Of my fondest academic memories in college, taking tons of different intro classes stands out the most. Before the manic pressures of the real world would begin to creep up on me junior year, I remember giddily popping intro classes into my schedule with as much reckless abandon as a child munching gummy vitamins… recommended dosages be damned. I didn’t care about congruity, I would take whatever interested me. Psychology 101, Intro to Marketing, Basic Anthropology… if it even vaguely piqued my interest, I was in.

The reason I loved intro classes so much was because I adored hearing my professors put an entire field of knowledge into perspective. They specifically defined the field of study, and they broke it up into the smaller components that it comprised of. You didn’t have to comprehensively understand everything to understand where it fit in relation to the rest of the world. This concept was incredibly powerful in helping me assemble a curriculum for teaching myself online marketing.

The first, and perhaps the grandest, challenge facing any aspiring online marketeer is to understand what the hell online marketing is. What does it consist of? What are its core components?

I always hate it when people try to define something at its most basic level by referencing its literal definition from the dictionary. I’m not going to do that. First off, online marketing is such a dynamic and fluid field right now, that there is no single definition out there that could possibly give an accurate depiction that captures its true essence. Instead, I am going to tell you from my own experience, and from friends of mine who are at the forefront of the industry, what are the specific components it is comprised of. To know online marketing, you need to know the following:

• Branding
• Social Media
• SEO/SEM
• Design
• Photography
• Content Marketing
• Copywriting
• Online Reputation Management
• Website Development
• Email Marketing
• Website Analytics

Even by mastering just a select few of these core components, you open many doors for yourself to take on freelance work. There isn’t a single business on the face of the planet that couldn’t stand to benefit from any of these services.

Having a basic, well rounded understanding in all of them places you in a very elite group of online marketeers. Thats where I want you to be by the end of this course.

To begin with, I am going to assume that you have very little technical competency. I’m also going to assume that you are driven, that you have a specific passion in mind that will be your guiding force through the course. Maybe you are a business owner who wants to establish an online presence. Perhaps you have a product that you are trying to make viral. Whatever the case may be, it stands to your immense benefit to take the material I will be exposing you to, and directly applying it to your current venture.

Quick disclaimer: My aim is not to personally sit you down and teach you all of this myself. There are other services and tools that do an infinitely better job at helping you easily grasp, learn, and master these concepts. But these services and tools are limited to the realm in which they specialize in. I am here to consolidate and systemize the entire process, giving you the best tools out there to make your dream a reality.

Here’s how we are going to break it down;

Segment One: The Basics

Week 1

• Copywriting
• Content Marketing

Week 2

• Branding
• Website Development
• Design
• Photography

Week 3

• Email Marketing
• Social Media

Week 4

• Analytics
• Creating an e-product

Segment Two: Advanced Tactics

Week 5

• Search Engine Optimization

Week 6

• Search Engine Marketing

Week 7

• Security

Week 8

• Automation

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Online Marketing 101. Class is in session.