Below you’ll find a list of the courses I’ve taken recently, along with a quick review, who I’d recommend them to, and an estimate on the ROI from the course.
One thought I couldn’t shake as I transitioned from my television career to whatever it is that I’m doing at any given moment now is… I’m not sure what skills I have.
I had strung together jobs. I had been promoted. People enjoyed working with me (allegedly). I just had a hard time defining what it was I could do… exactly.
Not more than a week after I called my executive producer and resigned, I had enrolled in a copywriting course. For one, it had always caught my eye as someone who likes playing with words. For two… I had plans to move to France and needed a way to start developing a remote income.
Since then, I’ve gotten a Master’s in the Management of International Tourism and started to develop my own travel marketing agency, along with a few other projects, all which require *a specific set of skills* I didn’t have before, including copywriting, email marketing, SEO, Google Ads, and coding.
“Why take courses? Aren’t there plenty of free resources out there?”
While most of these are available online for free (a thousand gurus await you on YouTube), I am usually open to a course to have a focused path to cut through some of the noise.
If any of the projects or work I’ve done over the past few years has interested you, it’s possible the courses below are indirectly responsible for putting me on that path.
2023
Launch School
Why I’m taking it: Read monthly progress reports here.
Web Development Bootcamp
Why I’m taking it: In preparation to launch a web-based running app for Long Run Travel, I looked for a crash course on frontend and backend development.
Google Ads
Why I’m taking it: The next step for my travel marketing agency is to help our clients with their Google Ads performance.
2021
Email Copy Academy
Why I took it: More and more of my freelance clients were asking for help with their email campaigns. Though I’m a lifelong fan of email (I wrote two long essays based on reading through the first two years of my Gmail inbox), I didn’t have much experience with creating campaigns, the types of emails to send, the scheduling/pacing, etc.
Who I’d recommend it to: I was happy to have the walkthrough of some of Chris’s campaigns and the types of emails he writes (you’ll get a lot of them if you get sucked into his funnel). That said, unless you really like his approach, I would recommend looking for a cheaper course to get the basics, then just get to work finding clients.
ROI: It gave me confidence to add an email marketing service on my freelance writing profiles, so I’d say it paid for itself within 3 months.
2020
CopyHour
Why I took it: After a decade of working with words as a television producer, I recognized the need to weaponize it in a slightly different way. I knew I’d need a portfolio and a new approach, and this course by Derek Johanson seemed like a comprehensive and well-structured approach to get started.
Who I’d recommend it to: Beginning copywriters who are willing to put in the work for 90 days. You can debate the effectiveness of the handwriting practice all you want. What is effective is the repetition of core concepts that’ll drill you on the basics of copywriting and psychology so you start as a more accomplished, polished copywriter.
ROI: It basically launched a second career, so… 100x?