SIERRA VISTA — The Cochise College Center for Lifelong Learning and Small Business Development Center have heard local businesses’ cries for social media training.

Beginning this fall, the Center for Lifelong Learning will offer a six-course, year-long Social Media Certificate Program, filled with strategies to promote and market a business by utilizing a wide array of free online tools. Courses teach skills that can be put to use in the workplace right away or help jobseekers add skills to their resumes.

“This is a low-cost way to improve career potential,” said Sharon Gilman, director of the Center for Lifelong Learning. “Social media marketing is a growing career field. It’s an important way to reach out and market. These are skills that stand out on a resume, and this program will give you that credential.”

The social media explosion, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WordPress, has left many employers a little perplexed about which channels are the most relevant and cost-effective for reaching consumers, especially as new free services become popular and old services fall by the wayside.

“That’s why this fits well within the Center for Lifelong Learning,” Gilman said. “It’s a non-credit course, which means we’re not bound by curriculum and the course can evolve freely. Teachers can adapt based on what is trending at the time each course is offered.”

The college’s Small Business Development Center works one-on-one with small businesses all over southern Arizona and sponsors a wide variety of workshops, including social media, catered to small business needs throughout the year. What a six-course program can offer, though, is much more than a one- or two-day workshop.

“The SBDC has a pulse on what business owners have asked for, and they’ve identified this as a need,” Gilman said. “Our certificate program is something hands-on. Each student at the end will leave with a portfolio of work to show their future employer.”

The Center for Lifelong Learning’s program begins with an introduction to social media, dives into web design through WordPress, and continues with the intricacies of web-based marketing, integrating video and going mobile. The capstone to the course is an internship, designed to give students a true experience through a field-based project.

“It’s much more than just Facebook we’re teaching,” Gilman said.

The program is instructed by Mark Cline and Gil Nelson, both small business owners who can often be found presenting at SBDC workshops.

Courses meet on Tuesday evenings, beginning in September. Each of the six courses costs $250 and runs for eight weeks. Students will receive two continuing education units (CEUs) per class. Because each course builds on the work done in previous sessions, the program is most beneficial when classes are taken in succession.

Register for the course at cochise.edu/cll. Email training@cochise.edu or call (520) 515-5492 for more information.

Want to know more about what Cochise College has to offer? Click here.