Online education is the most convenient and affordable way to broaden the horizons, take your business to a new level or enter a completely new industry with these exciting and informative video courses!
SELF-MADE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Where: masterclass.com
How much: $310 for unlimited annual subscription
From Disney CEO Bob Iger teaching business strategy to former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz teaching business leadership; from Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour teaching creativity and leadership to Nobel-Prize winning columnist Paul Krugman teaching economics – MasterClass offers probably the most impressive library of names and courses for your professional growth. Each course includes 12-25 videos, each around 10 minutes long, and a gorgeous downloadable workbook with additional info and homework. You’re free to complete each course at your own pace.
To push your brand to the next level this year, start with Sara Blakely’s ‘Self-Made Entrepreneurship’. In 2012, the creator of Spanx became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. In her class, Sara shares the secrets of developing the successful idea, explains how to build awareness and culture around your brand, promote and sell your product, and more.
Read also: How to return the spark to your brand story
ZERO COST MARKETING STRATEGIES: OFFICIAL PRIMER COURSE
Where: udemy.com
How much: $29
Who doesn’t want new clients and more sales without investing anything? If you’re organising an event, getting ready to publish a book or launching a new product, not having big budgets to promote your work is understandable. This course explains eight zero-cost tools and strategies for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. You’ll learn from Amazon’s own Dan Hollings, who helped the platform sell over $300 million worth of goods. Remember the worldwide hype around The Secret book? Guess who was behind the launch now!
When it comes to visual aesthetics and user- friendliness, Udemy loses to the more sophisticated MasterClass or the more welcoming Skillshare, but having the world’s largest selection of courses in development, marketing, business and personal development definitely makes up for outdated design, and most of the courses are updated regularly so you’re always learning the latest trends and strategies. Another bonus of this platform – you can pay for each course individually with prices starting from just $13.
FINANCE AND EDUCATION IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Where: alison.com
How much: free
Ok, you have this brilliant idea but now you need money to make it a reality. Start with a free 5-hour online course that will teach you all about Angel funding, startup investing, crowdfunding and other sources to raise finances for your business. The second part of the course explains the connection between education and entrepreneurship and how your new business and potential investors can benefit from whatever diplomas you already have.
Alison is a free platform with courses ranging from dog grooming and gardening to neuro linguistic programming and climate change. After completing all the assessments required by the course you’ll receive a certificate or diploma that will look amazing on your CV.
THE ART OF NEGOTIATION
Where: masterclass.com
How much: $310 for unlimited annual subscription
When you learn communication skills from a former FBI hostage negotiator, your clients and competitors don’t stand a chance. In 18 lessons, Chris Voss explains negotiation strategies like mirroring, labeling, accusations audit, bending reality, bargaining and more. Exciting and unconventional knowledge that would be useful for anyone, from businesswomen working with a lot of people on a daily basis, to freelancers wanting to improve their chances for successful one-on-one coffee dates with potential clients.
Read also: How to start saying ‘No’ without feeling guilty afterwards
GROWING YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS THROUGH INSTAGRAM
Where: skillshare.com
How much: $150 for annual subscription
With about 6,000 courses in its business section, Skillshare is basically a bottomless source of knowledge. Some of them are freely available but Cat Coquillette’s class is part of the premium package that you can pay for monthly or annually.
Cat’s no-nonsense approach gives an insight into the behind-the-scenes work of growing your online presence and creative business via Instagram. Strategies for driving sales, optimising your account for better engagement and strengthening your branding online – the course is jam- packed with tips, secrets and practical advice.
Read also: 5 Instagram mistakes that are hurting your business
SELF-MANAGEMENT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Where: upskilled.edu.au
How much: $620+GST
This six-month course is a life saver for professionals who tend to get too invested in day-to-day tasks and forget about the bigger picture. Learn how to keep track of work priorities, manage workload, analyse information and improve competence.
Think of Upskilled as an online college. It allows you to build on your existing diploma or speed up your progress towards a specific qualification. Australia-based Upskilled allows you to directly contact your tutors if you need assistance. For this course, your tutor will be there to mark assessments and provide feedback. The course can later become part of your Diploma in Business, Diploma of Leadership and Management, and a few others.
GROWTH STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS
Where: alison.com
How much: free
Growth Strategies for Business was approved by 5,000 professionals in search of new ways to expand and generate more profit. Forget boring theory and endless graphs; this course is all about the practical approach. It focuses on real case studies of international companies that have achieved over 30 percent sales growth or over 20 percent employee growth in the last three years. Additionally, you’ll hear about potential management mistakes, sources of innovation, international marketing and economic globalisation.
PRICING YOUR WORK: HOW TO VALUE YOUR WORK AS A FREELANCER
Where: skillshare.com
How much: $150 for annual subscription
Pricing your work can be the most difficult part of entrepreneurship. Are you charging too much? Are you undervaluing your experience and expertise? How do you properly calculate the cost of a project? These questions can cause anxiety, not only for freelancing newbies but also for experienced professionals. Through this short course of 12 videos, artist and bestselling author Peggy Dean equips you with a step-by-step guide to pricing your work according to various factors, such as time spent, expenses, client’s background, licensing and more.
