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#BestofFSCBlog : Over 300K+ Reads! One Stop #JobSearch Read- How to Get a Job. Tons of Articles/Links!

May 29, 2019/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

We’d like to deliver you some very good news: a job search doesn’t have to be tough, and neither does landing a new job—if you know exactly how to get a job, that is.

Some job seekers, for example, don’t realize that a handwritten thank you notesent post-interview can clinch the job deal, while others have never heard of applicant tracking systems—technology that reads resumes and chucks those that are missing job description keywords in the trash. But with this insider information, you can defy the odds and land your dream job—all while making it look oh-so-easy.

Here are 13 pieces of advice that will strengthen your job search and help you get a job that fits your life.

GUIDE OVERVIEW

How to Get a Job #1. Pay attention to your social media presence.

Recruiters and hiring managers will be looking at your resume, of course—but they also want to see complementary online content, too, such as your LinkedIn profile and online resume. In fact, one recruiter told Glassdoor she likes to see attachments, project work, videos, or blogs, too.

How to Get a Job #2. Highlight your transferable skills.

You want to show off why you’re right for a particular role. But you also want to make clear why you’re right for any role, we’ve heard recruiters say. So, when it comes to your resume and cover letter, focus on the skills and experience you have that would make you an ideal candidate anywhere. Then, in an interview, be ready to share how you’ll relay those skills in the new role.

How to Get a Job #3. Use your words.

And more specifically, use the right words. Applicant tracking systems scan resumes in search of keywords, and throw out any that don’t contain them before they have the chance to be seen by human eyes. So how can you game the tech? It’s easy. Read the job description for the job you’re applying—then see how those words stack up against similar job postings. Words that repeat across multiple listings belong on your resume—preferably at the top, as well as in context.

How to Get a Job #4. Tell a compelling story in your cover letter.

You don’t want to simply repeat what’s on your resume when you write your cover letter. Rather, you want to dig a little deeper, answering questions a potential employer might ask such as: what makes this company your go-to choice, and why is this company special to you? Answer the questions in as much detail as possible to stand out from the crowd.

How to Get a Job #5. Catch your resume mistakes.

It’s not enough to run a simple spell check on your resume. You’ll need to employ some special editing tactics—such as reading your resume backward and asking a friend to proofread for you—in order to catch every mistake on the page. There’s even editing software specifically for resumes. If you allow an error to sneak in, you are sending the employer an unintended and incorrect message that you are sloppy and don’t care about your work.

How to Get a Job #6. Prepare for an interview before you get it.

You won’t be caught off guard by an interview question if you’ve studied the common questions asked by recruiters and managers alike. Plus, knowing your responses in advance will keep you cool, calm, and collected during the interview—confidence any employer will be pleased to see.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

How to Get a Job #7. Dress for the job you want.

It’s not enough to slip out of sweatpants and put on something fancy. You have to dress for success and be comfortable in what you’re wearing. If you’re uncomfortable, you might lose some confidence in the interview. But if you look and feel good, you job savvy should easily shine through.

How to Get a Job #8. Show off your likable side.

An interview doesn’t have to be all business. In fact, applicants willing to show their personalities are received better by managers than people who remain tight-lipped during the interview. That’s because this manager could become your boss—and he or she wants to make sure you can get along well. Share your personality when answering questions and resist the urge to respond robotically.

How to Get a Job #9. Always send a thank-you note.

A recent study found that 86 percent of hiring managers said not sending a thank-you note shows lack of follow-through. So follow-up—and show off your manners—with a handwritten note on nice paper or even in an email. The point is to do it, and do it promptly; the medium doesn’t matter as much. In the note, thank your potential employer for his or her time, and be sure to share about something you learned during the interview. Why? Sharing the lesson shows you were paying attention to the employer, and you’re serious about the role.

How to Get a Job #10. Avoid getting too personal in interviews.

Turns out, some of the answers you think are appropriate to share—like your favorite childhood memory when asked question, “Tell me about yourself”—are actually a turnoff to recruiters, and in some cases, can cost you the job. So just like you’ll practice what to say in the interview, you should also research what not to say to a potential employer.

How to Get a Job #11. Don’t talk about money during an initial interview.

Bringing up any salary questions during an initial interview—especially a phone interview—is a big no-no, career experts say. Why? It’s simply not the appropriate time, because you haven’t made it far enough into the interview process. So save the money talk for a second or third interview, when it’s clear you’re taking steps toward landing the job.

How to Get a Job #12. Be proactive during the interview.

Rather than allow for the recruiter or hiring manager to ask you all of the questions, be confident and proactive during your time together. You’ve researched the company’s culture and mission on Glassdoor, and you’re looking for a job that fits your life. Therefore it’s important to dig deeper. If you ask questions about management style, professional development, performances measurements and team collaboration, you’ll show a potential employer you’re both an informed candidate and serious about the job.

How to Get a Job #13. Use social media to brand yourself.

Hopefully, you know by now that Facebook statuses that describe wild nights with friends can a turnoff to potential employers. But did you know that you can use social media to build a personal brand, making you more attractive to a hiring manager? One easy way to do just that is to expand from what’s on your resume—you can post pictures or summaries of projects you’ve worked on, include a short bio about your skills, or share articles that show you’re an expert in your industry.

How to Get a Job #14. Seal the deal by negotiating.

The final stage of getting a job is negotiating the package. While compensation often comes to mind first, remember that there are far more facets of the job that you can customize than you think. From benefits to work-from-home options, stock options to a travel stipend, there’s a lot on the table. Make a list of the things that are most important to you and that you’ll need to execute your job well. Be sure to check Know Your Worth to make sure their base salary offer is competitive with the market. Then, speak to your hiring manager and the recruiter about whether those needs can be fulfilled. These days, negotiating is an expected part of the job search process. Ask as many questions as you need and get the answers you need to make the best job decision for you.

Learn More!

Getting a job can feel like winning the lotto. However, with a few tips and tricks, getting job will have much better odds. Here are additional resources to help you on your path to finding a job that fits your life:

How to Write a Resume

How to Write A Cover Letter

The Ultimate Job Interview Preparation Guide

How to Prepare for a Behavioral Interview

50 Most Common Interview Questions

How to Negotiate Your Salary

How to Network

GlassDoor.com | May 29, 2019

#CareerAdvice : #LinkedInTips – 9 Mistakes you’re Making on #LinkedIn that Could Sabotage your #JobHunt — and How to Fix Them. A Must REad!

March 7, 2019/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

If you’re on LinkedIn, there’s a good chance you’re guilty of (at least) one of the mistakes listed below.

We talked to LinkedIn career expert Blair Decembrele about how to avoid them.
For example, if you’re job-hunting, be sure to alert recruiters that you’re open to new roles. Your current employer won’t find out.

LinkedIn can be a terrific place to build your brand, expand your network, attract new clients, and find job opportunities.

But use it the wrong way and you could turn off professional contacts — or even lose out on your dream job.

We spoke with LinkedIn career expert Blair Decembrele about the most common (and most egregious) mistakes she sees on the platform, as well as what you can do to avoid them. Read on, and get ready to make some potentially serious changes to your profile.

Your profile headline is incorrect or missing entirely

Screenshot/LinkedIn

This is “prime real estate,” Decembrele said.

It’s the first thing other members see besides your photo. You can use these 120 words either to list your current title (e.g. “senior reporter at Business Insider”) or to describe your job more generally (e.g. “reporter covering career development and entrepreneurship”).

You don’t have a profile photo

Screenshot/LinkedIn

According to LinkedIn data, profiles with photos receive up to 21 times more views than profiles without photos, plus nine times more connection requests.

That’s not to say that any photo will do — it’s important to choose one that’s visually appealing, Decembrele said. Think a solid-color background without distractions like a friend’s arm dangling off the edge. Your face should fill up roughly 60% of the frame.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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You haven’t written a summary

A summary “describes who you are as a professional,” Decembrele said. It’s your elevator pitch, or your chance to “spark a potential employer’s interest in 20 seconds.”

That’s why you should include your experience, skills, and interests. Most importantly, “don’t be afraid to have your personality shine through.” LinkedIn says summaries of at least 40 words are more likely to turn up in search results.

You never customized your LinkedIn URL

Once you do, you can include your LinkedIn URL on your résumé without worrying about it looking clunky, Decembrele said. It also makes it easier for you to be found by recruiters.

You have no idea what your privacy settings are

Decembrele recommends thinking carefully about your privacy settings (for example, whether you want your entire network to find out that you’ve switched jobs).

You should also know whether other members can see when you’ve looked at their profile, and vice versa. Decembrele said there are benefits to having people know you checked out their profile, since they might see an opportunity to work together.

If you subscribe to LinkedIn Premium, you’re able to tweak the settings so that you can see when other people view your profile, but they can’t see when you’ve viewed theirs.

You haven’t alerted recruiters that you’re open to new roles

Enabling the “open candidates” feature on your profile dashboard is a way to privately signal that you’re open to job opportunities. LinkedIn found that members who enable this feature are twice as likely to see relevant opportunities.

Fortunately, this is not listed publicly on your profile — and luckily for you, recruiters from your particular organization aren’t able to see this.

You’re not using hashtags in your posts

You can use relevant hashtags to a) customize your feed so that you see the content that’s most interesting to you, and b) to make sure your posts wind up in front of the right people (just like on other social media platforms). For example, if you’re writing about leadership, you might tag “#leadership.”

Once you’ve started writing a post on LinkedIn, you’ll see recommended hashtags to choose from.

You aren’t taking advantage of LinkedIn groups

When you join LinkedIn groups for professionals in your field, “it enables you to talk to each other about trends in your industry,” Decembrele said. Plus, it’s a great way to solicit career advice or opinions.

You’re cold-contacting people for jobs

The first rule of messaging another LinkedIn member is to make sure you’ve looked at their profile, so you can refer to something about their career that resonated with you. Explain why you’re reaching out and why they should connect with you, Decembrele added.

That said, if you’re job hunting, don’t message someone asking directly for a job. Instead, you might write something like, “Hi, I noticed you work for [X organization] and I’m really interested in learning more about that company. Would you be wiling to talk to me?”

Author: Jillian D’Onfro contributed to an earlier version of this post.

Businessinsder.com | March 7, 2019

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#CareerAdvice : #JobSearch – What #Recruiters Look at When Stalking Your #SocialMedia … You probably Already Know Recruiters are Looking at your #LinkedIn Page, but What About your Other Social Media Platforms?

August 5, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

You know, the ones where you post pictures of your latest vacation, share what you had for dinner and occasionally tag your friends in memes. Why, you might wonder, would a recruiter possibly be interested in viewing things like that?

As it turns out, those personal details are precisely why recruiters and hiring managers keep tabs on applicants’ social media accounts, says career coach Hallie Crawford. “It can help them get a more accurate idea about who you are outside of your resume — a more personal view into your life,” she explains. “A resume can tell them your qualifications, but your social media profile can help them determine your personality type and if you would be a good fit for company culture.”

Plus, recruiters are looking for red flags — risqué photos, bad language, signs of drugs use — that would show them you’d be a less than ideal man or woman to have in their offices.

So now that you know why they’re looking, how about knowing what they’re looking at?

Facebook

According to Crawford, recruiters and hiring managers are concentrating their efforts on two sections of your Facebook page — your “about me” section, and your photo albums.

About Me: “They will want to see how you describe yourself and if it matches up [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][with] how you have described yourself in your cover letter and resume,” Crawford says. Any discrepancies could cost you points pre-interview. What’s more, Crawford says, “they will also be looking for proper spelling and grammar” in this section, to see how seriously you take those skills.

Photos: When it comes to your photos albums, “a hiring manager will be checking not only your photos but also your descriptions,” Crawford warns. “A hiring manager wants to see if you represent yourself in a professional way.” To come off in the most positive pre-meeting light, “you will want to avoid using profanity, sexual or drug references,” Crawford says.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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Twitter

Who You’re Following: “Recruiters like to see if you have any mutual connections and if you are connected with others in your industry,” Crawford explains. Following others in your industry is a smart thing to do no matter what — watching their feeds can give you a scoop on a new job opening, company announcements, the latest tech and much more.

Tweets: “Recruiters will be checking to see if you share useful information, if you share information relevant to your trade or if you just use tweets to fight with others,” Crawford says. If you’re applying for a job, take a look at your tweeting history and consider deleting anything that won’t show your best — and most thoughtful — self to a potential employer.

Instagram

Followers: Recruiters will check out the kind of followers you attract, Crawford says. Plus, they’ll want to see “how friendly and social you seem to be with your followers,” she says. What you say to them and what you say back, she explains, “can also give them insight [into] your personal relationships and if you would be a good cultural fit for the company.”

Pictures: You probably figured this, right? But recruiters are looking to see more than your photography skills (or lack thereof). “They will want to see how you represent yourself,” Crawford says. For example, “if you are at a party, do you represent yourself in a dignified way?” Crawford asks, or, “do you post things that others would consider inappropriate?”

GlassDoor.com | March 14, 2018 | Posted by Jillian Kramer

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Your #Career : 7 Steps to Rebrand Yourself for a #CareerChange …Just Because you Don’t have Experience in a New Field Doesn’t Mean your #Skills aren’t Valuable in that Field. Here’s What to Do Before you Make a Move.

June 28, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Ready for a career change, but worried you don’t have the experience or skills to land a job in your desired field? Filling your resume with your previous work experience that has no similarity to the job you’re applying for is likely to land your resume in the trash can. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck in a career you hate forever.

Dawn Graham, PhD, career coach, psychologist, and author of the book Switchers: How Smart Professionals Change Career–and Seize Success, says rebranding your professional experience is key to a successful career switch. “When you’re making a switch, you need to be a good fit for the role, and while some of your skills and experiences may be transferrable, many may not be,” she says. Here’s how you can prove that you’re worthy of the title, even when your resume shows no previous experience in the field.

1. CHANGE YOUR SOCIAL PRESENCE

Use social media to your advantage to rebrand yourself in your new career area. Follow thought leaders in your target industry and comment on their posts. Connect with relevant industry groups and associations, share relevant and interesting articles within your online network, comment on posts, attend the biggest industry conferences, and develop a network of contacts in the industry. “Technology makes it easier than ever to market yourself in a way that appeals to the audience you choose,” says Graham. The more you can demonstrate that you’re serious and invested in your new target industry, the more credible you will seem.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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2. FIND YOUR TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS

Rebranding yourself takes time and introspection. Everyone has transferrable skills, even if you think you don’t. Graham gives the example of a recruiter who wants to move into social media marketing. “You can show off your customer research, analytics, and technical savvy skills,” she says. Demonstrating how you can reach new customers using the same skill set you used to uncover qualified candidates is a way to prove that your experience is relevant.

To determine your skills, Graham recommends breaking down achievements. “If you contributed to saving a large client, consider the steps that got you to that result–perhaps problem solving, diplomacy, creativity, and influencing.” Do the same with other accomplishments and you’ll soon notice a pattern of core strengths. Try going through this exercise with a colleague or manager who may be able to see strengths that you are overlooking.

3. DO YOUR RESEARCH

In order to find out what skills and experiences are most relevant to your new career choice, spend time learning as much as you can about your target position. Speak with professionals in your target industry, look for volunteer positions in the industry, take courses, and attend professional events to learn what experiences and skill sets are most valuable in the new industry.

4. DON’T LEAD WITH YOUR TITLE

While most of us use our job title when introducing ourselves, this can be an error when you’re switching careers. Many companies use language that doesn’t translate outside the industry. A title can cause confusion for someone in another industry, and biases their opinion toward your application. They may think right away that you’re not a good fit without reading further into your experiences. Instead of focusing on your title, place the emphasis on your value–the skills you developed in that position.

5. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

In order to highlight your value and position yourself as a good fit for the job, you need to know the challenges the hiring manager is trying to solve. “Many job seekers have incredible accomplishments, but without knowing what is important to your audience, you risk leading off with accomplishments that, while impressive, lead the hirer to think you’re not a fit for the role,” says Graham.

When in a job interview, make one of your first questions about the challenges the company or department is facing at this time. Once you find out the hiring company’s pain points, you can select the achievements from your background that best align with what the hiring manager is looking for in the role.

6. CHERRY-PICK EXPERIENCES

Some of your best accomplishments and achievements may not be impressive to the hiring manager if they have no relation to the job you’re applying for. To be most effective in rebranding yourself professionally, select the parts of your experience that align most closely with your target role. To make your application in this new field stronger, highlight these experiences in your LinkedIn profile. If hiring managers are reviewing your resume and then jump over to LinkedIn and see a whole different type of experience highlighted, they may be confused and cause them to put aside your resume. Rebranding your professional experience may mean dropping what you think are some of your best accomplishments, but by focusing on “fit” first, you will have a better chance of a recruiter recognizing you as a potential candidate for the position.

7. JUSTIFY THE SWITCH

“Every hiring manager wants to know why this job at this company at this time,” says Graham. Your answer to this question will be especially important if you’re a career switcher. Graham argues that switchers can have the upper hand in answering this question because they have most likely spent a great deal of time studying the industry, thinking about what they want in a job when making their career switch decision.

FastCompany.com | June 28, 2018 | BY LISA EVANS 4 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : What #Recruiters Pay Attention To When They Look At Your #SocialMedia …Great REad!

March 26, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

You probably already know recruiters are looking at your LinkedIn page, but what about your other social media platforms? You know, the ones where you post pictures of your latest vacation, share what you had for dinner and occasionally tag your friends in memes. Why, you might wonder, would a recruiter possibly be interested in viewing things like that?

As it turns out, those personal details are precisely why recruiters and hiring managers keep tabs on applicants’ social media accounts, says career coach Hallie Crawford. “It can help them get a more accurate idea about who you are outside of your resume–a more personal view into your life,” she explains. “A resume can tell them your qualifications, but your social media profile can help them determine your personality type and if you would be a good fit for company culture.”

Plus, recruiters are looking for red flags–risqué photos, bad language, signs of drugs use–that would show them you’d be a less than ideal man or woman to have in their offices.

So now that you know why they’re looking, how about knowing what they’re looking at?

FACEBOOK

According to Crawford, recruiters and hiring managers are concentrating their efforts on two sections of your Facebook page–your “about me” section, and your photo albums.

About Me: “They will want to see how you describe yourself and if it matches up [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][with] how you have described yourself in your cover letter and resume,” Crawford says. Any discrepancies could cost you points pre-interview. What’s more, Crawford says, “they will also be looking for proper spelling and grammar” in this section, to see how seriously you take those skills.

Photos: When it comes to your photos albums, “a hiring manager will be checking not only your photos but also your descriptions,” Crawford warns. “A hiring manager wants to see if you represent yourself in a professional way.” To come off in the most positive pre-meeting light, “you will want to avoid using profanity, sexual or drug references,” Crawford says.

Like this Article? Share It ! You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search:https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

TWITTER

Who You’re Following: “Recruiters like to see if you have any mutual connections and if you are connected with others in your industry,” Crawford explains. Following others in your industry is a smart thing to do no matter what–watching their feeds can give you a scoop on a new job opening, company announcements, the latest tech and much more.

Tweets: “Recruiters will be checking to see if you share useful information, if you share information relevant to your trade or if you just use tweets to fight with others,” Crawford says. If you’re applying for a job, take a look at your tweeting history and consider deleting anything that won’t show your best–and most thoughtful self to a potential employer.

INSTAGRAM

Followers: Recruiters will check out the kind of followers you attract, Crawford says. Plus, they’ll want to see “how friendly and social you seem to be with your followers,” she says. What you say to them and what you say back, she explains, “can also give them insight [into] your personal relationships and if you would be a good cultural fit for the company.”

Pictures: You probably figured this, right? But recruiters are looking to see more than your photography skills (or lack thereof). “They will want to see how you represent yourself,” Crawford says. For example, “if you are at a party, do you represent yourself in a dignified way?” Crawford asks, or, “do you post things that others would consider inappropriate?”

This article originally appeared on Glassdoor and is reprinted with permission.

FastCompany.com | March 26, 2018 | BY JILLIAN KRAMER—GLASSDOOR 3 MINUTE READ

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#Leadership : #WorkBalance – I Did a 30-Day Decluttering of my Online Life — and It Made me Much More #Productive ….The Three most Important Lessons I Learned & some Brief, Practical Tips for How to Apply Them to your Own Life.

March 21, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Over the last 30 days, I participated in Cal Newport’s 30-Day Digital Declutter Experiment.

Nick Wignall attempted to cut back on his phone usage for 30 days.
The experiment led to higher productivity and more creative thoughts.
By deleting certain apps off his phone, Nick realized that he didn’t miss social media.

The aim was to omit all optional digital distractions in your life in order to clarify the things that truly matter, afterward intentionally adding the truly valuable ones back in and letting the others go. You can read more about the details of how I implemented the experiment here.

This is where — finally — my digital declutter experiment comes in: Having spent a month mostly avoiding any kind of distracting or optional digital technology use outside of a few select times during the work day, I’m realizing that there’s a large psychological cost associated with keeping our minds in perpetual work mode: creativity and unconscious insights.

In addition to the values angle, I was interested in how a digital declutter might affect my productivity and work life.

Below are the three most important lessons I learned and some brief, practical tips for how to apply them to your own life.

Lesson 1: A little less distracted can mean a lot more productive.

As Cal Newport talks about in Deep Work, our ability to do meaningful, cognitively demanding work requires an almost neurotic level of distraction elimination or resistance.

Every weekday morning I try to spend at least an hour writing. No research, editing, or reading. Just writing.

Here’s how my “writing hour” really looks:

Write for 20 minutes.
Feel tired, check Twitter for four or five minutes.
Feel guilty about being on Twitter and start writing again.
Write for 15 minutes.
Feel thirsty, decide “it’s time for a break,” and go get a glass of water or make a cup of tea.
Start writing again.
Look at the clock and realize there’s only five minutes to go and decide, “close enough.”
Check Instagram, email, them skim that interesting article.

In other words, I maybe got 45 minutes of actual writing done, fragmented by multiple breaks.

Okay, so you lose 15 minutes of writing to distraction. But writing for 45 minutes every day is still pretty good, right?

Sure. It’s not bad. But here’s how my writing hour looked during week 1 of the digital declutter experiment:

Write for 20 minutes.
Feel tired and think to check Twitter but remind myself that I can’t because it’s not even on my phone any more and start writing again.
Write for 30 minutes.
Get stuck expressing an idea, feel frustrated, my finger moves to jump out of my writing app and into email to see if there’s anything interesting.
I catch myself, return to my writing, and finish the hour out strong.

Cool! By eliminating distractions you were able to stick with the writing and actually get a full hour’s worth in each day.

Yeah, not bad. Pretty good even. That’s a whole hour and 15 minutes more writing each week. But look what happened in Week 2:

Write for 40 minutes.
Look up at the clock, a cool idea for the opening of the next paragraph pops into my head, back to writing.
Hit the final period on a section of the article, look up and realize that I’ve been writing for 70 minutes.

I’m skeptical, but if that’s really true maybe this whole digital distraction thing is more significant than I thought.

Of course! Don’t take my word — try it yourself! In my experience, as a direct result of the digital declutter, I’m writing much more than I used to and I don’t feel as tired or distracted while writing.

But the biggest change was Weeks 3-4: While my writing hour looked pretty similar to Week 2, I started to notice that the amount of time I spent editing my articles afterward was getting much shorter.

Normally it takes several rounds of editing and reorganizing to get an article as concise and coherent as I like. But after just a couple of weeks eliminating digital distractions and practicing resisting the temptation to take breaks by checking social media or email, the initial quality of my writing seemed to be improving as well as the quantity.

That was unexpected.

Takeaway: Even if the total time lost to digital distraction is modest, there are often subtle costs in terms of quality. By training ourselves to resist the temptation of digital distraction, both the quantity and quality of our work can improve considerably.

Action step: Pick one important or challenging activity or aspect of your work that you’d like to be more productive on. For a week, try to work straight through on it for 30 minutes without taking even a small break or giving into a short temptation to distract. Then bump it up to 45 minutes the next week. Then 60 the following week. Within a month, you’ll have a established aDeep Work habit.

Lesson 2: Just because you enjoy something doesn’t mean you’ll miss it when it’s gone.

If even small distractions like checking Twitter for a few minutes while we work can have such negative effects on our productivity, maybe we should do some more hunting for distractions we could eliminate or reign in more.

I’ve never been the kind of person who was constantly checking in on Facebook or Snapchat, or plugged into the Twitter news cycle 24/7. But I do spend a not-insignificant amount of time checking Instagram and ESPN. On an average day, I probably “check in” 10 or 15 times between the those two apps, maybe spending a total of 20 minutes a day on them.

I rationalize this to myself because neither one seemed as addictive or negative as, say, Facebook or Twitter. In my mind, they were small pleasures that didn’t lead to lots of outrage and negativity.

They also didn’t seem like excessive wastes of time. I just browsed photos of my friends’ kids and checked in on how unreal Tom Brady and LeBron James were each week. Harmless, right?

But during my 30-day digital declutter, I completely abstained from both. I deleted both apps from my phone and didn’t check either one once (I also don’t have TV and didn’t watch any sports). I didn’t even know who was in the final round of the NFL playoffs until I happened to see a clip of a halftime show on a TV at the bowling alley.

Now, uber sports fan I am not, but for me to not even know who the final four teams in the NFL playoffs were was pretty unusual. That probably hasn’t been the case since I was in early elementary school!

The strange thing is, I realized I didn’t miss either of them. At all. I basically never thought about Instagram or ESPN (or sports generally) once they were off my phone’s home screen.

Which made me wonder: If I don’t miss something when it’s gone for a month, how valuable can it really be?

Takeaway: We often decide to include or maintain activities in our lives because they’re enjoyable. But a better selection criteria might be, only keep those things that you truly miss when they’re gone.

Lesson 1 and 2 combined illustrate how many seemingly small pleasures or distractions we maintain hurt our productivity more than we realize and aren’t nearly as valuable or essential as they seem at first blush.

Action step: Make a list of 12 activities in your life that you enjoy or find mildly useful but are not truly necessary. Then, once a month, abstain from one of them completely and see if you miss it. If not, let it go.

man, working, focused, concentration, fanbridge, office tour, bi, dng

Lesson 3: Placing deliberate constraints on our work leads to increased creativity and insight.

By setting explicit limits on our “work mode mind” we become more sensitive to creative insights offered up by our unconscious mind.

I was always the kind of person who enjoyed school. I started full-time preschool at 3 years old and graduated college when I was 21. I then took two years and taught middle school, followed by another two years getting a masters, then four years getting my PhD. If you count my two years teaching, I’ve spent 27 of my 32 years of life in school.

And while I’ve largely enjoyed that time (and benefited hugely from it), there was one part of school I consistently despised: There was always more work you could (and probably should) be doing.

Whether it was studying more, getting started on that term paper, or collecting more data for a research project, I always had that nagging, guilty feeling that I could — and therefore should— be doing something more. Even weekends, holidays, and summer vacations weren’t immune (seemed like there was always a standardized test I had to start studying for or a CV to update, etc.).

Through all this, I often had this itch in the back of my brain that if I didn’t constantly have a 20-item to-do list I was frantically working through, I would be able to think more deeply and carefully about things. But despite what they claim in their marketing material, most schools prioritize just getting stuff done over getting stuff done well.

Finally at age 30, I found myself working and not in a school. And my job was (and is) one of those rare, true 9-to-5s. With extremely infrequent exceptions, I never have to think about work or feel guilty about not doing a little bit more before 9:00 am and after 5:00 pm. I certainly don’t have to think about it on the weekends or holidays. And let me say, it feels glorious!

But here’s the thing: Even though I don’t have to think about my job after work, my mind has been conditioned by 25 plus years of school to be always on: thinking, analyzing, predicting, problem-solving, comparing and contrasting, summarizing, etc.

All those mental habits that make us good at school and in our jobs are surprisingly hard to switch off after 5:00pm, even if we have the luxury of not being in school anymore or having a job that encourages work-life balance.

By deliberately putting boundaries around when and how I use technology, I found myself having a lot more novel and creative ideas.

I think one of the reasons we find it hard to completely unplug after work and in our down time is that the internet — aided by our smart phones which keep us constantly connected to it — encourages us to remain in that mindset.

Having easy access to email, Twitter, Facebook, CNN, and Reddit means we have a steady supply of novel and interesting things for our minds to chew on intellectually. And while browsing Facebook seems like a much different activity than organizing a meeting agenda, putting together a lesson plan, analyzing financial models in Excel, or whatever it is you do in your day job, to your mind it’s not that different.

Because of the ubiquity of smartphones and other digital technologies, our minds spend an increasingly high proportion of our waking lives in work mode. Which is problematic when you consider the psychological opportunity cost of always being in connected and in work mode.

This is where — finally — my digital declutter experiment comes in: Having spent a month mostly avoiding any kind of distracting or optional digital technology use outside of a few select times during the work day, I’m realizing that there’s a large psychological cost associated with keeping our minds in perpetual work mode: creativity and unconscious insights.

By deliberately putting boundaries around when and how I use technology and the internet (basically not at all on the weekends and not between 5:00pm and 9:00am on weekdays), I found myself having a lot more novel and creative ideas.

One simplistic measure of this: I keep a notes file on my phone for potential article or book ideas that occur to me throughout the day. Since beginning my digital declutter, it has literally quadrupled in size compared to where it was a month ago (I went back and looked at my iCloud backup of the notes file to check).

Whether my mind is literally generating more ideas or I’m simply more aware of them because I’m not so distracted by “work mode mind,” I’m not sure. But I know that I like it. A lot.

Takeaway: By putting explicit boundaries on “work mode mind” — especially by limiting or fencing in our digital technology usage — we allow ourselves to be more receptive to creative insights from our non-conscious mind.

Action step: To experiment with this in a small way, try not doing anything on your commute. No radio, podcasts, phone calls, etc. Don’t try and think about anything in particular — no work mode mind for the brief 20 or 30 minutes each way to and from work. Commit to trying it for at least a week and see if you notice anything.

Businessinsider.com | March 21, 2018 | Nick Wignall, Medium

Your #Career : 37 Free Online Marketing and Social Media Classes to Elevate Your Skills…Where Can you Go For the Best, Most Useful Marketing Information? Check Out these Free Resources.

December 9, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When I first started out with digital marketing, I was blown away by the sheer amount of online marketing resources and social media classes.

I read hundreds of articles and enrolled in as many marketing courses that I could possibly get my hands on. Even today, millions of resources continue to be published online every month.

Where can you go for the best, most useful marketing information? I’ve had the chance to test out and research a huge amount of resources, and I’m excited to share with you 37 free marketing and social media classes that you can enroll in to upgrade your skills across the board.

The list here includes free online courses in a number of social media-related topics and disciplines. If you’d like to dig into one area in particular, here’s a quick table of contents so you can jump to the section that’s most important to you:

Free online courses to learn and improve your social media marketing skills

1. What is Social?

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Northwestern University

Topics include:

Social trends
Defining target audiences
Data analysis

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

“What is Social?” is a massive open online course (MOOC) for business owners, executives and marketing professionals who want to significantly improve their abilities to grow their social media strategyusing effective, proven methodologies. In short, it’s a really awesome, action-based intro to social media.

The exciting part with this hands-on class is that you not only get to hear about ways to grow your professional persona using social media, but you will actually do it! “What is Social?” is the first in a six-course specialization offered by Northwestern University (a top university in the United States). Once you finish this first course, you can continue on with the next steps of the track: Social Media Marketing: How to Profit in a Digital World. (The first course is free; the full track costs $426.)

2. Diploma in Social Media Marketing

Offered by: Alison

Created by: Advance Learning Academy

Topics include:

Twitter
Facebook pages
Blogging and podcasting
Social media images
Email list growth
Affiliate marketing

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Alison is a similar to Coursera as a site that offers a huge range of classes and certifications, including several in the marketing space. Their free social media class covers the use of email marketing, affiliate marketing, using social media tools such as Twitter, blogging and podcasting, and how to use Facebook to create a business page and get it noticed by current and potential customers. So you’re likely to get a social media foundation plus a handful of other digital marketing skills to boot.

3. Social Media Monitoring

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Eric Schwartzman

Topics include:

Keyword filtering
Google related searches
Using Google Alerts and its benefits
Identifying influencers and content curation possibilities
Monitoring strategies for Facebook, Twitter and more

Skill level: All Levels

About this course:

This free social media class on how to monitor what your audience and customers are saying online is for marketers looking to keep a finger on the pulse of their community. Whether you’re just starting out in social media or are a seasoned veteran, this course has actionable social monitoring takeaways for people of all skills levels.

The course provides detailed examples of monitoring in action, allows you to get an overview of the different social media monitoring toolsavailable for use, and strategies for how you can use what you’ve learned and apply it to your own social media program.

4. The Business of Social

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Northwestern University

Topics include:

Discovering where social media “fits in”
How to tie social media to real business results
Managing and measuring a successful social media program

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

“The Business of Social” is for businesses owners, marketers and social media managers looking for ways to tie social media directly into real business growth objectives. In other words, those looking to drive real, measurable value from a social media strategy and program.

Instead of focusing on how marketers can create great content for social media, this class more focuses on how exactly to measure your social investments in terms of time, cost and opportunities.

5. Social Media Ethics

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Eric Schwartzman

Topics include:

How to use good judgement when using social media for work
What constitutes ethical behavior on social media
Demonstrating consideration for others on social media

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Have you ever wondered what it means to use social media effectively and ethically? This free course on “Social Media Ethics” provides the framework for social networking and engaging in ethical conversations online for all professionals and employees. Touching on local, state and federal laws, it takes the guessing game out of what is and is not legal on social media for employees of businesses.

6. Advanced Social Media Marketing for Picking up Clients

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Brian Yang

Topics include:

Common social media myths and mistakes
The art of using Facebook Groups
Attracting YouTube subscribers and creating engaging videos
Creating quality (not spammy) content for social media

Skill level: Intermediate

About this course:

The tagline for this social media class is “picking up clients with social media in 48 hours or less.” Which points to the fact that this instructor dives into intermediate social media strategies. Moving beyond more beginner tactics like setting up social media accounts and basic posting strategies, this class assumes that you already know those things and provides details on how to best use the channels that you’re already familiar with.

All you need for this course is an active Facebook, YouTube and Reddit account and you’ll be on your way to learning the secrets behind picking up clients on social media.

7. Facebook Blueprint

Offered by: Facebook

Created by: Blueprint eLearning

Topics include:

Facebook terminology and know-how
Best practices for Facebook and Instagram posting
Optimizing Facebook and Instagram advertising
Creating a quality Facebook page and experience

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

Perfect for small businesses, marketers, agencies and advertisers, Facebook Blueprint is your one stop shop for everything there is to know about running successful advertising campaigns using your Facebook Business Page. This huge resource of free, self-paced social media classes will cover best-practices and top strategies used by the world’s largest brands.

With Facebook becoming very much a “pay-to-play” platform, this is the perfect opportunity for businesses and marketers to fully grasp everything there is to know about ensuring that your advertising dollar stretches as far as possible.

8. Social Media Quickstarter

Offered by: Constant Contact

Created by: Constant Contact

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Instagram
Snapchat
And more!

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

All social media managers and marketers start somewhere. This free social media class from Constant Contact is a great resource for those who are looking to dive into the world of social media without all of the complications. It offers a step-by-step guide to building a presence on almost every social media platform you can think of.

For those unsure if social media is right for you or for your business, this class is a great way to dip your toes in and start small with social media marketing. Who knows, you may find that social media is just right for you!

Free online courses to boost your digital marketing know-how

9. Email Marketing for E-Commerce

Offered by: Skillshare

Created by: Mailchimp

Email marketing automation
Email marketing optimization
Email marketing personalization

Skill level: Intermediate to Advanced

About this course:

Marketers and social media professionals with a basic understanding of how email marketing works will love this free online course from Mailchimp. Perfect for those of you on the go, it’s a 25-minute, highly tactical class on developing the basic email marketing principles that you may already be familiar with.

By the end of this email course, you’ll have a great understanding of how to create engaging email marketing campaigns and how to optimize your strategy in order to increase business revenue.

10. Marketing in a Digital World

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: University of Illinois

How tools such as smartphones and 3D devices are changing the marketing sphere
How power is shifting from companies and brands to consumers
Offering product ideas that stick in a digital world

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

“Marketing in a Digital World” is one of the most popular free marketing courses on Coursera — with more then 100,000 students enrolled to this date. Taught by a professor at the University of Illinois, this class focuses on the transformation of marketing strategies an tactics into a digital-first world. Specifically, how technology is putting the power of marketing into the hands of the consumer.

This course is perfect for marketers looking to understand where the marketing field is today and how you can leverage new-age strategies to attract customers. And for those who are keen to continue their learning, this course is part of a larger Digital Marketing Specializationfor the University of Illinois.

11. QuickSprout University

Offered by: QuickSprout

Created by: Neil Patel

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Link building
Content marketing
Social media
Paid advertising
And more!

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

This awesome (or should we say huge?) set of classes from the one and only Neil Patel is a great place for marketers looking to learn about a huge variety of online and digital marketing tactics. Class topics range from beginner SEO and content creation strategies to advanced social media, email marketing and paid advertising.

What makes this course is that Neil Patel presents the information in very easy-to-learn and snackable ways. The lessons are presented in video format and range anywhere from 3:00-12:00 minutes. Each video also comes with a full transcript allowing more visual learners to follow along.

12. Inbound Marketing Certification

Offered by: HubSpot

Created by: HubSpot

Inbound marketing
Email marketing
Inbound sales techniques
Content marketing
Growth-driven design

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Certification is full of super actionable, hands-on learning material that allows marketers to take their general inbound marketing know-how to the next level. The certification consists of 12 different classes and more than 4.5 hours of learning material in both video and text format.

You’ll learn all about SEO, blogging, landing pages, lead nurturing, conversion analysis and reporting come together to form a modern-day inbound marketing strategy. This free online marketing course is presented in different modules, where after successful completion of all the lessons and tests, you’ll be HubSpot certified!

13. Viral Marketing and How to Create Contagious Content

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: University of Pennsylvania

What makes ideas sticky
How social influence shapes behavior
The power of word of mouth

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

Taught by University of Pennsylvania Professor and best-selling author, Jonah Berger, this free online marketing course helps to answer the mystery of why some ideas and products become popular and why others do not. It’s perfect for social media managers and marketers looking to put a “science” behind their content marketing method.

You’ll start with an understanding of why things catch on in the first place and how you can use those lessons to create viral content online. Then, you’ll move on to spreading your new and creative ideas through social media and other digital marketing channels.

14. Pay Per Click (PPC) University

Offered by: WordStream

Created by: WordStream

All about PPC (What it is, basic terminology, structuring)
Keyword research
Landing page optimization
A/B testing
PPC for lead generation and B2B

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

PPC University is a fully free online learning resource created by WordStream, to help build your PPC and digital marketing skills. The format is presented in three streams of learning plans which offer lessons for beginning to advanced users, with additional modules for social advertising.

You can also access a number of webinars and white papers to enhance your digital marketing expertise, and best of all, everything’s mobile-friendly so you can learn on the go, whenever you have time!

15. Diploma in E-Business

Offered by: Alison

Created by: Google

Introduction to Google Webmaster
Using Google AdWords
Understanding and using Google Analytics Data
Conversion reports and collecting actionable insights

Skill level: Intermediate

About this course:

This “Diploma in E-Business” course is a comprehensive resource for marketers, business owners and advertisers who would like to get the most out of their digital marketing efforts. You’ll learn things like the fundamentals of promoting your business online, using various Google-powered tools and how to track and make sense of the vast amounts of data available to you.

Whether you have a deep knowledge of how to market your business online or are just getting started, this course is an awesome way to strengthen your digital marketing skills.

16. Google Digital Marketing Course

Offered by: WordStream

Created by: WordStream

All about PPC (What it is, basic terminology, structuring)
Keyword research
Landing page optimization
A/B testing
PPC for lead generation and B2B

Skill level: Beginner – Advanced

About this course:

Learning the ins-and-outs of all of the marketing tools that Google offers is quite the task. But marketers and business owners have seen the direct benefits of mastering the various Google advertising platforms in terms of business ROI. This course offers a direct line to always-updated resources for everything Google.

This course is also a part of a Online Marketing Challenge from Google. Students that plan to take the Online Marketing Challenge are encouraged to complete the Digital Marketing Course first. Marketers looking to learn everything there is to know about Google (and advertising), this is a great place to start!

17. Buffer’s Week of Webinars on Digital Marketing

Offered by: Buffer

Created by: Buffer

Topics include:

Content curation and sharing on social media
Getting your content seen on Facebook
Instagram Marketing to boost your business
Branding and PR outreach
Getting started with social media data

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

While not a social media “class” in a traditional sense, Buffer’s Week-of-Webinars covers everything from content curation to social media analytics to getting your content seen in the Facebook News Feed.

The great thing about this series of online marketing webinars is that no registration is required to sign up and you can view all five of the videos at your own convenience. And we’d love to hear what you think of these webinars in the comments below!

Free online courses to level up with marketing analytics and data

18. Introduction to Analytics and the Language of SAS

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Jigsaw Academy

Topics include:

What “analytics” means
What the field of analytics is and why it’s booming
Popular analytics tools and applications
Introduction to the language of SAS

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

This “Introduction to Analytics” course is a great starting point for marketers looking to understand what the field of analytics is all about and how to apply it to a variety of businesses and situations. If you’re looking to go beyond the very popular marketing spreadsheets, this course is perfect for you.

This class is broken up into 12 videos of varying length — anywhere from 5-30 minutes and will take you about 2 hours to complete from start to finish.

19. Google Analytics Academy

Offered by: Google

Created by: Google

Topics include:

Digital analytics fundamentals
Google Analytics platform principles
Ecommerce analytics
Mobile app analytics
Google Tag Manager

Skill level: Intermediate – Advanced

About this course:

Google Analytics Academy is an incredible online resource for marketers looking to up their game in everything Google-related. With the importance of tracking and incorporating data into your marketing strategy, there has never been a better time to learn all you can about one of the most data-rich resources in the world.

Some of the most popular modules from the Google Analytics Academy include Digital Analytics Fundamentals and Google Analytics Platform Principles. Both of those courses will give you a solid foundation of how to implement data into your strategy and how you can use the platform to best inform your decisions moving forward.

20. An Introduction to Consumer Neuroscience and Neuromarketing

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: Copenhagen Business School

Topics include:

What Neuromarketing is all about
Attention and consciousness
Sensory neuromarketing
Emotions, feelings, wanting and liking

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

I put this fantastic course on Neuromarketing under the Analytics and Data section because it really gets into the nuts and bolts of why people make the decisions that they do online and in real life. Understanding that can help marketers and business make decisions based on data and research.

You’ll be taken on a journey through the basic brain mechanisms in consumer choice, and how to stay updated on these topics. The course will give an overview of the current and future uses of neuroscience in business and how you can apply it to your own social media and marketing strategy.

21. Data Analytics with Excel PivotTables

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: UpSkill Ladder

Topics include:

Intro to business analytics
Understanding Excel and PivotTables
Getting started with PivotTables
Terms such as Grouping and Custom Calculations

Skill level: Advanced

About this course:

I have the tendency to cringe when I hear the words “Excel PivotTables.” But I also understand how important the use of PivotTables can be in diving into your analytics and making informed decisions about marketing.

This course will teach you how to do Data analytics with Excel PivotTables effectively and efficiently. At the end of the lessons, you will understand the concept, various scenarios and types of Business analytics. Along with that you will learn, how to use one of the strongest features of Microsoft Excel, which is the PivotTables.

22. Digital Analytics for Marketing Professionals

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: University of Illinois

Topics include:

Data collection, analysis and visualization
How data fits into a company’s marketing strategy
Making informed marketing decisions based on data

Skill level: Advanced

About this course:

Taught by Kevin Hartman, Head of Industry at Google, this free marketing course on “Digital Analytics” focuses on the specific data collection, analysis and visualization techniques used by the world’s top brands. Unlike some of the other analytics classes offered online, this one focuses specifically on marketing.

This course will set you up with a full understanding of how to properly approach data analytics in marketing and how to make informed decisions based on your finding. In short, you’ll be a data wizard!

23. Marketing Measurement Strategy

Offered by: edX

Created by: University of California at Berkeley

Topics include:

How to identify marketing trends
How to predict future market conditions
An understanding of metrics used to measure marketing success

Skill level: Intermediate

About this course:

In this marketing class, you’ll learn the best approaches and practices for marketing measurement, including how to use metrics to measure success. The professor, Stephan Sorger, presents hands-on examples of how to identify market trends, how to predict future conditions and how to put those into action.

24. Social Media Analytics

Offered by: Quintly

Created by: Quintly

Topics include:

Introduction to social media analytics
The social media landscape
Differentiation between social networks for data collection
Finding KPIs that fit your goals

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

As social media continues to drive traffic and revenue for businesses, the need for marketers to fully understand the “why” behind social success (or downturns) will increase.

This free social media class from Quintly covers the basic principles of social media analytics both for beginners and for marketers who want to refresh their knowledge. It aims to help anybody involved in social media analytics, no matter whether you are working for a brand, an agency or in the media.

Free online courses to get up to speed on content, blogging and SEO

25. SEO Training

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Eric Schwartzman

Topics include:

Integrating SEO in offline and online marketing activities
The vocabulary of search engine optimization
Most effective SEO strategies
White hat vs. black hat SEO

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

This SEO Training class is perfect for social media managers, executives and entry-level employees. This SEO course will help you increase the search rank of your corporate website, your blog or LinkedIn profile.

Learn how to figure out which terms your customers actually search and how to create online content that is most likely to rank high in Google search engine page results. For most organizations, search engine optimization presents a greater conversion opportunity that social media outreach.

26. Writing for the Web

Offered by: Open2Study

Created by: Frankie Madden

Topics include:

How to structure a web page
Considerations for search engines and accessibility
Making your content scannable
Using keywords, headings, lists and links

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Knowing how to write well is an important skill for just about anything, but knowing how to write for the web is a whole different ball game. It takes clear and concise copy to gain the attention of your readers in just a few seconds.

This course will help just about anyone — from journalists to technical writers to developers to aspiring bloggers — create content that really engages and converts online. It also will teach you the skills needed to accommodate the requirements of online readers through web design, writing style, structure and SEO.

27. Writing for Brands: Freelancing in the Age of Content Marketing

Offered by: Skillshare

Created by: Contently

Topics include:

What content marketing entails
The basics of writing for, and working with brands
Marketing yourself as a writer
How to craft the perfect pitch to a brand

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Have you ever wondered how all of those great bloggers get writing gigs for brands online? This course provides the framework for starting a successful freelance career if that’s something you’d be interested in. Taught by Brian Maehl of Contently, “Writing for Brands” is an actionable, 30-minute writing course that breaks down the process into simple steps.

Whether writing turns into a full-time career for you or just a fun project to tackle on the side, the folks at Contently are happy to help prepare you to pitch your content ideas to brands both big and small.

28. SEO Training Course

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Moz

Topics include:

Building a monthly SEO plan
5 ways to use social media profiles for SEO
Link building with Twitter
Mapping keywords to content

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Optimizing a web site for search engines requires looking at a ton of unique elements both on and off your website. This course on SEO from the folks at Moz will help you to start making sense of it all. Most importantly, it will help you form consistent SEO habits that you can implement long after this course is over.

If you’re interested in getting started with optimizing your website for search engines and how social media has the power to fit within that strategy, this is a great place to start for beginners.

29. Content Marketing for B2B Enterprises

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: William Flanagan

Topics include:

End-to-end B2B marketing tactics and strategies
Content creation that converts
Identifying industry influencers
Building a data system to foster improvement

Skill level: Intermediate – Advanced

About this course:

B2B companies, products and services often require a slightly different approach to content marketing. Customer sales cycles are more drawn out and require various, targeted content types to help assist decision-makers to the next stage.

The entire set of classes in this content marketing course lasts roughy 35 minutes. You’ll learn how to get inside the mind of your market and build content that interests them in a short period of time. Allowing you to get back to running your business!

30. High-Impact Business Writing

Offered by: Coursera

Created by: University of California at Irvine

Topics include:

Introduction and basics to business writing
Various business document types
Informal and social media communication

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Writing great copy that is meant to drive people to take a specific business action is a unique and valuable skill to have for marketers and business owners alike. This “High-Impact Business Writing” course is aimed at helping you get your thoughts on paper in a clear and concise manner.

Structured as a 4-week class, you’ll start with the basics of businesses writing, including why it’s important, and move to more advanced topics such as preparing business documents and translating ideas to more informal channels such as social media. In short, helping to to become a business copy whiz!

31. Internet Marketing for Smart People

Offered by: Copyblogger

Created by: Copyblogger

Topics include:

Introduction and basics to business writing
Various business document types
Informal and social media communication

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

With the tagline, “you don’t have to be a genius to master internet marketing,” this 20-part email course from the folks at Copyblogger offers a great starting place for those new to the marketing field. What’s unique about this course is that it digs deeply into the areas of direct response copywriting and relationship building.

It’s set up in “4 Pillars” takes you through various topics such as customer relationships, writing, content marketing and delivering something that’s worth selling.

Free online courses to learn marketing design and imagery

32. Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Graphic Design

Offered by: Skillshare

Created by: Smithsonian Design Museum

Topics include:

Identifying and defining basic design principles
Effectively critiquing your own work for balance
Applying what you’ve learned to your own projects

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Have you ever wanted to get started with design so that you can create your own images for social media and marketing? This “Graphic Design Basics” from will set you up with a solid foundation to branch out as a beginner designer.

In this 35-minute class designers Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips walk students through what it takes to create great designs. Including, the 5 important and fundamental aspects of design and how you can apply those to every one of your projects moving forward.

33. How to Create Better Graphic Design

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Inoshiro Design

Topics include:

Identifying and defining basic design principles
Effectively critiquing your own work for balance
Applying what you’ve learned to your own projects

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Did you know that in 2016, visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content? Today, it’s becoming important, even crucial for marketers to have at least some basic knowledge of key design terms.

This course does a deep dive into the five steps for better visual communication. These components include creating ideas and applying them to your design, communicating ideas effectively within the design and having a consistent design look and feel.

34. The Landing Page Conversion Course

Offered by: Unbounce

Created by: Unbounce

Topics include:

Landing page 101
5 core landing page elements
The psychology of conversion

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course:

Curious about the power of landing pages in marketing campaigns? Unbounce has the art of a perfect landing page down to a science. And in this comprehensive online marketing class, they share all of that knowledge with you, no questions asked.

The Landing Page Conversion Course takes you from “Landing Page 101” right on down to “Copywriting” and even “Testing and Optimization.” If you’ve ever been curious about the power of landing pages and how they can help you grow your business, this course is the perfect one for you.

35. Visual and Graphic Design

Offered by: ALISON

Created by: XSIQ

Topics include:

Using various design elements
Drawing and production systems in design
The production process for designers

Skill level: Beginner

About this course:

Great design starts with the fundamentals. The free course from ALISON examines various design elements including line, shape, form and texture and design principles, covering composition, balance, contrast and hierarchy. If you’re interested in exploring graphic design, industrial design or the design process in general, this free graphic design class is perfect for you.

36. Graphic Design 101

Offered by: Udemy

Created by: Design and Art Direction Mason Gentry

Topics include:

Concept-driven design and implementation
Why some design mediums need to communicate more quickly than others
Thinking behind great graphic design
A birds eye view of the entire field of graphic deisgn

Skill level: Intermediate

About this class:

Are you interested in deepening your knowledge of graphic design or how graphic design can be applied in the real world? The class “Graphic Design 101” is specifically for developers who may know a little about graphic design, but would like to learn more.

Many students who take this class have the ability to recognize a good design when they see one, but may not know why it’s a good design. This free online design class looks to help answer the “why.”

37. DIY Viral Video: A Class on Making iPhone How-To Videos

Offered by: Skillshare

Created by: Nicole Farb

Topics include:

Setting up for a great video
Tools and techniques for shooting a video
Finalizing and sharing a videos online

Skill level: Beginner – Intermediate

About this course: Video marketing is making a huge splash online and on social media. But one thing what we consistently hear is that marketers aren’t quite sure where to start. Yet, videos have the potential to engage an audience in new and exciting ways — just look at BuzzFeed Tasty for an example of the power of video!

In this short class, Nicole Farb shows how you can create your own video in a scrappy, easy and high-quality way and how she has seen huge success with it in the past. Perfect for marketers and social media managers just getting started with video.

Entrepreneur.com | December 12, 2016 | Brian Peters

#Leadership : 15 Social Media Podcasts to Take Your Marketing Skills to the Next Level…Take it From the Pros — these Podcasts will Help Boost your Social Media Presence.

October 20, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

What should you do if you want to become the best at what you do? There’s probably a long list, with lots of options. One thing we’re particularly fond of at Buffer when it comes to improving ourselves is listening to podcasts relevant to our niche and industry.

In our case, that means social media podcasts!

What we love about podcasts is that they make it easy to hear from industry leaders and talented folks about their experiences and advice (which we might not be able to read about anywhere else). There are so many of these voices in the marketing space that have been influential for me and the team!

Related: How to Promote Your Podcast

So the big question is: Where to start? Which podcasts should I try? What episodes should I listen to?

I have the same questions in mind whenever I find the time to listen to podcasts. Rather than spending your podcast time finding a podcast episode to listen to, I’d love to help you skip that step and go straight to listening. Here’s a list of 15 top marketing podcasts, covering three areas of social media marketing, with some top episodes from each podcast to check out!

To make it easier to find the parts of this post that are most helpful, here’s a look at all we’ll cover:

9 of the very best Social Media Marketing podcasts
3 Paid Social Media Marketing podcasts
3 Community Building & Customer Support podcasts

Psst! Our new podcast, The Science of Social Media, is live in iTunes.

This is our newly-launched social media podcast for marketers and brands interested in learning about new and exciting ways to implement social media marketing across a variety of platforms and industries. Every week, Hailley Griffis, Brian Peters and Kevan Leeinterview some of the best marketers around in quick, 30-minute episodes.

Here are some recent episodes you might like:

9 Top social media marketing podcasts

1. Social Pros by Jay Baer and Adam Brown

Real people doing real work in social media. Social Pros, recently named the best marketing podcast at the Content Marketing Awards, dives into the inside stories and behind-the-scenes strategies of how huge companies and brands like Ford, Dell, IBM, ESPN and more manage and measure their social media programs.

Hosts: Jay Baer (President of Convince & Convert) and Adam Brown(Executive Strategist at Salesforce)

Format: Interviews (with its ‘The Big Two’ questions at the end: 1. What’s your one tip for becoming a social pro? and 2. If you could do a Skype call with any living person, who would it be?)

Duration: Ranges from 30 to 60 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

2. Social Media Marketing with Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner

In his weekly podcast, Michael Stelzner interviews social media experts to find out how successful businesses run their social media and uncover strategies and actionable tips to improve one’s social media marketing.

For each episode, there’s a very detailed blog post about the content of the interview so that you don’t have to take notes while listening.

Hosts: Michael Stelzner (Founder of Social Media Examiner and the Social Media Marketing World conference)

Format: Interviews (with a quick social media discovery of the week at the start)

Duration: 45 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

3. The #AskGaryVee Show by Gary Vaynerchuk

For each episode of #AskGaryVee, Gary Vaynerchuk answers a question from his audience about marketing, social media, entrepreneurship and startups based on his lifetime experience of building successful, multi-million dollar companies. If you tweet him your question with #AskGaryVee, you might get on the show!

The show originally started as YouTube videos only, and Gary turned them into podcasts too so that his audience can listen to them on the go. If you usually listen to podcasts on your computer or prefer to watch the video, you might find the #AskGaryVee Search Engineuseful!

Hosts: Gary Vaynerchuk (CEO of Vayner Media and co-founder of Vayner Sports)

Format: 1-2 questions from his audience and answers from Gary

Duration: Ranges from 15 to 45 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

4. Social Media Social Hour by Tyler Anderson

This is a podcast for marketers and entrepreneurs looking to get on the social media fast track. Each week, Tyler Anderson interviews people behind top brands and influencers to discuss social media, tech and online marketing. Tyler also shares tools and processes he personally uses (like Focus Booster) to help him with social media management, marketing, productivity and more.

Hosts: Tyler Anderson (Founder and CEO at Casual Fridays)

Format: Interviews

Duration: Ranges from 20 to 50 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

5. Online Marketing Made Easy by Amy Porterfield

In her podcast, Amy Porterfield shares how to monetize your online marketing and blogging efforts using her own tested, actionable lead-generation strategies. Amy creates educational content on social media marketing, freelancing and several other areas of online marketing and even shares free cheatsheets and guides so that you can follow along while listening to the podcast. Sometimes, she’s joined by a Facebook ad expert, Rick Mulready, to discuss all about Facebook ads.

Hosts: Amy Porterfield (Social media strategist and co-author ofFacebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies)

Format: Mix between interviews and solo podcasting on Facebook ads, online marketing and blogging

Duration: Ranges from 30 to 50 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

6. Social Zoom Factor with Pam Moore

With 100,000 downloads per month, Social Zoom Factor is one of the most popular marketing podcasts. The show is hosted by Pam Moore of Marketing Nutz, a company with clients like IBM and Adobe. Pam covers topics such as social media, experiential branding, digital marketing and more.

If you are an auditory learner and prefer listening versus reading blog posts, this might be the podcast for you!

Hosts: Pam Moore (CEO and Founder, Marketing Nutz)

Format: Solo podcasting on social media strategies

Duration: About 30 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

7. #TwitterSmarter by Madalyn Sklar

In this podcast dedicated to Twitter, Madalyn Sklar interviews amazing movers and shakers in the world of social media and online marketing to discover the best Twitter insights, information and resources.

If you are into Twitter chats, Madalyn also hosts a weekly #TwitterSmarter chat — a Twitter chat to connect, learn and share Twitter tips — every Thursday at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT.

Hosts: Madalyn Sklar (Twitter marketing strategist)

Format: Interviews

Duration: Ranges from 10 to 30 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

8. Hashtagged by Jordan Powers

Hashtagged is a podcast all about Instagram. In each episode, Jordan Powers interviews a member of the Instagram community to uncover insights to growing a following, building a community and making an impact.

Hosts: Jordan Powers (Photographer and co-founder of Made in Mankato, a video production company)

Format: Interviews

Duration: Ranges from 30 to 60 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

9. Manly Pinterest Tips with Jeff Sieh

In this podcast mainly for everything about Pinterest, Jeff Sieh explores best practices, strategies and demonstrations with several Power Pinners. Once in a while, Jeff will cover other social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram too.

Hosts: Jeff Sieh (Social media consultant and speaker)

Format: Interviews and answering questions from the community during the interviews

Duration: Ranges from 40 to 60 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

Paid social marketing

1. The Art of Paid Traffic by Rick Mulready

In The Art of Paid Traffic, Rick Mulready reveals the best paid traffic tips, tactics and strategies for generating leads and sales on autopilot for your business. Together with expert guests such as Massimo Chieruzzi, founder & CEO of AdEspresso, Rick dives into Facebook ads, YouTube ads, Twitter ads, Google Adwords, retargeting and more.

Hosts: Rick Mulready (Expert in Facebook ads and marketing strategies for small businesses)

Format: Mix of interviews, case studies and solo podcasting

Duration: Ranges from 20 to 50 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

2. Perpetual Traffic by Keith Krance, Molly Pittman and Ralph Burns

Perpetual Traffic podcast covers actionable strategies mainly for advertising on Facebook, with occasional mentions of YouTube, Twitter, Google AdWords, LinkedIn and more. Keith, Molly and Ralph interview business owners on how they overcame struggles with digital marketing and online advertising.

Hosts: Keith Krance (Founder and president of Dominate Web Media),Molly Pittman (Vice President and Traffic Manager, Digital Marketer) and Ralph Burns (Managing Partner at Dominate Web Media)

Format: Interviews and discussions on digital marketing and online advertising

Duration: Ranges from 20 to 40 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

3. Social Media Pubcast with Jon Loomer

In each episode of Social Media Pubcast, Jon Loomer invites an industry expert to his virtual pub to discuss Facebook marketing and advertising over a beer. Jon also records audio versions of his blog posts for people who want to listen on the go.

Jon manages an exclusive community for advanced Facebook marketers, Power Hitters Club, which I thought is pretty awesome (says the Community Champion in me)!

Hosts: Jon Loomer (Founder of Jon Loomer, For Advanced Facebook Marketers)

Format: Mix of pubcasts with guests and audio version of blog posts

Duration: About 40 minutes for pubcasts and 10 minutes for audio recordings of blog posts

Recent episodes you might like:

Community building and customer support

At Buffer, the distinction between marketing and community is very blurry. In fact, we believe they belong together! An example is how our awesome social media manager, Brian Peters, has built an engaging community on Instagram.

Here are two podcasts with a strong community focus, plus a bonus third podcast with ties into customer support (a really great skill for social media marketers to have).

1. The FeverBee Podcast by FeverBee

While this show has stopped for a while now, the archive is a treasure trove of information! The podcast covers the latest in community management, social science and FeverBee news. In each episode, a community manager or social media manager of a well-known brand joins the show to share their knowledge.

Hosts: Caty Kobe (previously Head of Training, FeverBee)

Format: Interviews

Duration: About 30 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

2. Community Signal by Patrick O’Keefe

Community Signal is a weekly podcast for community professionals, which is very community-focused. Patrick O’Keefe believes that social media is a set of tools for building a community and while “marketing brings new customers, community helps you keep them.”

Hosts: Patrick O’Keefe (Managed communities for more than 16 years)

Format: Interviews

Duration: About 30 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

3. Support Ops by Chase Clemons

I believe it’s quite common for social media managers to receive support requests on their social channel. If that’s the case for you and if you are wondering how to get better at that, Support Ops might be just for you! This weekly podcast aims to help you deliver a better support experience to your customers.

Hosts and team: Chase Clemons (Support, Basecamp), Carolyn Kopprasch (Chief Happiness Officer, Buffer), Chase Livingston(Happiness Engineer, Automattic) and Jeff Vincent (Product, Wista)

Format: Discussions on customer support among the team, sometimes with guests

Duration: About 30 minutes

Recent episodes you might like:

Entrepreneur.com | October 20, 2016 | Alfred Lua – Community and Marketing at Buffer

#CareerAdvice : #JobSearch Tactics That Work… A #MustRead !

October 9, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

In today’s business world, a college degree does not automatically lead to a great job the way it typically did in the past. Today, in addition to that college degree, one has to learn how to find a job — and be good at it. This additional challenge represents a significant barrier to some job seekers and especially to more mature people who have a hard time keeping up with fast-developing technology that requires new skills.

So, the following are a few tips regarding both what to do and how to do it.

Online and in-person networking

Beyond LinkedIn, recruiters use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to find, select and qualify talent. Those new tools — which 10 years ago were either nonexistent or in their infancy stage — are absolutely essential for today’s job seekers to be familiar with. A job seeker who does not show up on recruiters’ screens is simply ignored. This is a huge punishment for those who need a job. To be found and deemed qualified, candidates must learn how to use social media — and then use it extensively — beyond the three mentioned here. Social media are not only the venues for finding jobs but also tools that establish a positive reputation and credibility. Just remember that there are many, many applicants for just a few openings.

In-person networking supplements other social media networking. In-person networking should be considered a business transaction and not just social interaction the way many job seekers practice it. When networking in person, ask for opinions, introductions and referrals. Don’t be bashful; be slightly aggressive but still tactful. Most people are willing to help if asked.

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Tools for job seekers

Because technology has changed the job search system for both employers and job seekers, the latter group needs to quickly catch up. Employers use technology to source for talent. The majority of medium-size companies use some type of recruiting management system. Companies were forced into using such systems so they could become able to deal with larger and larger volumes of applicants, so they could save money, and so they could speed up the process. Most of the different kinds of applicant-tracking systems (ATSs) have become web-based, which extends access to the system by anyone in the organization who’s involved with the hiring process. This means that job seekers need to appeal to those people in the organization and not exclusively to human resources as in the past.

Regardless of which system recruiters use, job seekers need to improve their ranking in order to be found. Think about a Google search. Here are a few tips for improving ranking:

Use TagCrowd.com to visually match your résumé and the job description.
Match your résumé to the keywords used in the job description.
Use Microsoft Word to format your résumé, and avoid textboxes, tables and graphics.
Under the heading “Professional Experience,” list first the name of the company where you most recently worked; then, to the right of that, the dates of your tenure there; and then under the company name, the name of the position you held. Add a line or two of responsibilities or job duties, and then a bulleted list of a few specific and preferably quantifiable accomplishments. Then do the same for the job previous to that one.

The new ATSs incorporate social media tool functionality to reach passive candidates, to advertise job opportunities and to build talent communities for specific industries. Therefore, to generate multiple options for themselves, job seekers must at all times deploy diverse approaches to job seeking. Candidates need to learn how various ATSs work in order to get high enough scores to be found by a particular company’s system. A description of familiarizing oneself with the systems is vaster than can be accomplished here and will be the topic of one of my future articles.

Entrepreneur.com | October 8, 2016 | Alex Freund

Your #Career : 9 Reasons To Love #LinkedIn … Study conducted by ROI Research, 59 percent of Respondents said LinkedIn is Their Most Important Account on Social Networks.

August 14, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It is one of any career-minded professional’s most important personal branding tools because it is replete with features that not only help you stand out and get noticed, they help you do your job better.

Here’s why:

1. It’s big! In fact, it is the largest professional network with over 400 million members (and growing). That means it gives you access – and makes you visible – to people from all around the world who can help you be successful.

2. It shows up first. When someone googles you, your LinkedIn profile is likely to show up at the top of the search results – making it a key tool for influencing those who want to get to know you. Since almost two thirds of all clicks go to the top three results, LinkedIn is the place where people will learn about you.

3. It helps you stay in touch. In a world where it is getting harder and harder to maintain contacts, LinkedIn provides the best way to keep in touch. When your former colleagues change companies, you don’t need to worry about finding their new email address. You can maintain all those professional relationships by being connected on LinkedIn.

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4. It provides Google juice. The links you provide from LinkedIn, leading people to your website and other sites that are important to you (LinkedIn allows you to include three outbound links in your profile), make the sites more valuable to Google. This makes them even more visible to people who are searching for what you have to offer; traffic generates more traffic when it comes to search-result rankings. Links to your website have more value with an inbound link from LinkedIn – just make sure you have your profile visible to everyone. Here’s how to do that.

5. It’s comprehensive. It’s your one-stop shop for managing all your contacts. You can organize your contacts using tags so you can communicate with subsets of them at a time. And they don’t even need to be LinkedIn connections. You can upload your Gmail contacts and iphone contacts too – keeping your entire professional network in one place.

6. It lets others speak for you. Personal branding is not all about you telling the world how great you are. It helps to get others help you tout your accomplishments. There are two ways LinkedIn lets you validate what you say about yourself –endorsements and recommendations. These features make you more credible to those who are checking you out. Just be sure to get endorsements for key skills and have recommendations from respected leaders in your industry.

7. It’s always available. The new version of the LinkedIn app gives you access to everything you need when you are on the move and gives you an opportunity to use those minutes (while waiting for the plane to take off or standing in line at Whole Foods) to reach out to connections – keeping those relationships in shape.

8. It’s exclusively focused on business. There are lots of social networks where you can post a picture of your family outing or your dog doing stupid tricks, but LinkedIn is truly the most powerful professional network for people who are serious about their career.

9. It helps you keep the saw sharp. LinkedIn Pulse provides access to luminaries and their latest thinking. Participating in groups and being engaged in conversations with your connections helps you learn and grow, benchmark processes, and innovate. You can also find mentors, source staff, and find people to coach and mentor outside your company – even outside your industry.

William Arruda is a partner in CareerBlast, a video platform and virtual coach that helps you get promoted faster.

Forbes.com | August 14, 2016 | William Arruda

Posts

How to Get a Job #1. Pay attention to your social media presence.

How to Get a Job #2. Highlight your transferable skills.

How to Get a Job #4. Tell a compelling story in your cover letter.

How to Get a Job #5. Catch your resume mistakes.

How to Get a Job #7. Dress for the job you want.

How to Get a Job #9. Always send a thank-you note.

How to Get a Job #10. Avoid getting too personal in interviews.

How to Get a Job #11. Don’t talk about money during an initial interview.

How to Get a Job #12. Be proactive during the interview.

How to Get a Job #13. Use social media to brand yourself.

How to Get a Job #14. Seal the deal by negotiating.

Learn More!

Your profile headline is incorrect or missing entirely

You don’t have a profile photo

You haven’t written a summary

You never customized your LinkedIn URL

You have no idea what your privacy settings are

SEE ALSO: 9 mistakes you’re making on LinkedIn that are putting off recruiters and making it harder to find a job

You haven’t alerted recruiters that you’re open to new roles

You’re not using hashtags in your posts

You aren’t taking advantage of LinkedIn groups

You’re cold-contacting people for jobs

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

1. CHANGE YOUR SOCIAL PRESENCE

2. FIND YOUR TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS

3. DO YOUR RESEARCH

4. DON’T LEAD WITH YOUR TITLE

5. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

6. CHERRY-PICK EXPERIENCES

7. JUSTIFY THE SWITCH

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

Lesson 1: A little less distracted can mean a lot more productive.

Lesson 2: Just because you enjoy something doesn’t mean you’ll miss it when it’s gone.

Lesson 3: Placing deliberate constraints on our work leads to increased creativity and insight.

Free online courses to learn and improve your social media marketing skills

Free online courses to boost your digital marketing know-how

Free online courses to level up with marketing analytics and data

Free online courses to get up to speed on content, blogging and SEO

Free online courses to learn marketing design and imagery

Psst! Our new podcast, The Science of Social Media, is live in iTunes.

9 Top social media marketing podcasts

1. Social Pros by Jay Baer and Adam Brown

2. Social Media Marketing with Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner

3. The #AskGaryVee Show by Gary Vaynerchuk

4. Social Media Social Hour by Tyler Anderson

5. Online Marketing Made Easy by Amy Porterfield

6. Social Zoom Factor with Pam Moore

7. #TwitterSmarter by Madalyn Sklar

8. Hashtagged by Jordan Powers

9. Manly Pinterest Tips with Jeff Sieh

Paid social marketing

1. The Art of Paid Traffic by Rick Mulready

2. Perpetual Traffic by Keith Krance, Molly Pittman and Ralph Burns

3. Social Media Pubcast with Jon Loomer

Community building and customer support

1. The FeverBee Podcast by FeverBee

2. Community Signal by Patrick O’Keefe

3. Support Ops by Chase Clemons

Online and in-person networking

Tools for job seekers