Social media is revolutionizing the way we use the Internet, and its low- or no-cost tools can be used by small businesses to achieve remarkable results.

Join instructor Victoria Compton to learn more about social media and SIM — social influence marketing.

The class is Oct. 11, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Skagit Valley College, 221 Weber Way, Friday Harbor. Tuition: $50. Call 378-2906 or e-mail info@sanjuansedc.org.

The class is presented by the San Juan County Economic Development Council.

Participants will start out with a basic overview of social media and SIM — definitions, best practices, and most effective platforms. Participants will then move to tutorials on setting up a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a YouTube account, and tracking SIM campaigns using tools like Google Analytics.

As a bonus, participants will take a look at SEO — search engine optimization — with an eye toward results in Baidu and Tencent, China’s biggest search engines. You’ll leave the workshop with all the tools you’ll need to create a robust marketing program through social media.

Workshop instructor Compton has worked for more than 20 years in marketing and advertising. She founded At Home Magazine and published the first three official Visitors’ Guides to the San Juans in collaboration with the San Juan Islands Visitors’ Bureau. She also worked for five years as a marketing consultant in Manhattan and the N.Y. metro area, with a particular focus on helping small- to mid-sized companies get the word out about their products and services with tiny marketing budgets.