Two years ago I met Michael Sallander & Scott Shefler at Adobe MAX. I could tell these guys were super motivated and moving fast with their web agency Chicago Digital - powered with Adobe Business Catalyst.

Earlier this summer, Mike & Scott rolled out the BC Academe, a HANDS ON training program for Business Catalyst.

They take on 30 students at a time, conduct a bunch of webinars, work with you over live chat, and provide a structured curriculum so that you can learn how to build your first BC site from scratch.

Since BC Academe's inception, Mike and I have been trying to find a way to collaborate. Very excited to announce that we have formed a nice strategic partnership.

Part of the "Everyone, Guru" project, we are implementing a community-wide point system on BC Gurus. Those on our email list have already started participating in a beta of this program via our Zero to Hero pre-launch. We will soon be releasing Guru Points on our entire site after our public release of Zero to Hero next week.

The next BC Academe course begins October 29, 2012 (the deadline to register is October 22).

The graduates of this course will receive up to 5,000 Guru Points. They will also receive an exclusive BC Academy badge which will be displayed next their profile and company listing in our directory.

I realize that this might seem elusive...but let me wrap some value around what you can do with these points:

1. Get a BC Gurus template credit (to download any of our templates), a $249 value
2. Schedule a BC Guru consulting session, a $99 value
3. Have BC Gurus include your company in a social media plug or in one of our weekly emails (that goes to thousands of BC partners), a $priceless value

Earning these points will also help you work towards the soon to be released "Guru Status" which will help promote your business based on the achievements you receive on this site.

I was curious to understand a bit about the results Mike and Scott got after their first class finished. Here are some testimonials from their inaugural class:

"This has been an excellent course, and provides me with a great understanding of working with Business Catalyst. Prior to taking the course I had set up a few sites and worked with templates, but I feel confident now that I can take a site from scratch to fully implemented on Business Catalyst."

- Dave Haggblad (Digital Ink Multimedia)

"Business Catalyst is an empowering system for web designers. The Academe is an excellent hands on way to familiarize yourself with the system. The feedback and support from instructors outside of the classes is excellent. I highly recommend the course for anyone looking to learn how to use Business Catalyst."

- Jessica Michels (Edward J Campbell Inc.)

"My first attempts to use Adobe BC on my own were not successful, as the learning curve was way too slow and tedious for me. Then I discovered Mike Sallander and Scott Shefler... and because they were willing to walk me through some basic fundamentals of the platform, I became comfortable with it for the first time, and began to see the opportunities ahead of me.

I went from having ZERO paid websites in Business Catalyst to four (4) in just over a year! And there are more on the way. But none of this would have happened if it weren't for these guys. I am grateful that they continue to provide the knowledge, experience and competence as Adobe BC developers. It has helped me bring my business to a new level. Thank you!"

- Karen Dippel (Creative Edge Marketing) 

Pretty cool guys.

Something that Mike and I also discussed was that we plan to create a BC Academy category of tutorials on BCG that will allow students to access exclusive follow up content via our website. This will get more concrete in the next couple of months as their next class gets closer to graduation.

If you are starting out with Business Catalyst and you need personal attention from two of the best PROs in the business, then this program is for you. I highly recommend it, and know that Mike and Scott deliver nothing but rock solid results.

They are also offering the program through a lower price payment plan option than their first class. You can now get started for just $399 per month over 4 months. Nice.

=> REGISTER NOW! (Deadline October 22)