Think you’re web 2.0-savvy? SMMU shines a light on what students don’t know, taking us through the bricks-and-mortar functionalities of online marketing platforms. Not for the faint of heart, Social Media Marketing University (SMMU) obliged me to take what I knew about new media and prod, poke, squeeze and stretch my assumptions. The result: real, tangible legs for abstract cloud-based social media that, let’s face it, serve as oxygen for business ignition.

My start-up, AgriGate Asia (AGA), is focused on offering business information about China’s sustainable ag-tech opportunities via online channels. So the training and knowledge offered by SMMU is critical to ensuring business success. Having lived in China for three years and following a year studying China’s agricultural policies and technologies for my Master’s, I had the experiential background, professional skills and knowledge base vital to launching and sustaining AGA.

Yet despite spending half a decade working as a general and environmental journalist in our changing media landscape, I didn’t know enough about new media for a results-oriented business approach. Rather than spending months, or longer, researching the options, teaching myself the tools and wasting time and money making potential mistakes on lackluster platforms, I needed experts to simply break it all down for me.

SMMU offers such a brass-tacks approach. Chock-a-block full with hours of step-by-step training videos, webinars and pages of content, I’ve learned how to supercharge my online marketing efforts. By subscribing, I’ve had access to 11 online marketing training programs that cover Facebook for Results, Email Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Blogging, Local Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click, Strategic PR, Social Media Essentials, Video Marketing
and Linkedin for Results.


No matter which area most challenges you: clients can select the right training program for their immediate needs and pursue their interests as suits their schedules. Each of the video sessions are about 60 minutes long and encourage hands-on training and follow-up implementation of what was taught by also offering audio files, a transcript and cheat sheet that address varied learning styles.

This worked perfectly for my schedule these last few months, while I transitioned away from an unpredictable but demanding student schedule in England to the demands of working full-time in China. It taught me the hands-on skills I most needed to focus on, in the time availability I had. These are skills that will serve me not only immediately, but more long-term in my new role as China Dream Director at the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE, pronounced “juice”), where AGA is making its new home.

Thanks to the support of a Micro Grant, AgriGate Asia is now bolstered by tactical capabilities whereas I previously was focused on big-picture strategy. That’s something you can shine a light on.