Online Internet Marketing

Steps

Part 1

1. Decide if marketing is a career fit for you. Consider taking a personality test, which will reveal your preferences. A test similar to the popular Myers-Briggs test can be found at 16personalities, and there are many others. This test will reveal your work preferences. See how of your preferences match the skills needed to be an Internet marketer.
   • Marketing is the process of getting attention and generating interest for a product or service. Marketers spend a lot of time communicating with people about their needs and preferences. A marketer thinks about how they can meet those customer needs.
   • Professionals in marketing come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Many marketers earn a college degree in business or marketing. However, the marketing field also requires graphic artists, writers and programmers.
   • Marketing requires creativity. That creativity can come in many forms. Graphic designers put together visual presentations to attract customers. Writers create content that is designed to engage the reader and keep them interested. A programmer writes code to create a web page that is easy to navigate. Regardless of your marketing role, you need to think creatively.
2. Learn about the components of the Internet marketing profession. Internet marketing requires a variety of tasks. To decide which areas are a good fit for you, find resources to learn about each task. Fortunately, there many free resources you can access.
   • A majority of Internet use now takes place on mobile devices. It’s critical for a marketer to understand how a website looks on mobile. Users want a site that is simple and easy to navigate on mobile.
   • Google has put an increased focus on good content. If you consistently post useful content, your site will move up in Google search results. Knowledge about content marketing is become more important for Internet marketers.
   • Your degree program will provide a base of marketing knowledge. Business, graphic design and technology degrees all include marketing as part of the curriculum. Your college courses provide a good starting point.
   • Read blogs and articles and educate yourself about the industry. Search Engine Land and Marketing Land are two excellent websites for Internet marketing. You can subscribe to these sites to stay on top of the industry. You can also perform a web search to find other current topics on Internet marketing
   • You can find a You Tube video that explains just about any task you perform as an Internet marketer. Keep a list with the You Tube links that you find the most useful. You can refer back to those videos when you need a refresher.
3. Build your skills through education and your portfolio of work. Once your have an overview of the profession, you can decide on the right type of college degree for your marketing career. You can also start to build a portfolio of work from school and internships.
   • Many marketers get a marketing degree through their school’s business department. Other successful Internet marketers have degrees in communications, graphic design or IT. Because this field requires several different types of skills, you can enter the field with each of these degrees.
   • It’s important to build an online portfolio that displays your work as an Internet marketer. Most people have a website with links to work they have performed. When a potential client is interested in you, they can review your website to find out what you’ve done in the field.
   • Your portfolio can have still photos of web pages you have built for clients. You can also provide links to client pages and testimonials from your customers.
   • Make sure that you have a complete and current LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn may be the first place a potential employer visits to find out more about you. Fill out your LinkedIn profile completely and connect with people you know.
   • Start to think about taking on projects as a freelancer. You can find projects on large employment sites like Monster.com. If you simply search the web using “freelance Internet marketing jobs”, you’ll find job boards that are updated weekly. Craigslist is also a great source for freelance work.
4. Take on a small project to build your skills. Whether you plan on interviewing for a marketing job, or decide to become a freelancer, you need some experience. Consider taking on a small project to apply your marketing knowledge.
   • You may handle all of the components of an Internet marketing project, or only a portion of the work. In many cases, freelancer marketers collaborate with other professionals. If you’re just starting out, you may complete a portion of an Internet marketing project.
   • There are many entities that need Internet marketing, but only budget a small amount for the work. If you’re willing to volunteer or offer a discounted rate, you can find projects. Non-profit entities and political campaigns need marketing help, but don’t have much money budgeted for the work. These types of organization may present an opportunity for you.
   • Ask the company if you can include the work in your professional portfolio. You need to build a portfolio of work to interview for jobs or to do find freelance work.
   • Say, for example, that you design the layout for a website. You can include still photos and a link to the site you created in your portfolio. Most marketing professionals have a personal website to display their work and promote their skills.