Tag: Keep On Learning

Let’s take a look at what we have at this point.  There’s a business idea, company name, legal business structure and entity formation, business plan, financial picture, and products or services in mind.

One of the next big questions to figure out is how to let your target market know that you have what they need.  This is where marketing comes in.  Marketing plays a crucial part in tapping the demand for your supply, i.e. in making the customers go for what your business will provide.

Our Library offers a ton of resources to help you learn how to put your business out there:

Ease into marketing concepts and basics with Universal Class‘s video-based courses like Marketing 101, Marketing for Small Business 101, and Business Branding 101.  Likewise, Gale Courses offers informative classes on Marketing Your Business on the Internet, Small Business Marketing on a Shoestring, Using Social Media in Business, Marketing Your Nonprofit, and Business and Marketing Writing.

Follow up with more details from popular books such as those listed below.  I think we can guess the reason for such long titles, and taglines on the cover — all catalogued for borrowing via our digital collections:

Overdrive offers:

• • The Art of the Start 2.0   by Guy Kawasaki
  • This Is Marketing:  You Can’t Be Seen Until You learn To See  by Seth Godin
  • Going Social:  Excite Customers, Generate Buzz, and Energize Your Brand with the Power of Social Media  by Jeremy Goldman
  • Instagram Marketing Algorithms: 10,000/Month Guide On How To Grow Your Business, Make Money Online, Become an Social Media Influencer, Personal Branding & Advertising  by Michael Gates
  • The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success  by Lon Safko
  • Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence – and How You Can, Too  by Gary Vaynerchuk

Hoopla‘s list of titles include:

• • No B.S. Direct Marketing  by Dan S. Kennedy
  • The Best of Guerrilla Marketing  by Jay Levinson
  • The Non-Obvious Guide to Small Business Marketing  by Rohit Bhargava
  • The 1-Page Marketing Plan  by Allan Dib
  • Social Media Marketing 2020: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Social Media Marketing Strategies on How to Gain a Massive Following on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter to Boost Your Business in 2020  by Gavin Turner

RBdigital provides numerous articles, visual ideas, and tidbits through the following magazines:

• • Fast Company
  • Inc. Magazine
  • Entrepreneur Magazine
  • MarketWatch

Your library card also allows access to Small Business Reference Center, and referenceUSA, for data on consumers and businesses in the US — all useful tools when creating, and implementing your marketing plans!

To find more resources on marketing your business, try the following sample keywords, phrases, and combinations with “small business”, “business”, “marketing” (even “2020”, “for” specific product/service) added to your search bar entries:  marketing, promotions, advertisements, announcements, target markets, branding, social media, pricing, consumer behavior, marketing tools, plans, strategies, components, best practices, product placements, direct marketing, online marketing, traditional marketing, and all the other key words you will learn when you start any of the titles mentioned above.

There are lots of inspiring stories out there on businesses that started with very little, then grew into incredibly successful ventures, certainly because of savvy, fitting marketing strategies.  Come then, and browse through the Livingston Public Library’s resources to learn ways to help your business grow, and to help you focus on the next steps that need to be made.

Stay tuned for more business-related themes and resources via our Keep On Learning series.

— Janea Agbayani, Technology Department Library Specialist

For more information, visit:  www.livingstonlibrary.org/resources-az/.

For other topics, themes, and resources suggested for lifelong learning pursuits, visit our blog under the tag:  Keep On Learning.

Have you been thinking about freelancing, setting up a hobby business, or establishing a small business?  Have you found an idea that might work for you?  Have you been searching through forums, books, articles, and googling bits and pieces of information on your business idea?

How about taking a course to gain knowledge from accredited educators who have relevant business and work experiences in that field of business?

Try browsing our library’s online learning resources for the ideas you have in mind.  Get to know tips, and comprehensive information gathered for learners like you. You will have access to the materials 24/7, be able to track your progress, with knowledgeable course instructors for guidance.  At the end of the course, you earn certificates for your work.

Here then is a list of online courses — on freelancing types of work, hobby business ideas, and small business pursuits — to help you think about what you’re thinking about:

For those who are thinking of freelancing to provide assistance or support services, check out these courses from Universal Class:  Virtual Assistant 101, General Receptionist, General Secretary 101, Administrative Assistant 101, and Concierge 101: How to Run a Personal Service Business.  There are also courses on Call Center Customer Service, Telephone Skills and Quality Customer Service, and How to Run an Effective Help Desk.

For those who would like to monetize their writing skills, try Freelance Writing 101 from Universal Class.  Likewise, Gale Courses offers writing courses for different purposes, genres, and on the business of writing such as Introduction to Internet Writing Markets, Blogging and Podcasting for Beginners, How To Make Money From Your Writing, and Travel Writing.  (See more from our Keep On Learning blog post on Creative Writing.)

Zooming in on consulting? Go for Universal Class’s Management Consultant 101, or for Gale Course’s Becoming a Grant Writing Consultant, or Starting a Consulting Practice.  If coaching appeals more to you, try Wellness Coaching, Lifecoaching 101, or Career Coaching from Universal Class.

If events, parties, food, and drinks are what gets you more excited, there’s plenty to drink in from courses like Waiter and Waitress Training 101, Bartending and Mixology 101, Event Planning 101, Wedding Planning 101, and Party Planning 101, by Universal Class.  Similarly, Gale Courses prepares you for this line of work with courses like Secrets of the Caterer, Wow! What a Great Event!, and for those who would like to be on the ingredients supply side, Growing Plants for Fun and Profit.  (See cooking courses from our Keep On Learning blog post on Cookies, Pies & More.)

For cute company lovers, try Babysitting 101, or Pet Sitting & Dog Walking Business 101 from Universal Class and Start a Pet Sitting Business from Gale Courses.  (More on pet care from our Keep On Learning blog post on Adorable Friends.)

If your favorite thing is making crafts, Universal Class pegs these pursuits with How to Start a Craft Business, and Retail Business 101, while Gale Courses does it with Start Your Own Arts and Crafts Business, Start Your Own Gift Basket Business, and Learn to Buy and Sell on Ebay.  (See crafty ideas from our Keep On Learning blog post on Creative Bug.)

If you’re interested in particular niches, Universal Class has Buying and Selling Antiques and Collectibles, How to eBay, and Landlord 101: Managing Rental Properties, among others, if you’d like to know more.

Last but not the least, as this awareness is in everyone’s minds these days:  Starting Your Own Cleaning Business from Universal Class.

We hope these courses can help you understand more about the lines of work that you’d like to get into, whether it’s for extra income, to get into full-time, temporarily or as a lifeline during these changing times.  (See more from our Keep On Learning blog post on Starting Your Business.)

There’s sure to be plenty of other MOOCs and free resources out there.  You can add them to these lifelong learning resources and digital collections from the Livingston Public Library and you’ve got winning combinations to feed your mind, and spend your time and effort on!  You’ve got this!  You’ll get through!  Let’s just do our best and hang in there!

Stay tuned for more business-related themes and resources via our Keep On Learning series.

— Janea Agbayani, Technology Department Library Specialist

For more information, visit:  www.livingstonlibrary.org/resources-az/.

For other topics, themes, and resources suggested for lifelong learning pursuits, visit our blog under the tag:  Keep On Learning.