Meet Marianne, a proud small-business owner and graduate of NZIE’s Diploma in Digital Marketing. She made the brave choice to quit her job and pursue her dream of running her own small business. While she already had some things set up to realise that dream, she felt the need to upskill, particularly when it came to digital marketing – enter NZIE’s Diploma in Digital Marketing!
After researching her options for Digital Marketing courses in New Zealand, she began looking into course providers that could help her achieve her goals. Marianne came across NZIE and was keen to learn more, so her first point of contact was Phil – NZIE’s Recruitment Advisor.
“I started by connecting with Phil which was really nice and he walked me through the process of how to sign up and what the courses would look like. I was going to be studying full-time so I quit my job, but I also ran a small business at the same time so it was quite a lot to juggle.”
A Truly Enjoyable Experience
Despite her fairly full plate, Marianne found studying enjoyable and her experience with NZIE was fantastic. Since the course was 100% online, she could do it all from home (or anywhere she wanted) and the evening delivery of her lectures meant she could plan her days to keep herself organised. She was able to solidify her knowledge in subjects that she had taught herself and gained a deeper, more thorough understanding of core concepts and industry tools. When asked about her favourite subjects, there were plenty for Marianne to choose from, though her standout favourite was Email Marketing:
“There were lots of favourite subjects! I love email marketing, I loved it before I started with NZIE, so my favourite subject was Email Marketing with Jen. Digital Design with Janelle was also really cool. That was the first time I’d really played around in Adobe, I’d sort of dabbled before but that was the first time I’d actually spent a significant amount of time in Adobe. But Janelle was really helpful in helping us get to know the programme, giving us tips and steps and all that kind of thing.”
“I do web design as part of my small business, so Web Design with Alison was also one of my real highlights. Getting back on WordPress, doing coding, and setting up a whole website was really fun. Then my final favourite subject was Social Media with Matt. Matt was amazing as a tutor and just really onto it. The course was great, the content was fun – he made it fun.”
Real Tutors, with Real Value
Marianne’s purpose for joining NZIE was to make sure that what she had learnt from teaching herself was accurate, she needed to make sure that the skills she set up her business with were going to be able to keep it running as time went on. Happily, she felt the Diploma in Digital Marketing provided everything she needed, as well as supporting her and guiding her during her studies:
“I think the tutors were really at helping to sort of connect us in breakout rooms but also with just connecting with us one-on-one.”
After a short but intense year, Marianne graduated with her NZQA-approved Diploma, and the skills and confidence she needed to successfully run her small business. While she had a great time during study, she definitely prioritised her coursework and has some advice for any prospective student:
“One of my pieces of advice would be to not leave your assessments to the last minute, especially those big ones because they take time. You can’t pump out a website in a day like you can pump out an essay!”
Are you a career changer, or keen on making your small business dreams a reality? Our Digital Marketing Diploma could be your next step.
