Rebuilding the U.S. Economy through Education
 
Yes we are in a recession; however, budget cuts to education will only make matters worse. If you want a strong U.S. economy tomorrow, invest in your students of today by training them and their teachers with the skills they need to succeed in what is now a radically different job market where thinkers and creators survive and thrive.
 
Soundzabound can help right now by offering business workshops for students in partnership with your staff via our network of industry professionals.  These professionals have experience and valuable information to share in the areas of technology, computers, international business, e-commerce, economics, commercial media, internet marketing, logistics, sales and many other areas.
 
Our SBC (Student Business Course) Program is best geared toward high school students via your Technology, Career Tech or Curriculum departments with whom we can partner, with a mutual objective to educate, inform, prepare and inspire the students as thinkers, creators and innovators – to not just find a job, but to create them.
As an enhancement to our Professional Development Program at Soundzabound, we are now partnering with K-12 administrators to reignite our U.S. economy and funding for education by offering short-term (tactical) and long-term (strategic) business courses in specialized areas especially for high school students through our program called SBC (Student Business Courses).
 
The SBC Program which resides under our Professional Development Department under the direction of Lisa M. Scherer (lisas@soundzabound.com) has begun with great success.
 
The theory behind the program is that with or without (hopefully WITH) a stimulus package for education by the new Obama Administration, the job market has changed and students will be faced with immediate challenges.  Since our seniors will soon be entering either college, vocational school, or perhaps even starting a job or career soon, the time is now to share with them critical information in ½ day or full day career instruction.
 
We have already begun scheduling winter and spring 2009 workshops, and we would like for you to complete the following survey as we get ideas for other courses to offer.  If you think this should be completed by someone in your career tech or curriculum department, feel free to forward our survey to them.
 
We will be offering more long-term courses, but the immediate need lies in the here and now.  In addition to our live appearances, we will also be releasing some web-based training resources as well.  To help get your ideas flowing about other courses, here are two that we’ve already begun:
 
1)  “Computer and Tech Jobs for 2009” – Find out who’s hiring, what qualifications are needed and on which skills to improve.  Senior students are also left with a list of resources, potential companies who are hiring.  And, in this field, Soundzabound is also accepting resumes as we have tripled the size of our Technology Team in the last year and will more than likely continue hiring for new projects in 2009.
 
2) "Starting a web based business" - Course length - 7 hours, 1 full school day.  Available Saturdays.  Course is done on-site or site of your choosing where students and our Soundz instructor and your facilitator will gather.  Here, we have included a course outline for your information:
 
Objective:  To train high school seniors who are about to enter college, vocational school or workforce on how to start and run a successful, web-based business.
The course will also include a profile analysis of successful companies such as Google, MySpace, Face Book and YouTube, as we explore common traits of the past and what to expect in the future.  This will also help to jumpstart the creativity in young minds that just might have a good idea and need the guidance on how to execute it.  We hope that Soundzabound can help inspire the next BIG American business from the mind of one of your students.
 
Course Outline 
I.    Identifying your product or service
      a)  What makes you unique?
      b)  What is the need of your potential customers?
 
II.    Marketing and Research
      a)  Who will use your site and why?  (The use of digital surveys for marketing research)
      b)  How to set pricing
      c)  If free, how your site can work through ads
 
III.    Building your brand
      a)  The importance of your store front
      b)  How to design
      c)  Outsourcing
 
IV.    Internet Marketing
      a)  Search engine optimization
      b)  The use of Newsletter and Email Marketing
 
IV.    Domain Names
      a)  Hosting options
      b)  Selection and cost
 
V.    Internet and site Security
      a)  Ethics and protection
      b)  Security related to e-commerce
 
Students will be left with available resources such as hand-outs, links, examples, tutorials, assignments, questionnaires and organizational tools.
 
Upcoming courses will also include subjects such as e-commerce, email marketing and legal and ethical business practices.