Small businesses and fishermen find efficiencies with online tools
Digital literacy means having knowledge and competence with digital tools. To help coastal and island communities increase digital literacy skills, the Island Institute has been delivering digital workshops in partnership with Axiom Education and Training Center for the last two years, and we look forward to scheduling more in the coming year.
These workshops, tailored to coastal and island business owners, employees, and other community leaders, include:
- Marketing tools like Photoshop and Facebook
- QuickBooks for bookkeeping
- Website design
- All the Microsoft products
- Running a business from a mobile device
It’s our plan to expand offerings in the coming year, and we would love to hear from you about what would be helpful to keep your business going in this increasingly competitive world.
What past participants have said about the workshops:
- “It turns out that I really needed to learn what was taught before I could go on to creating my website. Great course!”
- “Very good class combined with the technical instruction and our own unique applications helped tremendously.”
- “This class was invaluable to me as a bookkeeper for a lobster business, very thorough with real-life examples.”
By improving internet proficiency, businesses benefit from growth, workforce development, health access, community and civic engagement, student education, and all-around quality of life. Improved digital literacy also drives support for better-connected communities.
Resources for small businesses
Assess your business’s digital footprint:
- How digital is your business? Find out here.
- What are the six most common mistakes of the self-employed? Not marketing online is one!
Learn more about improving your business:
- Read our most popular Commercial Currents to date: Getting online and direct-marketing.
- Check out the Macrobenefits of Microbusinesses.
Have an arts business?
- Join the Maine arts community for the 2018 Artists & Makers Conference on Friday, April 6th at Point Lookout in Northport to learn about building a website using Squarespace, marketing and branding, and other tips and strategies to get inspired and grow your business!
What We Do
The Island Institute’s Small Business Team work with communities to hold digital and financial workshops. To inquire about digital literacy work, feel free to contact Stephenie.
Commercial Currents is an email and blog newsletter that shares buoyant stories from Maine’s island and coastal communities about economic stability and resilience. To find archived editions, go to islandinstitute.org/blog/economic.
