It’s OK to Change Your Game plan
Maybe when you were first laid off or quit your previous job you developed a plan for how you’d like to move forward with your job search. Here’s the thing, we are living in unprecedented times and it is absolutely ok to change your game plan.
I thought I would have had a new job within 8-10 weeks after my time at my previous job came to an end. Then, BAM!, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and a historic rate of unemployment followed. Now, I face months of uncertainty and I have had to rethink my approach to making the switch from nonprofit sales to tech marketing.
First, I have been seeking out ways to learn what I don’t know. I have been reading books, watching design tutorials, getting new certificates, restarting my sketching hobby, etc. all in an effort to beef up my tool kit.
One area that I haven’t focused on in months, because, well…life, is my graphic design consulting business. I have had clients off and on for years, mostly through word of mouth, but I have never sought to seriously market myself in the traditional ways. Then a light bulb went off recently.
Guys, I have had tunnel vision on switching from nonprofit work into tech that I have been ignoring my most powerful tool. I’ve been doing the work I seek to do for a company on my own for years! I have managed social media accounts for orgs, designed marketing materials, created simple websites using Square Space, served as writer, editor and brand guru for a number of clients and even without marketing myself receive job inquiries regularly.
Why then was that information NOT on my LinkedIn and barely present on my resume? Fear. Fear of not being “good enough.” We’ve all been there. I’m telling you now, whatever you have been doing is good enough to start. Start somewhere!
So, that’s what I’m doing. I am starting somewhere. Over the next few weeks I’ll be working on pulling my portfolio together and launching a new page on my blog that will host my work – not just in graphic design, but copy creation/editing, email marketing campaigns and simple website building. I am going to use the work I have been doing for clients over the past few years as a way to showcase not that I CAN LEARN to do what these tech companies would be asking me to do, but that I HAVE BEEN doing it all along. I’ve already started by updating my LinkedIn profile. Check it out here!
That being said, I am currently accepting new clients! If you're starting your own business (or know someone who is), thinking of refreshing your branding materials, or need someone to create a content strategy for your small business in the midst of COVID-19, I am here to help.
Checking in –
So, what is your game plan during these uncertain times? Please share anything you think will help others currently trying to make the best of this time in quarantine.
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I am a marketing communications professional with experience spanning health care project and product management, demand generation for SME, and direct sales. I am a strategic problem solver with a knack for leading campaigns to completion on time and under budget. In this next phase of my professional career, I want to combine my desire to make an impact on society and my skills as a marketer to help a company/product I believe in shake up the world.
Follow my journey from nonprofit fundraising to marketing in tech here: makingtheswitch.me. New posts every Monday!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/making_theswitch/
LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/carroleemoore/
Website: www.makingtheswitch.me