Learning for entrepreneur is one of the most important cogs in the wheel of growth and Prerna and I have also found that eCourses, whether free or paid, or in fact, any other medium of learning like eBooks, webinars are a great way to keep us ahead of the curve.

At the same time, we often hear from fellow entrepreneurs that a vast majority of information products- courses, eBooks, checklists that they’ve bought have never even been looked at.

That’s not unusual.

A couple of years ago we, too, realized that we were not doing justice to the number of learning aids that we were investing in and it was literally money going down the drain.

SO, we came up with a plan to make the most of all the learning we invest in.

Learning for Entrepreneurs: How to Get the Maximum Value Out of an eCourse

Here are our 5 key tips on how we make the most out of the learning material that we pay for or download for free:

1. Create a Learning Schedule

We swear by schedules.

Our productivity catapults to twice as much when we stick to our work slots and we accomplish so much more in the day.

A schedule not only helps you map out what will happen when, it also helps you focus on one task at a time.

So, if you’ve set aside 30 minutes to write a blog post then you are less likely to wander off to Facebook in between because you know it will eat into your next work “window”.

Also, if you’ve planned a detailed work schedule then you will put aside some time to network on social media and deal with emails so when you’re working on that blog post you can just concentrate on getting it done.

We always factor in time for learning in our weekly schedule and, slowly yet steadily, keep making progress on our learning resources.

2. Link the Learning to your Goals

It is extremely important to link your learning to a goal.

So, if you want to learn how to use the Power Editor feature for Facebook advertising then you need to know what larger goal will it linking to.

Will you be actually using that feature on a regular basis?

If yes, that’s great.

If no, then it will be better to spend your learning time elsewhere.

Without a goal it is nearly impossible to assess and measure what you want to learn and how well have you done it.

3. Write down Your Takeaways or Learning:

When we start our learning process, we create a simple word document called “Takeaways from (the name of the course)”.

It helps us note down the things we learnt and would want to implement to improve our business/life.

It also serves as a great tool to create action items that have to be implemented.

For instance, if you took an eCourse on how to create great social content, a Takeaways document will help you go back to all the actionable tips whenever you need to create social media updates, blog posts and more.

4. Finish What’s On Your Plate

We have a simple rule of not buying an eCourse, eBook, Training or any other learning resource if we still haven’t finished our last one.

It helps us with being accountable for the investment that we made AND ensures we actually invest in the training and not just financially.

It also helps YOU avoid two of the greatest “conditions” to affect entrepreneurs – shiny object syndrome and fear of missing out.

5. Implement and Measure

One of the biggest differences between a great business and a good one is that they implement more.

Unless you implement what you’ve learnt from the training in question andthenmeasured progress, all the time and money you invested in it is pretty much…a waste.

So, if you did invest in an eBook to boost productivity and even read through it… but then instead of taking the tips to create a schedule, work out a routine, do away with time wasters and more; then buying the eBook wasn’t the best investment of either your money or your time.

So, have YOU ever invested in learning resources for your entrepreneurial self but then… let them gather dust on virtual shelves?

Get your FREE Copywriting Checklists!

Pop in those details so you can get your writing-weary digits on easy-to-follow and effective-to-use copywriting checklists for sales pages, launches, blog posts and more!