I have always loved to learn…haven’t you?  Whether I was perfecting my piano skills as a child, discovering personal growth programs as a young adult, or learning – and constantly updating – my expertise as a trainer, thought leader and career coach now, there’s no substitute for the “high” I get from learning something new!

But something has changed in the past few years: my goals have gotten higher – and so has my investment in learning!

I took a deep breath and committed to a 2-week educational cruise to Hawaii and back in January 2007, a high-level book marketing workshop in March, and a $2000 self-study kit from a leading marketing expert – all within the first quarter of 2007! And I’ve continued to invest in myself…close to 6 figures each year – and it pays off every month as my results improve!

Why? Because I need to stay ahead of all of you – but also, because I want to be the best coach, leader, writer, marketer and speaker that I can…and there’s nothing like live learning to help.

Here are 6 reasons I recommend that you seek out live events to enhance YOUR learning and develop yourself professionally too:

1. To stimulate new ideas. Sure, the speakers say things that are insightful — “aha’s” in how they do things. But raw creativity somehow emerges — and breakthroughs happen — when you leave your day-to-day environment.I can’t explain it…but something happens once I leave the office and get in the limo or other airport transportation…fly to the event, and set my mind free to create and absorb. The speaker will be speaking, but another track will be going in my mind that is free-flowing – and it’s those ideas that I often bring back and put into action. I believe they wouldn’t have happened unless I was in the live learning environment!

2. To immerse yourself in the content. For the past 8-plus years, I have taught virtually 90 percent of the time. And it was a huge relief after being a “road warrior” and speaking only live prior to that. (Don’t worry, I’ll continue to do teleseminars too!) But in the live learning environment, you are completely enveloped, surrounded, and immersed in the subject matter you came to learn…it’s a multi-dimensional experience and – if you have a process to capture your insights and follow through on them – can be an absolutely pivotal event.

3. To make critical in-person, high-level contacts for your business. If there is someone whose work, business or life you admire, get face-to-face with them! By having the full experience of the person – on and off the stage – you will get even more value from what you have read, heard, or seen of them prior to the live learning. Those who present or sponsor live events are “gurus” in their area…and getting to learn from them in person – and hopefully also getting your photo taken with them to use in your marketing! – is an invaluable opportunity.

I’m still so glad that I went to see the late Thomas Leonard speak at one of the early Coachville conferences – even though I was going through chemotherapy and very weak at the time – because he died an untimely death later that year. I would have missed out on the opportunity altogether if I hadn’t made the effort to go to Las Vegas to see him!

Not only do you get to meet the speakers, but you also get to meet prospective strategic partners, customers, and vendors/resources for your business by attending these events. You can search on Google or make a referral-based phone call, but there’s nothing that parallels the energy of a live connection with someone that could turn into a mutually beneficial business partner for you. You might even make some on-the-spot sales of your products, programs or services!

4. To prove that you can leave your business and not have it fall apart! If you can’t leave your business for 2, 3, or 4 days without being on your cell phone at every break and the internet until midnight, you need a new business model! Successful coaches have systems and staff in place that do client care, administration, bookkeeping, marketing, web site update, blog posting and more.

So if you feel like you can’t leave…just that knowledge is a good reason to seek out a seminar or workshop on creating more freedom in your business! Not being able to leave for continuing education probably also means you can’t leave for vacation or to exhibit or speak at a trade show…so you’re in the trap of owning a job, not a business…and something must change.

5. To update and improve your knowledge and skills – and increase your income. Of course, one of the big reasons to pay big bucks for learning is to bring your expertise up to date. There are few fields today that don’t change quickly…and coaching and career development (not to mention marketing and business building, also areas you need to know) are some of the quickest changing there are!

Likely you know that the more specialized your knowledge is, the higher fees you can charge – for products AND for services. So as you add to your knowledge base, and create your own success stories with what you learn, you will be able to raise your fees, create more high-end products, and increase your income indefinitely!

Yes, it costs to travel to a venue, stay in a hotel, pay the workshop fee, etc. But if you think like a business person, you’ll be analyzing ROI (return on investment) – how much will the ideas and principles you learn yield to you in long-term, lifetime income? It’s not always easy to quantify, but I can share that I am teaching and modeling principles now that I have ONLY learned through ongoing continuing education…not through my advanced degrees or just through reading books.

6. To visit new places – on Uncle Sam – and sample the new lifestyle you are creating. Finally, as a savvy purposeful entrepreneur you should be taking full advantage of every legal tax benefit of being self-employed that you can…so why not choose the events that teach what you want to learn AND are held in places you’d love to visit! In most cases, both your workshop fee and your travel will be tax deductible…so you can learn in the Caribbean or Arizona in the winter, the Northwest in the summer, and even see what it would be like to live there…or own a second home there. Inevitably this is what my husband and I do when we visit a new place, whether on business or for pleasure.

In short, my goal with this article is to challenge your thinking…and to expand your paradigm about learning. “What was old is new” is a phenomenon now…print newsletters are coming back (watch for mine later this year!), live learning and Mastermind groups are back…and all of these simply augment the virtual learning and marketing methods to connect you with the people that you wish to serve. I hope to see you at a live event soon!

Copyright © 2010 Marcia Bench; All Rights Reserved

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