7 Best Online Business Classes to Up Your Game This Summer

The 7 Best Online Business Classes of 2015 So Far at CreativeLive

It’s the middle of summer for most of us. A time to relax, take a vacation, hit the beach, or lay out by the pool.

For me, summer is also a time to look back and evaluate everything I’m doing with my business. It’s a time to peer ahead at how I’m going to strategically end my year, and what new content I want to create in the next year.

I’ve had my fair share of time at the beach this summer, but I’ve also been spending countless hours developing my own content for entrepreneurs and freelancers. Along the way, I’ve been consuming all the CreativeLive classes I can, to help build my skills. Several of them are are giving me tactics and strategies that have become integral components of my upcoming product launches.

From previewing Nir Eyal’s content on building habit-forming triggers into my online courses, figuring out how to better connect with my audience over video, and learning exactly how much I should charge for my own freelance content marketing services, I’ve truly transformed my personal businesses with the help of CreativeLive content this year.

If you’re looking for inspiration, these are my picks for the best online business classes to build your strengths, grow your business, and pick up new skills.

1. Hooked: How to Keep Customers Coming Back with Nir Eyal

Hooked How to Keep Customers Coming Back

This class airs on July 22nd and you can tune in for Free, if you RSVP today. I’ve followed Nir’s writing on how to build habit-forming products and services for the past couple of years now, so I was naturally excited when I saw this one come through.

In this online business class, Nir covers the exact science behind creating repeat customers for any business. We all know how much time and resources go into acquiring new customers. That’s why I highly recommend attending this class and developing your framework for getting your customers to keep coming back for more.

2. Grow Your Business with YouTube Marketing with Whippy Cake

Whippy_Cake_Grow_Your_Business_with_YouTube_Marketing_WEB_1600x900 (1)

In this class with online video personality and branding specialist, Becki Crosby aka Whippy Cake, she takes us through both the why and how of creating highly engaging video content that converts. This class came at the perfect time for me, while I was in the middle of creating video content for a couple of my upcoming courses.

From avoiding major mistakes on camera to boosting your traffic and subscribers, Whippy Cake shows us exactly how she’s build a powerful brand on the foundation of delivering genuine value to people.

3. Build a Stand-Out Business with Tara Gentile

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It’s hard to pick just one lesson I learned from this 30 day bootcamp class with Tara Gentile. It started during my first week at CreativeLive earlier this year, so I got to watch the magic unfold live in the studio. In this class, Tara teaches us how to very intentionally and strategically design a business to be unique, meaningful, and attention-grabbing.

You’ll learn how to masterfully pick your niche, develop your unique value propositions, and create your business based on aligning your passions with demands in the marketplace. There’s over 20 hours of valuable content packed into this class, I highly recommend checking it out.

4. Ditch Your Day Job with Michelle Ward

Ditch Your Day Job with Michelle Ward Class CL

This class is awesome. The title says it all. In it, Michelle Ward walks us through her step-by-step process of getting ready to quit your day job and launch a self-employed career. She teaches from her own experiences leaving a corporate job and jumping head first into an online coaching business.

Michelle walks us through developing a simple plan to getting your business started, establishing your emergency fund, and identifying resources that’ll help make your life a whole lot easier as you prepare to ditch your day job.

5. Command the Fees You Deserve with Ilise Benun

Command the Fees You Deserve with Ilise Benun CL Class

If you’re a freelancer, it can be a serious struggle figuring out exactly what you should be charging for your services, let alone justifying that rate to your prospective clients.

In this class, Ilise teaches us exactly where to look for and how to evaluate the best clients, that’ll allow us to charge the rates we truly deserve for our freelance services. You’ll learn how to stop the self-defeating cycle of taking any project that comes your way, and instead build confidence into your pricing and proposals.

6. Organize Your Email Inbox with Beth Penn

Organize Your Email Inbox with Beth Penn

I’ve long been an avid follower of the zero-inbox methodology and I’m convinced it’s a major factor in helping me retain my sanity with the sheer volume of email I get on a daily basis.

In this class with Beth Penn, professional organizer and productivity expert, you’ll learn how to set up very useful rules and organizational systems on Gmail & Apple Mail, and a step-by-step plan to reaching a zero-inbox and staying there.

7. Make Your Dream Trip a Reality with Chris Guillebeau

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This is another class that you’ll definitely get tangible results out of. In this class, NY Times Best-Selling Author Chris Guillebeau teaches us everything he’s learned about minimizing travel costs, from his experiences visiting every country in the world.

I used one of the apps mentioned in this class to book roundtrip tickets to Thailand for just $725 – flights that otherwise would’ve cost me almost double that amount. One student earned 200,000 travel points in just 6 weeks during the class and has applied his points to several trips around the world already.

These are my picks for the best business classes on CreativeLive, so far this year! Do you have any favorites I missed?

Ryan Robinson FOLLOW >

Content marketing consultant to the world's top experts and growing startups. Online educator at ryrob.com where I share business advice and teach entrepreneurs how to start a blog and other side businesses. Check out my post on the best business ideas, read about how I validated a business idea in just 30 days, get my recommendations for the best business books, and check out my favorite motivational quotes.