How to Evaluate the ROI of a Course or Workshop

You Should be Thinking about the Return on Investment of any Education Investment

Photograph by Editor’s Course alum Molly Thrasher at the Spring 2018 Retreat of student Melissa Marshall

As with anything you invest in, you should always be thinking of what kind of return you will receive on it—I’m talking time, money, connections.

THIS IS NOT SELFISH. THIS IS BUSINESS.

Before you join any program, you need to evaluate how you will make the money and time invested back—even B.E Driven Courses.

WHAT SPECIFICALLY ARE YOU RECEIVING?

This goes beyond motivation, encouragement or the ability to tag a photo of yourself with an industry celebrity.

Let’s think wiser. What are the very tangible, specific items you will be walking away from this experience with and can you easily justify that those items will lead to you making more money?

Could you prove to a non-entrepreneur, a skeptic, a family member who has no clue what you do for a living—could you easily prove to them the return of this investment? Why or why not?

There is nothing wrong with encouragement, motivation or even signing up for an experience just to get away. However, if you want to be successful—truly successful—you will get into a habit of constantly editing and evaluating how much every little and big expense is truly worth to you and your business.

Is this a community that you could network in and potentially book clients from? Does this experience attract your ideal clients or potential collaborators? I know from experience, many of the students in Editor’s Course have told me they made their money invested in the program back just from the networking opportunities.

BE STRATEGIC WITH HOW YOU USE YOUR EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENT

After you have spent all of this money, you better make sure you are doing all you can to make the most of the investment.

You can join the absolute best course or workshop, but if you do not show up, pay attention and put int he effort you are not going to reap any of the rewards. Even before making the purchase, look at your calendar and confirm if you can afford the time it will take to maximize this educational experience. Get involved, speak up, ask questions, absorb the material.