May 2013 - NC Small Business TrainingNC Small Business Training

How Small Business Can Leverage the Cloud to be More Effective in Marketing

May 27th, 2013 | Posted by martinbrossman in Entrepreneurship Training - (0 Comments)

How Small Business Can Leverage the Cloud to be More Effective in Marketing
An introduction to cloud-based (Web-based) computing tools

Cloud-based computing, which allows you to share files and applications over the internet, provides a high level of accessibility that frees the small business owner from a fixed workstation environment. Cloud service options include highly flexible, very secure data storage and manipulation. Some of the popular data sharing/processing/storage services are Dropbox, Salesforce and Evernote, among a wide variety of cloud-based services we will introduce. These free and low cost Web-based resources are accessible from your desktop, tablet or smart phone.

This training will include:

How to use team sharing of information
How cloud resources allow you to enhance customer relationships, inprove your marketing effort.
How to be able to access data in front of your customer
How to establish security for your Web-based services
You will come away with a broad knowledge of cloud-driven tools for reducing costs and increasing efficiency in your small business.

Learning Objectives:
1. Client Server Arch (Introductory information only)
2. Cloud definition
3. Mobile App def
4. Security
5. File/data sharing
6. Leveraging cloud resources to increase marketing effectiveness
Course Length: Variable, 3hrs min, can be collated into multiple blocks for greater detail

Can be taught as a 3hr over view or three 3hr classes allowing for more integration or a all day training.
It also can be taught in a classroom setting or a computer lab (hands-on) class. Participants for the hands-on class are required to establish a Google email account (gmail) in advance.

Call Colleen Gray to schedule the class: (919) 858-6122 – or email her.

Special thanks to Danial Farmer Director of the Small Business Center at Randolph Community College for his input on this class.

Shop Local – Buy Local – Invest Local to gain more business for you and your area

May 18th, 2013 | Posted by martinbrossman in Marketing Training - (0 Comments)

Shop Local – Buy Local – Invest Local
to gain more business for you and your area

Developed and taught by Martin Brossman

Learn how to generate a dynamic Shop Local strategy to help your business, your town and your county. Because keeping more money in the local economy creates a foundation for real economic growth, it’s important to add the power of Social Media to rev up traditional local marketing efforts and build a higher level of enthusiasm for reaching current and future customers. This is where the New Media—on the air —connects with old-fashioned customer service on the ground to appeal to an ever-widening audience that is searching and making purchase decisions online.

Major topics of the seminar include:

▪ Maximizing the attracting power of smart phones and tablets used by prospective customers, to draw them into your business.
▪ Understanding effective ways of investing your time, attention and money that help your own business and community.
▪ Using the right combination of marketing, web directories and social media to multiply your marketing efforts
▪ Integrating the mission of the town with the individual mission of each business to make your area a true destination for outside visitors to spend more money in your area.

It can be taught in a classroom setting or a computer lab (hands-on) class. Participants for the hands-on class are required to establish a Google email account (gmail) in advance.

Call Colleen Gray to schedule the class: (919) 858-6122 – or email her.

John talks about what it means to his family when people buy local at Sola Coffee Shop in Raleigh NC:

Example of a Pinterest Board to support Shop Local

Follow Martin’s board Buy Local – #BuyLocal – Shop Local – #ShopLocal on Pinterest.

WordPress Website and Blog Intensive Training

WordPress Website & Blog Intensive Training

Whole day or three 3hr consecutive training program offered as a hand-on classroom.
Taught by Martin Brossman Developed by Martin Brossman & WordPress Expert Andrew Hill

Learn how to take control of your own website and make it easy for your customers to find you with this results driven Wordpress training. This class is supported with extensive on-line video training and resource pages developed over many years of teaching WordPress.

“WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet’s “top 1 million” websites and as of August 2011 manages 22% of all new websites. WordPress is currently the most popular blogging system in use on the Web, powering over 60 million websites worldwide.” – Wikipedia

Understanding and Setting up WordPress Websites

The multiple benefits of WordPress-based websites, and how it contrasts to traditional websites
Understanding a blog’s purpose and use
Choosing and buying a website name
Finding the right keywords and understanding Search Engine Optimization
How Google finds websites and how to get Google to find yours
Understanding hosting for the domain, free or paid
Setting up the WordPress software using the 1-Click Process (avoid manual installation)

Using and Editing Your Website and Blog Widgets

Understanding the WordPress dashboard (admin panel)
Choosing and installing a theme to customize your website and blog
Building the static home page and setting up the blog
How to add, schedule, and publish content
Adding audio, video and pictures to pages and blog posts
Using Plug-ins and Widgets to add functions and interactivity for your site visitors

Promotion: Attracting and Keeping the Right Customers

How to market the site: How to drive and draw traffic to it
Interfacing with Social Media sites
Methods of generating on-going relevant content
Future expansion of your WordPress website

It can be taught in a classroom setting or a computer lab (hands-on) class. Participants for the hands-on class are required to sign-up with as Google email account (gmail) in advance.

Call Colleen Gray to schedule the class today: (919) 858-6122 – or email her.

Marketing Your Business Using Free Online Directories

May 18th, 2013 | Posted by martinbrossman in Internet Marketing Training | Marketing Training | Social Media Training - (0 Comments)

Marketing Your Business Using Free Online Directories *
Developed and taught by Martin Brossman

When visitors are considering spending money in your town, they go first to their phones and tablets ̶ which draw from online directories ̶ to make their decision. Is your business ready to be found? You can get ready with these 3 information- packed hours delivering valuable tips and strategies for making the most of the online directories like Google Local that enable businesses to be found when shoppers are searching from their desktop or mobile devices.

Since basic listings are free, directories provide a great opportunity for a small business to look as professional as big competitors, and this class will give you the guidelines for setting up your listings in a way that improves search results and builds a stronger Web presence.

Many businesses are surprised to see they are already listed in a number of free directories with a small amount of information, sometimes with mistakes. We will show you how to claim, correct and expand your listings before someone else does. Discussion will also include how to target desired customers with low-cost online ads.

*Can be taught in a classroom setting or a computer lab (hands-on) class.

Participants for the hands-on class are required to establish a Google email account (gmail) in advance.

Call Colleen Gray to schedule the class today: (919) 858-6122 – or email her.

Example of how someone may be viewing your town and how not having directories set up correctly can lead to lost business in your town:

What a fully set up directory on Google looks like:

Call Colleen Gray to schedule the class: (919) 858-6122 – or Fill out this contact form to email Colleen directly: