Eleven years ago, broadcast TV news was king, newspaper companies were trying to attract young readers by creating “fun” easy-to-read newspapers and the internet rage was this new thing called social media.

I was just entering the public relations business at that time, and I can safely say it was also the dawn of a paradigm shift in the business. Today, and few jobs titles later, I still consider myself a public relations practitioner but I admit that my job is different today. Website content development and management, online community building and conversion optimization are some of the strategies that run through my brain these days. Not that I pivoted out of PR business, but the entire marketing and communications industry changed.

The evolution of the web, combined with social media has completely reimagined many marketing, advertising and public relations strategies. Today, web-based tactics such as community building and search engine optimization are commanding large portions of marketing budgets and they are all essentially fueled by one key tactic: content.

Call it blogging, content marketing or brand journalism, the need for highly skilled content creators is on the rise. Over the years, I realized these skills are not just for the niche blogger and the DIY business owner, but marketing agencies and corporate businesses are seeking a workforce with these specific skills. I also realized that career changers, business owners, entrepreneurs and bloggers need a way to gain insight and experience in the digital world.

Enter Content Academy.

Content Academy: A Platform for Learning & Collaborating

Content Academy™ is a community of professionals who believe in the power of sharing knowledge and experience to develop the next level of content strategy, blogging and content marketing thought leaders through career training, continuous learning and collaboration.

How We Began

In October 2015, I reached out to my Chicago Copywriting and Content Marketing Meetup community to find anyone interested in teaching content strategy. Almost immediately, I received a response from Rebecca Steurer, a highly skilled content strategist who has over 16 years of experience in the content strategy field, and a passion for teaching and sharing ideas.

Learn more about Rebecca>

It was clear to me that I needed to work with Rebecca because she has amazing insight into content strategy beyond my skills.

Our Experienced and Credible Instructors

Today, Content Academy is a joint effort between Rebecca and me, but we’re not doing it alone. We’ve handpicked amazing instructors who are respected practitioners in their fields. We’re only looking for instructors who are passionate about digital experiences, have been around the block and who can share credible working knowledge to students during their sessions.

What We Offer

Classes & Workshops

We’ve spent quite a bit of time deliberating on how to structure Content Academy’s instruction to provide valuable and useful information to help participants advance their digital marketing knowledge.

Content Academy is geared toward working professionals at various levels of their career and entrepreneurs, so scheduling evening classes and workshops was a logical decision. We then asked how we would provide the right learning opportunities for career-minded individuals vs. entrepreneurs. Our solution, eight-week training classes for career builders and continuous learning workshops for self-starters.

Career Training Classes

Our eight-week in-person career training classes teach the hard and soft skills employers look for to fill their skills gap while providing learn-by-doing experiences. It also allows participants to build a portfolio to use for future job interviews. Our current career training class is:

Applied Content Strategy

Continuous Learning Workshops

Our two-hour in-person workshops deepen your digital knowledge and skills to master your career or business goals. Our initial workshop series are in the areas of Digital Marketing, Blogging and WordPress. These are important core set of skills for the modern marketer. We plan to add additional workshop series – in the areas of e-Commerce and video marketing. Stay tuned!

Mentorship

Sometimes you need one-on-one support to help you focus and find the path that’s right for you. We provide you with personalized training, support and mentorship to help you get to where you want to be faster. Learn more about our mentorship offerings.

Events

Network, connect and continue to learn about the latest and greatest digital marketing trends by joining our content community of marketing professionals, bloggers and WordPress developers at Copywriting & Content Marketers and WordPress Bloggers Meetup groups.

Content Academy Membership

Content Academy will provide a continued learning infrastructure and networking opportunities through a private online community for students/alumni to connect and converse with fellow students/alumni and stay on top of the latest digital marketing trends.

The future is bright.

We’re on a mission to build a community of professionals who 
share our knowledge to develop 
the next thought leaders 
in the digital world. We hope you can become a part of by lending your story to this journey. I look forward to looking back on this year as the beginning of something great!

Info Sessions

To learn more about Content Academy, we invite you to attend an Information Session, held monthly at 2 N. LaSalle, 14th Floor. Register for a day that works for you.

Stay Connected With Us

Please signup for our monthly newsletter to stay in the know for upcoming workshop, events and online community information. If you have any questions or feedback, drop us a line at [email protected].