Become a Marketing Guru

Why is Marketing important?  According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, The Importance of Marketing for the Success of a Business, Marketing is the heart of business success.  Marketing is essential to business growth. An understanding of Marketing and relationship building is crucial for delivering a company’s values and mission, defining and “speaking” to the target audience, and establishing a strong customer base.

Marketing vs. Advertising

Advertising is only a small part of marketing.  Marketing encompasses: defining the product, the manner and strategy of sales, conducting market research, manufacture and distribution logistics, public relations, customer support and, yes, advertising.  Marketing is about building a relationship between an organization and its consumer.

Company Reputation

The success or failure of all business rests on the foundation known as Reputation.  Marketing helps companies communicate with their targeted audiences.  It is a way to convey the values and mission of the company.  It sets an expectation that will be delivered to the consumer and when the expectation is met or exceeded—reputation and business grows.

Find what Works

Sounds simple enough, but it requires forethought and strategy.  According to Udemy, The Importance of Marketing: 10 Reasons You Can’t Afford Not to Market Your Business, there are many ways to market and while testing the marketing waters, you will not only build a social asset for your business, but you will discover what really works for your business, as well as,  where to invest your time and money.

Ready to become a Marketing Guru? Give our Marketing Principles course a try!

Recently added to our course library, Marketing Principles explores the ways in which marketing has developed over time. If you want to learn the various facets of marketing and how marketers accomplish their goals, this is the course for you. Discover how to locate the target market, do customer research, identify the components of the product, and promote that product. Gain the necessary tools to market your products and your brand more effectively.

To see the entire course outline click here.

Ready to Sign Up? Go NOW

Watch a free lesson: http://youtu.be/cM6Upqi43tE

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Learn the Fundamentals of Photoshop using the Creative Cloud

KnowledgeCity’s new course, Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop: Introduction, will be available soon.

Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop: Introduction is a beginner’s course which introduces students to the fundamentals of Adobe Photoshop, a pixel-based image editing software application, using the Creative Cloud. 

It is the same software used by professional graphic artists and photographers to create and modify images for use in print, multimedia and web design.

This graphic design training course includes topics on: working with the tools and the user interface, using brushes, making selections, masking, layer basics, repairing and colorizing photos, correcting and enhancing digital photographs and much more.

The course is taught by Carolyn O’Barr; a certified Adobe Education Trainer. She is a freelance graphic artist and instructor. She has taught media arts and technology at colleges and universities for 15 years, and is proficient in numerous software programs in the Adobe Creative Suite.

Carolyn works with students of all levels, from the computer novice to professionals in the workplace. She is patient and very good at taking complex topics and explaining them in a clear and concise way. She is responsible for nurturing many students who have become award winners and successful professionals.

If you are using an older version of Photoshop we have courses in CS3 and CS4 too!

If you would like to be notified when this course goes live, follow our New Courses Page on LinkedIn and be the first to know!

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Volunteering: Helping a Cause and Your Career

As we move closer to the holidays many of us will consider volunteering for various organizations.  If you have never volunteered before, you should.  Not only does volunteering make everyone involved feel good, but while you help a good cause, you also have an opportunity to add to your resume or enhance your current position.

When volunteering you can choose to donate your time in an area related to your current position, where your skills and expertise can be useful, or you may choose an entirely different area where you can develop new skills, abilities, knowledge, and work experience.  Volunteering is an opportunity not just to serve the greater good, but to explore other interests.  It can also be a way to learn and develop leadership skills.

You also have an opportunity to expand your network.  Volunteering exposes you to other organizations, businesses and employment fields.  You never know who you may meet while volunteering.  The people you meet during your volunteer experiences will come from all walks of life.  Networking with these people can be an added bonus to your service.  Building professional contacts as well as social relationships with other volunteers can lead to employment leads and opportunities.

In the Forbes article, “Proof That Volunteering Pays Off For Job Hunters”, Nancy Collamer stated, “...when you volunteer, you gain access to people you might not otherwise meet, creating opportunities to develop positive relationships outside a traditional work environment.”

In a study published last year by the Corporation for National and Community Service, it was reported that volunteering was associated with a 27% greater odds of employment.  Volunteerism can be used as a strategy to obtain new job opportunities, especially for recent graduates and others who are re-entering the workforce.

The reason is suggested by another study conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, “Does It Pay to Volunteer? The Relationship Between Volunteer Work and Paid Work” which concluded that “The volunteer experience conveys information to potential employers about the job applicant’s abilities, such as motivation, initiative, creativity, and reliability. This makes volunteering particularly relevant for job applicants with limited prior employment experiences, such as recent graduates entering the job market, and individuals who are re-entering the labor market after a longer break.”

So as the holidays near, look for the opportunity not only to help in your community, but to help in your career.  It is a win-win.

Find volunteer opportunities here:

https://www.volunteermatch.org/

http://www.idealist.org/

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E-Learning: A Solution to the Skills Gap Dilemma

Results from ManpowerGroup's Talent Shortage Survey, conducted last year among 40,000 employers worldwide, revealed that employers find that a lack of available skilled talent and the persistent need to fill vacancies has a negative impact on the performance of their businesses.

Employers cited lack of essential job skills, the technical or hard skills and workplace or soft skills, as reasons for vacancies.  These are skill deficits that have increased since the last survey.  A hard skills deficit increased by eight percent since 2012, to 48 percent in 2013.  The soft skills deficit increased by seven percent since 2012, to 33 percent in 2013.

More than half of employers surveyed reported that skills gaps impact their ability to serve clients to a medium (35 percent) or high (19 percent) degree. Employers also believe these shortages reduce the company’s competitiveness and productivity.  With 39 percent of employers citing a reduced ability to serve client’s needs and 34 percent reporting a reduction in competitiveness and productivity, what are employers doing about it?

According to the survey, 23 percent of employers are developing their existing team by providing training and development.  It makes sense that with the lack of a skilled work force, employers are turning to training, and e-learning is quickly becoming the way to go.

In a recent report, The Value of E-Learning, IBM estimated that 40 percent of traditional training costs were spent on travel and lodging.  Other considerations include: employee salary and business losses from downtime.  The report cites some important benefits of e-learning which are: reduced training costs and impact on business, the ability to provide training to multiple students in multiple locations, exposure to expert knowledge and top instructors, and the accountability provided through e-learning tracking.

If you are facing these challenges, perhaps it is time to consider the e-learning solution.  KnowledgeCity has training courses in Business, Computer Software and Safety Compliance.

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