Mar 10 2009
Free Home Business Training Versus Paid
The debate over whether paying for home business training for finding the information for free will probably go on forever. Do you think it’s better to pay for your home business training or get it for free? Before you answer that question, you need to know some of the pros and cons of each.
It’s not a question of deciding whether or not to pay for something just to save money. There is a lot more to it than that. In this post, I’m going to cover a little bit about each so you can decide which direction you want to go in, or combine them. There’s no reason why you can’t get some home business training for free and pay for some. Anyway, let’s look a little deeper into this dilemma…
If you ask 100 people this question, “Which is better, paid or free education” you’ll probably get a 50/50 split on the answers. Nobody can really say what the best road to take is. The reason is probably because there are some big problems with both methods.
For example, let’s start with a free home business education. One of the biggest problems with it is knowing where to get it. You can’t just go to a random website and pick up the latest top ebook or course on starting and building a successful home business. You have to go out and really do some searching for the information. That means going to forums, search engines, blogs, or wherever else and getting as much information as you can. You’ll find it all over the place.
And therein lays the problem… There’s no order to this information. It’s kind of like going to an all you can eat buffet without a menu. Unless you go to each table, you really don’t know where the really good food is. And of course going around to all the tables is a very time consuming process. Now, imagine if there was a menu that said, “Pick of the day” where you could pick out the chef’s suggestion. That would not only save you a lot of time but it would also probably land you a good meal… not to say that you can’t find something good by just grabbing a few choices. But you’re taking a bigger chance that way.
Having said that, there is never a guarantee that the home business education you pay for is going to be a good one either. There are plenty of crappy ebooks and courses out there. And that’s the problem with going the paid route. Sure, you can ask for a refund in most cases, but in the meantime, you’ve wasted all that time going through the lousy material and now you’re back to square one looking for another paid source. Plus, you might not get a refund, and you’d be out of the money that you didn’t really have to spend in the first place.
And then of course, some paid home business resources are very expensive. Even if every internet marketer in the world says it’s the best thing since sliced bread, there may be a very good chance that you just can’t afford it. Then what do you do? And then what would you do if you found out that the same information was out there for free… Provided you could find it?
As you can see, there is no perfect solution here. Learning anything, whether it’s for free or not, comes with a price tag attached to it… You either pay your time, your money, or both.
Ultimately, finding home business information, free or paid, comes down to what’s most important to YOU!
I actually feel quite strongly about this topic. It truly depends on what the training is for, of course. However, consider if you wish to become trained in Quickbooks, for example, or some kind of web design. There is a chance that the Small Business Development Center has free or cheap classes on this, and you would learn it faster and better. If you work at home as an independent contractor, you would be in business for yourself, thus qualifying you for help from the SBDC. I encourage anyone to get into that.
Another course of action is to attend community ed classes, though they are tough to get in a small town. Larger cities will have more to offer, of course, but they should be less expensive.
With so many charlatans out there giving you nothing but the chance to empty your wallet, I encourage people to find training in person if possible. Having said that, bloggers are providing the most unique training I have ever seen. Making money with Adsense is the perfect example of well intentioned people who are truly helping others get ahead on the net. People like you who encourage debate in this area are a treat to behold. Thank you for what you do.