Social Media Training in Edmonton

As someone who’s involved in the local Edmonton social media industry, for work and for personal interest, I come across a lot of events. Some of these events are super exciting and some of these events are utter crap (to put it nicely). I’m constantly learning so I’m always seeking new meetups, workshops and events to attend that are of interest to me. Recently, and sadly, it’s come to my attention that really bad social media workshops aka money grabs are popping up in Edmonton.

I’m not trying to be rude or mean, which is why I won’t name names… But when I come across a social media workshop being held in Edmonton I’m always interested in who’s presenting, who’s holding it and who are all the players involved. I need to know everything all the time, so I’m pretty good at internet “research” aka “creeping”.

So, as a regular ol’ person looking to get some social media training, here’s how you can quickly tell if that super-duper workshop that’s being advertised is “worth” the bang for your buck.

Where Are They Advertising?

If you found a social media marketing workshop or training session being advertised on Kijiji, you should probably just close that browser window and move on (Kijiji = not legit, desperate for attendees). And you’re like, “But Beverley, a lot of small businesses are on Kijiji looking for crap.” Ohhhh, you mean the same small businesses that don’t want to pay for skills and just want a $100/free website? Betch, please.

Lurk the Organizer/Presenter’s Website

Who’s organizing and presenting at the workshop? Google them!

Do they have a website? Like an official .com/.ca/whatever domain? Read about them, check their services page if they have one. What are they specializing in or are they generalizing in everything? Are their social media links easily accessible? What clients have they worked with? Are there testimonials?

Stalk The Organizer/Presenter’s Social Media Accounts

STALK and I mean, creep the eff out of their social media accounts. If you’re new to social media, which I’m guessing you would be or else you wouldn’t be looking at taking a workshop, here’s some stuff to look at:

Twitter

Look at their following/follower/tweet ratio, is it out of whack? Remember that just because a person has 10k+ followers doesn’t automatically mean they are amazing.

Look at their “Tweets & Replies” tab. Are they constantly broadcasting and not interacting with anyone?

Use the search function in the top right-hand corner and copy and paste their Twitter username into it. What comes up?

Scroll around on their LinkedIn. Just look to see if stuff’s filled out and take a look at their experience or testimonials.

Social Media Workshop Focus

Lastly, look at the modules or topics they’ll be teaching. Are they relevant to you and your business? Is there a lot of “fluffy” stuff being taught, for example, “Here’s a content calendar with ideas for 30 days to post”. Without actually knowing your business, these recommendations shouldn’t be made.

Most of the time, people already know the majority of what’s being taught. I’d recommend custom social media training if you look at the course topics and feel like they’re not relevant or new to you.

Seems Legit

So after reading the description and doing your internetting on the organizer, you have reached the conclusion that this workshop will be perfect for you. Great, have fun!

Those are my quick tips for you when checking out potential social media marketing training events that cost $$. What other things would you suggest people look at?