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Social Media for Business: Part One

Monday, Feb. 6  -- 6 to 9 p.m.
You understand how social networks work. Now make social networks work for your business. In this intermediate seminar, we will show you how to design a strategy for your business using the leading social networks. We will focus on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn.

• Understand how social media can help a business of any size
• Learn the distinguishing features of each social network
• See how three local businesses use social media successfully
• Learn how to design your own social media strategy in 9 steps

Dinner will be served from 5:30 to 6 p.m. and class will begin promptly at 6 p.m.

Our class is a lively mix of discussions, presentations and short tutorials. A computer is not required for this class. At the start of class, attendees will receive a printed handout that follows the presentation. Afterwards, they will be emailed a PDF of the complete presentation.

Social Media for Business: Part Two

Monday, Feb. 13 – 6 to 9 p.m.

You’ve created social profiles for your business. In this intermediate-level class, you will learn how to effectively interact with your customers online. You’ll also learn how to monitor and respond to what people are saying about your business on the top social networks.

Within 3 hours, you will learn how to:

• Create a consistent editorial strategy for your social profiles
• Use that strategy to grow your following & build your online relationships
• Quickly respond to customers’ online questions about your business
• Set up a free account on Hootsuite, the leading social media dashboard, to manage your accounts across the top social networks.
• Use Hootsuite and Google alerts to monitor what people are saying online about your business.
• Properly handle negative comments posted on your business’ social profiles.

Dinner will be served from 5:30 to 6 p.m. and class will begin promptly at 6 p.m.

Our class is a lively mix of discussions, presentations and short tutorials. A computer is not required for this class. At the start of class, attendees will receive a printed handout that follows the presentation. Afterwards, they will be emailed a PDF of the complete presentation.

Social Media for Business: Part Three

Monday, Feb. 27 – 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

This intermediate seminar is divided into two parts. First, learn how to use free analytics tools to measure your social profiles’ effectiveness. Then understand how to create an internal social media policy to protect your business from both PR and HR crises.

In three hours, you will learn how to:

• Use the free analytics tools built into the leading social networks
• Generate more in-depth reports using Hootsuite, a free social media dashboard.
• Understand your customers’ demographics, how they are finding your social profiles and what content most interests them.
• Design an internal social media policy to protect your business from both PR and HR crises.
• Create an internal training program that teaches your employees to how to use social media professionally.

Dinner will be served from 5:30 to 6 p.m. and class will begin promptly at 6 p.m.

Our class is a lively mix of discussions, presentations and short tutorials. A computer is not required for this class. At the start of class, attendees will receive a printed handout that follows the presentation. Afterwards, they will be emailed a PDF of the complete presentation.

 Our social media classes are designed and led by Tracy Samantha Schmidt, manager of educational programs at the Chicago Tribune. In the last year, Tracy has taught more than 2,000 people how to use social media effectively. Previously, Tracy was the editorial director of ChicagoNow, the Tribune’s network of 350 blogs.  She also taught several graduate-level classes on social media at DePaul University and has presented at conferences nationwide.