Thursday, July 18, 2013, 7:00 pm, Amarillo Art Institute

Participate in the Amarillo WordPress Users Group from anywhere! This event will be broadcast live at Connections WordPress Users Group Google+ Hangout. If you can’t make it person join us online!

WordPress User Group Goals

1. Learn how to use WordPress, social networks and email marketing tools to work smarter not harder.
2. Establish coordinated online marketing strategies.

This Months Topic

1. Site Clinic – We are just going to work on our sites.

Remember to put the Amarillo WordPress on your calendar,  Third Thursday of Every Month, 7:00 pm, at the Amarillo Art Institute.

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The National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Amarillo, TX hosts an annual event entitled the “MS Beef-a-Thon”. The Beef-a-Thon is a unique fundraising event specific to the Panhandle of Texas, where Multiple Sclerosis Society has teamed up with Texas cattle feeders for more than 40 years to raise funds and awareness to support our efforts in eliminating multiple sclerosis. The Multiple Sclerosis Society is pleased to continue this event into its 43rd year. The event is a live 3-hour televised auction of beef from local feed yards, donations from merchants and artwork from local talent. Participants have the option to call in to place bids, or make them online through our website, www.beefathon.org. The Panhandle Office of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society invites you to participate in the 2013 MS Beef-a-Thon that will be televised on KCIT—Fox 14, on Sunday, August 11th, from 3 – 6pm….

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Thursday, April 18, 2013, 7:00 pm, Amarillo Art Institute

Location

Amarillo Art Institute

3701 Plains Blvd. #117
Amarillo, TX 79102

Third Thursday of Every Month at 7:00 PM at Amarillo Art Institute

I know this is short notice but I will be starting the much talked about but never acted upon task of starting a WordPress users group for my clients. We will meet the third Thursday of every month at the Amarillo Art Institute. This will be a completely free event where you can work on your WordPress and online marketing skills.

E-commerce Training for the Complete Beginner

Amarillo Art Institute will be presenting e-commerce Essentials. An internet marketing class taught by Kenneth Jackson, owner of Connections Digital Media. This class will focus on building a first-class online presence and getting your art, product or service noticed online.

Join us on Tuesday nights from April 3rd – May 8th from 6:30-8:30 pm. The class will be accompanied by an online version that you can follow daily. Every day you will get an email detailing the tasks to be completed in the development of your website. The cost of the workshop will be $160.00 for Members and $175.00 for non-members.

Kenneth Jackson has been building websites for over 15 years and has helped hundreds of clients get their products and services online. Kenneth is an expert in website design, e-commerce, and internet marketing. In fact, he built our site!

E-commerce Training for the Complete Beginner

Introducing the Connections Digital Media E-commerce Essentials Training Program. E-commerce Essentials is a completely free training program designed to show the complete beginner step by step on how to promote their products and services online.

What Can You Expect From the eCommerce Essentials Training…

E-commerce Essentials Training is designed to help business owners with little to no technical experience market their goods and services online.

We presume that you already have a product that you wish to sell but we will still go through the market research required to find and successfully present any product in the most effective way!

E-commerce Essentials – Training

• E-commerce Essentials Training will email daily goals at 9 am CST (US) during the module days to guide you through the process of setting up a professional WordPress site and show you how to market your goods and services online. Participants are notified via email and a blog post on Connections Digital Media blog, so please ensure you are subscribed via email and also subscribed to the blog RSS.
• E-commerce Essentials is designed to be a 45-day course of study. This means that the content will be presented over a 45 day period but the content is always available so you can complete the course at your own pace.
• Videos of the training content is available via a variety of methods. The content is available via this training page on the  index below or via our official Connections Digital Media YouTube channel.
• The training materials are completely free, however, participants are strongly recommended to purchase a unique domain name and web hosting that may lead to a small cost. We recommend Connections ProSites for hosting.

The Essentials of Internet Marketing in Six Parts

1. Tools of the Trade
2. Getting Your Business Started Online
3. Content Creation
4. Getting Noticed and Measuring Your Progress
5. Introduction to Traffic Generation – Social Networks
6. Conclusion – Where Do I Go From Here?

The E-commerce Essentials training program will help ANYONE, even a beginner, learn about internet marketing and get started building a online business even if you have no time, no money or haven’t got a clue how to get started on the Internet.

By Participating in E-commerce Essentials You Will:

• Become familiar with the tools of internet marketing.
• You will learn some of the basics of online market research
• You will learn how to install and maintain a first-class, professional WordPress blog.
• You will learn basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• You will learn how to track your progress with Google Analytics.
• You will learn about basic link building.
• You will learn how to use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to promote your business.
• You will learn how to set up and maintain an email marketing campaign
• You will learn the basics of Pay-Per-Click advertising.

Connections Digital Media Blog

The Connections Digital Media Blog is updated daily with each new release of daily module content. The blog is also frequently updated by Kenneth with other relevant Internet Marketing related news and information so is well worth visiting frequently.

Connections Digital Media Forums

Connections Digital Media Forums is our NEW community portal that requires a simple registration in order to participate. With the E-commerce Essentials Forums we seek to build a strong community that is always willing to help out. Any questions or queries you have, you’ll always find someone on the forum willing to help. While being brand new, We hope the Connections Digital Media Forums will grow rapidly and prove to be a valuable resource.

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Module 1: Tools of the Trade

WordPress

• Introducing WordPress
• Introducing Connections ProSites

Google Chrome

• How To Install Google Chrome
• Connections Digital Media’s Favorite Google Chrome Plugins for SEO

Google Account

• How to Setup a Google Account and Profile

Facebook

• How To Setup a Facebook Account and Basic Facebook Features
• How to Manage Facebook’s Newest Privacy Settings
• How to Setup a Facebook Fan Page

Twitter

• How to Setup a Twitter Account

Photo & Image Management

• How To Host, Share and Edit Your Images Online

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Module 2: Getting Your Business Started Online

Market Research

• Your Niche
• Introducing Market Samurai
• How to Setup Market Samurai
• Finding the Phrase That Pays
• Keywords
• SEO Competition Analysis

Domains and Hosting

• How to Register a Domain Name with GoDaddy
• Introducing Connections ProSites
• Introducing WordPress.com

WordPress

• How to Setup WordPress on Connections Pro Sites
• How to Post to Your WordPress Blog
• Connections ProSites WordPress Plugins

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Module 3: Content Creation

Basic Copywriting

• Page Setup and Keyword Flow
• Copy Writing – Writing Unique Copy

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Onsite Factors
• Basic SEO Work Flow
• Keyword Flow
• Copywriting

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Module 4: Getting Noticed and Measuring your Progress

Analytics – Tracking Your Progress

• Introducing Google Analytics (TOT)
• How to Setup Google Analytics
• How to Setup Google Analytics on WordPress
• Assessing Traffic and Click Stats using Google Analytics

Basic Link Building

• Introduction to Link Building
• The Importance of Backlinks
• Creating Authority Back Links

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Module 5: Introduction to Traffic Generation – Social Networks

Email Marketing and List Management

• List Management
• Feedburner – Getting Started with RSS
• Introducing MailChimp
• How to Setup MailChimp
• Creating an Email List in MailChimp
• Building Your Email Template
• How to Create a Campaign with MailChimp
• How to Create an RSS Campaign with MailChimp
• Email Tracking
• Adding MailChimp to WordPress

Social Networking and Public Relations

• Building your Social Profile
• How to use Facebook
• How to use Twitter

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Module 6: Conclusion

• Mistakes Marketers Make
• Leverage Yourself
• What To Do Now! – Beyond the E-commerce Essentials