ENTREPRENEURSHIP CERTIFICATE

Successful entrepreneurs are not born – they are self-made. If you dream about walking in the footsteps of great entrepreneurs, take the first step with our Entrepreneurship Course. It takes skills, drive, a grand vision and lots of hard work to turn a business into a success story. You need the right foundations first before you make mistakes that could cost you dearly.

The job description of an entrepreneur is as varied as the entrepreneurs themselves. The owner of a small business may perform many tasks with their company, while the owner of a more significant business may afford to hire staff to do everything for them. Generally, an entrepreneur’s main job is to make sure their business is turning a profit.

There are specific tasks involved with starting and maintaining a business, and some of them include:

• Conducting market research for information about potential customers and competition
• To write a business plan for structure and to attract partners or investors
• Funding the business by raising money, appealing to investors, or taking a loan
• Choosing a location, whether physical or online
• Getting the proper licenses and accounts to pay taxes and operate legally
• Developing and implementing a marketing plan to attract customers
• Hiring and managing employees 

In this course, you’ll learn how to do each of these tasks. It will also help you weigh up the risks involved in starting and managing a new business and teach you how to make intelligent decisions to increase profits.

Every success story starts with a first step. Yours may be this course. It teaches you how to turn your business idea into a reality. 

Sample extract from our Entrepreneurship course (Topic – Plan E-Marketing Communications).

E-marketing tools

E-marketing plan will include a section describing how you will implement your strategy; the tactics section. Within this section, the e-marketing tools that you will use should be defined. You may also be required to cost these marketing tools, which will discuss in the budget section of your plan. There are many marketing tools and techniques to choose from, and you must make good choices.

Although this is not an extensive list, let’s have a look at a range of tools and techniques that you can use:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social networking
• Pay-per-click (PPC) search advertising
• Customer relationship management
• Viral marketing
• Emails
• Blogs

When asked to compare which trends in the business environment will change marketing practice the most by 2020, respondents listed the accelerating pace of technology change, mobile lifestyles and the explosion of potential marketing channels as their top three choices. The specific technology trends driving those business environment changes by 2020 are mobile devices and networks, personalization technologies and the Internet of Things.

To summarize, these technology trends suggest a fundamentally different competitive environment for marketing, one based more on data and systems than on media and screens. It is an environment that prizes marketers who can generate insight about the customer’s immediate context and use that knowledge to drive engagement and dialogue. “Although it helps, it’s not just experiencing with particular platforms that count most. It’s almost like you need a different kind of thinker because the skills are changing,” says Kristin Lemkau, CMO of JPMorgan Chase.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)

SEO involves optimising a website to achieve a high ranking on the search engines for specific selected key phrases. This process involves making changes to the content and structure of your website as well as the HTML code. By doing this, you can make your website easier to find and more accessible. Although this tool is cost-effective, you need to see it as a continuous process to maintain and improve your rankings.

According to recent research, an essential factor in search engine rankings is the number of inbound links from other websites to your website. The study noted that, in particular, inbound links from educational sites (.edu), government sites (.gov), and Wikipedia have the most significant influence on web page rankings with search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

To be seen on the front pages of searches at Google, Yahoo, and MSN search engines, some tactics you can use to create an online network, drive inbound clicks to your website, and increase your company’s search engine ranking include:

• Blog: Create and frequently update a blog that contains original content (more on blogs below)
• Author articles or white papers: You are the expert on your products and services. You can author entries about your company, products, and services on Wikipedia in addition to your website, blogs, and other e-marketing tools you use
• Create and update podcasts frequently: It’s easy and inexpensive to produce podcasts. Podcasts are relatively informal and provide content that fosters a deeper connection with an audience. Build a library of online audio/video knowledge and post them wherever you are able. Posting podcasts with original, meaningful content on your website and other sites like YouTube demonstrates your expertise and genuine interest in your customers
• Offer RSS feeds: RSS feeds provide a convenient way to keep the marketplace informed with your latest news. There’s no need to keep a distribution list, and although feeds can contain custom-designed HTML pages, they can also have simple text copy, attachments, or hyperlinks to other locations. Include your feed in RSS directories, so it is searchable
• Advertise online: By buying web ads, you promote your brand and inbound links to your website for as long as you run the ads
• Engage in social media: Social media is the newest and most controversial online communications channel. While there is little agreement on how companies should engage with outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace, at the very least, you can use these sites to grow your brand awareness and drive traffic to your website, your blog, ads, articles, or podcasts.