January through March: A string of achievements and burnouts
I started a bunch of things right at the beginning of the year.
Keeping a journal like everyone else, reading books, and writing!
At work, I resolved to make this the year of results and started launching all sorts of initiatives. That brought more responsibility and more stress piling up, and burnout actually came knocking 🤔
What got me through it and let me wrap up Q1 anyway was Linchpin, the bestseller by Seth Godin, who has been my favorite marketer and author since last year.
Frustrating moments still come around, but it's getting better.
Maybe because I've had a few wins, burnout now feels like a good signal of sorts 🙄
Anyway! Thanks to three months of reflection, I found a hint about the kind of person, and the kind of talent, I want to aim for.
Three talks, unexpected results
Right as the year began, I found myself giving talks here and there.
A marketing basics lecture for yoga teachers, a guest instructor spot for an online session at Imweb (a Korean website builder), and sharing content-creation insights at a B2B marketer community. I scrambled through all of them and came out fine.
That works out to one external talk a month, which reminds me of my college days when I presented almost once a week.
Finishing them well brought some work results too, but the most rewarding part was my mom finding the Imweb lecture video and telling me what she thought.
Imweb had posted the lecture video on YouTube, so I just sent it to her with "This is what your son does for a living~" and she enjoyed it way more than I expected. Turns out she shared it with the relatives too 😂
After deciding to become a marketer, I spent a long time failing to find my footing, and I used to get compared to my older brother, who landed a research job at a major corporation right out of grad school.. Now I feel like I'm finally settling into my place.
*The Imweb webinar had 450 registrations in total, and I wrapped it up in front of an actual audience of 160 with a high viewer retention rate.
What I felt while helping 30+ job seekers
As I mentioned above, my years as a junior marketer were genuinely brutal.
I joined and left companies over and over; counting internships, Indent is my fifth company. Hoping others could skip my trial and error or get through it faster, I reorganized my blog into 'Marketer Haven' and started welcoming customers of my own.
As a result, in Q1 alone I was able to help, conservatively, more than 30 people preparing for marketing jobs or job changes. From portfolio reviews to how to pick a company, how to apply, and interview prep, I shared all kinds of knowledge and experience to help with career transitions.
The results were good too.
Someone landed a new job faster than expected, and someone else lined up five interviews at once, including mid-sized companies.
For the person who asked for help at the very end of March, I was able to hand over a first draft of the customized guidebook I'd been planning.
Among the people I met this time were some whose futures I'm genuinely excited about.
As Seth Godin says, marketing is deciding whom to help.
Thanks to a pile of good choices, Q1 was a rewarding time for me as both a marketer and an educator.
To everyone who asked me for help, thank you once again. - Marketer Josh
Q2? Live it fully, both as a "marketer" and as a human being!
I thought Q1 was over before it started, but looking back, a lot happened. Now that spring is here, I see new attempts sprouting up everywhere.
Last weekend I rode my bike in circles around the park, thinking about what I should do in Q2.
Actually, I've already started running again.
Having closed out Q1 with results that weren't bad, I'm already executing a plan to fill the pipeline for April and beyond, without a break.
I'm trying not to drop content publishing for SEO while preparing for the various events scheduled from April through June.
I want to take a slightly longer-term view and work toward inbound-centered marketing.
Career mate is taking a break for now.
This quarter I spent time organizing and passing on my career know-how. I achieved more than I expected in a short time and gained confidence in the content.
At the same time, I came to feel firsthand that being a career mate is genuinely fun and rewarding, and at the same time a huge amount of emotional labor. It was truly a job fit for a "linchpin."
So in Q2, I've decided to pause my career mate activities!
I'm going to enjoy the leisure I've been putting off for being too busy: taking care of my health, shopping, climbing, traveling abroad, gaming.
It's a shame to stop right when I'm starting to see how it works, but I don't think a short break will dull my touch.
Once I've rested well and come back, I'm sure I'll meet more great people then 😄
Until that day, I'm going to spend Q2 putting time into writing for the blog.
To everyone reading this, I hope you have an energizing Q2 too!
Favorite song of Q1: 'Tachiaoi' (Hollyhock) - Aimyon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCsM4bKilKc
What is Marketer Haven?
Haven has two meanings: a place of refuge and a harbor.
It exists to share information with junior marketers struggling with job hunting and career management, and to cheer on their departure.
