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FAQs: Mindconnection Courses

These are questions other people asked before buying one of our courses. You can ask your own questions by writing to us at comments @ mindconnection.com.

Questions

Answers
These look really interesting but I can't figure out what you are sending or how you are sending it. These are downloadable files. In other words, you get download instructions as soon as the buying part is done and you get the files right away.
What is it that I'm going to get and how? Is it a file that I'll download? Is it mailed? These are downloadable files. In other words, you get download instructions as soon as the buying part is done and you get the files right away.
Are we talking about a lot of pages for me to read? Here's something that pleasantly surprises most people about these.

If you look at a typical $99 professional book, most of it is filler--a 15-page book stretched to fit 200 pages.

These courses don't have the filler, plus the give you more actual instruction!

Ditto for $995 seminars covering the same information.  Our courses get right to the meat, saving you the effort of wading through pages of nonsense. We don't mass up the high overhead of generating the filler, and we pass the savings on to our customers.
How long does each of your courses take?


 It depends on the student. These courses are essentially white papers with exercises to help you relate the information to what you are doing now. You can read the material in each course in under an hour. But, how long it takes to digest it and apply it is up to you.
Do I have to buy books in addition to your course material? Will those books have to be bought from you? To both questions, no. You don't have to buy anything else. Each course stands on its own.
a. What if your course material is not clear?

b. Are your course writers available for clarification?

c. Since it is not possible to read all material at one shot, and collect all questions at the same time, will the course writers be available as needed or on a one time basis?

 a. It will be clear.

b. Yes.

c. Your success is important. If you have a question that is germane to the material, and not a probe for free consulting services, we will help you understand the material. We have kept the prices low, because not everyone can afford $995 for a two-day seminar that amounts to little more than a book promo. This is not a book promo.
What if I have other questions? We'll answer to whatever extent is reasonable. It may be possible that you will ask questions that require developing a new course--some aspect of successful project management we didn't cover and that is not part of the normal project management training regimen. In that case, you would get the new course for free.
Do you have other courses? Yes, and we are developing more. You can always write to us with specific needs, and we will adjust our product development accordingly. Also, it's a good idea to check Mindconnection on a regular basis, just to see what is new.
Do your courses qualify for  reimbursement by my employer?

Most likely, yes. It's employee training. Our cost is very low. So, on the odd chance your employer doesn't reimburse you, you must ask yourself if that small amount is worth investing into the skills you need to keep yourself employed and employable. You should also see a new employer if the one you have is so chintzy they won't help you improve your skills. That could also be a sign that your employment there is not going to last much longer, anyhow.

The goal here is not to pile up paper credits. The goal is to get the information you would ordinarily get only from a lifetime of working in project management--if even then. We save you "classroom time" in the "school of hard knocks." You will recover your investment (and then some), simply because you will be that much better at what you do.
How much time can I reasonably expect to save, once I use the principles in your time management course? That depends on how you presently approach your work. The typical student can expect to increase productivity by 50%. If you look at the way most people do their work, and then work your way through the course, you'll see why this is so. The author of that course works three  full-time jobs and is Chair for one non-profit and acting Chair for another. Yet, he manages to excel in all of these roles while still maintaining outstanding health and enjoyment of life. 

More FAQs: 

Content, accreditation,
how it works

Why should I buy a downloadable course, and are these good?

Powerful and affordable, these courses allow you to quickly learn specific subjects at your own pace, on your own schedule.

The courses are all developed by subject matter experts, and professionally edited for ease of reading. The writing is clear and to the point. Most buyers are delighted at how much they learn, how quickly they learn it, and how valuable the information is.

These courses provide knowledge to give you a competitive edge. Every year since 1994 has set a record for lay-offs. Now is the time to bolster your own skills, so you can thrive in this era of uncertainty.

These courses give you specific knowledge that normally comes from years of experience. Why wait 20 years to understand these things?

 

What about accreditation?

College and university courses have a different purpose from these courses.

If you want a degree, then you should  take our time management course and go pursue the degree.

A degree is a door opener, and then you are competing against everyone else who has a degree. College credits can carry you only so far. At some point, you need to go beyond that.

  • Take a look at college and university prices. Take a look at our prices. Accreditation is valuable, yes. But, it's also expensive. And it's not necessary every time you want to learn something. If your parents taught you how to ride a bike, accreditation was not an issue. But, that knowledge was valuable, was it not? Did you get accreditation for table manners? Try not using them in a business setting, and see where your career heads. Accreditation is not a requisite aspect of education.
  • To get a degree, you shell out a year's wages to sit in a classroom so you can get the same piece of paper thousands of other folks are getting. How do you distinguish yourself? That's what we help you do.
  • The typical degree does not give you specific knowledge to improve your performance--
    employers generally look at a degree as evidence you are teachable in a certain field.
  • If you have determined you should learn only in a degree program, you have already shot yourself in the foot by showing you put limits on your learning.

Money, price, guarantees

How does Mindconnection set its prices for these, and are they a good value?

We look at many factors when setting the prices. Of course, we consider what other providers charge for courses on similar topics and try to stay in that ballpark. Our main focus, though is on how useful the course is. We try to judge what the payback would be for a typical user shortly after completing the course, and we come up with a baseline price point. Then, we look at how we can realistically cut the price to make the course easily affordable.

 

What if I find a similar course cheaper at another site?

Well, as with anything else, you are going to need to make your own decisions on where to spend your money. These courses are unique, not commodities. You will find courses on similar or identical topics cheaper and also more expensive. Keep in mind, you aren't paying $995 for a seminar on the same subject, nor are you shelling out college tuition. Perspective is important. When you consider most people don't shop at all in regard to their single biggest expense--government--worrying about a few dollars or pennies toward one of these dynamite courses just doesn't seem to make sense.

 

How long does it take to complete a course?

That depends on the course you take, how hard you need to work to fill the gaps in your knowledge of the subject, and how hard you work to absorb that particular material. These are designed explicitly to not require you to spend long hours wading through incomprehensible fluff only to get a few bits of usable information out of that effort. As a benchmark, the typical student can complete the PM100 series in about 12 sessions of an hour each. Some of the smaller courses may require only two hours.

What if I don't like the course I take?

We have a no questions asked, money back guarantee. Try making that happen at any college. Try making that happen in your government, health care, legal services, or other area where you might spend huge amounts of money with no idea whether you will be treated properly or not. We aren't happy unless you are. Period.

 

 

Instructor credentials:

Mark Lamendola holds an MBA (with a 3.97 GPA), professional Certified Manager designation, and membership in Mensa (requires genius IQ for admission). He is on the Board of Regents of the Institute of Certified Professional Managers and has served on the boards of other prestigious organizations.

He has managed projects--large, small, and multiple. He has authored over 3500 articles in print or online, has taught many technical courses, and is in demand as a speaker. He has saved some companies thousands of dollars a week, just by applying  principles you'll find in these courses. BG&E, for example, realized a permanent $3 million per year cost reduction at one facility in 1987--you can see this in the annual report for the same year. Frigidaire realized a $750,000 annual savings through application of a single principle from these courses. So, he "walks the walk" and tells you things that work.

You can have confidence in this instructor's ability to train you quickly. Here's an example of his success. In 1989, he trained a martial arts novice for six months. That trainee took 2nd place in an annual open style martial arts tournament in Dallas, defeated only by 1988's grand champion. If you want to learn, this is your man.

His best qualification is very simple: he cares about your success.