#googlelearning

How many times do we see “Its free just sign up” well as researchers its probably good to have a spam email account and phone number as I have found sometimes just visiting a page will produce unwanted solicitation from a hungry persistent sale representative...however it was Benjamin Franklin who established the first free public library in Pennsylvania...so free can be good too! 

I wasn't going to blog about the “elephant in the room” of applications but I just keep running into new tools that all lead back to Google and surprise they are free! I will say that with google the free part is not always transparent as your data is being collected and analyzed and perhaps even monetized, so I say “free” with a very large “asterisk”. In the interest of brevity I will highlight my recent three insights into the Google universe as applied to learning technologies. Perhaps one you may not have heard of yet:

I first have to mention Google classroom as it integrates/repackages a bunch of existing G Suite applications e.g. Gmail, Docs, Sheets etc  under a classroom banner and adds classroom specific tools for the educator. There are even hard ware applications like JamBoard. Google Classroom could empower collaboration via bunch of integrated applications made to work with each other. As an Educator you can create classes, distribute assignments, easily give feedback, all in one platform. HaHa I sound like a Googler! One cool feature is that Schools and nonprofits can get Classroom as a core service of G Suite for Education and G Suite for Nonprofits, which are totally free. Basically anyone with a personal Google Account can also use Classroom for free. 

Google Arts & Culture in a nutshell is a web based platform the public can view high-resolution images of artworks housed in museums. However it’s much cooler than that sounds because its interlinked with googles powerful maps. and you can zoom directly into the location of the Art virtually. I can imagine a not so distant future where an educator can zip the entire virtual class off to the surface of Mars or into the middle of a Genghis Khan battle for immersive learning. So much more to say about this one...I am still exploring apparently there is some functionality to upload your own photo and do some matching with famous art work? Or create your own gallery...this is where the afore mentioned asterisk kick in (Is it really free) echo echo

In an ever increasing digital world, places and spaces traditionally reserved for the early adopters or tech innovators is becoming mainstream to even the most tech challenged individual.

It is becoming more critical for businesses large and small to be playing in the digital marketing space. Our friends at Silicon Valley are making this so easy for even the solo entrepreneur to enter in to a world where they can have real conversations with their customer.

Benefits of Digital Marketing

The immediacy of marketing online is unparalleled. You can post an advert on Facebook, Instagram or Google and within minutes you have data to support whether your target audience will like to engage with your product or not.

Target Marketing can be as broad or as narrow as you need it to be. Many small businesses make errors here though, thinking that more is better. This is not the case for most brands that have limited budgets to work with.

Marketing online can be very cost effective for small businesses that need leads and sales in order to invest more marketing budget. Digital Marketing channels allow for smaller budgets to be allocated daily, so the budding business owner can plan accordingly, manage cash flow, make sales and re-invest into the business.

Some of the challenges that companies can be overcome with digital marketing are:

- Generating Traffic to your website and getting leads of new customers

- Providing ROI for your marketing activities and spend

- Securing enough budget to have an impact in the marketplace

- Identifying the best platforms for your requirements

- Managing an ecommerce website, linking in the lead generation and marketing activities

- Targeting content for a regional, national or even international market

- Hiring top talent to your team

All of these elements can be addressed with a limited amount of knowledge about marketing in general, the platforms that are available to use and of course, your own business.

Where to start

There is a plethora of free training material available on the large platforms like the Google learning platform. You can access many useful resources on this platform. You can access it here: https://learndigital.withgoogle.com

Facebook has it’s Blueprintportal where you can research more about advertising on the platform and even get certified.

The best part about getting your business on to the various digital marketing platforms, is you get to have real conversations with your customers. Instant feedback, their likes and dislikes and ways you can improve your business. All without spending anything on research.

How to join Academy for Ads from Google

https://skillshop.withgoogle.com