“Code” seems to be a bad word, like “spinach” to a child. Yucch!

When I suggest “learning code” to some business owners, the response is out loud laughter followed by a raised eyebrow or curled lip, hoping I’m not serious.  Alas, serious I am – but in simple form.

Learning some simple basics can save time, money, and open a world of thought and possibilities. After showing one retail store operator how to “hyperlink” to her own pages and to other places and pages on the web (Be the Resource), she went to work creating hyperlinks on all of her old pages and posts.

In my gut, I believe that most owners cringe at “code” due to fear of breaking something (you won’t), not because of lacking an adventuresome spirit – heck, they operate their own business. That’s an adventure. Small Business owners are often Do-It-Yourself’ers.

If you have a bit of DIY in you, there’s a super-simple (and fun) site called Codeacademy that guides you through learning simple code and leads you into new possibilities. And it’s FREE!

If you want to dive deeper and really learn how to do more in-depth projects, including mobile, then Treehouse might be a place for you to developing your code chops. For a small monthly fee, you can learn quite a bit.

Ten years ago, I made those scrunched up faces when asked if I wanted to learn code. Then again, I said “yucch” to spinach when I was a kid. Now, I do it every day (code and spinach, though not together).

How about your future? Any code down the road?

Have fun!