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Tag: general assembly

  • DGM: It’s on

    The Digital Marketing (DGM) class at General Assembly‘s Atlanta campus starts TONIGHT, and it’s on from the start.  Here’s a quick peek into what the next 10 weeks will hold.

    Day 1 – we’re bringing Pitch Practice into Digital Marketing! Can you believe it? That’s right, the first step in your digital marketing journey is figuring out and then planning out your brand strategy, and that includes your elevator pitch. Everyone in the class will get to deliver their (real or made up) elevator pitch.

    Day 2 – FAKE GRIMLOCK TAKE STAGE WITH MINIMUM VIABLE PERSONALITY. THIS WHAT MAKE STARTUP.  I can’t believe I’ve kept this one quiet the whole time I’ve had the DGM curriculum at my disposal.  I reached out to FAKE GRIMLOCK on Twitter, and asked him to make a special appearance to the class, via skype of course. His reply? “ME CONSIDER THAT.” Either way, we’ll be referencing his awesome model for marketing.


     Guest Speakers galore! We’re pulling digital marketing rock stars from the Atlanta startup and marketing community, and bringing them into the class to overwhelm the students with their experience, expertise, and general awesomeness. If you’re not following these people on Twitter, in addition to Mr. Grimlock, you should be, and you will be after soaking up their DGM genius.

    Jason Dominy – The Dalton Agency
    Lindsay Trinkle – Write2Market
    Maria Joyner – Synapp.io
    Van Baird – State Farm

    And the over-arching theme of the 10 week, 60-hour class is taking a web property – new or existing – into the digital marketing stratosphere as we learn by doing the job, and create a real world digital marketing plan that these students will use on real businesses during and after the class.

    I am so excited to meet all these students and lead this class, and share their progress along the way.

  • Teaching Assistant Needed for Digital Marketing Class

    I’m leading the Digital Marketing class at General Assembly Atlanta starting Tuesday Jan 27. The class will take place every Tuesday and Thursday night through April 2 at GA’s location at Ponce City Market in Midtown.  The class is full, and we need a teaching assistant.  While there will be an occaision or two to actually lead the class, the main responsibilities for the TA are as follows:

    • handle administrative tasks
    • coordinate office hours 
    • planning outside-the-class activities, including:
      • field trips
      • panels
      • social events
    The requirements for the position are:

    • At least 1 year of industry experience (should not be only freelance work) OR former student of class who has worked 3+ months
    • Fluency in all topics of the DGM course
    • Approachable and works well 1:1 with students, 
    • Organized – ability to manage calendar, student progress tracking, class resource organization, etc.
    • Proactive – takes initiative to make the program better
    • Strong team communication skills


    It’s a sweet part time gig that pays a flat fee for your time, and you get full access to the entire Digital Marketing class, which is quite a value.  If you’re organized, positive, helpful, and have an unseemly liking to Google Analytics and spreadsheets, this one’s for you. Please DM me on twitter @kevsandlin or send me an email to kevinsandlin at gmail.  I’ll put you in touch with the GA folks to handle the particulars.

    If not, will you help spread the word?  Class starts in 3 days!  

  • Social Media Strategy Class Recap

    I’ve written before about how we learn more when we teach something.  Last night’s Social Media Strategy Mapping class at General Assembly was no exception for me.  I always learn from those whom I am supposedly teaching, and that is a very good thing.

    Thanks to everyone who attended.  I counted 35 in the audience, which was far more than I had expected, but it shows clearly that, while it’s easy to jump into social media, it’s a bit more complicated to (a) market using social media (b) for your company, and (c) to get it right every time.

    One of the topics that came up was the recent #fail by BestBuy, among others by various airline brands.  The bigger the brand, the harder the social media fail. That’s why you need a strategy and a plan when you engage in social media marketing for your brand.  We went pretty deep last night into how to create your own social media strategy, but here are the highlights.

    1. Define your brand. Atlanta Tech Village is a solid example of how to be intentional about your culture, values, and, hence, your brand. When in doubt, remember the core values of your brand.
    2. Define your audience. You have to know who you’re talking to, who you want to talk to, and where they are engaging in social media.
    3. Evaluate your competition. It’s easier than ever to follow and keep tabs on your competitors these days. Do it. Find out what they’re doing that’s working/not working.
    4. Set realistic goals. You’re not going to get a million followers in the first 12 months, if ever, so set some goals by which you can measure progress.
    5. Map out your approach. That means write it down, and follow it, like a map. There are no shortcuts.
    6. Define success. How will you know if you’ve succeeded? That’s what setting goals is all about.
    7. Measure everything. You cannot change what you do not measure. Measure everything at the start, then you’ll slowly learn the metrics that you need to live by.

    It was a great class, and I look forward to digging deeper into Digital Marketing for the next 10 weeks. Will you join me?