With many PR, public relations and digital people finding themselves having some spare time (maybe they have been furloughed or perhaps they are just bored) there has never been a better time to undertake some self improvement. That is why the team here at PR Agency One have put our heads together to curate this list of resources.

There are lots of free digital courses and webinars out there and here are a few that have been put under my nose. I can’t say the list is exhaustive but if you can recommend any more for the list then tweet me @jamescrawford.

PRCA and ICCOPR courses for PR professionals

There are some resources and courses on Covid-19 from the PRCA and ICCO but the ICCo courses are paid for, I think.

Hi James, you can find our free webinars on this page: https://t.co/0VPE8HLvjS – thanks for thinking of us. — PRCA (@PRCA_UK) April 6, 2020

There are also free webinars from @ICCOpr available here: https://t.co/nFSEQeakWA — PRCA (@PRCA_UK) April 6, 2020

CIPR resources

The CIPR has a number of free resources and courses or PR professionals. They are we are supporting Global Alliance‘s ‘Education and Training Month’ by hosting a series of free webinars. Throughout the month of April, senior practitioners from Kenya, Nigeria, New Zealand, Indonesia, China, India, Brazil, USA, Canada, Spain, Portugal the UK.

Hi James, we have a series of free #CIPRLearn webinars https://t.co/IojT8Ym7nG as well as a great selection of webinars from senior practitioners from all over the world, which we are delivering in partnership with the @Global_Alliancehttps://t.co/YyWlUGALLV — CIPR (@CIPR_UK) April 6, 2020

A free copywriting course

People overlook copywriting when they think of digital skills but for me it is the most difficult skill to master. Most people can learn digital skills but copywriting is often the most challenging. This is a free course that Michael Davies has recommended (he used to work for me).

Not sure what level you’re looking for but this course is good for intro to blogging and copywriting https://t.co/pLbbBL9nOy (and it’s free) — Michael Davies (@mjdavies1) April 6, 2020

The Open University has a raft of free courses

Visit the Open University website here. The OU courses on everything from health through to nature. Who says that a PR professional has to narrowly learn about their own industry? Why not get stuck into something new?

Find free online courses with Coursera

Coursera has a wide range of free courses too. Everything from Machine Learning to Social Psychology. These courses are definitely worth a look and the website is very comprehensive.

Yale’s Science of Wellbeing Course

US Ivy League university Yale has famously launched a wellbeing course that was popular with students and over subscribed. The course claims it will engage you in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. They have made this publicly available.

Ahrefs has made a $800 blogging dollar course completely free

Ahrefs is one of my favourite digital tools and now they have launched this free online course for budding digital marketers. It’s a pretty comprehensive blog post on how to grow and connect with an audience via blogging.

This course will turn you into a top 25% content marketer – https://t.co/cugNGn1Z2v



Was $800, now free! — Andrew Allsop (@AndrewAllsop) March 31, 2020

Salesforce has a wide range of courses available for free

You must live under a rock if you don’t know about Salesforce. They’ve launched this online training offering to “learn in demand skills that lead up to top jobs.”

Google’s Digital Garage is a good place for beginners to start to learn a wide range of digital skills

I’ve just completed Google’s digital garage free course: Fundamentals of Dig Marketing. Would recommend. — Lucy Yates nee Wray (@mynamesnotwray) March 31, 2020

Google’s Digital Garage is the most accessible of its courses and a good entry level resource.

Google Analytics Academy is also free

Google has lots of free courses and this one is particularly good. Google Analytics is a very powerful and free tool and this course comes recommended.

Google Analytics Academy is free https://t.co/w9gT5QcapB — Richard Frost (@richardfrosty) March 31, 2020

And if Google wasn’t helpful enough….

There is this Google News Initiative for journalists and PR people.

Google News Initiative – loads of free courses on best use of Google tools for data journalism and story telling.https://t.co/3iVz4e74jy — Andrew Bruce Smith (@andismit) April 1, 2020

Tech Nation has a Digital Business Academy

These are courses that have been developed by Tech Nation in partnership with organisations of the calibre of University of Cambridge and UCL. Recommended.

Digital Business Academy 😀 – https://t.co/1D2FMSGnU3 — Will Dolby (@willdolby) March 31, 2020

Emarketers launch a free offering

The gang at Emarketeers have launched two first class courses that look at first glance like exactly the sort of course I would send me staff on. Marketing in a Down Turn and SEO for Managers. It’s all free.

Ok, so we've just launched 2 x free online courses, with more to follow this or next week.



Marketing In A Downturn: https://t.co/RzBOxA6q5S



SEO For Managers: https://t.co/hcqhgS0GK0



Enjoy! — Jonathan Saipe (@JonathanSaipe) April 1, 2020

AMEC has an amazing Online College (PAID FOR)

OK this is not free and for full disclosure I am also a board director of AMEC, but take a look at their courses, here via the Online College. Among other things you can gain a degree-level International Certificate in Measurement.

Moz Academy

The Moz Academy is free until end of April. The details are available here.

Receptional has launched a series of webinars on digital marketing

Over the next few weeks, they’ll be running ‘The Pyjama Webinars’. Covering SEO, PPC, social ads, content and more. More details are available here on the Receptional website.

This Answer the Public Webinar provides some useful tips

There are plenty of webinars available too and while they are not exactly courses per se they are useful places to learn. This one includes some good insights for how to tap into search to provide insights for long tail content queries.

This webinar provides some useful commentary on PR measurement

Stella Bayles, director at Coverage Book sent a few links over to me but this one jumped out at me with my AMEC hat on as it focused on my focus on PR measurement.

Kantar – COVID-19: Impact for Brands Part 2

Kantar invite us to join them for the latest instalment in their series of webinars looking at how brands can survive the COVID-19 crisis. Sounds like fun! I know that sounded sarcastic and was a tiny bit, but in all seriousness it will be top draw content, if slightly heavy going!

Volunteer to be an NHS First Responder

If you find you have some free time during the next few weeks, why not volunteer to be an NHS First Responder. More information is here.

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