In my previous blog post, I discussed key terms marketers should know before they hire a web developer to build their website.
These terms are incredibly useful to build channels of communication with the people who hired to build your site.
But what happens when you don’t have a budget to hire someone to develop the site for you?
In the video below, Team Treehouse founder, Ryan Carson, discusses a statement made by the CEO of GE, one of the largest companies in the world. The summary of this statement was that everyone hoping to work for his company in the current year and beyond WILL learn to code.
Why Must Marketers Learn How To Code
Technology has established a foothold in nearly every industry, whether it be farming/agriculture or rocket science. Marketers are not exempt from this truth.
So what does a marketer do when he or she is required to develop a website for their company due to tight budgets?
My current job title is Web Development Director, but before 2015, I didn’t have any aspirations of ever becoming involved with technology. I wanted to become a physical therapist. I always believed the stereotype of the tech geek to be true and I just didn’t feel that I would fit in with this culture.
However, at one of the jobs that I had while putting myself through school, I was tasked with doing occasional website updates and design work; I had very minimal experience working with code prior to this.
My ambitious nature pushed me to learn more about coding and design because I wanted to excel at my job with the hope that one day I’d move up in the company. Promotions didn’t come but my interest in code grew. I could see the importance of learning how to code regardless of the industry.
Obviously, different industries will need different levels of expertise in coding but I am a firm believer in the notion that ALL working professionals should have some level of knowledge when it comes to code. This is especially true for someone in an industry such as marketing, where a marketing director may be required to maintain or build a company’s website, handle marketing automation, or other tasks related to tech thanks to small budgets.
How To Teach Yourself Code
So how does someone like a marketing director, who may not have even heard about code or web development while in college, go about teaching himself or herself how to code so that he or she can maintain the company website? The rise of digital or online education has made this task much easier and enjoyable.
There are several online resources to teach yourself to code but my personal preference is Team Treehouse. Team Treehouse is an online school that focuses on teaching technology skills from the comfort of your own home. The curriculum is video-based with several code challenges and projects to reinforce the skills that you learn along the way.
The reason I like Team Treehouse is because it has an excellent progression system in place that can take someone from a novice level to a working developer level. They include things called tracks that follow a similar structure to in-person schools.
Each track focuses on a set of skills and has several courses that build upon the previous courses. Tracks are a great way to learn code because the more difficult concepts aren’t presented to you until you have a firm grasp of the prerequisite skills.
Team Treehouse offers a wide variety of courses but they all lead toward their students being able to build full websites or web apps.
Marketing professionals for modestly sized companies will most likely find themselves needing to know how to code thanks to a lack of budget in contrast with the giant expectations from their bosses.
Hiring a web developer may not be an option for you and neither is going back to school for four more years while accruing student loan debt as you work full-time during the day.
Utilizing tools like Team Treehouse gives you the flexibility to learn in your free time, gives you the knowledge that you need to increase your value as an employee, and doesn’t cause you to go deeply into debt just to stay current with your skills.
Learning how to code has tremendous benefits. Not only will you gain a level of confidence when speaking with developers or other people in tech — which can be incredibly intimidating — but you will also add a new skill that brings incredible value to your company. Plus, you will be prepared for the future because technology is constantly influencing and shaping virtually all industries.
