Online Continuing Education Proves to be a Powerful Choice

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“Online continuing education is here to stay. It has brought with it some benefits we would not allow ourselves to consider when we had other options. Now that we have embraced it, we will likely ask ourselves how we ever did it any other way.”

In January 2020 few, if any of us in pro beauty, participated in continuing education online. Maybe the occasional webinar. Perhaps we consumed nuggets of education on YouTube or watched a video on a manufacturer’s web site.

My, how the world has changed!

By the time you read this, in the first quarter of 2021, our industry has collectively signaled the switch by enthusiastically participating in online continuing education in a wide variety of places and spaces. Earning your required continuing education credits or just bolstering your skills with new and updated information is forever changed and for the foreseeable future you will likely do it online.

We resisted online education for years. “We can’t teach or learn online.” “We need to touch it and feel it.” “We need to be present.” These were just some of the excuses offered up by hair and beauty pros. “No one will attend”. “We cannot charge for THAT.” “We do not know how to do that.” were just a few of the excuses we heard from brands and providers.

When our backs were up against the wall, when we had no other options, look at what we made work for us.

Online continuing education is here to stay. It has brought with it some benefits we would not allow ourselves to consider when we had other options. Now that we have embraced it, we will likely ask ourselves how we ever did it any other way.

The biggest benefits of online continuing education include:

Unlimited class sizes – Share with as many as the platform or your account can accommodate. There is no running out of seats or tickets.

Flexible consumption – Watch it live or watch it later. Education at your convenience. On your timetable.

Elimination of prep challenges – The model will be there. The demo will be doable. The show will go on.

Content variety – You can add slides, videos, guests and other elements to enhance your programming.

The “chat box” – This gift pays off both ways. Participants can be muted (a huge win for presenters). Questions can be monitored and supported. Attendees can discuss amongst themselves without interrupting the group.

The class lives on – If your presentation rocked, you can make it an ongoing offering without needing to present over and over again. Just press play. Just share the link.

The platforms are continually improving – Zoom has been updated and enhanced. Facebook live has launched paid programming. Instagram stories, reels and IGTV are all viable choices with powerful features.

We feel that we can see light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. That light just might be the glow from a screen where we are continuing to receive our continuing education online. I know I will be there. I hope you will join me.

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