In some industries it’s more commonplace for ongoing study to be part of your everyday life. In my own industry the pace of changes in all things related to the web and social media ensures that every week I’m reading articles or attending training sessions to ensure that I’m up to date or learning something new if there’s an area that I’m interested in knowing more about.
No matter what your line of work and regardless of how long you’ve worked in a particular field there will be changes in how you operate, how your customers purchase or in what your competitors are offering. And, on a personal level we change over time also and challenging yourself is healthy.
You might be working in a technical role for years and discover that when you’re asked to contribute to a company blog that you’ve actually got quite a talent for writing and can happily combine the two – win for you and your employer in that case. You might be a tradesman and new technology enables you to offer more cost-effective or user-friendly products for your line of work, keeping yourself upskilled keeps your customers happy. Or, where you’ve always got great results from leaflet drops learning how to use social media can open your doors to a wider audience.
This week is Local Enterprise Week here in Ireland, I’ve booked myself in for a number of events – just today I enjoyed a super training session on all things related to GDPR, there are others lined up in the days ahead.
Check out your Local Enterprise Office for details of what’s happening in your area this year and remember that as events are online this year you might have more options available to you. The official website for the event is localenterprise.ie/week
You may not always be the person who will need to implement what you learn in some training sessions but it’s always worthwhile learning more about topics that are important to your business. Where you’re outsourcing having some insight into what you’re looking for most definitely makes for an easier life, it also helps you appreciate the effectiveness too.
I started my formal training in Marketing all the way back in 1998, 4 years of college by while I worked full-time with The Marketing Instute of Ireland, in the years ahead after working in marketing specifically I also did some training with the Digital Marketing Institute too. In the years since I’ve covered everything possible related to my business on more occasions that I can even remember, this year alone I’ve so far received two certifications;
Facebook Certified Community Manager
While I work around community management and have done for years I still picked up some additional tips and tricks in the study. As for the SEO while it’s not a service I will offer as a standalone, it is something that will benefit both my business and that of my clients because my understanding has grown significantly in this area.
Realistically experience in a field will over time surpass what you learn from a programme but the best mix is a real combination of the two, those foundations in Marketing that came into my world over 20 years ago are still relevant in how I work today. I’d had ten years of real life with a variety of jobs which incorporated customer service, planning, sales, marketing, training and management before I did the college years so I’m a huge fan of learning at your own pace and in whatever way works for you too. I’m also keenly aware of the differences in how people learn which is why the growth of online training over the past year has been a real positive, no longer do you have to leave your home to upskill or sit in a classroom setting when as a visutal learner video is more effective than text .
Another huge benefit to ongoing learning is that as part of the various programmes I engage in on an ongoing basis I meet people from all walks of life, from all over the world. Quite often I meet peers working around areas related to Marketing, Social Media or WordPress but I usually get to talk to people from other businesses or industries and from them you will always learn something new too.
So today’s tip for Tuesday wasn’t so much about what you can implement in your business (although we will cover training in a future post as a business!) it’s about what you can do personally that will make a difference in your life and your business and believe me, no matter how many years it is since you left school or college or when you last passed a test, it’s always great for your confidence having your skills acknowledged in some way too.
Debbie Ringwood is a Marketing Specialist with over 20 years of experience in B2B and B2C Marketing. She is a Graduate of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and the Digital Marketing Institute. She is a Canva Community Canvassador, Linkedin Certified Marketing Insider and META Certified Community Manager..
Debbie supports, coaches, and trains businesses in Marketing, Social Media, Canva & WordPress along with her team, working with businesses at different stages of their journey.