Written by Joannah Long, SMCLT President 2018

After brainstorming with the SMCLT board and reaching out to a few other colleagues in the social media/marketing community, we came with a list of resources specific to anyone that is studying for a career in the social media, digital marketing and/or communications fields. With that being said anyone in the industry or trying to break into the industry can always, always benefit from learning new skills and continuing their professional development. The information included below is just a snippet of what is available. Please help us expand and grow this list of resources by emailing socialmediaclt@gmail.com or reaching out via our social channels with your recommendations.

Finally, if you are in the Charlotte area and are interested in learning more about social media, using social media professionally or want to work in social media, we encourage you to connect and engage with Social Media Charlotte.

Certifications

• HubSpot certifications: can be challenging, but it is free
• Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ): free
• Hootsuite: there are both free courses and paid certifications
• Lynda: first month is free, then you pay a fee or use your Charlotte Mecklenburg Library card to access for free
• CoSchedule Academy (recommended by a Buffer Community Host): a few free options
• Facebook certifications: none of our team thought highly of the current certifications. The quality isn’t great and they are difficult to follow because of the sound quality

Professional Development and Networking while in school

• Write for your college newspaper
• Attend Creative Mornings (breakfast lecture series for the creative community) in your town or city
• Obtain an internship in the social media/marketing field (paid or unpaid if you can afford to do that)
  [Ex – both UNC Charlotte and Queen University have robust internship programs]
• Find a mentor
• Use the Meetup to join marketing groups, network, and discover other skills that might interest you or apply to social media
• Join a student version of marketing/communications professional development organizations
  • Public Relations Student Society of American (PRSSA)
  • American Marketing Association (AMA) – for students

Personal Branding

• Create a blog about your college/social media/etc. experience
• Create your own website to host your blog
• Create and maintain your own brand profile through your main social channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram) that show you as a leader and learner in the social media industry
• Make sure your LinkedIn is up-to-date

Classes/Skills

• SkillPop has some good basic social media/marketing intro classes
• Apple iPhone Tips
• Apple Store Tutorials: sometimes Apple stores have classes you can take

Graphic Design

• Graphic design classes: general graphic design experience and knowledge is always appreciated and helpful
• If you decide to purchase Adobe Creative Suite: it comes with many tutorials
• Canva Tutorials

On your own (below are list of our favorite, but there are many more equally great resources)

• Read Blogs
  • Buffer
  • Hootsuite
  • Social Media Today
  • Social Media Examiner
  • SEMruch Blog
  • Convince & Convert

• Read Books (a few of our favorites):
  • Purple Cow -By Seth Godin
  • Contagious: Why Things Catch On -By Jonah Berger
  • Everybody Writes -By Ann Handley
  • Hug Your Haters -By Jay Baer
  • Pre-Suasion -by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D.

• Listen to Podcasts (our favorites)
  • Social Media Marketing Podcast – by Michael Stelzner, Social Media Examiner
  • The Science of Social Media – by Buffer
  • The Side Hustle Show: Business Ideas for Entrepreneurs and Side Hustle Nation - By Nick Loper
  • Social Pros Podcast – by Convince & Convert
  • CI to Eye – by Capacity Interactive

• Watch/Listen to TED Talks:
  • Marketing: https://www.ted.com/topics/marketing
  • Communication: https://www.ted.com/topics/communication
  • Social Media: https://www.ted.com/topics/social+media
  • Social Media via Hootsuite: https://blog.hootsuite.com/7-ted-talks-social-medi...

Did you see anything that we forgot to include, please reach out and let us know if you have any additional resources to add to this list by emailing or DM’ing us.

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