Should You Sign Up for That Business Event or Training Course?

By: Stephanie Tuesday May 23, 2017 comments Tags: Time management, Mindset, leadership, Business planning

  
If you've ever attended a business event that included an offer, you probably know the experience.

The host or a guest speaker gets on stage, gives a presentation that impresses you with great information, and then, after giving you a list of facts that makes it clear how crazy you'd be not to do as they say, they finally do it:

They make an offer.

The list of bonuses is as long as your arm. The price tag is high, but the value of the offering is way higher.

And this is touted as the thing that will bring you from where you are to where you want to be, so if you don't rush to the back of the room and buy it today, then you're one of those people who doesn't take your business seriously enough to invest in it, and you shouldn't expect to succeed... right?

Maybe... or maybe not.
 

Just because a program is great doesn't mean it's right for you.

Within the first year of starting my business, I was enrolled in - I kid you not - SIX different courses to help me grow my business.

Do you think I got the best available value out of any of them?

Of course not!

I had spread myself so absurdly thin that I barely had time to LOOK at all the programs I was in, let alone actually implement them all to their fullest extent.

Even if you aren't enrolled in ANY business courses right now, and you think you might need one, enrolling in the wrong program will only hold you back from joining the right one when it shows up.

If you're currently considering purchasing a course, attending an event, or joining a group, it's important that you do it for the right reasons, and not out of fear, scarcity, or a need to look good in front of the speaker or group.

Here are some criteria you can use to decide if a program is right for you:

1. Has the teacher or leader created the kind of success you want?

While it isn't impossible for someone to help you succeed in a way in which they haven't, your odds of success are much better if you pick a mentor who's already walked the path you're on, and gotten where you want to go.

2. Does the program only tell you WHAT to do, or does it also tell you HOW to do it?

If a program is going to leave you saying, "Now I know what I need to do to succeed... but I can only guess at HOW to do it. What specific steps should I take next?", you're better off saving your money.

3. Does the teacher or leader respect your right to choose freely?

If they're trying to use shame, fear, peer pressure, or a feeling of scarcity to force you into making a purchase, that may be a sign that they don't actually have your best interests at heart.

Either that, or they're not that great at sales - in which case, it had better not be a course on enrolling clients that they're selling.

4. Do they have realistic expectations of what you have time for?

Some courses entice people with lucrative guarantees... only to reveal later that the amount of work required to actually get the promised results or to meet the criteria for the guarantee is so huge that most people can't pull it off.

Get a clear idea of how much time you'll need to invest each week or month before you enroll.

If you need to drop some low-priority tasks from your calendar in order to participate in something that you believe is truly valuable, by all means, do so.

But if you don't have time to do the work, or you don't intend to get someone else to do the work for you, then buying the program won't bring you the promised result.

5. Do you like the teacher, understand them easily, and resonate with their style?

Different people have different styles, both for teaching and learning.

If you don't like a teacher, you'll have a hard time working smoothly with them in the long run, and you're likely to subconsciously resist their instructions, which will make it harder for you to get results from their program.

And if you don't understand them easily on the first or second try, you'll waste a lot of time either trying to figure out what they're saying, or assuming that you know and discovering your mistake when it's too late.

6. Do you feel aligned with the decision to enroll?

This feeling of alignment isn't necessarily a lack of fear. Large investments of money and commitments to doing something new are naturally frightening experiences.

But do you feel good about this investment? Do you feel like you're doing it because it's right for your business, and because it's aligned with your goals and will help you create the life you want to live?

Or are you doing it because you feel like if you don't, you're a slacker or a coward who doesn't deserve success?

Saying "no" to an offering that isn't right for you doesn't say anything bad about you. It simply says that you understand yourself and your goals, that you use your time and money wisely, and that you refuse to be pressured into doing something that isn't aligned with your goals.

Are you doing a lot of work that isn't in alignment with your goals and expertise?

Many people start businesses, enroll in programs, and create plans with the intention that they'll spend more time making a difference by doing work they love.

But then they actually start to build the business and implement their growing knowledge of how to run it, and - surprise! - it requires a lot of work in areas in which they don't specialize!

If you've been doing a lot of work in areas YOU don't enjoy or specialize in, and you're ready for that to stop, I invite you to find out how to get a lot of your marketing, networking and referral partner management done for you.

Click here to get the details.

About the Author: Stephanie

Stephanie is a writer and coaching program design specialist. She helps coaches to design lucrative and life-changing group programs, so they can help more people, make more money, and have more time freedom.