Building your personal brand and professional image requires you to be invested in your professional development and continuing education. Never stop learning!
Here are the top 10 professional development tools to help you succeed — and they’re all free! (Tweet this list.)
1. Library Card
(Okay, not exactly free, because I do realize your taxes pay for this, so go get your money’s worth!)
The library is full of great books to improve your professional skills in just about any area. And if the library doesn’t have the book you want — request it! Little known fact: most libraries take special requests for books. They’ll either borrow it from another library or buy a new copy, and you’ll be the first to get to check it out!
2. TED Talks
TED (Technology Entertainment Design) is a nonprofit with a mission to spread ideas. You can find all sorts of worthy videos to watch and learn from at ted.com/talks, by both the most well-known speakers and some never-before-heard (but amazing) thought-provokers. Again, free.
3. MIT OpenCourseWare
No joke here, Massachusetts Institute of Technology publishes all of their course materials online and makes them available to everyone for free. Think I’m kidding? Check it out at ocw.mit.edu/courses/find-by-topic. Just click on the course you want, choose “View Course” and select “Download Course Materials” for everything from The Art of Color to Aerospace Engineering and Design and a whole lot in between.
4. Creative Live
If you haven’t discovered creativelive.com yet, it’s time to get in on the (free!) action. These live online workshops are taught by world-class experts in a variety of topics, including photography, business, software, design, video and film, and lifestyle. If you like the workshop (or if you missed it live), there’s also the option to purchase a recording.
5. Blogs
I highly recommend you search out at least the top five blogs in your industry to subscribe to their RSS feeds and regularly leave comments or ask questions. Part of building your professional image means not just reading the current news in your industry, but also interacting with those industry leaders. Commenting on their blogs helps to develop a unique relationship that can give you a leg up when you need it. Bonus: using an RSS reader site like feedly.com will simplify your life greatly if you follow a lot of blogs by putting everything in one location for you.
6. Meetups
Wish there were a networking group in your city based specifically around your industry? Go start one! Chances are you’re not the only one wishing the group existed.
Not long ago, I met a remarkable woman, Cari Rauch, who decided she wanted to get to know other women who had made the lifestyle choice not to have children. While she felt this topic was often taboo in traditional networking settings, she had an overwhelming response to her Meetup group and regularly has 20+ women at her events, including midnight brunches (love this idea!). And, yes, meetup.com is free!
7. Webinars
There are plenty of free webinars available online; just head over to Google and type in “free ________ webinar” for whatever topic you want to hear about. Some of them will cost you your email address, but many of them are worth at least that and more.
8. Stanford on iTunes U
MIT isn’t the only forward-thinking university when it comes to sharing their coursework. Stanford also offers free course materials via podcasts available through iTunes. Check them out at itunes.stanford.edu.
9. Talks at Google
Google regularly invites top-notch authors, musicians, speakers and innovators to talk to their staff, and they record them so you can them for free at youtube.com/user/AtGoogleTalks.
10. LinkedIn
Build your image, network with other professionals and learn from those in your industry by participating in LinkedIn groups. If you’re new to LinkedIn or haven’t caught up on all their new features yet, check out my free step-by-step how-to guide, Getting Started with LinkedIn: The Nitty Gritty Details.
Do you use any other professional development tools you’d highly recommend? Please share in the comments below; we’d love to hear them!
Image: Flickr
