Avery Swartz - See You on the Internet: Building Your Small Business with Digital Marketing

One of the most comprehensive marketing guides to making your business known online that I have read. Highly recommended.

Bruce Croxon, tech investor at Round13 Capital & former Dragon on CBC TV s Dragons Den

Ive read a lot of business books, but this one takes the cake. See You on the Internet is 200 pages of pure gold filled with actionable steps I can implement in my businesstoday. An absolute must-read.

Rachel Kelly, founder of Make Lemonade

Understanding how digital marketing and media works is now more critical than ever before. In this book, Avery Swartz cuts through the acronyms and technical jargon, takes you by the hand, and guides you through the key concepts in an easy and accessible manner.

Allan Dib, global bestselling author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan

I loved that reading the book felt like sitting down with Avery Swartz in person and being guided through the process. This book and its resources are exactly what entrepreneurs need to know about digital marketing, all in one accessible and practical place.

Paulina Cameron, CEO of Forum for Women Entrepreneurs

A fun and accessible approach to digital marketing. Whether youre a complete beginner or years into running your own business, See You on the Internet uncovers the foundations of digital marketing that will grow with you and your business even as technology evolves.

Melissa Sariffodeen, co-founder & CEO of Canada Learning Code

Your one-stop digital marketing shop! Easy to digest and practical AF . I wish a guide like this existed when I started my business.

Sarah Vermunt, founder of Careergasm & bestselling author of Careergasm and Career Rookie

This is the book I wish every one of my clients (business owners) would read. Its full of easy-to-digest, practical information that situates the reader not just in what to do with their digital marketing, but also in how to think strategically about what they are doing. The conversational tone, real-world advice, and simple exercises make See You on the Internet an invaluable tool for every entrepreneur.

Danielle Botterell, principal of Spark Consulting

I have run global marketing for some of the biggest and brightest start-ups. The complex landscape of digital marketing can make it hard to know where to start. See You on the Internet is a practical guide that walks you through a custom plan thats right for your business.

Melissa Nightingale, all-around badass

I had never felt so stupid in my life.

A few years ago, I had to transition to new accounting software for my company, Camp Tech. Like many small business owners, I tasked myself with the day-to-day bookkeeping for the organization and hired an accountant to do the big jobs, like preparing our corporate tax return. The software I had been using for bookkeeping was woefully inadequate, and a migration to a better system was long overdue.

At first, I tried workarounds and hacks. I looked for third-party software that would somehow take the mess of five years of fuzzy bookkeeping and magically morph it into the new accounting system. Unsurprisingly, I couldnt find any. I asked our administrative assistant if she could just take care of it. That didnt work, because I couldnt give her the guidance she needed.

I realized I had to do the core work of moving Camp Techs books to a new system myself. Once I understood it, I could teach someone else, but not until I had a firm grasp on the process.

It. Was. Painful.

Of course, I saw the irony of the situation. I own a company that teaches non-technical people about technology. Helping learners get through the tough spots and past the stumbling blocks of software is what we do. In this situation, I wasnt the teacher. I was the learner. And I have to admit: I hated it. It drove me bonkers, sitting for hours on end, struggling with software.

It wasnt really the software that I had a hard time withIm pretty tech savvy. It was the core concepts underneath. I had never learned accounting basics and never been given a framework for thinking about accounting. I knew that money came in and out of our bank account, and it needed to be accounted for, but beyond that I was pretty clueless.

Thank goodness the bookkeeper at my accountants office was so kind and patient with me. She could sense my frustration and did her best to help. We spent many hours sitting side by side as she walked me through the details of double-entry accounting, and many more hours exchanging emails when I would forget half of what she taught me.

Eventually, I got it. And I even kind of like bookkeeping now. I finally understand it, but I had to go through the pain to get here. I had to listen, learn, and relearn, and I had to call my own deeply held assumptions into question.

In learning about the digital world, you may feel the same way. I have empathy for this process, and I know how challenging it may feel. You may be feeling insecure, unsure, and stupid, and there may be a giant voice in head saying you cant do this. But, like me, you can do this.

Ive heard it said that theres never been an easier time to start a small business, because of all the technology at our fingertips. Its true! The barriers to setting up a business are lower now than they were 20 years ago. The internet has made it faster and cheaper to start a business, find clients or customers, and sell products or services to them. Technology puts the mighty in a small but mighty business.

While technology can be enabling and empowering, it can also be wildly confusing and frustrating. Theres a moment that happens at every single Camp Tech workshop, regardless of the specific subject were teaching that day, when it feels like a support group. One person expresses the frustration they felt trying to learn a tech skill on their own, and the sentiment ripples around the room. It is a classroom after all, and people are there to have access to a tech expert who will confidently and assuredly walk them through the particulars of a digital concept. People usually show up at Camp Tech because theyve tried to learn something on their own, and it didnt go so well. I love that moment when everyone realizes, hey, were in this together. And together, were gonna get through it.

Its for these moments that I started Camp Tech in the first place. In early 2012, I picked up on a trend. I was working as a web designer in my own boutique web studio, and many of my clients were asking me a similar question. I would help them get their website up and running, but they wanted to know about all the other parts of bringing their business online. What about social media? SEO ? Google Analytics? Email marketing? Most of my clients were small businesses and non-profits, and they couldnt afford to outsource all this stuff to a digital marketing agency. They wanted to learn how to do it themselves and asked me if I could refer them somewhere. In Toronto in 2012, there was nowhere to send them. No company was offering practical and accessible digital skills training. Im talking about learn it on Tuesday, use it on Wednesday style classes. Not a semester-long course with lots of technical theory. Just the important stuff someone needs to know to get a job done. I saw a need and an opportunity and acted on it. Camp Tech was born.

Now, many years later, Camp Tech is still offering practical and accessible digital skills training in our Toronto classroom. Were also training people in other locations, through our group training initiatives, in communities across North America.