Like a lot of folks, we've using some of the time we can't spend socializing on education and skills development.
We've taken a lot of free webinars -- the low-hanging fruit of learning and development. Those sessions have focused on content marketing, SEO, detecting and overcoming racial bias, healthcare marketing during a pandemic, branding, CEO activism, strategy, storytelling and habits that support creativity. Most of these yielded actionable insights we could put to use making ourselves more effective and delivering better service for our clients. Yay!
We've also made strategic investments in certifications and paid programming. I'm not gonna lie, it would have been easy to say "not now" given the financial uncertainty related to COVID. Conserving cash is a smart strategy. But funding these activities made sense in the bigger picture. Armed with new insights and tools, we can better serve the clients we currently have. We strengthen the rationale for them to entrust us with new kinds of work, like social and advertising. And we have additional credibility for prospects who want to know what we're about and that we know our stuff. Those are business-building benefits that are always worth the investment.
We're certifiable! 😉
I enrolled in several sessions on running an antiracist business and being an antiracist leader, including Rachel Rodgers' Reimagining Small Business and Ibram X. Kendi's Antiracist Teach-in. I completed Seth Godin's Modern Marketing course, and earned a Hubspot content marketing certification.
Our medical lead, Ben Hippen, just earned multiple certifications from HootSuite. More of our clients are relying on us for social media marketing expertise in addition to content strategy and creation. We decided to show our commitment with certifications.
We're also attending the virtual Content Marketing World next month. It won't be the same as being in Cleveland, but the consolation prize is that we got additional seats, so more of our team can attend and learn.