The most important question you need to stop asking yourself is this: what is the real secret to <insert whatever here>?
You have this nagging feeling that despite everything you’ve learned, there’s still something just around the corner that will put it all in place for you. Like when that happens, a chorus of angels will sing as a heavenly beam of light shines down upon you, because now you finally have the secret.
That’s a never-ending dream which can never be satisfied. What is the real secret to X drains you. It robs you of your confidence. It allows for hesitation to creep into your actions. When it comes to blogging in order to market a business and generate leads & sales, the snake oil flows freely. Snake oil pretends to offer you confidence while preying on your lack of it: you don’t have the “secret,” but I do, and for a small price—hey it would be small if you were already successful, right?—that secret can be yours…
And yet, we certainly need to keep learning or we fail to reach our true potential. But instead of allowing yourself to be the victim of others for their gain instead of yours, we can turn it around. How? Let me share that with you. It’s no secret. In fact, it’s really obvious.
Have Training Goals
I know: duh, right? In order to prevent yourself from chasing after “secrets” and suffering from Next Shiny Thing Syndrome, you need to set training goals for yourself. This gives you the ability to simply filter out any offer that doesn’t support your goals. Absurdly simple in theory, but we humans are wired a certain way and marketers use that (some, ethically, others… not so much).
One of my training goals is to learn about email marketing. Another is to continuously improve my copywriting skills. These don’t have an arrival point at which I will know everything, but I can safely ignore programs about Google AdWords because that’s not a goal for me right now.
Maybe you feel you really need to learn HTML and CSS. Maybe you need to learn how to create the best possible strategy to grow traffic to your blog and then convert it into leads & sales (that’s where I come in, wink wink).
Create a Training Budget
In order to prevent yourself from spending money you shouldn’t, or not spend it when you should, create a training budget. Go into your PayPal or your bank/card statements and look at what you spent on training over the last year. Was it an amount that seems like you’re serious? Was it waaaaaaay too much for what you got? You want it to be somewhere in between, of course. And it has to be correctly proportional to your earnings. That’s a totally subjective number, so pick what feels right for you.
Set that number for yourself and divide it by four: that’s your quarterly training budget. Sometimes, a bigger program is warranted. You don’t have to fret about the investment as long as you don’t blow your budget for the whole six months or year. You can get that $500 – $2,000 program without worry, because it meets your training goals and it’s within your budget.
Look, big companies have training and continuous education budgets for their employees, right? So it only makes sense you do the same for yourself. Like you’re running a real business, or something. 
How This Pays Off
So there you are, minding your own business on the interwebs, when allofasudden a great offer appears in front of you. You’re not worried about chasing after mysterious secrets. You stopped asking yourself what’s the real secret to X? You can evaluate the offer according to your training goals and budget and make a decision with confidence and zero stress.
I've often felt that training and learning is one of those most important parts of any business model (that and planning). Great breakdown on how to make that training and learning happen. Thanks.
Sound advice, Michael. Big businesses set these kinds of budgets; you can too.
But you do realize that you've just made enemies of most of the internet marketers in the world, right?
If anything happens to me, you may receive a mysterious package…
Will it smell like a horse?
Your copyright looks good to me..
Focus and hard work is the secret.
Focus on the things that really matter and ignore the extra BS. I think this is the hardest thing for new bloggers or business people to learn, when you are bombarded by info left and right.
I got the hard work down, now I need to work on the focus more
Adhering to a training budget tied in to learning goals seems so simple, but I'm embarrassed to admit I stray from this too often. I really feel like a light bulb went off for me when I read this post.
The vast opportunities for training are exciting for me, and as a new entrepreneur, I am constantly having to restrain myself from straying from my plan.
I plan my training for the year, and then break it down by quarter. If something comes up that I want to do but just didn't plan for, I exchange it for something already on the list. It's not a perfect system, but it keeps me focused.
One other element is to budget time. I follow blogs that I learn from in almost every post, and for the most part, that content is free. The time I spend reading and browsing, though, is time that needs to be counted.
I'm glad you brought up the issue of time. So many people buy training
programs and then let them collect dust (and I'm just as guilty as everyone
else on this).
Michael, your ability to cut to the chase and deliver bottom line value to your readers is amazing. This idea of chasing something that's always elusive–always “out there somewhere” — is so pervasive in our society, like a Siren Song. I see people doing it in their search for a higher power too instead of just stopping to find all you really need right inside you.
I also like the way you approached training — having a system like that can really reduce the compulsive buying of another course/webinar/teleseminar without figuring out how it fits into your overall training plan/budget. On the flip side, it also ensures that we systematically invest in ourselves.
I couldn't have said it better myself! I talk with a lot of people about starting businesses or improving an existing one and many times there is that common thread of always reaching for the magic bean. We, as a culture, have become so focused on the next big thing that we forget that if we just applied what we have learned and train daily, we can hit our goals.
Definitely structure in training & application time and invest in it. Solid advice!
So true man, there are no secrets…only new skills, each of which must be practiced long enough to achieve some sort of understanding -> mastery.
Hi Michael,
I was just listening to our interview with you (published tomorrow) and this just reinforces the idea that there is no silver “bullet” to being a successful blogger. It's really just about doing a few things and doing them consistently. Putting in time and not just buying a course and forgetting about it (as one of the other commenters said) is also essential.
This post made me realize that I am always trying to find out “that secret to success”. I think the success of the plans we make depends on what we already know and what we need to learn, and not on some secret or some formula others have created.
Really like your approach. No nonsense. Don't have time for nonsense. You're providing information I can use at this moment, and fixin' to. Thanks!
Love this Michael – setting the correct budget not only can be done by large corporations but small businesses as well. Word to the wise – do not overspend and be ready to put a budget inplace.
Hey Michael – This is a great post! It's funny how so many “gurus” continue to push the next “secret” or “key” that will finally answer all your questions, fulfill all your every need and turn your whole life around. You're right. The truth is, there is no single answer. Learning and training are ongoing processes, and the smart entrepreneur knows you never stop learning, so there can be no “cure-all” course, book, or, as you put it, snake oil.
Good job!
John
Really great advice, Michael. I do think it's also important to carefully consider and evaluate the source of the training you want to spend part of your budget on. So much of what's out there is a waste of money – all fluff and no substance. Any training course that won't provide a reasonably detailed syllabus would set off a red flag in my book as unworthy of consideration.
Good info, and I agree with your comments….but jeffreyftang has a good point.
Love the entry – It's not a big fat secret. It's just accumulation of all that we learn with smart application and heaps of patience. Very encouraging, thank you.
Love the entry – It's not a big fat secret. It's just accumulation of all that we learn with smart application and heaps of patience. Very encouraging, thank you.