We all like to think we can ‘do marketing’.We all have something to say about this challenging, multi-faceted area of business.However, it is only when we actually have to deliver that the gaps in our knowledge become apparent.When, for example, we make the sideways move into marketing management, or when, as an owner or consultant we suddenly have to produce a marketing plan from scratch.Sooner or later we are likely to find that there really is no substitute for knowing what one is talking about;that all our bright ideas are really little more than a hotch-potch of half-formed, untested notions and hypotheses and that we really have no confidence in at all. At this point, it is tempting to despair: to throw up our hands and lament the gaps in our understanding.Far more constructive however is to take positive action, and sign up to one of the online marketing management courses such as the internationally-recognised Edexcel BTEC Level 5 Diploma in Marketing Management. Heather Green says that completing the course at the Brighton School of Business and Management gave her both confidence and recognition.’I wanted to make progress in my job and I had ideas but didn’t understand how all the stages of marketing slotted together.’The diploma enabled her to study every aspect of marketing, from gathering intelligence, to analysis, through planning, advertising and promotion as well as the overarching operational and strategic aspects of management.’I now feel that my ideas are backed up by real knowledge of the industry and my colleagues definitely take me more seriously.’ The key advantage with online marketing courses is the flexibility they offer, since you can study in your own time, whenever and wherever you may be.The Edexcel Level 5 Diploma is a modular course studied in a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) with constant and attentive support from tutors.It is then possible to obtain credits to move smoothly on to higher qualifications such as the HND or HND Foundation Degree in Business and Marketing. For inexperienced marketing managers or those who know they need to brush up their knowledge, an online marketing course is the smartest of all career moves.