24. A Short Step by Step Guide To Becoming A Content Marketer/Digital Writer From Scratch.

So You Want To Become a Content Marketer/Digital Writer: A Short Guide to Building a Digital Portfolio.

You're probably sitting on your bed right this minute, jobless

Or maybe you're at the office, 

Wondering 

"How can I make a career change?"

"I want my life to be on a new trajectory as soon as today"

"I want something new to happen"

And you think well, I can write. I've been writing. 

But you've never been paid for writing,

Or maybe you've been paid but an amount that's barely substantial enough to pass for an actual payment for a career.

And you need direction on where to begin, how to start something new that you really want to happen. 

Welcome. 

My name is Vivian and I was like you sometime ago. 

Everything I'm about to give you was given to me. 

And I hope you follow this guide to a T. 

You see, I've been writing a long time

I've been paid to write before too. 

But I was writing in circles. 

I got this guide I will now compile for you when I finally got someone interested enough to give me the direction I needed to;

• Focus on one thing. 

• Learn.

• Be committed to writing about it everyday. 

• Build something tangible that people can look at and pay me for. 

I'm going to be very bold and assume you want the same. 

Let's begin. 

First things first;

• Writing is an invaluable skill. 

• People pay for solutions. Nobody cares that you write or can write. They care only that your writing does something useful for them, brand or business. 

• Being a solution provider as a digital writer is about bringing clarity to your reader. Clear writing is good writing. You can be creative but you MUST be clear. 

Bear those three points in mind as you start with the first course. Please follow this one after the other. You can read this guide to the and then come back and tap on this first link. 

Begin with this: 

Fundamentals of Digital Marketing - Google Digital Garage

https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage/course/digital-marketing

You may have some background on Digital Marketing already and that is amazing. Well done. 

But go through this course and get your certificate. True, nobody really cares about certificates. That's very true. But you're not going through this course for the certificate. It is only a plus. 

The main idea is to get an overview of what Digital Marketing/Writing is. This is the space you want to delve into. You might as well have a broad overview of what it is about. 

You get to learn new acronyms, or see the full meaning of the old ones you thought you knew, practical examples with real life scenarios similar to what you'll have to work with in the near future. 

Don't skip. Do it. 

Next! 

Content Marketing Certification Course | HubSpot Academy

https://academy.hubspot.com/courses/content-marketing?library=true&=

This is a double down on Content Marketing. I had such a shallow idea of what Content really was until I went through this course. It broadened my view. 

I got a 40 out of 60 which was a fail so you can redo the course after 12 hours to get your certification from Hubspot. 

Like I said, Certifications are important but not so much in the span of things. Be sure to remember this and pay attention to the little quizzes you'll be taking mid course.

Next! 

Read this first. 

The Complete Guide to Lifecycle Marketing

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/lifecycle-marketing

Then this;

The Importance of Lifecycle Email Marketing Campaigns | Mailjet

https://www.mailjet.com/blog/email-best-practices/lifecycle-email-marketing/

Marketing comes in types and stages. You get to learn about them by going through the links above. The learning process is fairly easy. All you need to do is to dedicate some time to actually learn.

The above are in blog form. You read them and become abreast with everything. Familiarise with the terms too. 

The courses are in video form. Short video content that are easily digestible. It isn't such a difficult task but your effort and time to learn will go into it. 

Next! 

After you bring in Leads (people interested in whatever you have to offer), you have to manage them. Next course is on Marketing Automation, especially as it concerns Lead Management 

HubSpot | Free Marketing Automation Courses

https://www.hubspot.com/resources/courses/marketing-automation

Last but not the least, you'll learn a bit about email marketing in the course above but here's a more detailed one:

Ecommerce Email Marketing 101 by Drew Sanocki

https://www.shopify.com/learn/course/ecommerce-email-marketing-101

While this may not be an exhaustive guide, it'll be easier to be abreast of what Digital Marketing/Writing and Content Marketing are about. With the above, you can get

• Confidence to work on an actual project for a client. 

• A digital footprint; Something that shows you have an idea what you're doing and how to do it. 

• Actual words that you've written that can serve as a portfolio just in case an employer needs to see something you've done.

One More Thing, 

This is what makes this entire process relevant. 

You have to WRITE. I know. Shocking. But yes. 

You have to DOCUMENT YOUR JOURNEY THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE LEARNING PROCESS. 

This is a non-negotiable. 

This is how you prove that you're consistent to whoever will hire you in the future. 

This is how you become human and transparent for the sake of them connecting with you personally. Take this serious and create a professional blog, something that can be found online. 

Then start writing. 

Every single day, block out a period of time and put down everything you can of what you've learned that day. 

I say this guide isn't exhaustive because learning is something you must always do. As a matter of fact, your learning just began. This guide, if followed, puts you on the trajectory of actually enjoying the learning process. 

You should be done in a month or a little over, if you have other engagements. 

But who says you can't be done in 2 weeks? 

Welcome to selling yourself online. 

Goodluck and Success in your journey. 

• Vivian.

P. S. 50% of your job online is done the moment you show up. Remember, you're providing solutions in the form of clarity to your reader. 

Show up always and be clear in your words and half the job is done. The other half is about customisation and specificity. You'll become only as good as you decide. 

Ciao.