Covid-19, the most discussed and disputed pandemic of our generation and the reason toilet paper has become a precious commodity in 2020!

Jokes aside, I have to start by saying how proud I am of how our President Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa has handled the Covid-19 prevention strategy in South Africa. He has made some tough decisions like implementing and now extending the national lockdown, that unfortunately has had some less than ideal impact on businesses and individuals BUT the consequences of not doing so would be far greater.

 

The positive side of Lockdown

There is always a silver lining in every situation, you just need to look for it sometimes. Lockdown has been amazing in so many different ways, individuals have been given the opportunity to take the time to slow down and have some time for self-care, families are actually spending time together and where they are not able to do so, the appreciation for one another has grown tremendously. Parents have been forced to be present in their kids lives and appreciate the amazing work our teachers/nanny’s do on a daily basis and businesses have realised the opportunities and possibilities of increases their productivity and expanding their market through going digital.

Without realising it, many of us have been given such an amazing gift through all of this – the gift of time! Time to relook at what is important to us, time to practice gratitude for what we have, time to tackle better ourselves and work on reaching or adapting our goals. I personally have decided to use the time I have between the cooking, cleaning and looking after my boys (Lets be real, lockdown has also brought some chaos into our households) to focus on upskilling myself in areas that I feel would benefit my business and clients.

There some amazing institutions running specials on various courses but there are also some awesome FREE courses that can be done on platforms like Udemy, LinkedIn Learning and Google. I will actually be focusing on some of the google courses that are available.

Growth through learning

Irrespective of what sector or role you are in, learning a new skill is always a win. The reason I will be focusing on the courses available on Google is because they have some amazing online courses that are practical, up to date and won’t take more than a take than a couple of hours of your time. Learndigital.withgoogle has over 126 courses to choose from, these four are on my current to do list:

Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals:

Gain an understanding of search engine algorithms and how they affect organic search results and websites. Building on this knowledge, you’ll learn the key elements for creating an effective SEO strategy, including how to select keywords and perform keyword research; consumer psychology and search behaviour; and how to conduct on-page SEO analysis to identify opportunities to improve a website’s search optimisation.
Course time: 13 hours

Marketing in a Digital World:

This course examines how digital tools, such as the Internet, smartphones, and 3D printing, are revolutionizing the world of marketing by shifting the balance of power from firms to consumers.
Course time: 30 hours

Understand Customers’ Needs and Online Behaviours:

With just some basic web analytics skills, businesses can easily measure how well their online marketing is working and get even better results. Start our free course to find out how you can easily measure your activity and understand customer needs and their online behaviours.
Course time: 1 hour

Business Communication:

Business writing is any written communication used in a professional setting. It could be an email, memo, presentation or report. In this free course, you’ll learn some tips and guides to help you make your business communication direct, clear, and designed to be read quickly.
Course time: 1 hour

I hope you find these interesting and helpful but if not whether you find something of interest to learn or even read about on the various platforms available online make a decision to step outside your comfort zone during lockdown and learn something new, make the most of this time, you will thank yourself later!

Most of all please stay home, stay safe and stay grateful!