Whether or not you’re a believer of online courses, there’s no denying that sites like Udemy and Skillshare have been all the rage when it comes to modern education.
It’s not just the fact that it’s cheap and highly accessible (we’re talking learning while on your commute to work, or working the treadmill, etc), but also that it’s very often taught by industry experts that have lived and breathed their craft for years on end.
Be this as it may, how do you gauge if an online course is ultimately going to be worth your time?
As an entrepreneur, you’ll have many options no doubt, but here are some online courses based on overall reviews and clear takeaways that you should consider—if you want to upskill in the near future.
1. Minimum Viable Product: Validate Your Startup Idea For Less Than $1,000
This course by Michael Karnjanaprakorn –which is incidentally Skillshare’s very own CEO—dishes all on his own formula for building a multi-million dollar startup unicorn.
Michael’s course dives into the nitty-gritty of how to validate the best version of your idea so that it gains significant traction with little money wasted.
Rating: 16,675 enrolled students + 22% of students claim it’s exceeded expectations.
Key takeaways: To develop and communicate one’s minimum viable product (MVP) idea, conduct consumer reviews, build up the MVP, and finally, test it in real-time.
You can start this course on Skillshare.
2. The Lean Startup
Those unfamiliar with Eric Ries might’ve instead come across his bestselling business book The Lean Startup, which has been all but a bible for aspiring entrepreneurs.
In this similarly titled online course, Eric goes on to explain his methodology in a manner that’s bite sized and easy to understand.
This also includes lifetime access to 5 hours of premium video content (accessible anytime) and 5 downloadable resources.
Rating: 4,218 students enrolled + 4.2/5 star rating.
Key takeaways: Basic principles of the Lean Startup methodology, launching your MVP as fast as possible, the 3A’s concept (actionable, accessible, auditable), and more tactics to experiment with A/B testing for the best results.
You can start this course on Udemy.
3. Acumen Presents: Dan Ariely on Changing Consumer Behaviour
Dan Ariely’s course explores the trends and reasons as to why consumers do what they do and think what they think—all which becomes valuable knowledge for you.
This course especially targets social entrepreneurs, helping them understand the science behind behavioural change to reach more consumers and make a splash in an industry.
Rating: 4,465 students enrolled + 4.5/5 star rating.
Key takeaways: Customer journey mapping, 5 golden pricing principles, 6 Behaviour Change principles for your social enterprise, and experiments to test the success of the above methods.
You can start this course on Udemy.
4. SEO 2020: Complete SEO Training + SEO For WordPress Websites
The title should be pretty self-explanatory. This online course suits intermediate to expert SEO gurus (think business owners, online marketers, bloggers, content creators, etc.) and teaches you all the best, updated ways to earn top spots on Google searches.
Rating: 49,614 students enrolled + 4.4/5 star rating.
Key takeaways: Learn 40+ factors to rank higher on Google Search Engine, find low competition and high traffic keywords, learn expired SEO tactics that can hurt your website, ways to bring in more organic traffic, and more.
You can start this course on Udemy.
5. Business Development & B2B Sales for Startups—Sales Valley
Created and hosted by Silicon Valley sales trainer Patrick Dang, this online course is geared towards individuals who want to quickly scale their startup by increasing clients and sales.
Dang veers off the traditional course of networking and cold calling and teaches his students other more consistent ways of finding leads and closing deals.
Rating: 12,309 students enrolled + 4.5/5 star rating.
Key takeaways: The ‘Sales Valley’ methodology to generate sales, effective pitch methods, template email scripts used by professionals, and how to build a lead generation method.
You can start this course on Udemy.
6. Context Is Key: Social Media Strategy in a Noisy Online World
Anyone who’s spent 2 minutes on LinkedIn would’ve stumbled across Gary Vaynerchuck.
Entrepreneur and content marketer extraordinaire, Gary spills the secrets of growing a business through the power of storytelling and social media in this Skillshare course.
Along with real-life experiences from his projects at PepsiCo, GE and the NY Jets, here’s how you can also grow your startup’s presence on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Rating: 39,636 students enrolled and 46% claim it’s exceeded expectations.
Key takeaways: Building long-term relationships with consumers, customising social media content to the right audiences, learning from case studies experienced by Gary himself.
You can start this course on Skillshare.
7. Accounting & Financial Statement Analysis: Complete Training
At the end of the day, you’re in the business of making a buck, right?
This online course gets you started with the basics of bookkeeping and tracking your overall financial performance.
It’s hosted by 365 Careers and is one of the most highly rated ones around on the subject of finance, and you don’t need any prior finance background to get started either.
Rating: 28,187 students enrolled + 4.6/5 star rating.
Key takeaways: Building a clear balance sheet, income statements, understanding Financial Reports, and other ways to analyse the performance of a startup.
You can start this course on Udemy.
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Featured Image Credit: Skillshare
