What’s Your Learning Style?
Here’s How to Find Out and Use It to Reach Success as a Well-Paid Copywriter, Faster
By Andrew Murray

Have you ever started an online course but never finished it?

Welcome to the club!

Despite the best intentions, you get started, but life gets in the way. Or perhaps you’ll get started someday, when some circumstance in your life changes.

It happens — much more often than you might think.

The thing is, you wanted to get that training for a reason. Finishing it could be the difference between embarking on a new career as a copywriter … and not.

Well, maybe what’s holding you back is that you’re just not learning in the right way for you.

When you choose a setting that fits with how YOU best learn, you’ll increase your enjoyment of and engagement with your training — and your odds of success.

How Do You Learn Best?

Everyone has a different learning style. Some learn best from written material, others prefer visual aids or audio, while others need a mentor to keep them on track.

Your learning style influences the way you understand information and solve problems. If you use a learning format that complements your strengths, you’ll learn faster and more easily.

Which of these three basic learning styles is yours? Here is a super-short quiz to help you narrow it down. (More in-depth quizzes are available online with a quick Google search.)

What do you like to do to relax?

1. Read
2. Listen to music
3. Exercise (go for a walk or run, dance, play sports, etc.)

When you read for fun, do you prefer a book

1. with lots of pictures in it?
2. with lots of words in it?
3. with word searches, teasers, or puzzles?

When you meet someone new, what are you most likely to remember?

1. Their face but not their name
2. Their name but not their face
3. What you talked about

To study for a test, do you

1. read the book or your notes?
2. have someone quiz you by asking you the questions out loud?
3. create index cards you can go over?

When you go somewhere new, how do you find your way around?

1. Look for a map or directory guide
2. Ask someone for directions
3. Wander around until you locate what you’re looking for

Now, note which of the three options you chose most frequently (1, 2, or 3) and see which of these three basic learning styles is your closest match …

1. Visual

If you’re a visual learner, you learn by reading or seeing pictures. You understand and recall things by sight. You like to see what you’re learning; you can picture it in your head. You’re attracted to stories that inspire your imagination.

Training opportunities that fit your style would be home-study programs, video webinars, and live training with a visual component. You need to see things to learn well.

2. Auditory

If you’re an auditory learner, you learn by hearing and listening. You have an easier time understanding spoken information and store it by the way it sounds. You should study new material by reading it out loud.

Training opportunities that fit your style would be audio lessons, webinars with a speaker leading you through the material, podcasts, and live training events (in-person and online).

3. Tactile

If you’re a tactile learner, you learn by touching and doing. You’re a hands-on learner, and you grasp and remember things best through physical movement — you need to be an active participant.

Training opportunities that fit your style would be hands-on workshops. Look for training where you are involved and can actively participate with the instructor and other trainees. Ideally, you’ll have the opportunity to create your own work and send it in for feedback.

Keep in mind, some people learn best by using one style, but most find a combination helps the lessons stick with them longer. Often a training format that incorporates a mix of channels will be most effective … such as a live training program with visual and auditory elements and hands-on “test” assignments to complete.

If you want to set yourself up for success, then learn in a way that suits your personality and style.

What Are Your Training Options?

Learning is just one step in the journey. While you can always expand your skills, the main point is to get started with your career.

Keeping in mind your learning style, to set yourself up for success, here are some other things to consider about your own circumstances and personality:

• If you’re a procrastinator or extremely busy (and who isn’t?), appointment learning offers structure. That’s where an instructor or mentor sets deadlines for you. For example, you might meet once a week at a set time. In between meetings, you need to complete the next course module and submit an exercise for assessment.
• If you learn better when someone walks you through the material, then video-based courses will work best.
• If you prefer to interact with your instructor and have the support of a mentor to answer your questions, then live certification training programs are for you. Look for training that also includes an interactive group element, like a private Facebook group.
• If you work better as part of a group, then groups like Circle of Success will be ideal … with features like targeted learning programs, live mentoring, and ongoing support, to name a few.
• If your day job clashes with live training sessions, make sure you take classes that are recorded so you can access them later. (All AWAI courses are recorded and available for viewing at your convenience.)
• If you need a defined goal, then a program with a certification or badge at the end could be the motivator you need. As a verified copywriter, you’ll have confidence knowing you reached a goal and concrete proof you’re ready to take on clients. The validation the certification provides will also build your confidence.

Once you’ve figured out what learning style suits you best, what if you need extra motivation to finish the program? Or you need to learn fast and get started quickly as a paid writer?

This is where certification programs are invaluable.

Keeping on Track

What are certification programs? They’re live training programs … and they breathe life into those written programs. Here’s an example.

You’ve probably heard of AWAI’s Site Audits Made Simple. It’s the foundational course in how to get paid to diagnose website content problems and get a second paycheck for fixing those problems.

Site Audits Made Simple is a self-paced, written, home-study program. You need to be self-motivated to get the most from it.

However, you might not be aware of the Site Content Audits Mastery & Certification. This is a training program with a live element — you’re not reading through a guide on your own. Instead, creator Pam Foster brings the program to life. She walks you through the key components and examples on screen. Plus, you have access to her as your mentor and guide.

Interacting with a mentor enhances the learning experience. You see more current, real-life examples, you understand the course material in finer detail, and you gain a better grasp of more complex ideas. You complete your training faster … so you can start earning an income sooner.

That is just one example. AWAI offers many certification programs in a spectrum of writing specialties … content marketing strategy, email writing, SEO, white papers, sales enablement, case studies, and so on. And they all have one thing in common.

Accountability.

There’s power in committing to learning by attending class at a certain time, working with a mentor, handing in assignments by a deadline, and getting feedback on your work.

And the investment in a live training program is worth every cent if it gets you moving faster toward your ultimate goal — becoming a PAID writer.

It’s a powerful way to fast-track your learning, a powerful way to finish what you began, a powerful way to start living the writer’s life.

A powerful way to keep you on track.

Now let’s circle back to three steps you can take:

1. Work out what learning style suits you best.
2. Find the courses with the elements that suit your personal learning style.
3. Harness the power of accountability and interaction by taking a certification program.

Complete your training so you can be on your way to a new career in copywriting! You should never stop learning, but don’t let learning keep you from getting started and taking action.