Light and Enlight

On my 13th birthday, my brother got hold of my personal diary and the next moment he was nearly in his wits, rolling out on the floor laughing. Everybody in our house was puzzled by his reaction and mine. Finally, he didn’t utter a single word just displayed some scribbled notes in the dairy.

Displayed something like this                               

ALMAS SAYYED

MCS, MBA, Psychiatrist, Architect, Fashion Designer, Chef, Calligraphy artist, Painter

Laughing out loud hysterically he said for the whole life you just want to learn these many degrees. Back then I doubted, seemed almost impossible however didn’t let my dream go. As I truly believe in.

A goal that is not in writing is merely a fantasy

Write it down.Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants; cant's into cans;dreams into plans; and plans into reality.Dont just think it - INK IT !!! - Michael Korda

I am so fascinated by the suits, corporate meetings and the power in decision making that I even got a Master’s degree while rest are in WIP (Work In Progress) in some of the other forms.

Gradually reality occurred to me staring at me in my face, peer pressure, family pressure pushed me to make decisions that I was not wholeheartedly in. Got a corporate job, worked for almost 5 yrs. Every year on year my clients and skills got changed from soft skills, production support, SAP implementation to testing.

Where self-learning and self-education are headed. 

 I wanted to test the waters and follow my heart and the decision to pursue digital marketing. To my dismay back then, I got a perspective that the world does not require a generalist, they seek for an expert to address their concerns.

I happen to see a video on the advertisement and them kind of reverse engineered it to the ideation, strategy, copywriting, medium, the psychology involved and got to know about the wizards of advertisements and media “Ogilvy” and this again pushed me to take the plunge in digital marketing.

You learn not because you have to But because it is who YOU are

The next moment I got enrolled myself into a good digital marketing course, after completion I got into an internship, then projects, then freelancing, on the job roles just added up to my knowledge and perspective.

As I dig deeper and deeper I found that no one course can guarantee or assure you the learnings you wish. As the digital marketing landscape is an evolving domain and technology is the driving factor for various mediums and channels.

If you are not willing to learn, No one can help you

If you are determined to learn, No one can stop you

 So no one can lay this out for an individual. One need to help themselves.

So this innate thirst or hunger for knowledge and the urge to keep upgrading myself. 

Self-learning cannot be taught, it’s the hunger of curiousness, inquisitiveness that derives within which settles only

After consumption lots and lots of it.

I am a firm believer that one source and medium does not suffice for self-learning, you ought to seek advice,tips ,suggestions from people, pets, things, articles,videos,podcasts rants, FAQ’s ,channels,geographic locations,networking ,events forums, reviews,vacations, life lessons,hobbies, intellectual conversations, a song/story/events that inspires, any sports, meditation etc.

Below are the series of steps which I followed:

• Set a Google alert for digital marketing. Follow google trends search, compare.
• Created a blog on Blogspot(mindstroll.com) that’s when I got to know about being consistent and persistence is so hard, as a natural communicator I found it hard to articulate even. Got to know about writers' block syndrome etc.

Self-reliance and self-learning are your greatest assets – Lailah Gifty Akita

• Followed channels, groups, hashtags, people, Influencers and various social mediums (LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Canva), subscribing for newsletters on digital marketing.
• I even follow astrology channels, one would say so lame of me to follow those. As an inquisitive nature, I wanted to dig deep what is this science of tarots, gems or astrology about and more important the language, the pitch, the creativity the come up within videos. Offers on their channels or websites. I think they are the early adopters to use the digital medium in an innovative way and know how to leverage their subscription growth. So indeed we can take lessons of growth hacking or growth marketing from them
• Sharing is also a good method or practice to grow your knowledge by 10x. Often ignored, because when it as good for yourself then only you share, isn't it? So

Keep sharing and Keep learning

• Referrals and proposals started pouring in events I used to attend and that’s how my freelancing stint kicked off. A whole new world and multidisciplinary skills emerged up like pitching, product market research, accounting, reporting, handling client, soft skills, research the client unless your personality or character does not match you will doing only “Yes Boss” work.

What we learn with pleasure we never forget – Alfred Mercier

• Email marketing I learned by executing a campaign on Mail Chimp at my first internship.
• Once a quarter I assign myself a goal to get acquainted and try out one skill at least. Tried hands-on keyword researching, SEO and PPC must say didn’t quite enjoyed the process I was more inclined or felt more pull towards the amalgamation of technology and marketing what we call it as Martech. Still researching and connecting with influencers following topics to get more perspective must say the work in still in WIP (Work In Progress). That's my #MyOnlyCareerPlan.

Then I realized adventures are the best way to LEARN

Lead generation/Growth hacking/ SaaS is the buzzword nowadays. Folks used to judge and keep telling me that as a marketer you guys are good at strategy, promotion, and marketing.

Can you bring money on the table?  

By that time I didn’t have any product or affiliates of any sorts, nor did I run a blog. You guys will not believe this I even dabbled into Multilevel marketing MLM with a local product based company. Wanted to figure it out for me, the reality, practicality of a product sales lifecycle and the customer journey.

And believe me, guys, that was a heck of an insightful experience with sales and how to handle your customers and achieve the targets simultaneously. 

That’s why I feel ZEST Enlight is the answer to the hunger for knowledge and the wisdom you seek for marketing. Don't worry if you haven't figured it out as

If you don’t know what you’re here to do, then just do some GOOD – Dr. Maya Angelou

Take some baby steps

Babies are self-learners and what they truly need is time, freedom and trust to just be

So for baby steps – click here and join the zesty lemonade party for free !!!