One of the biggest things I miss about school is learning. I absolutely LOVE to learn. I was a history major in college and can vividly remember sitting in my classes vigorously taking notes as the professors lectured about the fall of the Ming Dynasty. It was fascinating to me. As I have grown in my career…I feel like I have been learning less and less. In the beginning of your career, everything is so new and you are constantly pushing yourself to understand what is happening around you. But there comes a point where your knowledge can almost plateau and that’s where continuing to seek knowledge is up to you!
Since I began working for myself, I have had a lot more control over my schedule. Since there aren’t events and dinner and parties and blah blah blah…I have found more time in my day to dedicate to continued learning. I signed up for Skill Share (I used The Skinny Confidential code for the first 2 months free!) and challenged myself to take a course every day this week. To be honest, the courses can be a hit or a miss so you have to do a bit of research. The great thing about the courses though is that you can see how many people have taken it and read the reviews. Here are the classes that I have taken this week!
Instagram Engagement Secrets 2020 (Grow Your Instagram Following) by Benji Wilson
I like this course a lot. I think a lot of the information is basic but he articulates it in a way that is a really good reminder to think about certain tactics when posting. He went over micro-testing (and how that impacts your engagement), optimizing captions, hashtags, etc. I think this course is especially helpful if you are on the agency side of social media marketing. The way he describes these otherwise simple concepts is really helpful if you are looking for better ways to articulate engagement, content stacking, etc. to clients.
iPhone Photography: How to Take Pro Photos on Your iPhone by Dale McManus
Before finding this class, I tried a few other iphone photography classes that were honestly sub par. This was a great class for understanding the importance of composition, lighting and the basics of editing. His type of photography is mostly landscape and wide travel shots, which we don’t focus on, but the concepts he described could really be applied to anything. The course was really well laid out and is also a “Staff pick!”
How to Create Beautiful Instagram Stories: IG Secrets & Hacks to Up Your Story Game (Lesson: 8) + Professional Content Creation for Instagram Story (Lesson 3)
I really wanted to take a class about how to utilize the latest features on IG Stories however a lot of the courses were outdated so I didn’t really get what I was looking for. I did however find a couple of courses that showed some different “hacks” and ways to aesthetically style your IG stories. If you are a little more advanced with IG stories but just want some ideas on design and layout, I suggest fast forwarding through the majority of these two courses and going to the “hacks” or “tips/tricks” lessons of each course (Lesson 8 and 3 respectively).
Pinterest Marketing 101 by Peg Fitzpatrick
Pinterest is SUCH a great tool to drive traffic to your website. I think Pinterest is sometimes the forgotten stepchild of the social media world but if you use it right, it can be a huge asset to growing your audience. This course takes you through the basics of Pinterest as well as elements of creating a great pin to grow your business.
Designing The Life You Want: 4 Exercises for Clarity and Motivation
Fridays are my days to take a class on anything I want – doesn’t have to be social media or marketing related. I think for a lot of us right now, it’s really easy to feel like your in a slump or just feeling unmotivated. It can be great to listen to someone talk about basic concepts that you may already know but good for it to be reiterated.
xx
Kelly
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