Continually Learning Archives - Do This Not That Marketing

How to Learn What You Need to Know

When seeking to learn (much less become an expert in) anything, it’s important to realize it’s not going to happen overnight. You’re going to have to do your time like everyone else—learning, building, and becoming the expert that you want to become. Don’t let that scare you. Before you know it, you’ll be at the top of that hill and you’ll never look back.

I just finished participating in Traffic & Conversion 2019 in sunny San Diego (America’s Finest City). I was staying with my daughter and each day I would walk the trails through Balboa Park (see the pic above) on my way to the Marriott Marquis. Fortunately for me, others had walked that trail before me and marked a path I could follow. Then Google mapped those trails for me. Could I have gotten there without following any trails or maps? Maybe. But why do things the hard way when the easy way was right in front of me (and so easy)?

When you need to know (or master) something, why not do things the easy way?

When I was at the conference (which was amazing), I felt like I was drinking from a firehose—so much great information, and so many things to learn. How to get started with all that learning? Here’s my plan:

Prioritize

My first and most important recommendation is: prioritize. When you’re in learning/growing mode, there can be a million things to learn. Not-so-fun-fact: you can’t learn a million things, at least all at once. You need to pick your highest priority, your most pressing need or desire, and go after that. Once you’ve got that down, go on to the next one. So many people I know flit from one topic to the next without ever getting what they really need. You may not need to be a master at anything, but you should invest enough time and energy to get what you need before you move on to the next thing.

Read Books

There are likely books and opinions out there already on your topic. It’s important to read and soak in a variety of ideas from those who are already experts. Knowing the prevailing wisdom and how it came to be will help you on your learning journey, and will also help you form your own thoughts and opinions.

Get Experience

As you are learning from other experts, you’ll want to implement what you’ve learned. Learning is so much easier if you do what you’re learning. Put into practice the theories you’re learning about. Test out some of your own ideas, see what works and what doesn’t work. This is critical if you’re going to go from knowing about something to being able to use the information you know. As Tony Robbins says, “Knowledge isn’t power. It’s potential power.” Doing what you’re learning is true power.

Join Mastermind Groups

A mastermind group usually consists of a leader who is an expert in a particular area. You don’t have to join a group that is in your niche; instead join a group that is designed to help you learn what you’re trying to learn. For example, if you need to learn more about public speaking to help promote your ideas, join a public speaking mastermind group. I have a friend named Walt who has joined various masterminds to deep-dive into topics he feels will help him with his business. You should consider doing the same.

Take Courses

Today you don’t have to even leave your house to take courses to learn the things you want to know. You can take both accredited and unaccredited courses to become an expert. Check out Lynda.com , Khan Academy, or Coursera.com. They’re not accredited, but you probably don’t need college credit—you just need to get what you need. The important thing is that you learn what you need to learn in a manner that enables you to learn a topic quickly.

Stay Focused

While you’re involved with learning it can be easy to be distracted from your mission. Your mission is to learn what you need about a particular topic and niche, not to become the best in the world. So don’t lose sight of your end goal just because you find learning something exciting— stay the course.

Hire a Coach

For some people, hiring a coach that can help them stay focused on doing what they set out to do can be helpful. The coach doesn’t have to be an expert in the area you want expertise in either. Instead they should be an expert in helping people reach their goals, whatever they are.

Practice

You’ve heard your mom say it, “Practice makes perfect” and it’s mostly true. The more you practice something and gain experience in something, the more likely you are to learn what you need to know and maybe even become an expert. Use it or lose it is trite but true.

Don’t Give Up

It’s important to persevere and not give up. You may not learn as quickly as you’d like. You may become an actual expert before people recognize your expertise. Just keep going. Keep learning and it will happen. One step at a time and you’ll eventually get where you want to go.

As you embark on your learning journey, there will be roadblocks and speed bumps along the way. The truth is, you can overcome all of them with perseverance, focus, and an effective strategy.

In the comments below, feel free to share what you’re learning, or what you’d like to learn. And if you’re wondering if I can help you get where you want to go, the answer is—I don’t know. But I’d be happy to talk with you about it. Feel free to email me ron [at] rontester.com.

If you’re not learning new things on a regular basis, you will fall behind.

No matter how much or how little formal education you have when you start your business, continual learning is part of the game. Without the willingness to keep learning, you’ll get swallowed up by those who are willing and open to keep learning. Change is part of the landscape of business. What was popular yesterday is not popular today. This requires any business owner to keep learning. To keep learning is to stay in business.

Continual learning helps you:

Stay Ahead of Industry Changes — Just look back a couple of years and it’s amazing how much technology has changed the face of business. Who would have ever imagined that social media marketing, or email marketing or even content marketing would be as necessary today as they are? It doesn’t even matter what kind of business you have today; if you’re not involved with those three types of marketing you’re dead in the water.

Learn New Skills to Add to Your Services — Even if you are a service provider, it’s imperative to keep up to date on the new services your audience needs. Think about it in terms of “desktop publishing,” which was popular a few years ago to the point where anyone who had any computer skills at all could make a living in desktop publishing. Today, you need to be more specific and specialized. For instance, you might instead specialize in Kindle publishing.

Helps You Create New Products — When you keep learning about your industry and your audience, you’ll be in a better position to create useful products that solve real problems. Problem solvers keep learning. Problem solvers stay in business a lot longer than those who are too focused on staying the same.

Develop Better Understanding of Your Audience — The more you learn about your audience, the more you’ll understand which problems they need solved. You’ll also understand how they prefer to solve their problems. For instance, some audiences prefer highly advanced technology, while others do not. You can’t know that if you don’t learn about your audience.

Ways to keep learning are:

Take a Course — There are numerous places to take courses and learn today. Many business coaches teach others how to start and run successful businesses. A lot of colleges and universities offer courses as well. Those who have succeeded before you offer many learning opportunities that you can and should take advantage of. You’ll see them if you keep your eyes open.

Attend Events — In-person and online events are fabulous ways to learn something fast. Not only that, you’ll also make connections that you would not otherwise make. It might feel strange and outside of your comfort zone but events are excellent ways to stay involved in learning new things in your niche.

Find an Internship — There are paid and unpaid internships available if you keep your eyes open. If you’re very new to a niche, or you find a guru that you enjoy following, ask them if you can intern for them for a set period of time free. Be willing to devote 10 to 20 hours a week, and be ready to learn.

Follow Movers and Shakers — The people in your industry who are very popular, famous or infamous, have a lot to teach you. It doesn’t matter how much of an expert you are; you can always learn something from someone else. Use social media to locate these movers and shakers and follow them. Read what they write and read what they recommend. Agree or disagree with them; you’ll learn something new.

Once you realize that continual, lifelong learning is something that you’re going to be involved in forever as a business owner, you’ll come to love it. Learning new skills will keep your business fresh, your audience happy, and it will keep you from either being bored or becoming extinct. Remember, we don’t use an abacus for math anymore. Don’t be left behind.

Do you have a favorite place you like to take a class? Leave a message below and let me know.

Learning Strategies to Get You Where You Want to Go