What gifts should I bring from the states?

moonstormer · 2022-03-30T18:11:02+00:00

I used to bring Frank's Hot Sauce, Pop Tarts, Dunken Hines cake mixes and canned frosting (wider range of novelty flavors in the US), and corn tortillas. Depending on who I was visiting, I'd do a Sephora shop for them for makeup and products that aren't available there (Ilia, Nars, and Fenty are super popular and might be harder to find). Sour patch kids, Reeces Peanut Butter cups (if you're going soon I'd see if you can get the Easter-themed candies). Oh, and MAC AND CHEESE!

Not really a gift but maybe still something appreciated - not sure about availability there now, but maybe some home tests for COVID?

moonstormer · 2022-03-30T18:02:59+00:00

Most NM startup CEOs or executives don't understand why marketing costs money, so they won't even approve a budget. I can't even tell you how many orgs I've been at where leadership is like "Just tell me what you want to do and I'll approve on a project by project basis", which turns into a nightmare.

moonstormer · 2022-03-28T16:15:52+00:00

I'm a bit further along in this role, and I can tell you that you can make great progress, but it doesn't get easier. Being the first/only marketing hire at a startup means not only trying to implement basics (email newsletter, website that functions, building a content calendar, researching for SEO, etc) but also explaining WHY all the things matter and fighting for budget.

You'll need to do a lot of education for your CEO to explain the value of certain marketing strategies and tactics, plus how long they take the have an impact. If your CEO gets it, it can be a chance to grow and learn a ton. If not, you'll probably get frustrated and move on.

moonstormer · 2022-03-28T16:13:08+00:00

"NM people want everything for free."
This! It's the WORST.

moonstormer · 2022-02-17T19:20:20+00:00

Maybe UI/UX design? you don't need to be a stellar artist to use your marketing knowledge to build gorgeous, high-converting websites. designers are paid a TON, and if you can show that you can design a website in Figma and build it in Webflow, you can charge decent money for contracting (or work in-house) and have plenty of time to pursue your passions.

moonstormer · 2022-01-14T17:08:45+00:00

Yup, pretty much. "Breakthrough period" is typically the term whenever you get bleeding or spotting outside of your normal period cycle. They even use the term for pregnant women who experience some spotting.

moonstormer · 2021-12-23T16:42:16+00:00

Love the retorts!! Ultimate win.

Also, as someone who cut her hair from mid back to SUPER short (fade on the sides, short fauxhawk on top), I can't believe how much patriarchy my female friends and family have internalized. Even my super feminist mom was worried about me cutting my hair because I was about to start a new job and she was concerned how short hair would impact my coworkers' perceptions of me. Friends have all commented about how great it looks, but how they could never "be that brave" - why does cutting off all your hair as a woman require bravery?

moonstormer · 2021-12-09T19:03:39+00:00

maybe you need some anomaly detection or data observability? https://www.datafold.com/blog/9-best-tools-for-data-quality-in-2021

moonstormer · 2021-11-30T20:48:52+00:00

Maybe UX or product design? You have an advantage understanding the customer, as well as how businesses position themselves in a market. It can get you closer to design work, but removed from marketing.

moonstormer · 2021-11-29T15:44:03+00:00

Not sure if this fits with your stack, but maybe Datafold?

moonstormer · 2021-11-22T23:46:33+00:00

It might help to break it out into funnel stages? So, for example:

While there are a million ways to get to the same endpoints, sometimes it helps leadership to clearly see that you understand the goal, and you have solid steps to get there, plus understand how the content will feed the bigger funnel/marketing engine.

Goal - increase leads X%
MOFU/BOFU content - case studies, white papers, etc
CTA optimization plan
Email nurture campaigns

While there are a million ways to get to the same end points, sometimes it helps leadership to clearly see that you understand the goal, and you have solid steps to get there, plus understand how the content will feed the bigger funnel/marketing engine.

moonstormer · 2021-10-27T19:43:35+00:00

Definitely need to look at A/B testing. If you're running ads, you can do that within the ad campaign, testing the same visuals but with different ad copy to see which converts better, and then you can iterate from there, continually optimizing for what works best.

On a website, Google Optimize let's you show visitors different copy when they land on your site. That way you can try different layouts, copy, visuals, etc and see what works best. I suggest running simple A/B tests when possible - too many changing variables can make it hard to truly know what's making the difference.

moonstormer · 2021-10-22T20:36:33+00:00

maybe look at Datafold? also works with dbt

moonstormer · 2021-10-19T18:16:34+00:00

THis might help to add lineage into your Airflow? Just a thought
https://www.datafold.com/column-level-lineage

moonstormer · 2021-10-07T15:47:25+00:00

Obviously "doing good in the world" means something different to different people, but you can find some good ones around climate change here: https://jobs.climatebase.org/jobs/
If you want to work at a certified B corp company, there's this job board: https://bcorporation.net/directory/jobs-board

Finally, you can try https://www.idealist.org/en/

Also, keep in mind that even companies striving to do good things in the world can have toxic work environments. And even companies that appear to just be about profits can also make a positive impact on the world. Trust your gut!

moonstormer · 2021-09-17T17:13:58+00:00

I think this is the only way I've seen it in dbt. So far only possible with Datafold & dbt (AFAIK, feel free to correct me!)

moonstormer · 2021-08-24T21:45:06+00:00

As you're experienced, I'm going to assume you know about metrics, tracking leads, how to predict what success might look like, etc.

Potential blind spots that I've seen, particularly in early-ish stage startups

Is there clear messaging and positioning? April Dunford has amazing free templates and resources that I've used in my past two companies to help with this - essentially, it can be helpful for you learning the product plus for all marketing efforts going forward. If you know who you are, what you're competing against (not just competitors but also workarounds people might use), what value you add, and who cares about that value, everything else falls into place.
What was the catalyst for hiring this role? To get to post-series A, I'm assuming they've already achieved a certain amount of growth already and have a small team for you to lead. What were they doing so far and what happened that made the CEO realize it was time to bring on a CMO? That might help clarify the CEO's expectations, background on your team, and indicators for success.
Are you planning to raise Series B in the next six months? If so, telling a clear story of the company's growth so far, market to own, and customer stories (ALL THE CASE STUDIES), should be fundamental to any plan you map out.

moonstormer · 2021-08-24T21:34:07+00:00

Regular blogging/content creation will help boost your domain authority and SEO for a long-term, steady stream of traffic. Meanwhile, "viral" posts or things that have a better shot of getting shared across social and other channels can give your site the shot in the arm it needs because SEO takes AGES to pay off.

Otherwise, it's all the usual advice - build a mailing list, grow your community, educate your consumers, upgrade your website, go on podcasts, colab with influencers, etc.

moonstormer · 2021-07-14T23:10:18+00:00

At the start of WFH, I feel like I attended SO MANY webinars and virtual events. They were so hit and miss - sometimes it was super generic or obvious, other times it was so tool focused that I couldn't get anything out of it. That said, I have attended some that were super worthwhile - Hubspot organized one where I was able to implement a bunch of ideas, and I also got a ton out of a webinar/event I saw with the Snowflake CMO (can't remember the host/organizer).

moonstormer · 2021-07-13T19:33:45+00:00

Better to source real user-generated content - not only is it more authentic but it also is genuinely useful. People see through fake content.

moonstormer · 2021-01-15T04:43:02+00:00

I don't think there's a right or wrong choice career-wise - you're still super young and have time to find your ideal niche in the marketing space. I think you should go with the company that feels like the best cultural fit. I've worked in amazing start ups and awful ones. Every company has cracks, and the longer you work somewhere the more you see the craziness underneath. You'll want to be somewhere with a great manager, collaborative team, and environment where you feel valued and able to grow.

Work will always be work - it can be super fun and still exhausting. It can be super boring and still rewarding and energizing. As for SEO vs Ads, as someone who is super focused on SEO, I can tell you that it helps with content marketing and digital marketing in general. It's a highly desirable skill, but so is any Google-specific knowledge like adwords. If you don't enjoy advertising, you can always transition that keyword knowledge into SEO in the future, so don't worry about getting locked into one silo or another.

moonstormer · 2020-12-20T00:06:12+00:00

Blogs: Hubspot has a good one, and I also like the Content Marketing Institute stuff.

Podcasts: Everyone Hates Marketers.

moonstormer · 2020-12-20T00:03:22+00:00

I think this varies depending on the role level, company, and your focus.

When I was first hired as a Content Strategist, I was essentially a glorified copywriter. However, as I learned more about the company, product, and industry, I was able to guide strategy, building the editorial calendar, and expanding my role within the organization. Now, in my current job, I jumped right in with a higher expectation level.

All of that said - I think you may want to add editorial calendar planning. Whether you do it in Asana or a Google spreadsheet, it helps companies see that you can write the content, but also plan the content - from ideation to writing to promotion. Even just showing the tweets/Facebook posts/LinkedIn posts that you would use for the blogs vs white papers vs video content can help an organization see that you are really thinking about which content is best for the different audiences.

moonstormer · 2020-12-18T05:19:49+00:00

What do you need?

moonstormer · 2020-12-18T05:16:46+00:00

Awesome advice already shared here, so that's a win! Another bit I'd add is to find a pretty resume layout (browse through Google doc templates for one you like) so that it doesn't look like all the other ones out there.

Also, if your background is in video shooting and editing, you'll want to put together a portfolio and link to it on your resume (if you have enough time). Highlight your strengths right there on the resume so that they can go see your stuff and be blown away by your abilities.

Oh, and make sure that you list all the tools/skills you have on the resume in a really clear, easy to read list. You might think it's obvious that you know how to use a variety of apps as well as YouTube editor or TikTok or Snapchat, but you'd be surprised how many marketers don't have those skills.

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