About this Course:
May 2021 – April 2022
Miami Dade College (MDC) Business Innovation & Technology (BIT) Center has partnered with Miami Downtown Development Authority (Miami DDA) to offer the course, Digital Transformation for Small Businesses, monthly beginning May 14th, 2021. The 12-month course is designed to assist downtown Miami business owners and retailers in using digital technology to provide a competitive online presence and gain more customers.
The course will cover how to launch a website, drive traffic, SEO, social media and much more with a goal to solve the digital needs of downtown Miami business owners and retailers. It aims to motivate patrons, local customers and tourist to explore and celebrate downtown businesses.
The course is open to small businesses with existing or future brick-and-mortar locations within the Miami DDA District, including owners and employees of local restaurants, retail shops, and service providers
MDC’s state-of-the-art BIT Center explores the role of technology in digital transformation, process automation and analytics in the ever-changing business landscape. The BIT Center is an initiative of MDC’s Miguel B. Fernandez Family School of Global Business, Trade & Transportation and offers various programs and courses in three core areas – digital marketing, financial trading & technology, business analytics, and offering industry certifications where available. BIT Center partnerships with global leaders in technology include, Hootsuite, Bloomberg, Salesforce and others.
The Miami Downtown Development Authority (Miami DDA) is an economic development agency charged with bringing businesses, people, and visitors to Downtown Miami. The mission of the Miami Downtown Development Authority is to grow, strengthen and promote the economic health and vitality of Downtown Miami. For more information about the Miami DDA, please visit www.miamidda.com
Know more about Miami DDA Boundary.
Frequently Asked Questions
This project, "Digital Transformation for Small Businesses, is a 12-month course (May 2021 to April 2022) created for Miami downtown business owners and retailers. The role of MDC's Business Innovation & Technology (BIT) Center is to provide the resources to produce this course and measure success: digital analytics, traffic to store, customer growth, ROAS.
The goals for this project are two-fold: to motivate local consumers and tourists foot traffic to Miami downtown, and to ultimately solve various business needs of Miami downtown business owners and retailers.
This 12-month course will be conducted online through teleconference. Miami downtown business owners and retailers will join BIT Center digital transformation instructors online once a month (the second Friday of every month) from noon to 1:30 p.m. The BIT Center will follow up by delivering to attendees a "How-To and Next Steps" course summary.
This project is expected to commence on May 14th, 2021, noon to 1:30 p.m.
This course is expected to benefit participants by exposing them to technology with instruction to keep up with the competition, manage their online reputation, stay on top of mind to consumers.
The course is open to small businesses with an existing or future brick-and-mortar location within Miami DDA District (Brickell, Arts & Entertainment, & Central Business Districts). Owners and employees of local restaurants, retail shops, and service providers are welcomed to take this free digital training.
For a full list of BIT Center courses and events, please visit the BIT Center's Events page.
For more information about the BIT Center, please contact Chechu Lasheras jlashera@mdc.edu or Max Ramirez rramire2@mdc.edu
Sessions
- May 2021: Fundamentals of Digital Transformation
- June 2021: Launch a Website (Part I, Shopify and more)
- July 2021: Launch a Website (Part II)
- August 2021: How to drive traffic to your website (organic/paid media, Facebook/Instagram)
- September 2021: How to be found on the web (SEO and more)
- October 2021: Online Reputation Management (how to use social media to increase business)
- November 2021: How can Google Search help my Business? (Google text ads, Google My Business)
- December 2021: How to increase business 3X and communicate with WhatsApp
- January 2022: How to engage online audiences to learn about your business (content marketing)
- February 2022: The #1 digital marketing channel for ROI, Email-Marketing (MailChimp)
- March 2022: Understanding consumer feedback about your online marketing efforts (digital marketing analytics)
- April 2022: Final course summary: Increase the Online Presence of your Business
Meet The Industry Expert / Your Instructor
R. Maximiliano Ramirez
Max Ramirez has led sales teams for NYTimes.com, Time Warner Digital, and CBS Digital. While in New York, he launched, “DigitalMediaEvents.com”, a firm that represented video distribution startups to New York City’s media agencies and a Who’s Who networking association of digital marketing professionals, which he owned and managed from 2003 to 2015. Max relocated to Miami Beach in 2015 and since then he’s been building and teaching courses on contemporary online marketing for Miami Dade College. In 2020 he was named the manager for the new Miami Dade College Business Innovation & Technology (BIT) Center. He helps explore disruptive technologies in financial trading, digital marketing and business analytics to enhance MDC college credit courses with technology; and presents opportunities for certifications of these platforms. “My passion is to inspire students to possibly turning hobbies into businesses or fly up the corporate ladder through this 21st Century skill, digital marketing.”, says Professor Max Ramirez
Fundamentals of Digital Transformation
May 2021
Omi Cooper-Diaz
I'm what happens when you're addicted to people as much as you are to your iPhone. (Which might also explain why I have a BA in Anthropology along with a degree in Advertising). As the CEO of Diaz & Cooper Advertising, Miami's only Gold-Certified HubSpot Inbound Marketing Agency, I help shape online initiatives built around content that resonates with customers and prompts meaningful, measurable action. As a Speaker, I get to share personal insight, triumphs, and tips that I've learned over 25+ years studying advertising and society evolve through the digital age. Since founding Diaz & Cooper in 2000 with my husband Todd, we've achieved results and won awards for Customers including Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Hawks Cay Resort, Dolphins Plus, Davis Vision, Azamara Club Cruises, Silver Airways, Sony Latin America, TransUnion, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and many others. We've watched things change from paper to point-and-click, embraced it, and used it to fuel our growth and that of our Clients. I'm proud to say we've been named a Top 25 South Florida Marketing Agency seven times in the past eight years.
Launch a Website (Part I, Shopify and more)
June 2021
Launch a Website (Part II)
July 2021
Danny Sibai
Danny Sibai is a pioneer in the internet industry and considered a top technologist among his peers and clients. Beginning in the early ’90s, he forecasted trends that allowed him to direct executives and decision-makers through this brave new world of technology. But what he knew better than others were the ramifications and opportunities for business embracing the world of online retail and e-commerce. He easily led the way for the migration of off-line business operations to online visibility. In essence, he was doing what everyone was still talking about - bridging the standard bricks and mortar world into the very new clicks and mortar universe.
In an industry-changing by the minute, Danny has always been far ahead of the curve. As a seasoned marketer with over 16 years of digital marketing experience, he has blazed a trail that many have followed. His team consists of unlimited talents include e-Business building, consulting, marketing, and site design. However, it’s his unique ability to integrate them all that has landed the firm near the top of South Florida lists in both Internet Marketing and Website Design on a yearly basis.
How to drive traffic to your website (Organic/Paid Media, Facebook/Instagram)
August 2021
How to be found on the Web (SEO and more)
Sept 2021
How can Google Search help my Business? (Google Text Ads, Google My Business)
Nov 2021
Final course summary: Increase the Online Presence of your Business
April 2022
Renata Tilkan
Renata Tilkan has more than 20 years of experience with international marketing. Working for airlines like Lufthansa, South Africa Airways, and JetBlue, she has extensive experience in digital, social, and integrated marketing programs and great knowledge and understanding of travel and tourism. As an Account Director at Sparkloft Media, she leads account teams to develop cutting-edge social media and content programs for travel and tourism clients.
Online Reputation Management
Oct 2021