How to Finish the Courses & Programs You Invest In
Welcome to the UnCloned® Insider Audio newsletter. My name is Arjira Richmond, and I am your marketing and launch strategist. I work directly with my clients to show them how to build uncloned brands and launch profitable marketing campaigns. We are the brand that you come to when you want to become the obvious choice of your industry. Welcome to the Unclown Audio newsletter.
Audria Richmond®:Thank you all so much for tuning in to this particular, newsletter this week. Today, we're gonna be talking about how to finish the courses and programs that you invest in. Right? One of the reasons why I wanted to talk about this or have this discussion is because I noticed that a lot of people don't finish courses. Now we're we can get into some statistics and all of that.
Audria Richmond®:And so my hopes is that you walk away from listening to this with a new perspective on how you're going to how you're going to approach your courses that you have invested in. We all are guilty, including me, at some point in time of investing in courses and not completing it. And, statistically, they say between 3 to 10% of people complete online courses. Y'all, that's pretty low. That's really, really, really, really, really low.
Audria Richmond®:Now let's assume that we are removing all the courses that are no good. Let's say you actually invested in a course that's worth talking about or you invested in a course that's actually good. Right? How do you actually go about making the best out of that course investment? And I have to say it like this because I think it's important to really talk about it in this way.
Audria Richmond®:You have to be very mindful of why you invested in the course in the first place. Why did you sign up for the course? If the course is about, you know, how to cook how to cook a chicken dinner. Right? If you were like, okay, if you have no no hopes on cooking a chicken dinner, then why the hell did you sign up for it?
Audria Richmond®:Right? Like, that's the thing you have to ask yourself. The other thing you wanna ask yourself is, like, is this course in alignment with my vision? That's probably the most important thing because oftentimes, I see a lot of people invest in courses, and they have no they have no hopes of actually learning it or wanting to know it. Let me give you a good example of that.
Audria Richmond®:So sometimes we invest in courses because we have good intent. Alright? What does that mean? I'm gonna buy like, let's say you bought a Facebook ads course. Right?
Audria Richmond®:You're gonna go out and master Facebook ads for whatever reason. Right? But if you know for a fact that you have a low risk tolerance when it come to spending money, if you know that you're not as technical or if you know that you hate social media, why did you invest in the course? So it's important to understand that the courses that you invest in has to be in alignment with what you say you want. Right?
Audria Richmond®:So let me give you an example. I recently invested in a course, on link well, not invested in well, I'll tell you about 2 courses. I I bought a course recently for $1500 and then I signed up for a free course on LinkedIn. And I don't even think it's free because I pay for LinkedIn premium. So it's safe to say that, it was a part of my investment, my monthly investment, for LinkedIn.
Audria Richmond®:But but just just so we clear around the the topic at hand. Right? I I signed up for a course on LinkedIn, and the cool thing about this course was that it was a course about procurement. Right? And you may be thinking like, okay.
Audria Richmond®:Well, you know, are you putting out RFPs and this, then, and the third? Yes. I believe as small business owners, we should be making people go through some type of proposal process. We shouldn't just be especially if it's a service. I'm not necessarily talking about the courts.
Audria Richmond®:Right? But I wanted to learn a procurement process because we're about to ramp up our hiring, and we wanna make sure we have a system and a protocol internally as an organization on how to procure services. And I think that, you know, when you think about government contracts or corporate contracts, you know, they go through a procurement process. And I think as small business owners, there's nothing wrong with us actually having a procurement process. Alright?
Audria Richmond®:But, nevertheless, I took this course, and the reason I took this course because it was an alignment with what I said I wanted to do. Is this making sense? Right? I think a lot of the times when we're doing things, we wanna make sure that it's in alignment. The second course that I bought recently was a course on time management.
Audria Richmond®:Okay? This course was all about how to remove distractions, how to get things done, how to be more productive. And I knew for me personally, I'm like, okay. I need to learn how to be more productive. I need to make sure that, I'm getting the most out of my time.
Audria Richmond®:We all have 24 hours a day, and so I need to make sure that I'm getting the most out of my time. So I invested in a $1500 course. I know y'all thinking $1500 to learn how to manage your time? Look. Yes.
Audria Richmond®:It takes what it takes. Right? If you're part of our community, we talk about this all the time. And the reason that I invested in this course was because I wanted to understand the science, the psychology behind why is it that some things I can get done and some things I can't get done. For me, a lot of the things that I have a hard time getting done is more on the personal side of my life, less than the business side.
Audria Richmond®:As you all know, you know, if I'm creating something or making something or getting something done, I can get it done. I don't have no problem pretty much getting business stuff done. But when it comes to me getting on that Peloton bike every single day or, you know, eating healthy every single day or something that I know is going to improve me as a person. I needed to understand like, hey, you know, why are you not able to get this done? So it's important that the courses and the programs that you invest in is in direct alignment with your goals.
Audria Richmond®:And so I wanna talk about your learning style. Right? Because if you understand your learning style, it becomes very easy for you to understand if you even need the course. Right? Now I'm a say this and I'm a say it from a place of love because I need you all to understand this.
Audria Richmond®:Right? If you know you are a person that needs handholding, instant or continuous feedback or a high level of accountability, you have to become super disciplined. Let me say this again. If you invest in a course, and you know you need handholding, you need instant or continuous feedback, or you need a higher level of accountability, let's, let's say you need 1 on 1 calls or if you need someone to check-in on you all the time or whatever the case may be. You have to be able to invest at the level of accountability that you need.
Audria Richmond®:And the reason that I'm saying that is because I know that sometimes people join a program and they're like, they didn't check-in on me. Well, what did you sign up for? If you sign up for, like, a $30 program or, hell, a $200 program or whatever the case may be, what kind of support do you expect to that investment? Right? You know, when I was, when I invest in programs, I'm always conscious of what type of support comes with this type of, thing that I bought.
Audria Richmond®:So if I bought some that's, you know, let's say I bought some that's like, let me be honest with you. When I buy stuff that's like $500 or less, I literally am surprised, if there's a community or some level of support. I'm just being honest. Like, because I understand what I'm investing in. However, if I'm spending $30,000, for an example, on a program or an investment or something like that, I'm expecting some level of accountability.
Audria Richmond®:I'm expecting some level of support because I understand that that's the that's at the price point that I invested in. Sometimes you all don't understand the level of support in in direct, correlation to the investment. So if you made a very inexpensive investment, the more discipline you have to be and the the more expensive the investment is, the less discipline you have to be. I hope this makes sense because I think for me, you know, when I am investing in, like, you know, higher level programs or high high ticket programs, I understand that, like, I'm a and this another thing too. Sometimes you gotta understand the topic.
Audria Richmond®:The topic sometimes can be a little bit too complicated, or it may be something that you need a little bit more support with. And I think it's important to understand that, like, okay, this topic is gonna be super advanced. Okay? I'm gonna need a little bit more hand holder. So for me, when I invested with my certification mentor, I knew for a fact that I was gonna need, you know, this puts putting together a certification program is a big thing, and I knew I was gonna need more support.
Audria Richmond®:I knew I was gonna have more questions, And so that's the level at which I invested. Right? But if I just wanted to know the information and I don't necessarily need accountability and support, then I would have made a lesser investment, or I would have looked for something that was a little bit, less expensive. So just keep that in mind that, like, you know, the level of support you need, are you making the investment at the right level? Okay?
Audria Richmond®:Now the next thing you wanna ask yourself is as you think through this, like, if I purchase a course and a week later, I opt out. Okay? I just for some reason, you know, I didn't log back in. I forgot my username and password. I don't even know when the calls are happening, if calls come with your thing.
Audria Richmond®:I really want you to be super duper honest with yourself. How important or urgent is this issue for you to fix? Right? If if it's not urgent for you to fix, then you're not gonna show up like it's urgent. You're gonna treat it like it's something that's optional.
Audria Richmond®:That's why I said the courses that you're investing in has to be in direct alignment with the vision that you have, and it has to be in direct alignment with the things that you're trying to focus on. Because I know oftentimes people, you know, have this, they invest in programs and stuff because it's cool. Or maybe you did it in a high pressure environment where you felt like, oh, I gotta do it. I gotta do it right now. But at the end of the day, after you make the investment, it's on you.
Audria Richmond®:It's on you to find your username and password. It's on you to log in and go through the the course and the program. It's on you to write down your questions and, ask your questions. Right? I think oftentimes when we're investing in courses, you have to again, how urgent is the problem?
Audria Richmond®:If you if you bought a course and the problem you're facing is, like, a 2 or 3, 9 times out of 10, you're probably not gonna take it seriously. But let's say that you invested in a course and the problem is a 10. Why you're not why you're not showing up like a 10 to get it fixed? And I'm saying this from a sincere place because that $1500 program that I was just telling you about that I invested in, I set my tail down and I spent about 3 days going through this program. It was about a 3 hour program.
Audria Richmond®:Okay? It's a 3 hour program, 5 module program. It took me about 3 days to get through it. Not because, you know, how can you say this? Not because it took 3 days, but because I allowed myself to process what I was learning over the course of 3 days.
Audria Richmond®:So I really want you all to understand that. The the next thing I would like to say is, you know, if you're a person that's bored easily, like, oh, this course is boring me. I can't the the way the speaker talk is so monotone, or I don't really like the way this educator teach or whatever the case may be. Let me be crystal clear. Who cares what they sound like?
Audria Richmond®:I I talk to some people sometimes, and I'd be like, hey, you know, have you listened to, you know, this particular book? Girl, I tried, but, I didn't like the narrator. Oh, I tried, but they boring. Let me let me be crystal clear around this. Is your problem more urgent than the board is?
Audria Richmond®:Right? If you're if you're literally learning, let's say you're going through a program that could drastically change your life and you disengage because you don't like the person's voice, get out of here. How many times have we went to school and had a boring teacher? You know what I mean? I think that because adult you know, as adults, we can opt out a little bit quicker because we are on we, you know, we have control of our own life, and we're not forced to sit in a room and listen to a teacher.
Audria Richmond®:But that's pretty much how you gotta think about it. Like, okay. I got a boring teacher. Cool. I just need the 2 x's thing.
Audria Richmond®:How can I get through get through this program as quickly as possible just so I can get over it? You cannot allow your annoyance to block your blessings. Because if you're more annoyed than you are wanting to win, then that's something that you have to check yourself on. Alright? So here are some questions I want you to ask yourself, before buying the course.
Audria Richmond®:Right? So number 1, do you really, really, really need this course based on your plan? Like, do I need this course? Do I have to have this course? Is this something that I have to do?
Audria Richmond®:Right? If it is, get the course. The second question you wanna ask yourself is, are you buying it because it's on sale? Now we're all guilty of, like, people saying the price is going to go up or it's going to be more expensive on next Friday or whatever the case may be. Yes.
Audria Richmond®:We all buy courses because sometimes we got a good deal or if it's on sale or whatever the case may be. But let me say this. I'm a person that if there's a course on sale, and I know I need it, and I know that, okay, I may not be jumping into it right now. Then be honest with yourself, but don't that doesn't mean buy the course because it's on sale and then throw it back in your toolbox and never log in. Again, even though you may not need immediate access to that course right now, you still want to be able to, like, put it in your plan for some for for the future.
Audria Richmond®:Right? The next question you wanna ask yourself before you invest in a course is, are you buying a course for a team member or a future team member? This is a great way to indicate whether or not you wanna invest in a course. So going back to what I was saying earlier about the whole Facebook ad thing. Let's say for a fact you need to, create a Facebook ad.
Audria Richmond®:You wanna learn you wanna take a course on how to learn how to how to do Facebook ads. One of the things that you could say is, you know what? This is very, hard for me. But when I hire my marketing manager, I'm a make sure they go through it. This is very hard for me, but when I hire this person, my social media person or my marketing person or whoever, I'm a make sure they go through this.
Audria Richmond®:Sometimes you can invest in a course and then say, you know what? I'm gonna hire a team member, and I'm a have them go through it. That way, we can get the result that we need as a company. Alright? So let me give you an example.
Audria Richmond®:We have a role in our company called the opportunity hour. And if you've ever taken the opportunity hour, you know, marketing system, we talk about having someone on your team who could pitch you for opportunities 1 hour a day. Right? We call it opportunity hour. There's 5 categories that your that your person can pitch you in.
Audria Richmond®:But nevertheless, we have this really good, public relations course. Right? It's a very intense course and it talks about like how to get, you know, how to get on podcast, how to get into the news, so on and so forth. Right? I already took the course.
Audria Richmond®:I already know the course is fire. I don't have the time to implement what need to be done for me to be in the press like that. So when I hire my opportunity, our manager, that person is going to be responsible for going through the course and implementing what I learned. Does that make sense? So hopefully, when you're thinking about your courses, don't just think about do I have to take it again?
Audria Richmond®:You know, I tell this to my clients all the time. I'm gonna treat you like a CEO. And so if you're the CEO of your company, you gotta know, okay, this is something that I don't really need to consume myself with. If you're a solopreneur, you're still a CEO. So if you know that you're gonna invest in a course because you're gonna be hired for that role in the future, that's something to think about.
Audria Richmond®:Another thing is we're going to be hiring a manager for our company. And so this person is going to be overseeing people. Guess what? We bought a course on how to be a manager. We got books that we're going to have our person read, so on and so forth.
Audria Richmond®:So you got to keep in mind, sometimes the course may not be for you. It may be for a team member. And so those are the questions that you wanna ask yourself, before investing in a course. But I also wanna leave you with 4 tips to get through the course. So you're like, okay, I understand the importance of the course.
Audria Richmond®:I understand why I need to really finish it. I understand why I need to do this. This is what I want from you. Okay? We're gonna go over these 4 tips to get so you can get through the course.
Audria Richmond®:Number 1, schedule it and put it on your calendar. So if you have a to do list, a daily agenda, a calendar, or whatever the case may be, make sure you go ahead and, put it on your calendar. If you don't put it on your calendar, it's not real. And if you are a person that does not have a calendar and you haven't become disciplined yet with the calendar, then I highly recommend you at least get a to do list. Right?
Audria Richmond®:So I pretty much live by my calendar. And so if something is important to me, it goes on the calendar. I don't care what it is. If it's super, super, super duper important, it goes on the calendar that becomes my guiding light. But if you are a person who have not put any discipline to your calendar yet, at the very least at the very least, use a to do list.
Audria Richmond®:The next thing and this is this kind of goes back to the earlier points. You wanna consume all the content of the course to ensure that you have a clear understanding. If you don't understand it after consuming it, then please consume it again. So oftentimes people will take a course and they're saying, I didn't get it. Go through it again.
Audria Richmond®:Did you know that you supposed to watch something 7 to 21 times to get it? But if somebody if if a course creator told you that, like, hey, the only way the only way you're gonna be able to, get through this course, you need to go through a 7 to 22 times. You'll be like, woah, I'm good. I'm not going to take this. But you gotta ask yourself, how important is it for you to know this information?
Audria Richmond®:If I had to, like, if I had to kind of nail down the thing that keeps people stuck or nail down the thing that keeps people, from progressing, it's the lack of knowing. It's a lack of knowing. If you've been a part of any of my programs and you hop on a Q and A call and you say, hey, Audree, I'm dealing with X, Y, Z, Everybody that's that's one of my clients, they already know. I'm a say I already covered that in course. X y z.
Audria Richmond®:Go watch it after you watch it and have a clear understanding of it. Come back. This is the reason for this. You cannot ask compelling questions if you have not consumed the information. I see so many people show up to q and a calls wasting their time asking questions about things that has already been covered, and they don't know it's being covered because they have not consumed the course.
Audria Richmond®:And so not only do you waste your time, but you waste the time of the person that's facilitating the call, and you also waste the time of the people who already went through the course. It's important that you go through the course and consume all of it. The next thing, write down all the questions that come up while learning the course and and bring them to the Q and A call if you have Q and A. Right now, if you're in a program, it doesn't have Q and A, then go to Google or maybe even give you a little another little hack. Submit these questions to their support desk.
Audria Richmond®:Hey. I just took this course, and I noticed that support doesn't come with this. I gather some questions from the course. Can you can you answer these questions for me? Right?
Audria Richmond®:So and and if they still refuse to answer your questions for whatever reason, then go to Google. Right? So don't come. Don't make an excuse to not get it done. And then the last thing that I will say, there's 2 more things.
Audria Richmond®:Okay? It's really 5 tips instead of 4. Okay? The next thing you wanna do is if your course has a community, this is where I see a lot of people get stuck. If the course that you invested in or the program that you are part of have a community, Do not get concerned with the size of the community or how engaged it is or not.
Audria Richmond®:I think a lot of the times people say, well, ain't nobody really talking in this group, so I'm not going to ask a question or or the course or the or the group too big. I don't want to ask my question. Whatever the case may be, whether it's too big or too small, make sure you use the think about yourself. Okay? Like, it's nothing wrong with being in a community and being the person that always got a question.
Audria Richmond®:I have a a few members who are inside of our unclown lunch circle, and they have no problem with taking up space. They have no problem with asking questions, get in the habit of asking questions, get in the habit of like, get over yourself when you think that, like, oh, my question may be stupid or whatever the case may be. Use the community for your own personal gain so you can get to where you need to be. Right. And if you're not getting engagement from the people that's in the community, who cares?
Audria Richmond®:The only people you should be concerned about responding back to you are the coaches of that program, the creators of that program, or the admin of that program. Do not get consumed with, oh, this group is too big or this group is too small or I made a post and nobody come in and whatever. Get over yourself. Make it about you. Make it about your personal gain so you can get what you need.
Audria Richmond®:And then the last thing I would say is minimize or eliminate distractions. One of the best things that I have adapted over the past few years is turning on do not disturb. You're not gonna call me. You're not gonna disrupt me. You're not going to do any of the stuff that I don't necessarily want you to do.
Audria Richmond®:Okay? So keep that in mind. The next thing I would say is that we recently downloaded a tool that allows you to, block apps so you won't get on it. So this tool is intense because it allows you to block out all of your, it allows you to block, like, all your social media stuff. And let me tell you something that I learned about myself when I was, looking at this app.
Audria Richmond®:I thought that I was spending a lot of time on social media. Come to find out, like, I'm not even spending that much time on social media. Like, yes, I'm on social media for business sake, like answering client questions and things like that. Maybe kiki from time to time, but I'm really check my email more than anything. I don't know why I'm so impulsive, when it come to my email.
Audria Richmond®:So the other thing about these apps is that you will learn your habits. And so my husband and I downloaded this app, and it allows us to block out everything. We block out email. We block out social media. I block out Slack even though that's a communication from my clients.
Audria Richmond®:The reason being is, you know, I have working hours. I'm not a 247. Oh, you can eat buffet support channel. You know what I mean? So I have to make sure that I am available when I'm available and I'm off when I'm off.
Audria Richmond®:And until I develop the discipline, I'm going to use tools that is going to allow me to do that. So I really do hope that you enjoy today's audio newsletter. We talked about how to finish courses and programs that you invest in. We went over the importance of understanding what type of courses you need. You know, we we talked about investing at the level at which you need support.
Audria Richmond®:We went over questions to that you should access up before, investing in a course. We went over 5 tips to get through to help you get through courses. I really who really do hope that you enjoyed this audio newsletter. Please let me know your biggest takeaway inside of the unclone marketing free Facebook group. If you're not a member, you can visit the description of wherever you may be listening to this audio.
Audria Richmond®:And until next time y'all, let's go live an UnCloned® life and build an UnCloned® brand.
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