BUSINESS RESOURCES BLOG

Description

Entrepreneurship is more than starting a business. It’s a mindset that can change the way you work and live. Discover the framework for thinking and acting that successful entrepreneurs rely on and learn how it can empower you as a hopeful entrepreneur, business owner or employee. During the program, you will master the entrepreneurial mindset and develop critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills.

This course will utilize the Ice House content and curriculum developed by the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Objectives

Upon program completion participants will be able to:

• demonstrate critical thinking skills enabling them to identify and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities, manage risks and learn from results.
• describe the process that enables entrepreneurs with limited resources to transform a simple idea into a sustainable success.
• establish personal goals, identify resources and establish steps to accomplish their goals.
• develop a personal brand and bolster their professional networks.

Content

Components of an entrepreneurial mindset

1. The Power to Choose

• Examine beliefs and assumptions that empower entrepreneurs
• Analyze circumstances surrounding entrepreneurial success and failure
• Highlight ones ability to enable conscious choices rather than allow circumstances to determine the course of their life.

2. Recognizing Opportunities

• Utilizing the concept of problem generation to identify opportunities

3. Ideas into Action

• Think big. Start small. Act Fast.
• Focusing energy on things you have the power to change
• Goal setting

4. Pursuit of Knowledge

• Identify the impact of knowledge applied to the effort
• Analyze the power of self-directed life-long learning

5, Creating Wealth

• Key components of financial management
• Illustrate how entrepreneurs create sustainable wealth regardless of circumstances.

6. Building Your Brand

• The individual as the brand.
• The importance of reliability as a key to building a successful and sustainable brand.

7. Creating Community

• Learn how to connect and collaborate with innovators, entrepreneurs, mentors, trusted advisors, and community leaders.

8. The Power of Persistence

• Tactics to withstand the challenges, setbacks, and self-doubt.
• Entrepreneurs don’t “get rich quick.”

Prerequisites

Basic computer skills to access online course materials.

Method of Instruction

Lecture, in-class discussion, peer groups, online video content

Evaluation

Class participation

Who / Why Should You Attend:  Understanding how to manage Human Resource is critical for a new or growing small business. Learn how to staff your business, from interviewing to retention to preventing attrition; why you need an employee handbook and what to include; employee relations and how to handle work disputes; how to set up employee files and display required Labor Law posters; and other topics helpful to your business.

Presenter:  Beth Samudio

Who / Why Should You Attend:  Do you understand Department of Labor laws? NC DOL assist employers take a proactive approach in learning about some of the areas that must be addressed when you have employees. Gain valuable information on the following topics: Wage and Hour Terms; Minimum Wage and Overtime requirements; Youth Employment; Record Keeping Requirements; Wage Deductions; Exemptions. Knowledge is power!

Presenter:  Lori Burns

Description

Facebook and Central Piedmont are partners in developing and offering this non-credit Digital Marketing Certificate program. In the six-month course, entry-level job seekers and experienced professionals alike will gain and expand their understanding of core concepts including market positioning, brand positioning, targeting and segmentation, and marketing channels and metrics.

With this high-demand set of skills, this innovative course (offered by blending online and in-person sessions) will have you set to kick start your journey into careers that require new technology skills in digital marketing. You will end this course with a professional portfolio of applied projects that will showcase your abilities and prepare you to put these skills into action.

Class will meet in person the following dates from 6-9pm

1/28, 2/25,3/31,4/30,5/6,5/28,6/23

3/4 by WebEx from 6-7:30pm

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand foundations of marketing including: unique value proposition, customer segmentation, customer personas, various marketing channels, and key metrics.
• Understand the process of creating an effective content strategy by understanding consumer psychology and buying motivations
• Demonstrate the ability to create written copy for marketing content that aligns with a brand and target audience for primary marketing channels.
• Understand the principles and best practices of visual design when creating marketing collateral.
• Understand search engine optimization.
• Demonstrate the ability to A/B test various elements of marketing efforts to increase conversion rates.
• Understand the factors that drive conversion and opportunities to optimize marketing performance.
• Understand the role of social media in a marketing campaign and differences in voice and audience across various social media channels.
• Recognize best practices and understand the lifecycles of successful social media, search, display, and email campaigns.

Content

• Foundations And Strategy Of Marketing
  • Overview of digital marketing
  • Digital marketing and business fundamentals
  • The 4 Ps of marketing and unique value propositions
  • SWOT analysis
  • Brand positioning strategy
  • Targeting and segmentation
  • The customer journey and marketing channels
  • Marketing objectives and measurement
  • Student presentations
• Marketing Content Strategy And Branding
  • Introduction to digital marketing and content marketing
  • Consumer psychology and buying motivations
  • Branding
  • Content and channel strategy
  • Blog writing
  • SEO
  • Writing for various marketing channels
• Marketing Analytics And Performance Optimization
  • Google Sheets: Intro to data analysis and visualizations
  • A/B Testing: Designing and analyzing A/B tests
  • Google Analytics: Collecting, reporting, and analyzing data
• Social Media Marketing
  • Introduction to social media
  • Understanding audiences
  • Content planning
  • Content creation
  • Advertising
  • Reporting and analyzing ads
  • Community building
  • Best practices
• Search And Display Advertising
  • Search engine marketing
  • Campaigns and best practices
  • Networks and Google products
  • Search ads
  • Keywords
  • Display
  • Ad bidding
  • Optimization
• Email Marketing
  • Introduction to email marketing
  • Creating an effective email campaign
  • List segmentation and management
  • Anatomy of an effective email
  • Email automation
  • Email deliverability
  • Analysis of marketing emails
  • Testing emails

Prerequisites

• Basic computer and Internet skills
• Understanding of Google Suite or Microsoft Office applications recommended

Method of Instruction

Hybrid delivery with utilization of the following instructional methods:

• Activity
• Problem-based learning/ Case studies
• Collaborative learning/ Peer review
• Demonstration/ Modeling

Evaluation

• Graded assignments
• Formative assessment (quizzes/ knowledge checks)
• Performance-based assessments
• Discussion boards
• Experiential projects

For Additional Information: https://www.cpcc.edu/business-and-industry/small-business-center/digital-marketing-certificate

Description

Entrepreneurship is more than starting a business. It’s a mindset that can change the way you work and live. Discover the framework for thinking and acting that successful entrepreneurs rely on and learn how it can empower you as a hopeful entrepreneur, business owner or employee. During the program, you will master the entrepreneurial mindset and develop critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills.

This course will utilize the Ice House content and curriculum developed by the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Objectives

Upon program completion participants will be able to:

• demonstrate critical thinking skills enabling them to identify and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities, manage risks and learn from results.
• describe the process that enables entrepreneurs with limited resources to transform a simple idea into a sustainable success.
• establish personal goals, identify resources and establish steps to accomplish their goals.
• develop a personal brand and bolster their professional networks.

Content

Components of an entrepreneurial mindset

1. The Power to Choose

• Examine beliefs and assumptions that empower entrepreneurs
• Analyze circumstances surrounding entrepreneurial success and failure
• Highlight ones ability to enable conscious choices rather than allow circumstances to determine the course of their life.

2. Recognizing Opportunities

• Utilizing the concept of problem generation to identify opportunities

3. Ideas into Action

• Think big. Start small. Act Fast.
• Focusing energy on things you have the power to change
• Goal setting

4. Pursuit of Knowledge

• Identify the impact of knowledge applied to the effort
• Analyze the power of self-directed life-long learning

5, Creating Wealth

• Key components of financial management
• Illustrate how entrepreneurs create sustainable wealth regardless of circumstances.

6. Building Your Brand

• The individual as the brand.
• The importance of reliability as a key to building a successful and sustainable brand.

7. Creating Community

• Learn how to connect and collaborate with innovators, entrepreneurs, mentors, trusted advisors, and community leaders.

8. The Power of Persistence

• Tactics to withstand the challenges, setbacks, and self-doubt.
• Entrepreneurs don’t “get rich quick.”

Prerequisites

Basic computer skills to access online course materials.

Method of Instruction

Lecture, in-class discussion, peer groups, online video content

Evaluation

Class participation

Who / Why Should You Attend:  Learn about bonding: What is it? How can I qualify? Contract law: Reading contracts, pitfalls to avoid Construction attorneys and bonding agent on site.

Presenters:  Matt Rose, Catalyst Surety Partners   /  NC DOT (Division 10)  / Steven Hemric, Spilman Thomas & Battle  /   Justin Hampton, Parsons

Data Privacy: What Business Owners Should Know About Protecting Sensitive Information

This session focuses on data privacy for business owners. Participants will learn about what threatens their data and best practices for preventing disclosure of sensitive information. The attendees will gain awareness and be

equipped to avoid data privacy compromise. The workshop will close with Q&A time for attendees.

Guest Speaker

Steve Kennen is the President of Proactive IT and performs continuing education. He was a recent guest of the National Cyber Security Alliance at their Charlotte small business event.

Steve is an expert in information technology infrastructure management, cybersecurity, and cyber risk management practices for small businesses. He spearheads initiatives that keep his clients secure and their business operations running smoothly. His core message is that the details matter.

Whether you run a salon or are renting a booth, operating a cosmetology business requires you to have an understanding of bookkeeping. Learn how to properly record financial transactions and understand basic financial statements to make sure you aren’t trimming your profits!

Speaker(s): James Speed

Who / Why Should You Attend:  Are you an entrepreneur thinking of starting a business or are you already in business and not sure if you have completed all the necessary steps to be an established entity or successful business? This workshop is designed to help entrepreneurs with start-ups and established businesses to examine the feasibility of their small business idea in the current market, examine entrepreneur readiness, business plan development, entity formation, managing risk, and various ways to fund or bootstrap the business.

Creating financial projections is an important part of your startup’s business plan. If you’re seeking financing, financial projections help convince prospective lenders and investors that your business will be profitable by offering them a good return on their investment. If you’re not seeking financing, you may think you don’t need financial projections and can just “wing it.” Big mistake!!! Financial projections are vital because they enable you to plan and budget for your new business and serve as a yardstick. In this session we will review Sales Forecast and Expense Budget to make up your financial statements: Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

Presenters:  Sonya Miller-Ray  / Carolina Aponte