The idea of self-education is so powerful. I think Jim Rohn says it best:
“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
Jim Rohn
Formal education stops when you have graduated from college and received your degree. Degrees are still important for the professionals in the A/E/C industry. However, continuing to learn and gain expertise is where your career can grow much faster and higher than those who don’t.
No matter where you are in your life, career, or actual location there is no better time to take your self-education into your own hands. There is no better time than now to leverage the amount of training that is literally at your fingertips. You can type what exactly you’re looking for into your web browser and almost always find it.
Pre-Google Era Learning
But it wasn’t always like this. When I first started in the A/E/C industry, Google was just gaining in popularity. There were no online courses or webinars. Ebooks were just becoming popular. And, forget about having templates, resources, and how-to videos specific to marketing and proposal management for our industry.
There were just two ways to learn – get trained by your boss on-the-job or be lucky enough to attend a conference.
That’s exactly what I did. I learned from other marketers in other offices at my engineering firm. They taught me the fundamentals of coordinating a proposal, how to build resumes using our homegrown database, and how to run presentation rehearsal meetings. I was fortunate to go to a few local SMPS chapter events, and eventually a regional conference.
Eventually, I honed my skills and began to hire my first marketing assistant. Having to then teach these skills was when the game changed for me. I wanted to make the training process smoother for her. I wanted to make it faster. I needed her to learn quickly and be able to coordinate the proposals on her own ASAP.
Does this sound familiar?
Through that experience, I spent time making checklists, handouts, and templates. Why should she have to create all her own materials to coordinate the proposals? I developed the process for her to follow, which allowed her to pick it up quickly and spend time building relationships with our team and learning the industry.
I knew that other marketers were experiencing the same struggles when it came to either learning the proposal management process themselves or building a team of other proposal coordinators. That’s when I decided to do something about it.
Learning From Those Who are Just Steps Ahead
How could I take the skills that took me several years to learn and finetune and package it in a way that is easy to digest and makes an immediate impact?
So, I researched. I discovered the world of digital products and online courses. I learned about how to set up a blog, share my expertise, and then how to structure the information in a way that works for this new age of learning.
Everything you see with Marketers Take Flight, I learned by reading blogs, watching online courses, or buying digital training tools. I could learn a new skill or technology from someone who is just a step ahead of me. I could go find them and pay them and get that education. I learned just what I needed at that moment moving Marketers Take Flight forward, nothing more.
When I wanted to create a website with a blog, I purchased an online video course. When I wanted to learn how to set up a form so folks could subscribe to the blog, I watched a video. When it was time to sell my ebooks and training materials, I took another course to learn how to accept payments and deliver the downloadable files.
I didn’t have to learn all this information at once. I was able to learn as I needed it. I didn’t have to be in another degree program for four years. Sometimes these new skills were learned in a few hours, some others took months.
What does this mean for you?
I wanted to share this concept of the power of self-education. It’s critically important for your career growth to continue to improve your skills and expertise. This can’t be solely by doing the work, managing more or larger proposals. It comes through self-education.
Learning from those who have been there before you. Learning the only skills you need, when you need them. This way you can immediately put your new knowledge into practice and see the improvements or get the desired results.
I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the time we are living in. If we want to learn a new skill or master new technology, we can find a resource to teach us without leaving our desk.
Through the power of self-education, you have the ability to shape your skills and expertise. You are not reliant on what internal training program you’re invited to or what conference you get approval to attend.
What skill or expertise do you want to improve?
Is there a new skill or further expertise you have been wanting to learn or improve upon? Share that with me in the comments below. I’ll respond with a resource or person who can help you.
Want more?
I’ve created one of the only virtual training platforms for marketers in the A/E/C industry. It uses the concepts of self-education and learning only what you need, when you need it and applies it to resources, guides, templates, and mini-workshops specific to marketing and proposal management. It’s called MARKET-ers’ Place and it’s THE place to find all of your training and personal development needs. Click the image below to go.
