and grow our knowledge.

How we market our business changes.

New technology comes along that makes the old way of doing things obsolete.

Trends change and evolve.

What worked yesterday, no longer works and so we need to grow and learn and implement new strategies.

But when should you spend money on conferences, retreats, courses and other business education?

And which options will give you the best return on investment' for your time, effort, dollars and energy?

If you're wondering whether you should be investing more in your education…

Or, if you've been buying "all the things" but not seeing progress then remember this:

The best reason to spend money on conferences, courses, and retreats is to get new knowledge to improve your life or business.

But building your knowledge and skills is not about overlearning and buying "all the courses".

It's about learning, implementing, and getting results.

If you have several programs (courses, books, webinars) that you are not using, know that the next course or program may not be the silver bullet.

Because you want to get the education that is going to lead you closer to your ideal business.

You may not need to know how to build a course, or start a podcast, or do an online challenge.

Maybe you need a course that shows you have to create a solid plan for your marketing over the next 12 months. Or, how to really understand your finances so that you next financial year is better than the last.

Ideally, your investment in conferences, courses etc., should move you forward and move your business forward.

YOU are your best investment.

So investing in your business education is always a good idea IF it is keeping you on the path to your ideal business and not being a distraction.

The right business education can help to:

1. Develop essential new skills — like how to automate your marketing, create a budget or create a lead magnet and all the other things that we need to know as business owners. Right now, inside the HerBusiness Network, we are focused on the topic of Money. All month we're providing members with free training on budgets, money mindset and how to raise prices and charge more without losing customers. These are all essential skills for growing a business.
2. Open your mind to growth opportunities — The right investment will help you make big mental shifts. Like getting the confidence to go from being a solopreneur to growing and scaling a team. Or going from feeling stuck in your business to having momentum, a clear vision and focus, and innovating in your business.
3. Inspire and motivate you — For example, investing in books, courses or other training where successful business owners take you behind the scenes of their journey, struggles, processes, and breakthroughs can boost your belief in yourself and give you the impetus to take forward action.

These three benefits are excellent ROI (return on investment) in the time and energy you spend on education.

But, there is a more significant benefit.

It's what I call RETURN ON LEARNING.

In this episode of the HerBusiness podcast, I give you:

• The four best ways to get "Return On Learning".
• The conference that turned our business into a market leader and saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing expenses
• The role a mentor can play in your business success, and why I've always had mentors.
• The communities and networks that are worth spending money with
• When to hire experts and how to use their intellectual property and systems to fuel your business growth
• How "Learning from Doing" helps you get unstuck and fast-track the return of your learning investment.
• Why YOU are your best investment.

Enjoy this episode of the HerBusiness podcast.

We’d love to know what your best investment in yourself has been. Email us at [e-mail].

Mentioned in This Episode:

• The REACH Retreat
• The HerBusiness Network