Maria Hebda

Creative Ways to Invest in Your Development, Without Spending a Fortune

Professional development is something we can all commit to as professionals, to keep up with the latest trends and to keep us on our toes. You may not think you can afford professional development but you can if you do it creatively. One example, share your knowledge, expertise, and resources freely with valued colleagues to come away with a golden nugget or two from your meetings.

However long you've been in business, there is always something new to learn. It's essential to keep up with the trends of your industry and not get left behind. You'll not only provide better service to your clients, you'll also find new ways to grow and improve your business.

Formal professional development events such as conferences are the perfect springboard to take your business to the next level. They offer many ways to expand your horizons, learn new ideas and recharge your batteries. Plus you get the opportunity to meet face-to-face with people you've only known "virtually."

If you’re in the financial position to attend as many conferences as you want and are able to get away from the office for 3-5 days to attend each of them, kudos to you! But for some, the cost of travel, registration and accommodation just doesn't make sense, especially when you consider the additional cost of the missed time at your desk.

Don’t let a shoestring budget hinder or stop you from developing professionally, just get creative. Conferences certainly aren't the only option. Here are some simple and low-cost ways to invest in your own professional development.

1. Read – Your library card can be your best friend; how else could you browse through all of the latest and greatest business books without spending a dime? And if you haven't actually bought the book, you'll be less tempted to keep reading if you're not getting anything out of it. When you read online, use a feed reader to keep track of the bloggers you like to follow, and bookmarks that remind you to return to websites where you found good information.

2. Listen – Some experts publish podcasts or other audio recordings that you can download and take with you on CD or your MP3 player. You can also call in to free or low-cost tele-seminars. Tele-class directories such as www.teleclass.com publish bi-weekly updates full of learning opportunities. Subscribe on their site to have them delivered to your Inbox.

3. Leap – Explore some of the networking events that happen in your area. While it might be intimidating at first (a "leap" out of your comfort zone), these are often combined with professional development (such as a featured speaker). You also never know who you will meet and what juicy business-building tidbit they'll have to share with you.

4. Share – Join or form a group of peers who are all committed to continuing education. Meet on a regular basis, with a loose agenda to share any of the learning you've done since the last meeting. By pooling together all of your efforts, you'll create a powerful body of collective knowledge. Apply that in a brainstorming session to solve a specific business issue that one of you is having, and look out, world!

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