I’ve been working on developing a training programme for companies that want to know more about the relevance of Web 2.0 and social media to their businesses. Their’s a lot of confusion out there about whether these new services really offer anything that can help with marketing, communication and collaboration or if it is just hype. A recent article in Fast Company backs this up:

“I have a number of friends who own or operate small to medium-sized businesses. The number one question I get from them is how to make online marketing work for their businesses. There seems to be quite a bit of pent up need for online marketing help by SMBs….. The problem is there is also a lot of noise. Part of the problem is there is no barrier to entry in the online marketing consulting industry. All one has to do is put up a Web site. So what’s an SMB to do?”

Hopefully, my series of 5 half day sessions at the University of Brighton will go some way to cutting through this confusion. The programme for the course is:

Session 1 – Tuesday 16 November
Why Web 2.0 / Social Media is relevant to your business
What is Web 2.0 and social media?
How are other businesses using them and with what success?
What are some of the issues you should be thinking about in this space?

Session 2 – Tuesday 23 November
Marketing your business on the web
How can you improve your Google search rankings?
How can you use Facebook, Twitter, blogs and YouTube to market your company?
How do you advertise on Google?

Session 3 – Tuesday 30 November
Web tools for collaborative working
How are other companies moving beyond email to communicate and share information?
What is cloud computing and I should I be using it?
What is a wiki and do I need one?

Session 4 – Tuesday 7 December
Dealing with web designers and search engine consultants
What can I do myself and when do I need an expert?
How much will these experts cost?
What questions should I be asking them?

Session 5 – Tuesday 14 December
Monitoring the effectiveness of your web strategy
I’ve got a website but who is visiting it?
What are people saying about my company on the web?
How can I improve my web strategy?

If you want to know more or make a booking, click HERE or email me on mrd@brighton.ac.uk