Module 01
Foundations: Funnels, Offers & Audience
What a marketing funnel actually is, how to shape an offer local customers want, and how to describe your ideal customer in plain language.
Free Course
Learn digital marketing from an agency expert
100% free. No credit card, ever.
A plain-language, text-only course built from real agency work: what actually moves the needle for a local business — your website, your Google listing, your social posts, your ads and your email list. No fluff, no videos to sit through, just lessons you can read and use.
For Canadian local business owners.
Start the course
Text lessons, delivered right away. Create your free account below.
You're in.
[PLACEHOLDER: thank-you copy — e.g. "Check your email for your first lesson. If you don't see it in a few minutes, check your spam folder."]
Who this is for
Built for people who run the business, not people who study marketing for a living.
- You own or run a local business in Canada — retail, restaurant, trades, professional services, health & wellness, or something else entirely.
- You wear the marketing hat yourself, or you want to understand it well enough to manage someone who does.
- You want plain-language lessons you can read on your own schedule, not another video series to sit through.
- You're looking for the foundations — what to do and why — before you spend money on tools, ads or an agency.
What you'll learn
Eight modules, in the order a local business actually needs them. Work through them in sequence or jump to the one you need right now.
Module 02
Websites That Convert
What a small business website needs to do its job: a clear offer, easy ways to contact you, a mobile-friendly layout, and calls to action that make sense.
Module 03
Local SEO & Google Business Profile
Setting up and improving your Google Business Profile, collecting reviews, and showing up for "near me" searches in your city.
Module 04
Social Content That Sells
Planning content around your services, writing posts that lead to calls and bookings, and choosing which platforms are actually worth your time.
Module 05
Email Marketing & Automation
Building a simple list, writing emails customers actually open, and setting up a basic automated welcome sequence.
Module 06
Paid Ads Basics (Google & Meta)
The core ideas behind running a small, controlled test campaign on Google Ads or Meta Ads — budgets, targeting, and what to watch.
Module 07
AI Tools for Small Business
Using AI tools sensibly for drafts, research and admin work, including what to double-check before you publish anything.
Module 08
Tracking & Analytics
Setting up basic tracking so you know which marketing is actually bringing in calls and sales — without needing to become a data analyst.
No time to waste? Start now.
Every lesson is text — read it in five minutes between customers, or sit down and go through a whole module at once.
Start the course — it's freeHow the course works
Built to fit into a business owner's day, not a classroom schedule.
- Text lessons, not videos. Read at your own pace, skim back over anything, and search your email for a lesson later.
- Real local-business examples. Examples drawn from the kinds of businesses that make up Main Street Canada — retail, restaurants, trades and home services, professional services, health & wellness.
- A short quiz after each module. A handful of questions to check what stuck before you move on.
- One final test. A short test covering all 8 modules once you've finished the course.
- Self-paced. No live calls to attend and no deadlines — go through it on your own schedule.
Who's teaching this
Built out of agency work, not just theory.
[PLACEHOLDER: instructor photo]
[PLACEHOLDER: Instructor name], [PLACEHOLDER: instructor title/role] at Digital Media Lab, the agency behind DigitalXYZ.
Digital Media Lab works with local businesses on websites, local SEO, social content, email and paid ads. This course is written from that day-to-day agency work — the same foundations and checklists used with clients, put together as a free, text-only course for business owners to work through themselves.
[PLACEHOLDER: any additional detail about the agency's background, location or focus you'd like to include — written without specific numbers, client counts or testimonials unless you can verify them.]
This course is just the start — more free lessons and resources for Canadian business owners are on the way. [PLACEHOLDER: optional teaser for what's coming next]
Ready when you are.
Free to start, free to finish. No credit card, no catch.
Start the course — it's freeQuestions
If you're still deciding, this should cover it.
Is this course really free?
Yes. Every lesson, quiz and the final test are free. No credit card is required to sign up.
Do I need any marketing experience?
No. The course starts with the foundations and builds from there, in plain language aimed at business owners, not marketers.
Is there any video?
No. Every lesson is text, so you can read it at your own speed and come back to it later.
How long does the course take?
[PLACEHOLDER: estimated total time or per-module time, once finalized]
Will signing up lead to sales calls?
[PLACEHOLDER: confirm your policy here — e.g. whether sign-ups receive course emails only, or whether the agency may follow up, and how to opt out]
I'm not in Canada — can I still take it?
The course is written with Canadian local businesses and examples in mind, but the core ideas apply to small businesses anywhere. [PLACEHOLDER: add any region-specific caveats if needed]