Monday 25 January 2016

Free Ecourses | Blueprints, Brands, Business & Pinterest

With all the free ecourses out there, what's worth checking out, and what's worth avoiding? I review another 5 to make the decision easier for you!

Ecourses have blown up lately and rightly so. They've become a simple way of conveying information, whether that be advice, sharing skills or tutorials for those desperate for something more, and they've blown up because they work. Nobody has time to be scouring the internet for information that doesn't coincide, doesn't fit together, and comes from different sources when they can have somebody they trust to do the hard work for them.

I starting dipping my toe into ecourses last year as part of an experiment, and in doing so, I reviewed five that provided quality, informative and helpful advice, designed to help you rock your blog or business, and I'm back with another five ecourses. This time around, I'll be taking a look at Bookish Business, Discover Your BrandGet Yourself Noticed OnlineJumpstart Your Blog Blueprint, and The Free Pinterest Course.

One again, I would just like to mention that I'm not receiving any sort of commission, bonuses or special treatment for the featuring of these courses. All opinions are my own and they are provided with 100% honesty.

Bookish Business with Nosegraze


I confess, I'm not looking to break into the bookish business world, at least, I don't think I am, but I was super intrigued by Ashley's course, not only because I think she's an awesome blogger, but because I knew what I would be getting would top-notch, quality content, knowledge and advice from somebody who knows her stuff, and I'd get it in english, none of that techy jumbo, and I was right, this course was fabulous.

Ashley's 8-day course was jam packed full of information, details and tons of life experience, but it never felt boring or too much for my constantly buzzing brain to handle. Her words were easy to absorb, and honestly didn't expect her to go as in depth as she did, although really, I should have, she's never been a lady to hold back.

The best days for me on this ecourse were without a doubt, days 2 and 3 as they fit perfectly with my current thought processes and were extremely helpful when thinking about where and how I'd like to take Nellie and Co. She provided down to earth advice that put me in my place, but she was never cruel about it, just honest, and I appreciate that. It's her direct approach to everything that makes her one of my favourite blogs to follow.

The ecourse is definitely a fabulous extension to Ashley's free content on her blog, and it just further helps provide and expert feel to everything she says and does. I'm definitely considering myself very lucky to have her course in my inbox for as long as I want, forever actually, so I can refer and look back as I do with all her content, and I would without a doubt recommend this anyone remotely interested. This is just too good to be free my friend, it's oh so worth it.

I Want To Start a Bookish Business and Make Some Buck!

Discover Your Brand with Kory Woodward


When I think of Kory and her blog, I think simplicity, functional, kind and elegant, and when I think about my experience with Discover Your Brand, I find myself thinking the exact same thing - it was simple, it was functional, it was kind and it was elegant, and it was definitely once of the most peaceful and easily enjoyable of all the ecourses I've taken so far.

So, why was it so? Kory has such an easy going, interactive voice that draws my attention and keeps it, without gimmicks, without shouting and without slurs, swears or brashness, she's just down to earth, honest and informative, and Discover Your Brand continued this style throughout. Damn, her daily emails were lengthy, I was impressed somebody would have so much to say, but it was never too much, and I totally, 100% absorbed everything she gave me.

Once again, days 2 and 3 were probably the best in terms of what I learnt form Kory. I already knew my brand was about so much more than my design, and I knew I'd developed a voice, but getting in deep and figuring out what my why is and getting to know what my audience want from me, enjoy from me, and like about me was really eye-opening.

Oh, and for the first time in any of these ecourses, I also almost bought something that was sold to me, can we take a moment please? Kory's course was so good that when she linked to Craft Your Brand, if it wasn't for the sake of financial situations currently, I probably would have considered snapping it up. Proof that sometimes you don't need gimmicks or bright flashy lights, sometimes you just need quality content served in a quality manner.

I Want Help Discovering My Beautiful Brand!

Get Yourself Noticed Online with The Haute Notes


Rachel came onto my radar after I checked out one of her awesome blog posts, but when I found she had a free social media course, I knew I wanted to snap it up pronto, and I was right. Rachel's emails were so detailed and chock full of knowledge and information, I knew I'd made the right decision. As far as the word free goes, this shouldn't be.

Overall Social Media courses are rare to come by, a there's almost always a more specific course out there for Pinterest or Instagram, but Rachel throws everything she knows into this course, and it shows, and she doesn't skimp on anything either - everything you could want to know, she shares. Her teaching method is different to other bloggers - she shares the information with you, in more a lesson format, and later gives you homework and assignments, and it's this different approach that I like. She pushed me to take action after her emails, and that's always a good thing.

I have to say, my favourite days were days 2 and 3 as they were most fun and most interesting to read about - smashing those myths and getting some good content idea under my belt was super helpful too, but almost all of her days on the course were really great reading, and I definitely felt like I learnt a lot from them.

Rachel has a really fabulous gig going on at The Haute Notes, but her blog doesn't showcase skills has a teacher - she's pleasant and calming, but gives you all the information the shove to take action. She goes into the detail and goes beyond just giving advice, and that's something I love about all of her content. Sadly, it seems Rachel has stopped providing this ecourse, however, I still believe it was a great course, and I enjoyed being a part of it.


Jumpstart Your Blog Blueprint with Krista Rae


When I first stumbled across Krista's blog, I made a vow to read everything she posts, because it's always of amazing value, and to try my hand at every course she made available because she puts 1000% into everything she does, and Jumpstart Your Blog Blueprint is just as good as everything else - scratch that, it's better, and it's so worth your email address.

Krista has this natural method of being able to get across a lot of information so perfectly, but never condescending or too quickly that you won't absorb it. She doesn't just give you the information and leave you wandering all alone to implement it - she teaches you, and she's a mighty good teacher. Resources, experience, patience and support, they are what makes a great teacher, and Krista has and is all of that, that's why Jumpstart Your Blog Blueprint was so easy to enjoy, and so easy to learn from.

Without a doubt I learnt so much from Krista's new course, and I have to say, it was days 3, 6 and 7 that were really the best for me. I didn't set any goals last year, but this year, thanks to Krista's awesome course, I focused on my blog and the high-value results I wanted at the end of the year. Days 6 and 7 were extremely great for me in terms of sorting, clearing and setting up my sidebar and footer to do the maximum amount of work possible for me, my blog, and my goals, and I couldn't have managed it without this course.

If there's something Krista does well, it's make me feel comfortable when I'm learning, and capable once taught, and this course is the perfect extension of her skills. She's a blogger I look forward to seeing in my inbox during her courses, and her easy, simplified content is nothing less than high quality fabulousness. Jumpstart Your Blog Blueprint is the perfect teaching companion to anyone looking to build up their blog, and for the grand total of £0, you'd be a fool not to try it.

I Want To Know How To Create and Jumpstart My Blog!

Free Pinterest Course with HayliDeJong


Hayli is fast becoming one of my all-time favourite bloggers, and with good reason, her content is fabulous, her brand is on point and oh so simply attractive, and her email courses are fantastic. I've taken 2 of her 3 courses so far, but her Pinterest courses was my first, and it was really rather fabulous. She's full of information, a volcano of experience and she's growing in the community fast. She's without a doubt a blogger I look up to, and here's why.

My relationship with social media is a bumpy one, and in terms of social media platforms, Pinterest is the one I have the most turbulent relationship with, but with the help of Hayli's course, it's not quite as treacherous as it may have been. With her easy to follow guides and knowledge, I've managed to at least get started on Pinterest, and while I have a long way to go, having Hayli's Pinterest Course in my inbox whenever I need it is a definite win in my eyes.

Being one of the shortest courses I've done at only 5 days, I wasn't too sure about the amount of information I'd received, and whether it'd be things I've already heard plenty of already, but everyone one of those 5 days was beneficial, however, day 3 on optimising my images, and day 5 on the actual pinning were the days I learnt the most from, and considering I used to struggle so much them. I'm super pleased with how much I learnt in those emails, especially as I'm a freebie nut and like to keep my money in my pocket than elsewhere.

Hayli's Free Pinterest Course was short and sweet, but still super helpful and full of easy to absorb information - the perfection extension to her blog content and further courses. If you don't know anything, or at best, very little on how to use Pinterest well, this is a great course for you, but those ahead of the game and utilizing it well already, there might be other courses out there for you instead. Still, I'd highly recommend this course, and even better, recommend Hayli in general.

I Want To Be a Pinterest Professional, Show Me How!

I have so so many more ecourses to share reviews on over the next few months, and with more and more ecourses becoming available each and everyday, there's never not a course available for what you want to achieve. Make sure you check out the details for each of these courses before signing up just to be sure they're what you want, but these five courses were some of my favourite of the last few month and would recommend them without a doubt. Go forth friends, get yourself some free knowledge.

If you could wish for an ecourse, what would it be?

14 comments:

  1. I just signed up for the Bookish Business course (it's actually a topic that's been on my mind recently) -- thanks for the reviews and recommendations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you enjoyed it like I did Serena! :)

      Delete
  2. This is a great roundup of amazing free e-courses. Thanks for putting this together and sharing about these :) Some I've already signed up for but I found a few new ones to add to my inbox.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh good, these are rather great, and I have so many more to talk about in future, so keep your eyes peeled for some fantastic freebie ecourses! :)

      Delete
  3. Thank you so much for sharing my course Amanda! :) I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun to create.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, you're welcome Ashley, it was so good and great to be a part of, really well worth the subscribe :)

      Delete
  4. OOOOH THIS IS SUCH A GREAT ROUNDUP. I already took Ashley's course and it was interesting if not exactly for me, but I just signed up for Kory's course and am looking forward to it. If I could wish for an ecourse, hmm ... I'm not sure, actually! But perhaps something about how unpublished authors can build an audience WITHOUT having a specific plan for publishing (my main issue since I'm kind of just not yet to the querying stage!).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooo, I think that would be a super interest free course, or even a web series, I guess it might be worth making yourself one day when you get to that stage, you'll be famous twice then! Kory's course was wonderful, really love, and laid back, so I'm pleased you're signed up for it :)

      Delete
  5. Amanda! Your review seriously just MADE MY DAY. You are so incredibly sweet, and this reaffirmed so many decisions I've made to go against the grain with things like these free ecourses. I'm so, so grateful for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, I'm pleased you liked it, it was definitely one of my favourites I've taken, and I've taken well over 40 at this point, so I'm glad you made those decisions too! :)

      Delete
  6. Oh you are SO sweet, thank you for every word you've said. I've got tears in my eyes over here and everything! Lol :) I'm so so happy to hear that you enjoyed JYBB. Oh, and by the way, your footer is killin' it!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw Krista, you're more than welcome! The course was fabulous and I really looked forward to getting the emails each day. Oh, and I'm so pleased about my footer, it was your posts that made me work on it, so yay! :)

      Delete
  7. This post is amazing! I didn't know there were so many free courses available to us. I've just signed up for the Bookish Business Course but will definitely be looking at the other ones in the future too! Thanks so much for sharing these!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Bookish Business course was fabulous, so I hope you enjoyed it, and maybe consider the other courses in the future :)

      Delete