The First Course I Ever Paid For: Was It Worth It?

We all remember our first big investment in personal growth. For me, that moment came over 20 years ago when I bought my very first online course — though back then it wasn’t exactly online the way we know it today.

It arrived on DVDs, neatly packaged, and promised to teach me how to become a top-notch copywriter. The man behind the course? The brilliant Andrew Reynolds.

At the time, the world looked very different. Computers weren’t as fast or accessible as they are now. The internet was clunky. Social media didn’t exist. Marketing was driven by print adverts, direct mail, and the earliest, most experimental days of internet marketing.

Yet, despite the technological gap, the lessons I picked up in that course were timeless. Andrew taught not just the mechanics of writing persuasive copy, but the art of understanding people — their needs, their desires, and their motivations. That’s a skillset that has never gone out of style.

Sure, the tools and platforms have changed — today we have email automation, AI writing assistants, social media ads, and endless analytics dashboards. But the foundation remains the same. Persuasion. Clarity. Storytelling. The ability to connect words with action.

So, was it worth it?
Absolutely.

That first course gave me more than just knowledge — it gave me confidence. It proved that investing in yourself can pay dividends for decades. Even today, I use the same principles Andrew shared, just with new tools and a faster internet connection.

And here’s the thing: that course was just the beginning. Over the years, I’ve signed up for many more — some incredible, some disappointing, and some that fell somewhere in between.

As we continue this blog series, I’ll be sharing the good, the bad, and the downright ugly from my learning journey. My hope? That you’ll find insights, avoid a few pitfalls, and maybe get inspired to take that next step in your own growth.

Because if there’s one lesson I learned from that very first course, it’s this: the best investment you can ever make is in yourself.