Harper to offer social media boot camp for small businesses

The calls kept rolling in to Harper College’s Small Business Development Center: Entrepreneurs were well aware they needed to jump on the social media bandwagon to boost their business, but had no idea how to start.

The answer, a first-time social media boot camp tailored to new and existing Northwest suburban small businesses, will launch in June at Harper’s SBDC.

“Our role is to respond to the needs of our local entrepreneurs, and this program was based entirely on input from them,” Small Business Development Manager Tom Cassell says.

“The challenge was to create something simple enough for busy small business owners to grasp, but also robust enough to really affect their bottom line. I think we accomplished that.”

The four-session workshop will teach small business owners and marketing professionals to capitalize on social media — from Facebook and Twitter to LinkedIn, Google Local and more.

The boot camp runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, June 5-25. Sessions are: June 5: Social Media Marketing (an introduction to the fundamentals); June 12: Social Media Engagement (creating a social brand and managing customer service using social media analytics); June 19: Social Media Platforms (determining the best platform for a specific business); and June 26: Social Media Local (putting a business on the map).

The cost is $50 per session or $175 for all four.

The series is the latest boot camp offering from Harper’s SBDC, which regularly provides training for small business owners and free one-on-one business counseling. To register for the class or for more information on SBDC offerings, visit www.harpercollege.biz or call (847) 925-6070.