Miami-Dade's Strive 305 Small Business Initiative and BizHack Academy offer more free Digital Marketing Training in 2022 after impacting more than 570 small businesses

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s Strive 305 Small Business Initiative and Miami-based BizHack Academy have announced Season 3 of their Digital Marketing Master Class Series focused on how small businesses can use digital marketing to start the New Year strong. The Season 3 Master Classes will cover Content Marketing, Google Business Profile, and Brand Marketing, essential topics for small business growth. Registration is free and open to the community here.

The first two seasons of the #BizHackLive Series included six Master Classes that reached more than 570 small businesses thanks to extensive promotion from more than a dozen partner and media organizations including WPBT South Florida PBS and The Health Channel, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce, SFIMA and the Miami Foundation.

Of those attendees, 73% reported their business was negatively impacted by COVID, and some of them have shared their positive comments: "This is one of the best LIVE workshops I've ever attended. High-quality content, great execution, and delivery. Congratulations!" said consultant Rosemary Ravinal. “This has been an eye-opening experience,” said Emily Bench-Lahrssen of Pilathon.

Strive 305 is an initiative of the Miami-Dade Mayor’s Office of Equity and Inclusion that provides resources, technical assistance and collaborative spaces where small business owners can learn and support one another. These Master Classes are part of a growing ecosystem of support to help small businesses, which are the lifeblood of the county economy. To date, over 1,000 small businesses have received support services through the Strive 305 initiative.

"Our commitment to supporting our small business community is stronger than ever as we kick off a new year of new opportunities and growth. We are proud to continue partnering with BizHack Academy to offer capacity-building resources to our business owners and entrepreneurs," said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “It's not a coincidence that our local economy was ranked as the most recovered in the nation, and it's critical that we support Miami-Dade's entrepreneurs and small businesses to continue driving our economic recovery forward.”

BizHack is a certified minority-owned Florida business with a mission to transform 10,000 under-served small businesses in the coming decade. Season 3 of the #BizHackLive Digital Marketing Master Class Series will feature BizHack Certified instructors offering actionable tips for becoming a thought leader in LinkedIn, mastering Google Business Profile, and brand love essentials to win loyal customers. These live webinar sessions will help business owners and entrepreneurs find customers online by learning the skills needed to become relevant in their industry and differentiate from their competition. 

“Small business owners, particularly those in underserved communities, continue to struggle in this new world where digital skills are more essential than ever,” says Dan Grech, founder and CEO of BizHack Academy. “At BizHack, we’ve set the ambitious goal of assisting 10,000 small businesses that are struggling to survive due to COVID. With the help of the Mayor’s Office and our community partners, we feel confident that we will exceed this goal.”

The Master Classes are part of the award-winning #BizHackLive free webinar series, which provided nearly 100 free training sessions to thousands of businesses during COVID. This initiative was recognized by the American Marketing Association and received two national honorable mentions by PR Daily for its contributions in support of small businesses during the pandemic.

The Digital Marketing Master Class Series Season 3 is free and open to the community offered every other Wednesday from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm ET. The first session is on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, on “How to Use Thought Leadership on LinkedIn to Better Compete and Inspire Customers.” The second session is on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, on “How to Create an Exciting Google Business Profile to Delight Customers.” The third session is on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, on “Brand Love Essentials: How to Win Loyal Customers for Life.” Only a single registration is required to attend the 60-minute interactive sessions where live participants will have access to useful handouts and key resources after each webinar. Reserve a free spot here: https://try.bizhack.com/MCSeries3.

The Master Class series Media Sponsor is South Florida PBS (WPBT2) and The Health Channel. Its Community Partners include: Miami-Dade Beacon Council, The Miami Foundation
Miami Bayside Foundation, Axis Helps South Florida, Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, Aventura Marketing Council, Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce, Cutler Bay Business Association, Creation Station, South Florida Interactive Marketing Association, American Marketing Association South Florida, and The International Career and Business Alliance (ICABA).

Future Master Classes are planned for the rest of 2022 on other small business digital marketing topics such as SEO, Meta and iOS Privacy Changes, Google Ads, and more. To become a sponsor or promotional partner, email [email protected] or call 786-664-7324.

ABOUT THE DIGITAL MARKETING MASTER CLASS SERIES

Master Class 1: “How to Use Thought Leadership on LinkedIn to Better Compete and Inspire Customers”
Date & Time: Wednesday, January 19, 2022 from 12:30-1:30 pm ET 
Description: This one-hour interactive workshop will reveal your content marketing strengths and weaknesses and provide an immediate roadmap for thought leadership on social media platforms including LinkedIn. Sheryl Cattell, course creator and lead instructor for the LinkedIn Business Edge™ of BizHack Academy, will walk you step-by-step through the Thought Leadership Pyramid™, BizHack's proven process to establish a thought leadership focus in your market. She'll provide real-life examples of how to put each element into practice. And you'll take a live assessment to get your TLP Score™. The Thought Leadership Pyramid™ is a proven process for industry leadership on social media channels such as LinkedIn. It is perfect for small- to medium-sized businesses limited in time, money, and expertise. The average participant in BizHack's Thought Leadership Pyramid training program, The LinkedIn Business Edge™ is able to increase their Social Selling Index by 50% and their appearances in search results by 90% using this proven methodology.

The topics covered in the webinar include:

• Your Social Selling Index and what it means
• Your business story and story of me and why it matters
• Identifying your ideal target customer and finding them online
• How to use keywords and hashtags to get discovered
• Social listening to enter the fray
• Understanding the competition
• Taking your unique stand
• Getting noisy to increase your reach and impact as a thought leader

Master Class 2: “How to Create an Exciting Google Business Profile to Delight Customers”
Date & Time: Wednesday, February 2, 2022 from 12:30-1:30 pm ET 
Description: Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business, is an essential marketing tool for any business, especially those that serve a local audience. GBP is a core element of SEO. It’s where SEO and social media meet. SEO helps ensure you are near the top of the search results when customers Google information on your product or service. GBP will help you get more people to your website and social media, so they can learn about and interact with your business. The bottom line: Savvy use of your Google Business Profile will help your business make more money. BizHack Certified Instructor Yoel Gutierrez, a serial entrepreneur and the owner of Mosquito Joe of Miami, will share how he uses GBP to drive more customers to his business and the best tools to create an exciting profile. 

He’ll cover these 7 keys to success:
1. Your Business Listing
2. Images and Videos
3. Reviews
4. Posts to promote events, offers, and content
5. Insights
6. Messaging
7. Covid19 Features

Master Class 3: “Brand Love Essentials: How to Win Loyal Customers for Life”
Date & Time: Wednesday, February 16, 2022 from 12:30-1:30 pm ET 
Description: Companies rely on connecting with their customers – on relationships and emotions – to survive. Those business leaders who cultivate Brand Love, especially in the midst of crisis, are destined for long-term success. But building these human connections has never been more challenging: Digital has fragmented how we communicate. Sales funnels have collapsed. Consumer trust and loyalty are at an all-time low. Twenty-year digital agency veteran Abdul Muhammad II, founder of MDM Ventures, has this advice for marketers and business owners: Love your way out, by creating the conditions for customers to thrive. Learn how to leverage data and research to shift from story-telling to story-making by putting your customers first while still growing your business. In this dynamic 60-minute live webinar, Abdul will share these hard-earned insights and actionable tips on cultivating lifetime loyalty:
1. Three content marketing strategies to cultivate lifetime customers 
2. How to become a brand that is loved and considered over the competition
3. How to balance technology and human touch to maximize marketing impact

Register for the Master Class Series here: 
https://try.bizhack.com/MCSeries3

ABOUT MIAMI-DADE MAYOR’S OFFICE STRIVE 305 INITIATIVE
The Strive 305 program is designed to accelerate the growth of small businesses countywide and support budding entrepreneurs as they launch and grow new businesses.

The program will support the small business community through:

• An online small business and entrepreneurship hub that will inform, educate, and connect small businesses to the resources offered by the county and its partners
• A virtual small business incubator that will feature a full educational curriculum, coaching, and mentorship opportunities for companies of all types and states of growth
• A countywide network of physical incubators, co-working spaces and maker studios equipped with the tools entrepreneurs need to launch new ventures
• Multi-week technical assistance bootcamps to help small businesses overcome common challenges such as access to capital, finances, business planning, branding, digital marketing, sales, operations and more

For more information about the initiative, visit https://www.miamidade.gov/strive305 

ABOUT OFFICE OF EQUITY & INCLUSION IN THE MAYOR’S DIVISION OF INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE
The Office of Equity & Inclusion in the Mayor’s Division of Innovation and Performance builds on Miami-Dade County’s commitment to deliver excellent services to the community, and works to bring together government, nonprofit and private sector partners to dismantle systemic inequities and barriers to opportunity. Danilo Vargas is the Small Business Innovation Manager tasked by the Mayor to build upon the success of Accelerate South Dade for countywide initiatives. Danilo identifies educational and skill-building resources to accelerate small business growth and expand access to entrepreneurs in underserved communities. He regularly engages with the small business owners of Miami-Dade to assist them in recovery and fully participating in the post-pandemic economy.

ABOUT BIZHACK ACADEMY
BizHack Academy, a certified minority-owned business, is a Marketing Traction company whose mission is to give 10,000 under-served small businesses a simpler way to grow. It’s the creator of the award-winning Lead Building System™, a proven process for online lead generation, and the Thought Leadership Pyramid™, a systematic approach to content marketing. BizHack provides training programs, personalized coaching and fractional Chief Growth Officer services. Since its start in 2017, BizHack has provided digital growth training to thousands of businesses across Miami-Dade County and around the globe, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies, including NBCUniversal, Whirlpool, Novartis, Wells Fargo, and Royal Caribbean. The average participant in its 7-week accelerated program generated $28.87 in revenue for every $1.00 spent in ads. BizHack has participated in business accelerator programs funded by Goldman Sachs, the Knight Foundation, and Entrepreneur’s Organization. It has partnered with more than a dozen university programs, including StartUP FIU, The Idea Center at Miami Dade College, and the Innovation Hub at Broward College. It was awarded Top Global Campaign in 2020 by the American Marketing Association, was a finalist for Cause Marketer of the Year by Ragan’s PR Daily, and was recognized as a Top Startup in 2019 in The Miami Herald’s Startup Challenge. For more information about BizHack Academy, visit www.bizhack.com or call (786) 664-7324 or email [email protected].