Why This Matters
Technology changes constantly whether you move to a digitally driven business or are needing to up-skill in new technologies. You may feel unequipped and want some examples of how to move forward or some practise in various areas. Not only is there a ton to learn, but there are so many courses and guides available, it may be difficult to discern which ones are best, unbiased, and not just trying to sell something.
Resources
- Figure out which area of learning you require most for your particular business
- Find an applicable course, and if there is any cost, see if there is any funding available for you
- Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, we recommend only taking one course at a time, as there is so much information available in each course. It is better to finish one course than only partially complete a couple courses
Choosing the right Online Course – Tips and tricks for choosing the right online course for you.
Recommendations
Here are some courses and training options we can vouch for:
- Small Business BC (SBBC) Webinars & Seminars – Include links to free and paid webinars from Small Business BC
- Starting a Business: Start Smart Package – Package of webinars to learning about starting a business from Small Business BC
- Guide to Starting a Small Business in BC – Free Guide to Starting a Small Business in BC
- Local Community Futures – May also offer courses
- Local BC Chamber or Local Canadian Federation of BC – May also offer courses and sometimes provide discounts to courses
- BC Economic Development Association – Visit their website to see available courses
- Women’s Enterprise Center – Taking the Leap to Entrepreneurship, Starting your Business & Growing Your Business
Digital Marketing Specific Courses
- What is Digital-Marketing – A great birds eye view of digital marketing as a whole plan
- Digital-Marketing – Digital Marketing basics
- Free Online Marketing Classes – This blog post shares a ton of free links to courses designed to help with Content Marketing, Social Media, SEO, Email Marketing, Web Development and Design, and Online Advertising
- Entrepreneur Courses Store: Digital Marketing Super Bundle – This company has many courses and have a bundle they have put together for Digital Marketing
- Digital Main Street – A free digital how-to guide
- Alcarity – Digital Marketing Bootcamp – An 8-week course – with two options (Business and Self-Guided) on digital marketing that has been free in the past
- Emeritus – Digital Marketer – Digital Marketing Course, paid online with cohorts
- Tourism Digital Academy – A free, 8-week digital marketing program for BC tourism businesses who are interested in building their knowledge and skills in digital marketing at an intermediate level
Marketing Automation Specific Courses
What is Marketing Automation and Why would I consider it? – What is marketing automation and why to consider it?
HubSpot Marketing | What is Marketing Automation? – A HubSpot article explaining Marketing Automation
Best Marketing Automation Tools – This resource breaks down the different types of marketing automation:
- Email Marketing Automation
- Onsite Marketing Automation
- Content Marketing Automation
- Social Media Marketing Automation
- Sales Automation (CRM)
Marketing Automation Strategies – Best marketing automation strategies
Planning the Customer Journey – Creating and optimizing marketing automation strategy
Market Research Courses
- How to Do Market Research: A Guide and Template – Discover the different types of market research, how to conduct your own market research
Market Validation Courses
- Market Validation Training – A free, self-guided online program, open to anyone in BC with a tech or small business idea – this one is put on by New Ventures BC
- Validate your Startup Idea – 15 Questions to validate your business idea
- Validate your Business Idea – Practical 10 step process to validate your business idea
- Market Validation Process – Harvard article with 5 steps to validating your business idea
Other Courses
- Entrepreneur Store – Multiple paid course options from SEO to Sales
- LinkedIn Learning (formally Lynda.com) – Tons of online courses with digital and business topics and FREE with a library card (audiobooks as well)
- Understanding Your Customers – Questions to ask so you understand how to build the right product for those customers