Wise Up: 5 Things to Study This Weekend

From social media to tech, spend this weekend boning up on some subjects to bolster your business.

As NFL season gets underway, sports fans will get to witness some of the best athletes in the world evolve. 

Every year, a select group stands out, thanks to their training and conditioning. But above all, they're constantly learning, discovering new techniques and expanding their understanding of how the game works. 

Often, the players who are already successful understand the need to broaden their knowledge. This should serve as an example to small business owners, because regardless of what you’ve achieved, if you’re not learning something new, you may be falling behind.

As the weekend draws near, here are five things you might want to study: 

Social media - It’s all the rage, yet many people don’t know how to use it to the advantage of their business. Before you dive in, do some reading on the topic or attend an event where you can compare notes with other business owners.

Leadership strategies - If you want your employees to grow and reach new goals, you have to lead them in the right direction. Find new ways to motivate. A good way of doing this is to connect with a fellow business leader you admire and pick their brain or even shadow them for a day.

Sales techniques - Regardless of your role in a company, sales is always part of business. Just because you're not meeting a monthly quota, doesn’t mean you can’t learn more about sales.

Analytics - How carefully are you measuring the ROI of every aspect of your business? Are you sure your campaigns and initiatives are working? Is your website attracting the right kind of traffic? If you don’t have an analytics background, this is a necessary area to get up to speed on.

Technology - Challenge yourself to learn a new technology that will make your business more efficient. Pick something in your business that’s a constant pain and chances are some technology can make it easier.

It’s never too late to learn a new skill, but the truth is you can’t afford to wait.

Resource: Inc.