Any person who wants to succeed in their career must study their craft.
Self-improvement isn’t a luxury. Winners realise that every dollar they invest in themselves has the potential to boost their income and job satisfaction.
But there is another benefit to studying that often gets ignored – the improvement to your marketability.
In the 21st century, many traditional jobs are dying out. Skill and knowledge are the currency of today. The more you know, the more skills you have, the more desirable you are in the market. Have you heard the saying, “She can write her own ticket”? It means that, within reason, she can charge whatever she likes. Only those with the highest skill can do that.
If knowledge and skill are the new currency, how do YOU study?
Generational Change
When a baby boomer like me started their sales career, books, cassettes and then CDs were a common way to study. A car with audio became a ‘university on wheels’, as Zig Ziglar used to say.
YouTube largely changed that. Most millennials love video. If that’s the way you like to train, there is nothing wrong with that.
Reading has become less popular but will always be a valuable learning source. Some say reading is too slow but, personally, I absorb material faster through reading than through video.
Delivery
Cassettes, CDs and DVDs are dead, gone the way of the floppy disk.
In 2014 Pittard launched its streaming portal iTrain® followed by the iTrain® App in 2015.
That same year Pittard TV was born as we entered the world of webcasting. This technology allows us to interview some of the finest business minds in the world, with live questions from subscribers anywhere in the world. Those who miss the live broadcast can stream it on demand on iTrain®.
What I love about this technology is that our clients no longer have outdated programs. The latest versions are always on iTrain®.
Free Stuff
No doubt the internet has a massive amount of good information, much of it free, which is good. But there is a catch with ‘free stuff’. On its own, it’s not going to make you great.
The downside is that most ‘free stuff’ is not a systemised, cohesive program that builds step-by-step. You get little snippets of this, snippets of that, but seldom complete programs.
No trainer is going to give you their entire program for free. All you get is little ‘tastes’. You must invest to get the full program.
Do you invest? If not, all you are getting are the crumbs off the table.
The free material I provide gives good takeaways designed to help people think and grow. There are good tips for salespeople and leaders, but tips are what they are.
Our Agency Profit System® is presented over four days. It is a complete business system for running a profitable agency. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. I can give leadership tips in my blogs, but there is no way I could provide the full profit system piecemeal in videos or blogs.
Likewise our flagship sales seminar, Winning Ways, is a three-day presentation for salespeople at all levels. How could three days fit into short videos and articles?
What Are You Really Investing in?
When people cut corners with training and opt for the free stuff, they sell themselves short.
What are you really investing in? Are you investing in training, or is the price of training actually an investment in something more important: YOU? You know the answer to that!
Get into training – video, audio, written, seminars, webinars and webcasts. Study, absorb, and practise. Get skilled. Add action to the mix and your income will soar.
Invest in you. You’re worth it.
Gary Pittard